Patty Sproule is calling it a day on her school trustee career; with the announcement that she will not be seeking re-election for the Rocky View Schools (RVS) Board of Trustees in the upcoming Oct. 18 election.
Sproule was acclaimed in the 2017 election, and has served the communities of Langdon, Indus and rural Chestermere as RVS’ Ward 2 representative for the past four years. She has a background in criminology and special education.
“It has truly been an honour to serve Rocky View Schools students and families and in particular, Chestermere High, Indus, Langdon, Sarah Thompson [Elementary] and Prince of Peace schools,” Sproule said via a written statement. “I have enjoyed working with school councils, school administration teams and community organizations throughout southeast Rocky View.”
Sproule explained her decision not to run for Rocky View County’s public school board again was based largely on the fact she is also the executive director for Synergy Youth and Community Development Society, a charity based in Chestermere. The aim of the charity is to empower youth and community groups to develop connections through relationships, education, and programs, according to their website, yoursynergy.ca.
She said while both of the roles are important and valuable to her and the community, she couldn’t continue to split her time between them.
“I felt that – especially over the past 18 months – the competing priorities were a lot to balance and I was able to do that, but I didn’t feel like going forward, I wanted to be compromising either of them,” she said.
In order to be “responsible,” Sproule felt she had to choose between the charity and the trusteeship. Ultimately, she said Synergy was her first commitment and so that would be the direction she took.
The trustee added that while the RVS Board of Trustees faced various challenges over the last term, a big success in her eyes was the overall cooperation among the board members as a whole.
“Obviously, there are two opinions on either side of one question and so there has to be a decision made. But I think that’s something we’ve done really, really well over the past few years – [public] consultation,” she said.
In Ward 2 specifically, Sproule highlighted the uncertainty over the future of Prince of Peace Lutheran School as a challenge she faced throughout her term. The faith-based school, which services K-9 students in Chestermere, Langdon, east Rocky View County, Calgary and Airdrie, was spared from closure twice, before the board agreed earlier this spring that the 2021-22 school year would be the school’s last.
Some Ward 2 highlights of the last term, according to Sproule, were the approvals of funding for a new junior and senior high school for Langdon that is slated to begin construction this fall. She also mentioned the modernization of Indus School as a rewarding experience.
Though she is still going to be quite busy with her work at Synergy, Sproule said she is looking forward to having a bit more free time to spend with her friends and family. She is also planning on doing some volunteering.
After four years of involvement with RVS, she said she is grateful for the experience of being a school board trustee, and is looking forward to supporting the candidates once they announce their intention to run.
“I know there are lots of great people in our community that would be excellent trustees in this next term,” she said. “I hope that those pop up real soon, and I’d be more than happy to talk with any of them that have questions or to discuss the role further.”
The nomination deadline for the upcoming school board election is Sept. 20.
