THUNDER BAY — For the first time in six years, Lakehead District School Board has a new board chair.
The school board held elections at their Dec. 3 meeting.
Newly elected chair Leah Vanderwey takes over for outgoing chair Ellen Chambers, who had held the position for the past six years.
Vanderwey had previously been elected trustee and served on multiple committees such as the special education advisory committee, suspension appeal hearing/expulsion hearing committee, and OPSBA awards selection committee.
Throughout her career, she has held many educational roles including principal, superintendent, and student achievement officer for the Lakehead district and three regional boards.
She also was a field services manager with the Ontario Ministry of Education.
“I'm very humbled to be in the chair, to be honest with you and I'm hoping that I can live up to expectations,” Vanderwey said.
“This year, I'm looking forward to working collaboratively with all trustees as usual. I may lean a little bit on vice-chair LeBlanc just because she's sitting right beside me and she knows some stuff."
Vice-chair Donica LeBlanc was re-elected at the meeting as well. She has held the vice-chair position since 2022.
She is a member of several education committees such as the supervised alternative learning committee, suspension appeal hearing/expulsion hearing committee, OPSBA awards selection committee, and board development committee.
“I just want to say thank you very much for your support and I hope that I do live up to your expectations and thank you to trustee (George) Saarinen for a good, healthy competition, which is a good thing,” LeBlanc said.
“And once again, just thank everyone for your support. I hope I can continue to do the job well."
