Now that Teresa Rezansoff has adjusted into her position as president of the British Columbia School Trustees Association (BCSTA), she is keenly optimistic of the work ahead.
“I’m anticipating the good work that (BCSTA) will be able to do on behalf of our member boards and I’m going to be making sure that I get out there and familiarize myself with all of the issues that are out there,” said Rezansoff. “There are things that are very individual to different school districts across the province and then there are things that are of common concern and I want to make sure that, as I am speaking on behalf of the organization, that I have a really good grasp of what those issues are.”
BCSTA is an advocacy organization that serves and supports B.C.’s 60 boards of education in their work of improving student achievement.
Rezansoff said one of the issues on the table right now is to re-establish a strong working relationship with the newly-elected Liberal party.
“We are treating this as a new government and we are taking this opportunity to renew and redefine that co-governance relationship, which is critical to the governing of public education,” she said.
The board of directors of BCSTA is made up of seven trustees and previous to Rezansoff’s new title, she served as vice-president of the organization for two years.
She told the Gazette that her role with BCSTA will be very demanding; however, her first priority is still SD51.
“I have a priority that my work here in this school district is protected and that is a top priority for me because those are my roots and that is the base for everything that I do.”
She added that her provincial role helps to strengthen the work that she does as a local trustee.
“I’m able to bring a really wide perspective and a knowledge base that can be very informative for us in our own school district.”
Looking at districts across B.C. she has seen that many of the local issues are prevalent province wide.
“There are certainly issues that our school district has as a small rural district that are completely common to other small rural districts and issues that we all hold in common with other school districts whether big, small, urban or rural.”
Rezansoff said she has a great staff at BCSTA to support her in her new role.