School board ballot requests low, but better than last time

The request for ballotsin the Public Schools Branch's elections for school board trustees are nothing to celebrate, but Elections P.E.I. is thankful they are higher than last time.

Fourteen years ago the last time these elections were held in the English language system turnout was between oneand twoper cent.

The request for ballots in this year's school board trustee vote is just over three-and-a-half per cent, saidchief electoral officer Tim Garrity.

"We celebrate the small victories, so we're happy for that, but ... after this event we'll take a look at the process, see isthere anything that we can do to make this go better, to get more people engaged," he said.

1st results comingNov. 10

The demise of elected school boards began in 2011, when then-education minister Doug Currie fired the trustees of the Eastern School District. That followed two years of internal division after the closure of eight schools in 2009.

The eastern and western boards were merged in 2012, and the P.E.I. Public Schools Branch has been governed by various appointees ever since.

Elected trustees will serve a three-year term and may seek re-election. Their term starts Jan. 1.

The school board election required voters to register for a mail-in ballot, and the deadline has already passed.

Trustee ballots have to be mailed back to the Elections P.E.I. office by noon on Nov.10to count. Unofficial results will be displayed that day.