Whoever is elected as the next trustee of the Orillia area will be responsible for the public school board’s most populous region.
At this week’s business and facilities standing committee meeting, Simcoe County District School Board trustees approved a change to trustees’ representation areas. That will mean the trustee for the area, which currently includes Orillia and Ramara Township, will also be responsible for Severn Township.
The move makes sense, according to Orillia and Ramara Trustee Jodi Lloyd.
“It’s a logical pairing because the majority of students in Severn feed into Orillia high schools,” she said.
The board is required to go through this process every municipal election year, reviewing its student population and realigning trustee representation areas as needed. There is “incredible growth” in the south end of the county, Lloyd noted, but not enough right now to warrant changes to trustee distribution there.
If this recommendation is ratified by the board at its meeting later this month, it will be the second change to local representation in as many municipal elections. The local trustee used to be responsible for Orillia alone, but Ramara was added ahead of the previous election. With the addition of Severn, Lloyd, if she runs again and is re-elected, would be responsible for three more schools — Coldwater Public School, Marchmont Public School and Severn Shores Public School.
Lloyd feels she would be up to the task. Before becoming trustee for Orillia and Ramara, she represented an area that included Severn.
“I get a lot of calls from the Severn area and I know those schools really well. There is a natural tie there,” she said. “To me, it’s manageable.”
The municipal election will take place Oct. 22.