New chair and vice-chair named to HSD board

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This article was published 07/09/2024 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new chair and vice-chair were named to the Hanover School Division board on Tuesday night.

Trustee Jeff Friesen was voted to head the board and he said he was surprised by the win as he was not expecting to get the position.

“I’m looking forward to this year and we have a great group of trustees and we’ve gone through some turmoil in the past and have grown closer together and we’re looking forward to the challenges of our future year,” he said.

Friesen, a fourth-generation farmer near Kleefeld, has been married for 31 years and has five children. He’s been on the board for two years of which last year he was vice-chair. This is his first time as chair.

Friesen couldn’t say how he will be different from other chairs nor what his leadership style is, but he did say he’s looking forward to working as a team with trustee Dallas Wiebe who is the new vice-chair. He said he decided to run for chair as it gave him the opportunity to build and grow as a trustee.

“There are divisions that only have limitations at two years for chair, having a chair for 15 years sounds like a great idea, but it really takes a lot of the responsibility out of the other trustees to really know what is going on and being involved.”

The main item on his priority list is to make sure Grunthal’s Green Valley School has its expansion in place. In August, the board announced that the province had deferred the addition of a school gym and three classrooms. The school had removed three portable classrooms in preparation for the $12 million expansion and is now left with a tight space for those classes. The province will refund the division $650,000 it spent on design and permits, but will not fund the $900,000 for new portables.

“That is a concern to us that we get that put back to the books and not wait for a five-year program,” said Friesen.

Wiebe runs a farm with his family in the Niverville-Ste Agathe area. He’s been on the board for two years and this is the first time he has held a leadership position with the board. He said he’s up for the challenge and ready to get involved to serve the community.

“I kind of came in (to the board) not really having any expectations on things or any preconceived ideas. Just really came in open minded and learned a lot and it’s been great meeting everybody and working with everybody here it’s been a joy.”