A former school board chairman and director of RVS for two terms for Ward Three representing Airdrie will end another term Oct. 18 in the municipal election.

Todd Brand announced his candidacy this week saying he was a key member of a highly effective Rocky View school board that has accomplished a lot over the past four years.

These things include increased support from school councils and improved communication and advocacy. He supported the council’s efforts to maintain transparency and increase community engagement and has been a strong advocate for the council’s advocacy role.

Brand was Vice Chairman of the Board for four years and served the first two years of the current term as Chairman of the Board. He used his experience as a professional parliamentarian to improve board operations and represented the needs of Airdrie students and parents while ensuring the benefit of all schools in Rocky View communities. Brand has also served on several committees including policy advice, advocacy and schools.

Brand said the decision to run for a third term as school trustee for Airdrie was not that difficult.

“For me, I just find the Trusteeship job difficult but something that I really enjoy. I think serving as a Trustee is just a really effective way to ensure that the voice of the community is reflected in it. local education. “

While the past year and a half has been fraught with challenges for everyone involved in the education system, Brand said, with respect to the work administration and staff had to do to navigate COVID-19, the work of the advice was easy.

“They really rose to the challenge of trying to keep education as good and efficient as possible in the face of a pandemic and in the face of bottlenecks and restrictions. So I think all of us as administrators would say our admiration. and our respect to our staff has grown and we respect everything they have done. “

Brand said the board tried to listen to the many voices that were reacting in different ways to everything that was happening and to be responsive to those voices.

While the upcoming school year will be challenging, Brand believes the information from the government has been pretty clear that although many restrictions have been removed, the protocols will continue to be in place.

“We know that there are families in our communities who would like many restrictions to remain in place, but there are many more who would like to see them removed. Just as we have done from the start, we let’s try to keep the safety of children at the forefront of our decision-making. “

The new school board will face many challenges for the Rocky View School District. Brand thinks the biggest of these will be familiar: the need for more student space for a growing division.

“Airdrie appears to be growing again and, of course, the economy has obviously been rocked by what happened with COVID. But, it looks like there is a period of growth again, so we need to continue to defend these new schools. “

Brand and his family have lived in Airdrie for over 15 years. He has a record of community engagement, ranging from his time on the Community Services Advisory Board, coaching more than 25 children’s soccer teams in the city, and serving as the sponsorship coordinator for the festival des. Airdrie lights.

He runs a consulting business where he serves organizations as a registered professional parliamentarian and trains board members on how to improve the effectiveness of their meetings. Brand is a former teacher with a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Arts in Leadership and Management.

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