KENORA – Following the resignation of Denise Baxter in late March, the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board has appointed former Chief of Mishkeegogamang First Nation Connie Gray-McKay as the new Indigenous trustee.
The school board announced the resignations of two trustees in a release on Friday, with the second being Kenora Trustee Teika Newton, who resigned on May 29.
The board gave thanks to Baxter and Newton for demonstrating “a fierce commitment to student achievement during their time on the Board of Trustees,” and spoke to their lasting impact on students and staff.
According to Baxter, at the time of her resignation the board had been “seeing a very positive and sharp upward trend for First Nations, Metis and Inuit students.”
“There’s a board of 11 very intelligent and informed people, but as boards do sometimes have, there were differences of opinion” she said. “I will say that I did not agree with the direction that the trustee’s leadership was going and was unable to influence it, and as an Indigenous person it became a space where I felt quite unsafe in that setting.”
Baxter said that while she was proud to serve her three and a half years with the board of trustees, she stepped away when she wasn’t able to have a positive impact.
“School board trustee (…) is about ensuring that students are receiving a solid education, that they’re learning, and their health and well-being and personal safety is looked after, and within the ministry’s mandate there are certain things that we have to make sure happen” she said.
“Respecting all of that, to me, is the work of the governance role of a trustee. And when that really ceased to be the topic of conversation, it just wasn’t something that I was really interested in continuing to be a part of.”
Baxter is focused now in her role as Vice Provost of Indigenous Initiatives at Lakehead University.
The school board’s new Indigenous Trustee, Connie Gray-McKay “brings to the role many years of experience as a former Chief of Mishkeegogamang First Nation, and is a strong advocate of First Nations and youth voices” said the school board in a release on Friday.
Gray-Mckay’s grandson was heavily involved within the board, having served as a student trustee in his time as a student, and has recently helped developed the Board Strategic Plan, according to the release.
Kenora Trustee Teika Newton told Newswatch that her resignation Friday was unrelated to Baxter’s, and that she determined that she can serve students in better ways.
“I felt that it was the right call at the right time for me to step back and direct my energies elsewhere,” said Newton.
Newswatch has reached out to KPDSB for comment regarding Baxter’s resignation, and to Gray-McKay regarding her appointment.
