New faces abound on Saskatoon Public Schools board

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Kirk Jones has played and coached enough in his life to know a game isn’t over until the final buzzer. To put the result of his race for Saskatoon Public Schools board trustee in a basketball context, he had a strong second half to seal the win.

Jones — a hoops standout at Holy Cross and the University of Saskatchewan, and then a decades-long coach in the city who retired last year from teaching — pulled ahead as the night went on to overtake the field and become the Ward 6 Saskatoon Public Schools board trustee. Lia Storey-Gamble and Kath Stevenson battled for second and third place, while Doug Porteous and Gretchen Peterson were also running. Incumbent Kathleen Brannen was not seeking reelection.

In Ward 1, Tanya Napper defeated Jennifer Barrett,, Zach Nelson and Palash Sanyal. Incumbent Michael Pidwerbeski did not seek reelection this year.

In Ward 5, Jennifer Scherman nearly doubled runner-up Mitchell Sepke. Also in the running were Debbie Miket and Darcy Overland. They were all vying to replace long-time trustee Colleen MacPherson, who did not seek reelection.

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In Ward 8, with incumbent Suzanne Zwarych not seeking reelection, Anne-Marie Rollo dominated the field, easily defeating Connie Kocsis and Lindsay Olver.

In a tight Ward 9 race, Kevin Schmidt edged past Robin Bellamy by just 59 votes: 1,896 to 1,837. Nadine Zettl was also entered in the race to replace incumbent Charmaine Bellamy, who did not seeking reelection.

Five Saskatoon Public Schools incumbents were acclaimed: Vernon Linklater in Ward 2, Donna Banks in Ward 3, Kim Stranden in Ward 4, Ross Tait in Ward 7, and Angela Arneson in Ward 10.

The 10 winning candidates for the Saskatoon Catholic schools board trustees were Diane Boyko, Owen Fortosky, J.R. (Ron) Boechler, Sharon Zakreski-Werbicki, Tim Jelinski, Kate Day (nee McGettigan), Michelle Christopher, Kim Hoffart, Annette Mireau and Eric Olauson.

Other candidates were Brett Florizone, Chelsea Jukes (August), Dana Case, Erik Carey, Erin Lockert, Hudson Byblow,  Jacqueline Gress, Mike St. Amand, Myron Luczka, Richard Kolla, Sandra Molyneux, Shane Keating and Tanya Clarke.

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