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PRINCE ALBERT — The City of Prince Albert’s Parks and Open Space Manager has decided to enter his name for the position of trustee in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division.

Tim Yeaman said he decided to run because of his wife Angela Yeaman, who is currently vice-principal of John Diefenbaker School.

"I have had the privilege of attending her school and the schools that she's worked in and see the struggles first hand within our schools and the need for someone or a group of individuals to advocate for the needs of some of these schools,” Yeaman said.

"I have watched my wife last 25 years in the school system, (and) not just here but in Alberta. It doesn't matter where you go, our children are the light of our future and I think we owe it to them to advocate for them and to do the very best by them.”

Yeaman said he wants to be able to step in and help fill those gaps.

“Life is hard right now, and I think we need to make it a little bit easier and by throwing my name into the hat,” he explained. “(I’m hoping to be able to do that and to be able to use some of my knowledge and my abilities to be able to advocate and to look at things differently.”

He said that includes advocate at the provincial level to make Saskatchewan Rivers the best that it can be, with the understanding that every school division is different.  

“The needs are different but our main priority has to be for the Sask Rivers School Division and making sure that we don't accept anything less than that what is best for the children that attend our public school system,” he said.

If elected as a trustee, Yeaman said he would offer years of experience both as a parent to children who are now in university and as an employee of the City of Prince Albert.

"I have built lots of relationships and over that time I've real conversations with parents that are struggling to find their kids have their needs met,” he said.

He wants to ensure that professionals are there to help parents navigate if they have children with special needs.  

He added that he is a person of great passion and integrity and will see projects through to the end.

Yeaman said children are our legacy, and the goal is to advocate for them and their families so they have all they need to keep learning.

In his position with the City, Yeaman said he’s had to work with different people from different organizations to get things done. He said that skill would serve him well as a trustee.

“I've built lots of great relationships over the years and to be able to utilize some of that and bring it into a school board trustee position is certainly a benefit,’ Yeaman said.

Yeaman added that his work also gives him an ability to think outside the box. He said he wants the education in Prince Albert and Saskatchewan to be the best it can be.

"Somebody has to make the tough decision and I think the trustees need to lead that conversation and ensure that our education is on a solid footing moving forward over the next four to five years and then look at how are we going to build out from there,” he said.

“I think we've got some great administrators within the school system. We've got some great trustees and lots of great individuals who are running for trustee position and I would vote for anyone of them,” he added.

The Municipal and School Board elections are scheduled for Nov. 13. There are 12 candidates running for five urban trustee positions in Saskatchewan Rivers. See previous issues of the Herald for profiles on the other candidates.