Mark Bailey, chairman of the Upper Grand District School Board, was elected 1st Vice-President of the Ontario Public School Board Association (OPSBA) on June 8 at the organization’s annual general meeting in Huntsville. The organization represents public school boards and school authorities that serve 1.3 million students across the province.
The new position for Bailey, a trustee for Guelph wards 1 and 5, comes just nine months after he was elected 2nd Vice-President in a by-election. Previously he was Central West Regional Vice-President of OPSBA.
“2012 was a particularly challenging year for public education in Ontario,” said Bailey.
“The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association is uniquely situated to act as a strong voice on behalf of all English public school boards and their students, working with union leaders and the provincial government to help rebuild relationships within the education sector. I look forward to applying my experience both locally and provincially to work towards this goal, and to help our schools become even greater places to learn and develop for our students,” he said in a media release from the association.
As chair of the editorial advisory board of “Education Today”, the organization’s thrice-yearly magazine, he is well acquainted with the wide range of issues and innovative ideas for education in Ontario.
He has also been a member of the provincial public school trustee association’s Education Program Work Group and was co-chair of OPSBA’s Information and Communications Technology Committee which authored “What If – Technology in the 21st Century Classroom”.
In December, Bailey was elected by his fellow trustees to serve as chair of the UGDSB for 2013. He was first elected as a public school trustee in 2006, and was returned to office in 2010 for another four-year term.
