West Vancouver, Lions Bay and Bowen Island residents have elected Sheelah Donahue as their new West Vancouver School District trustee.
Donahue topped the polls in a byelection held Saturday to replace former trustee/current West Vancouver-Capilano Conservative MLA Lynn Block.
Donahue finished with 577 votes, or 66.7 per cent overall. Roman Nurpeissov came in second with 194 votes (22.4 per cent) and Neil Jensen finished third with 93 (10.7 per cent).
Donahue, who already served on the school board from 2014 to 2022, said residents in the district can know they’ve elected someone who’s singular priority is student achievement.
“I’m glad to be back to the trustee world and getting back to work soon,” she said. “Having been a trustee for eight years, I can get right back to work with very little orientation. That means less disruption to staff and we just carry on,” she said.
Donahue said her campaign strategy largely focussed on networking with parents who have kids in the school system. That included campaigning in Lions Bay and Bowen Island.
Voter turnout in the byelection, however, was low, with just 864 votes from of an eligible 37,002 voters in the three communities – 2.3 per cent.
Donahue said she wasn’t surprised to see the numbers so low, given that school boards don’t draw as much attention as other levels of government. And the campaign period occurred at a time when many parents were out of town, she added.
“I think it’s very much under the radar. If there had been somebody running for council or the mayor’s spot, that would have been a different ballgame. But one spot, one trustee, spring break – I think all of those things combined together to encourage a low turnout,” she said.
Donahue will be sworn in on April 15.
The District of West Vancouver estimated the byelection would cost $75,000 to $80,000, which legislation requires the school board to reimburse to the municipality out of its own budget.
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