Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools plans to fill a vacant seat at the board table just after the start of next school year.
Trustee Charlene McKay resigned last month and a byelection to choose her replacement will be held Sept. 14.
The board appointing Mark Walsh, school district secretary-treasurer, as byelection's chief electoral officer at a meeting Wednesday, June 26.
Walsh said notices will be posted in the short-term, listing timelines and the start of the nomination period. He said the hope is to follow the blueprint from last byelection.
"What we did was, rather than pepper the district with polling stations on voting day, and costing us an arm and a leg by having to have that many more voting teams, we expanded the number of [early] voting opportunities to be geographically dispersed," Walsh said at the meeting. "We had Gabriola a couple of times, Ladysmith, Lantzville and on the day itself, we had four [stations]."
According to the school district, it is thought that holding the byelection after the Sept. 3 start of the school year will be beneficial.
"The district is committed to ensuring as much access to voting as feasible and we believe that there will be a better turnout when school is in session and community interest will be elevated," said Gillian Robinson, district spokesperson, in an e-mail to the News Bulletin.
The cost of a 2022 byelection, where Naomi Bailey was voted onto the board, was $44,500 and costs are expected to be similar this time around. Just under 1,100 people turned out to vote in the 2022 byelection.
The byelection must be held on a Saturday, no later than 80 days after the appointment of a chief electoral officer, the B.C. School Act mandates.
Natalie Pryce, who works with Nanaimo Association for Community Living, has stated an intention to run for trustee.