After two years serving as the vice-chair of Trillium Lakelands District School Board’s (TLDSB) trustees, Anne Cool has handed in her resignation.     

Cool, who represented electors in the riding of Huntsville/Lake of Bays, has accepted a full-time human resources position with ShawCor, a company in the oil and gas industry, which requires her to live and work in Toronto.  

“I have many mixed feelings about leaving Trillium Lakelands District School

Board,” Cool said following a special meeting of the board on Monday. “I feel I brought something to the table. I wasn’t expecting life to provide this new opportunity at this particular time.”

Cool’s resignation is effective immediately, and this week, TLDSB administration is in the midst of posting an advertisement for interested candidates to fill the position.

Rick Johnson, trustee chairperson, stated that he shares his colleague’s “mixed feelings.”

“Anne is right,” he said. “She has truly brought so much to our board table discussions. It will not be a matter of replacing her dedication, commitment, and expertise; it will be a matter of finding out what skills a new trustee will bring to the table.”

Cool indicated that not only did she enjoy her time as a trustee for Huntsville, but she learned valuable lessons in which she will be applying to her new job.

“There truly is no way to accurately describe the reward that comes from dedication to education,” she said. “Thank you to each of the voters who believed I could make a difference on their behalf. I think our Huntsville schools are proof that together we are better.”

Cool is the past president of Education Huntsville, a non-profit organization established to enhance and promote lifelong educational opportunities in the area. In April of this year, she proposed that the board refer the motion to discontinue the alternate school year program to the next meeting of the board and “explore new and creative ideas to continue the program in Huntsville Public School.” However, after a year-long campaign, the alternate school year could not attract enough students to keep it running and the board pulled the plug on the program. As a trustee, Cool was also involved in the debate on the board’s new Code of Conduct policy and procedure, which had to be revised to meet the requirements of Bill 212: an act to amend the Education Act in respect of behaviour, discipline and safety. On behalf of the music students at Huntsville High School, Cool advocated for a change in board policy to allow students to go on overseas trips for four days instead of three, which could be planned around weekends and long holiday weekends. Not only did she convince fellow trustees to advocate for $1 million in funding for a new technology wing at the high school, which is in the process of being completed, but Cool also played an important part in pushing for French immersion programs in Muskoka. In 2004, Cool won the YWCA’s Women of Distinction award for education.

Cool stated that her biggest disappointment serving as a trustee was watching the alternate school year dissolve and she believes, “We should have tried harder to make the program work.”

“I’m sad to leave,” she said, adding that she truly enjoyed being so involved in the Huntsville community. “I am slowly extricating myself from Huntsville involvement and my new job requires a fair bit of global travel. The biggest reason I hemmed and hawed about leaving and relocating to the city is because of my grandson and son. I hope someone from Huntsville will put in an application because we need the Muskoka representation. It was a tough decision for me, but this was the right time.”