THUNDER BAY -- Lakehead Public Schools' director of education will not be running for school trustee after all.
Thunder Bay's city clerk has removed Ian MacRae's name from the list of trustee candidates, stating he is ineligible to run as he is a current employee of the board.
MacRae, set to retire at month's end, would have to have been granted a leave of absence prior to filing his nomination papers in order to qualify for the Oct. 24 ballot. He filed last week.
He said it was a simple misunderstanding of the rules, as set forth in the provincial Municipal Elections Act.
"As I understand it, the Municipal Elections Act requires somebody to no longer be an employee of the board at the time of filing, not at the election date," MacRae said. "That was a bit of a surprise to me. So the timelines of the Municipal Act did not coincide favourable with the terms of my collective agreement with the board.
He said he put his name forward because he wanted to continue the work he'd done for the past five decades at the board, as a teacher, principal and later, an administrator.
"I think the experience that I would bring to a position would be helpful to the board as a whole," MacRae said.
"I'm extremely disappointed. I was very much looking forward to it, to continue working with colleagues that's I've known over the years. The trustee group is embarking on a strategic plan that I think is going to be a model for the province. It's very disheartening at this stage, to be in this situation."
City clerk Krista Power said MacRae was the only candidate who was disqualified after she certified the slate of candidates running for city council and the local school boards in Thunder Bay.
"The legislation is very clear that you cannot be an employee at the time of running as a candidate," Power said on Tuesday morning.
A total of 13 candidates remain in the English Public School Board race.
