With six of the seven School District No. 74 (Gold Trail) trustee areas having acclaimed candidates, the only race was in Rural Area “D” (Cache Creek and the surrounding rural areas, including Walhachin, 16 Mile, and the Bonaparte Reserve), where incumbent Carmen Ranta has been re-elected.
Ranta received 257 votes. The only other candidate in the race, Crista Ross, received 212 votes.
In a separate race, Ranta was also elected to Cache Creek council as a first-time councillor.
Ranta has been the Area “D” school trustee for 20 years. She was first elected in 2002, when she defeated Keith Zabotel. The last time she faced an election was in 2008, when she defeated Brenda Antoine by 391 votes to 174. She run unopposed as the Area “D” trustee in 2011, 2014, and 2018.
“The most important issue for our area is that Cache Creek Elementary School is not considered for closure,” Ranta told the Journal. “Schools are the heart of communities. Families and students love their experience at Cache Creek Elementary School. I work hard to prevent closure of our school.”
Ranta feels that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is the top issue facing SD74 at this time.
“Student mental health, learning, and sense of connection with schools are impacted… We are bringing in more supports, training, programs, and services for students and staff across the district to help.”
Ross taught Grades 2 through 7 for 11 years, and has been a resident of Cache Creek since 2019. She told the Journal that safe and equitable transportation for all students was important, and identified staff recruitment and retention as an area that needed to be addressed within the school district.
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