Meet Our Trustees

bailey Helga Bailey Contact

Representing Town of Amherstburg,Town of LaSalle
• Chairperson of the Board

Helga Bailey developed her deep commitment to public education during her 32 year teaching career. Since retirement, she has transferred her considerable skills for helping young people prosper to her role as Trustee. Trustee Bailey has also accumulated a tremendous amount of diverse experience through her community involvement and volunteerism which she uses to strengthen her advocacy for students. She has served on Amherstburg Municipal Council and Essex County Council as well as with the Kidney Foundation, Essex County Housing Authority, the Children’s Aid Society and the May Court Club. She encourages parents and community members to be active members in our school communities so that students can become valuable contributors to society.
Helga, her husband Bob and their sons, Bryan and Adam are all graduates of General Amherst High School and the University of Windsor.

burgess Julia Burgess Contact

Representing Town of Kingsville, Town of Essex
• Chairperson, Operations and Finance
• Supervised Alternative Learning - Alternate

Julia Burgess is an ardent advocate for improving opportunities that can enrich students’ experience and lead to heightened levels of achievement. In her fourth term as a Greater Essex County District School Board Trustee she sits on many Standing, Permanent and ad-hoc committees that deal with a wide spectrum of issues that concern public education in the 21st century. Her experience also includes fives years of post-secondary education in the faculties of Engineering and Science at the University of Windsor as well as a personal and active commitment to the arts.
Trustee Burgess also serves on the Trustees’ provincial organization, Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA), by contributing to the provincial Education Program Work Team and as the elected Regional Vice -President, (Western Region).
Married since 1976, she lives in Kingsville and has one son currently attending University.

gretsky Lisa Gretzky Contact

Representing Windsor Wards 3, 4 and 10
• Vice-Chairperson, Education Committee
• Greater Essex County Parent Involvement Committee – Alternate

Lisa Gretzky began actively supporting public education as a member of her children’s school advisory council for four years and served as treasurer/bookkeeper for two of those years. She also co-chaired the playground committee that focused on planning and fundraising for playground equipment and various other resources to promote physical health.
Her reason for becoming a Trustee was to ensure that all children had the same learning opportunities. She also wants parents and community members to feel they have a voice for their concerns.
Trustee Gretzky has a decade of experience as a dental assistant and operates her own home-based business. She is married and has two children currently in elementary school.

Shelley Harding-Smith Contact

Representing Windsor Wards 1, 2 and 9
• Chairperson – Education Committee
• Special Education Advisory Committee

Shelley Harding-Smith believes that education is the portal to active and productive participation in society. Her personal commitment to life-long learning has enabled her to graduate from St. Clair College and enjoy a rewarding career as a licensed Master Electrician in the automotive industry, as well as serve her community as a Public School Board Trustee.
Her record as a Trustee demonstrates a strong sense of responsibility to everyone with a stake in a strong, publicly funded education system.
Professionally, Trustee Harding-Smith helped pioneer the entry of women into non-traditional occupations for skilled trades and technology.
As a community activist, she is passionate about preserving all aspects of history and heritage and belongs to Friends of the Court – Mackenzie Hall.
Trustee Harding-Smith has 4 children and 6 grandchildren.

Connie Howe-Buckler Contact

Representing Town of Lakeshore, Town of Tecumseh
• Special Education Advisory Committee
• Ontario Public School Boards’ Association - Board of Directors – Alternate
• Ontario Public School Boards’ Association Voting Delegate

Trustee Howe-Buckler has a passion for education and believes that all students deserve the best learning opportunities and environments that we can provide. She gained her perspective on public education as an involved parent to three daughters. She was an active participant on school councils for fifteen years and served on the School Council Chairs’ Network for ten. Provincially, Trustee Howe-Buckler represented parents from London to Windsor on the Minister of Education’s Parent’s Advisory Board.
Trustee Howe-Buckler has also served on Board committee which advised administration on accommodations, extra-curricular policy and the Secondary Schools Task Force.

Tom Kilpatrick Contact

Representing Windsor Wards 3, 4 and 10
• Audit Committee

Tom Kilpatrick is committed to improving student achievement and he supports all programs that are designed to help students develop their full potential, a position he has backed up as a Greater Essex County District School Board Trustee for more than 30 years.
Tom’s experience is a tremendous asset to the Board. He served a number of years as its Chairperson. He recently retired as the Coordinator of the Economics and Management Department at St. Clair College, he continues in his role as a Sessional Instructor at the University of Windsor.

lovell Cheryl Lovell Contact

Representing Windsor Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8
• Supervised Alternative Learning
• Ontario Public School Boards’ Association - Board of Directors
• Ontario Public School Boards’ Association Voting Delegate – Alternate

Cheryl Lovell brings a distinctive perspective to the GECDSB’s Board of Trustees. She has always had a firm belief that every aspect of our lives is affected by technology. Windsor’s industry is dependent on the skilled people who design, build, maintain and operate the infrastructure of our society. Trustee Lovell contends that in order to compete for international markets the school board needs to establish strong, consistent, accountable and sustainable technological programs for all of our students.
Trustee Lovell retired from the Greater Essex County District School Board after 35 years of teaching, assessing and writing curriculum for the Ministry of Education, developing technology programs and presenting workshops. She remains Vice Chair of the Ontario Council for Technology Education.
Retirement affords Trustee Lovell the flexibility to meet with school councils, and community organizations as the need arises.
She and her husband Lloyd have two children and two grandchildren.

Kim McKinley Contact

Representing Windsor Wards 1, 2 and 9
• Vice-Chairperson – Operations and Finance
• Greater Essex County Parent Involvement Committee

Kim McKinley demonstrated her passion for education for 13 years as a volunteer in our public school system before becoming a Trustee in 2006. She was recognized in 2005 by the Gretaer Essex County District School Board with a “Champions for Education” award for her volunteer service at Oakwood Public School and Massey Secondary School. Trustee McKinley also received the United Way/Windsor Star “Light the Way--City” award for many years of volunteerism and leadership in the community, which she maintains as a supporter of the local area Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's "Walk to Cure Diabetes".
Trustee McKinley has a sincere interest in enhancing the educational opportunities available for our students. She and her husband Bob have two children who both graduated from Vincent Massey Secondary School.

Gale Simko-Hatfield Contact

Representing Windsor Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8
• Audit Committee

Gale Simko-Hatfield believes that the priority in education today must be to assure students of success by providing effective programs and efficient services that allow them to achieve their full potential.
Her public advocacy began in 1991 when she was elected to the former Windsor Public School Board. She has held every position of added responsibility available within the Board, including eight years as Chair of the Board from 2002 to 2010.
She has extended her community service to include the founding of the “Do Good Divas”, a non-profit group that supports health-related programs in Windsor and Essex County through fund raising initiatives.
Her two children attended public school in Windsor and graduated from Riverside Secondary School.

taves Dave Taves Contact

Representing Town of Leamington, Pelee Island
• Vice-Chairperson of the Board
• Supervised Alternative Learning for Excused Pupils

Dave Taves has followed a very traditional and fundamental course to the position of Public School Board Trustee. He began by simply being involved in the education of his two children. That led him to serve on school council and was eventually elected chairperson. Trustee Taves also participated on Board accommodation and transition committees before becoming a Trustee.
Currently serving his third term as representative for Pelee Island and Leamington, Trustee Taves has not altered his view that parental involvement in a child’s education is very important to student achievement. He feels that anticipating the needs of tomorrow’s graduates is our greatest challenge.
Trustee Taves is married with 2 children, a son attending college and a daughter at Leamington District Secondary School.

taves Chris Adams - Student Trustee Contact

Chris Adams hopes to make a positive difference as a Student Trustee of the Greater Essex County District School Board. A Grade 11 student at Leamington District Secondary School, Mr. Adams enjoys taking part in the extracurricular activities his school has to offer and is the Minister of Athletics in LDSS’s Student Parliament. Following graduation, Mr. Adams hopes to pursue a career in the field of business.
Mr. Adams is looking forward to the opportunity to enhance the student experience.

taves Jeremy Houston - Student Trustee Contact

As Student Trustee, Jeremy is looking forward to collaborating with Student Senate to continue the great work being done to create a safe and inclusive learning environment for all. Jeremy is committed to focusing his energy on raising awareness around youth mental health issues which can impact student learning and their ability to reach their full potential.
Jeremy is in his final year at Vincent Massey Secondary School. He is the Communications Officer for the Public Board Council for the Ontario Student Trustee Association (OSTA- AECO). In his spare time, Jeremy enjoys playing tennis and soccer, spending time with family and friends, and volunteering within the community. Upon graduation, Jeremy plans to study Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario. He is looking forward to a great year as Student Trustee!