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Vol. 19, No. 33, Wednesday, July 10, 2024 www.LamontLeader.com
Lamont Mayor resigns Kirk Perrin leaving office, citing unspecified mistakes BY JANA SEMENIUK The Mayor of Lamont, Kirk Perrin, has resigned his seat as of July 9. Perrin sent a letter to current interim Chief Administrative Officer Tyler Edworthy, in addition to the Lamont Leader advising of his resignation. “My decision comes in light of the challenges following the departure of our former CAO and the mistakes I made during that period,” Perrin stated in his letter. “I sincerely apologize for any negative impacts my actions may have caused and for any further repercussions that may arise from this decision.” Lamont’s former CAO, Rick Bastow, left the position in Dec, though no reason was given in a press release.
Although Perrin alluded to issues around Bastow’s departure in his letter, he declined further comment on what the challenges were once Bastow left and what mistakes he made during that time. Bastow was hired as CAO in Sept. 2021. “I am unable to comment due to confidentiality agreements,” he said in a later interview. Perrin said in his letter that he was regretful of the resignation and remained proud of the accomplishments since he came into office two and a half years ago. He cites spearheading the snow clearing policy as a junior councillor as one of his biggest achievements, in addition to leading fundraising initia-
tives for the Mountain Bike Skills Park and contributing to the Town’s largest capital works project in Lamont’s history. “I am proud of the accomplishments we achieved together. As Mayor, leading the Council through the successful and timely execution of the largest capital works project in our history, incepting, fundraising, and building Tawow Park (and) initiating the Valedictorian Award for Lamont High School,” he said. “It has been a privilege to serve this community, but now I must prioritize my well-being and consider what is best for my family.” Perrin was first elected to council in 2017 and won the mayor seat in 2021, over long-time mayor Bill Skinner.
Former Town of Lamont Mayor Kirk Perrin
Lamont County schools barely impacted by EIPS teacher cuts expected this fall BY JANA SEMENIUK Elk Island Public Schools reported in their 2024-2025 budget report that they will decrease staffing by 12 full time teachers this fall; 10 will be at the school level while two from Central Services. The EIPS Communications department said the reason is largely due to the Mental Health in School pilot project ending for EIPS in 2024. The Government of Alberta invested $50 million, in 2023, into 80 school mental health pilot projects across the province. The project sought to encourage student well-being by providing supports
and services such as counselling, social and emotional learning, student assessment, in addition to family and parentoriented supports and training for school staff. The EIPS Communications Department said the decrease at Lamont Elementary is up to 0.11 fte (full time equivalent) which equates to approximately three hours a week, while the
decrease to Lamont High School will be larger at 0.86 fte. The Communications Department said that prior to the mental health funding, Lamont High School was staffed with 18.5 fte (number of teaching staff) and once the funding was in place, one additional teacher was hired to bring the fte to 19.3. The department confirmed
that once funding ended in June of 2024, Lamont High School’s fte would return to 18.5 this fall, but would not confirm if any teachers would be let go to achieve the decrease. “Within Lamont County, very little change is anticipated in certificated (teaching) staff at the elementary level — the decrease ranging from 0 to 0.11 FTE,” the department said by email. “Meanwhile, at Lamont High, a slight drop in certificated staff is expected — dropping by 0.86 FTE, which works out to less than one FTE.” The department confirmed that Mundare School and Bruderheim School will remain unaffected.