Wayne Peeters Appointed to Fill BWDSB Trustee Vacancy for Southgate & Grey Highlands
Bluewater School Board appoints Wayne Peeters as trustee for Southgate and Grey Highlands after vacancy created by removal of Janice Kaikkonen.
The Bluewater District School Board (BWDSB) has appointed Wayne Peeters as trustee for the Township of Southgate and the Municipality of Grey Highlands, following a vacancy left earlier this year.
Peeters was sworn in during a Special Regular Meeting of the Board on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
His appointment follows a public recruitment campaign and will remain in effect through the remainder of the 2022–2026 term, in alignment with the current municipal election cycle.
According to the board announcement, Peeters brings over 30 years of experience in education and has resided in the Southgate/Grey Highlands area since 2001.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Wayne to the Board of Trustees and look forward to the experience and insight he will bring to our important work in serving the students and families of Bluewater,” said Board Chair Jane Thomson in a statement.
She also extended thanks to the many other applicants and encouraged them to consider running in the next municipal election in 2026.
Under Ontario’s Education Act, school boards must fill a trustee vacancy within 90 days of declaring the seat vacant. In this case, the board voted in February to pursue an appointment process after confirming that the runner-up candidates from the 2022 municipal election were no longer available to serve.
The board is composed of nine elected trustees, one appointed First Nations trustee, and two student trustees.
The vacancy was created in February 2025, when the board removed then-trustee Janice Kaikkonen under Section 228(1)(b) of the Education Act, which stipulates that a trustee’s seat is vacated following three consecutive unauthorized absences.
Kaikkonen, who had represented Southgate and Grey Highlands, stated her absences were due to her husband’s illness and that she had attempted to attend the most recent meeting but was denied access. The board, however, said she had been provided with the necessary login details for remote participation.
Kaikkonen’s time on the board was marked by a series of controversial actions and repeated conflicts with fellow trustees and student representatives, including incidents involving anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, public disruptions, and the unauthorized promotion of materials from the National Citizens Inquiry.
Peeters’ appointment marks the conclusion of that chapter and the beginning of new representation for the Southgate and Grey Highlands communities on the Bluewater board.
Related:
