After nearly 16 years as a trustee with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB), Gary Brohman is not running in the fall election.
“Approximately 80 commencement speeches; the meetings? I won’t add up,” Brohman said with a chuckle while seated at the kitchen table of his Haliburton home.
There have also been many kilometres of driving over a vast TLDSB region to attend school board meetings.
Brohman had a contender when running for his first term in office, but was acclaimed the last three.
“It’s quite an honour to put your name forth in the public and be elected (or acclaimed),” Brohman said. He added that being a part of the TLDSB team had been a “pleasure.”
The former Hal High principal said he made the decision half way through this term to retire. He said it is purely based on age. At 81, he finds night driving to meetings in places such as Lindsay more difficult.
Asked for tangible examples of things he was able to achieve for our area, or decisions he was able to influence, the former football coach pauses.
“It is really difficult because the role of a trustee is a governance role, versus the operational issues. So, to make change as one trustee, you need a team. And that part of making tangible changes is basically, simply, this: if you ask questions, you might not get the answers you want, but it sticks with people.”
Brohman said his motto has always been “to make education one step better each and every day. It’s simplistic, but the way you do that is ask questions.”
He added, “I’m proud of being a listener to the moms and dads and the kids of this constituency.” He noted that has meant giving advice, and directing parents to the right people at the school board to get answers.
He’s also proud of the free advice he has given students at grads over the years, with one of his favourite expressions being “go to class, go to class, go to class.” He has also challenged them to have dreams.
Often the one who gets the biggest cheer at commencements, Brohman attributes that to “kindness works. Power doesn’t work.”
A former teacher, vice-principal, and principal, he knows all about policies and procedures. However, “when your child’s in front of me? I don’t see policies and procedures. I see the child, so kindness works.”
He uses the analogy of being pulled over by the police for doing 110 km/hr in an 80 km/hr zone and having the officer knock it down to 90 km/hr.
“When that child came in front of me. I always wanted to knock it down to 90.”
He acknowledges big changes in education over the past 16 years, including Bill 101, officially named the Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026, which changes how public school boards are run and how student grades are calculated.
He said it has led to a diminished trustee role.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the calls I get are from parents on operational issues. So, all you can do is listen, advocate, send it to the director or superintendent. I don’t have the privilege of disagreeing.”
It used to be that trustees could fire directors of education, for example, but no longer have that power.
That said, Brohman thinks the TLDSB and local schools, in particular, are in good shape.
At Hal High graduations, he encourages students to look into the audience and see alumni who have moved onto the trades and other professions, such as doctors and lawyers.
Brohman said it’s been an “honour and privilege” to serve, and “how thankful I am of my constituents’ support.”
