Seven incumbents to join newcomers Manson, Bird on SD73 board

Oct 17, 2026 | 10:57 PM

KAMLOOPS — Seven incumbent trustees will return to the Kamloops-Thompson School District (SD73) board, including four of five who represented the City of Kamloops.

Cole Hickson was the top voter getter Saturday (Oct. 17) as he was elected to his second term as trustee with 11,937 votes (39.4 per cent). Both Heather Grieve and John O’Fee will be embarking on their third term as they finished in second and third place with 9,658 and 9,144 votes respectively.

Grieve got 31.9 per cent of the vote while O’Fee had 30.2 per cent.

Newcomer Troylana Manson was fourth with 8,122 votes (26.8 per cent), while incumbent Kathleen Karpuk, who has been trustee since 2008, rounded out the field with 7,290 votes (24.1 per cent.)

Newcomer Deb Piggin (6,986 votes, 23.1 per cent) and incumbent Jo Kang (6,078 votes, 20.1 per cent) finished in sixth and seventh place respectively.

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In Area 2 (North Thompson), incumbent Shelley Sim squeezed out a narrow win with 338 votes to Lee Onslow’s 335. Sim, who was also elected mayor of Clearwater, finished with 50.2 per cent of the vote, while Onslow, who was acclaimed as TNRD Area B Director, finished with 49.8 per cent.

Similarly, in Area 5 (Logan Lake), incumbent Cara McKelvey, who has been a trustee since 2011, was reelected with 307 votes (54.6 per cent). McKelvey defeated challenger Marie McGivern, who finished with 255 votes (45.4 per cent).

New trustee Bronwen Bird was acclaimed in Area 3 (Barriere-Little Fort) after four-term trustee Rhonda Kershaw did not seek re-election. Incumbent Diane Jules was also acclaimed in Area 4 (Chase). She was first elected to the SD73 board of education in 2018.

by CFJC Today

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Seven incumbents to join newcomers Manson, Bird on SD73 board

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