Halton District School Board welcomes Student Trustees for 2025-2026 school year
The Halton District School Board is pleased to announce secondary school students Kaitlyn Hou and Jay Xu as the Board’s Student Trustees for the next school year (2025-2026). These students were the successful candidates elected to the role by their peers through an online election that took place on Thursday, Feb. 20. This year’s election included 19 candidates and a total of approximately 3,970 students casting votes. Hou is returning as Student Trustee for a second term, while Xu will be entering the role for the first time.
Hou is a Grade 11 student at Abbey Park High School and Xu is a Grade 10 student at White Oaks Secondary School.
The new term of office officially begins on Aug. 1, 2025. In recognizing the results of the Student Trustee election, Trustees of the Halton District School Board welcomed Hou and Xu to their roles as Student Trustees for the 2025-2026 school year. Hou and Xu shared the following thoughts about their upcoming terms as Student Trustee.
Quotes
“I am incredibly grateful and honoured to have been selected as a Student Trustee from such a well-qualified group of candidates,” says Xu. “To advocate for the student body that has supported and helped me so much throughout the election, I cannot thank you all enough. Now, I look forward to working alongside my peers, the Board and the community as a whole to fulfill the expectations for which I was elected, and to ensure that our beliefs and calls for meaningful changes resound across Halton!”
“I am beyond humbled and honoured to have been elected for another term as one of the two HDSB Student Trustees representing Halton,” says Hou. “My absolute favourite part of being a Student Trustee is the connections and relationships I was able to build. After learning the ropes, starting passion projects and connecting with so many incredible, inspiring students from across Halton over the past year, I feel nothing but excitement and anticipation for the continued growth, development and change that is to come!”
"The Halton District School Board is pleased to congratulate 2025-2026 Student Trustees Kaitlyn Hou and Jay Xu," says Chair Amy Collard.
"Student Trustees play a vital role in representing all HDSB students, amplifying their voices at the board table and collaborating with Trustees to make a positive impact in Halton schools. The Board values student perspectives as we work to equip our students with the resources and opportunities they need to achieve their goals. We look forward to working with Kaitlyn and Jay in support of student learning, achievement and well-being.”
HDSB 2024-2028 Multi-Year Strategic Plan
The 2024-2028 Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) focuses on six commitments, with the overall purpose of setting direction and prioritizing the collective actions of all stakeholders to ensure our efforts as an organization are aligned and coordinated to support the more than 67,000 students, 11,000 staff and the broader HDSB community.
Background resources:
For additional information, contact: Sommer Sweetman, Communications Officer
communications@hdsb.ca 905-335-3663, Toll free: 1-877-618-3456
