The Yukon Teachers' Association will have a new president beginning in July.

The 714-strong membership cast ballots for their president at their annual general meeting on Saturday.

Jim Tredger, the current principal at Jack Hulland Elementary School, took 284 votes on the first ballot and secured the position.

Tredger ousted longtime Yukon educator and current president Sandra Henderson from the position.

Henderson took 151 of the 484 cast votes, while Cully Robinson, the principal at Tantalus School in Carmacks, took 49.

The votes cast represented approximately 67.5 per cent of the association's membership.

There were 235 educators present at the meeting, with the remaining 249 ballots cast by proxy.

A motion passed at the meeting will also see the president get a pay increase, connecting it to the highest rate of pay an education administrator can receive in the Yukon.

The base salary has previously been $86,000. The change will see it increase to a maximum of approximately $111,000.

Tredger is expected to get paid a base rate of $110,000 for his first year in office.

Tredger, 55, said he plans to focus his term in the president's office on class composition and learning conditions.

He added he hopes to focus his work on connecting with teachers within their classrooms and being a real advocate for Yukon educators.

'I'd like to build a strong team for educators,' said Tredger, 'and see education remain a priority.'

Tredger has more than 22 years of experience in education. He has been working in Yukon school administration for 17 years and has been based in Pelly Crossing and Whitehorse Elementary, in addition to his current job with Jack Hulland.

Tredger will be completing the remainder of the academic year with Jack Hulland before taking a leave of absence to begin his job with the teachers' association.

Tredger said he believes in creating an academic environment that allows students to achieve to the best of their ability.

He pointed to the importance of the Food For Learning program, monitoring students attendance and working with parents in addition to focusing on the resources available to teachers to perform their duties.

'I enjoy education, I enjoy kids and I'm a team builder,' he said.

Tredger added Henderson has contributed a great deal on behalf of students and teachers. She has been in education for 52 years, 26 of which were in the territory.

Henderson said she has spent her time as president trying to get more young people involved in the association.

She agreed class composition remains a huge issue in Yukon schools and it is also an area she worked on during her two years as president.

'There are a significant number of young people who need one-on-one,' she said.

Henderson, who introduced French immersion to the Yukon in 1981, said she felt she was able to ensure the association's francophone numbers were more actively engaged during her tenure.

She also placed a universal feeding program for students as a priority.

Governance of the organization itself has also been an issue, Henderson added.

'An organization needs to look at its internal governance,' she said.

The need for the organization to look inward appeared over the weekend, she said.

An annual general meeting must have 35 per cent of its voting membership available for quorum to be achieved.

There were points during the meeting that there were not enough members and proxy votes were in the room, said Henderson, and caused important items to go un-discussed and not voted on.

Reports from standing committees, constitutional policy changes and membership motions fell to the wayside because of a lack of quorum at the meeting, she said.

'There are some internal things we need to deal with,' said Henderson.

Annual meetings are a one-time-a-year event for the association to conduct its business.

'It is not a time to have fun,' said Henderson. 'AGMs are to deal with the business of the past year as well as the business of the future year.'

In its current state, Henderson said, the governance of the association 'continues to be a concern.

'Our membership needs to make a profound decision about how it wants to function,' she said.