Community Action Towards Children's Health Questionnaire

As an addendum to your questions I would like to add the following:According to the Early Development Instrument, 30% of kindergarten children are considered “vulnerable” and this is trending upward. It is my opinion that oneof the factors related to this is parenting. As a School Trustee I will promote parent education, such as Early Learning for Families (ELFF) in the hope of helping parents to better nurture and support their children, thus better preparing them for kindergarten.

1. In what ways will you help make your community more child friendly (for example: safe routes to school and access toservices), and how will you report your progress?

First of all, the main function of the Board of School Trustees is the governance of a quality education for our children, which makes the work of a School Trustee child friendly just by definition. I have always used the slogan “Is it good for kids?” in all aspects of my experience as an educator, and I will continue to do so.

Regarding what I will actually do as a Trustee to make my community more child friendly, I will listen to the concerns of community members and bring those items to the table. In addition, I have some concerns myself that I will certainly be bringing up when our Board meets, namely, safe routes to school and the erosion of services to students with special needs.

2. How will you help children in your community find housing that is safe, comfortable and does not cost more than 30% of thefamily budget, and how will you report your progress?

As a School Trustee I will promote communication between schools and supportive agencies like CATCH, BC Housing, BCNPHA.

3. What will you do to increase access to community owned resources and facilities to improve early childhood development (for example: co-location of services in public buildings and remove barriers towider use of public buildings), and how will you report your progress?

I will continue to support the progress made and promote our school district’s pre-school, StrongStart, before and after school care, Young Parent, and full day kindergarten programs.

4. What will you do to encourage businesses to bemore child friendly (for example: breastfeeding friendly policies and childsafe public spaces), and how will you report your progress?

I will promote awareness of the public education system and the partnerships that exist between the school and the community.

5. As an elected mayor, councilor or trustee, how will you ensure that all council and board decisions are made from a child friendly perspective, and how will you keep residents aware of your advocacy for children?

I will always ask “Is it good for kids?” I will continue to promote the partnerships that already exist between the school and the community, and as I said above, I will promote awareness of the public education system.

I will report progress on all the above through encouraging the Board to establish goals, and evaluate those goals.

BC College of Teachers Dissolved

A large part of this story is about disciplining teachers. Interesting. Maybe some good news for teachers: College fees will be reduced from $120 to $80. Check it out:

Looks like things are heating up between the Province and the BCTF. What do you think?

My Responses to Questions from the Central Okanagan Teachers Association (COTA)

1. As Boards of Education cope with underfunding of the system, some have turned to alternate sources of support. Outline your beliefs on private/public partnerships, corporate and non-profit sponsorships, and the need for school PACs to fundraise in a 21st Century Learning environment.

I believe that any kind of sponsorship outside of government funding impacts the universality of Public Education. The practice of private, corporate and non-profit partnerships seems to be growing, and I believe we should all step back and take a long sober look at this practice. The more we delve into this world, the more the provincial government will abrogate its responsibility.


2. In the past, some School Boards have submitted needs budgets as opposed to balanced budgets, in order to highlight funding shortfalls. Identify your views on this practice.

First of all the provincial government will not allow deficit budgets which, unfortunately, results in the cutting of services. This practice has put School Boards’ backs against the wall causing some of them, the larger districts like the Central Okanagan, to try and attract International Students to top up their reserves, so to speak. I believe that most districts, Central Okanagan in particular, have tried to maintain direct services to students, which is what I will do as well.

Now, do I agree with this practice? We wouldn’t be having this conversation if the provincial government funded school districts more adequately. Even though funding education has increased, it has not kept up with the real cost. So, technically, funding to education has, indeed, decreased. I believe that we have a responsibility to balance the budget, but I also believe there should be some margin of flexibility as well, particularly smaller districts who have little recourse.

3. What do you believe to be the most pressing problems in our school district?

• Dealing with the present job action so that it does not affect the progress of our students;
• Resolving the dispute between the BCTF and Provincial Government;
• Continued lobbying the provincial government for adequate and stable funding;
• Short-term and long-term facilities plan;
• Conducting a comprehensive public consultation process regarding the future of the French Immersion program.


4. Public education often involves a juggling of the competing interests of its different partner groups. Outline what you consider to be the School Board’s role in such an environment.

The Board’s role is to govern the delivery of a quality educational program to our students. Our focus should be “is it good for children?” In doing this, I believe we should be examining our budget allocations to all areas of the budget to reflect delivering a quality education to our students. This certainly would take into consideration the working and learning conditions of teachers.

5. What will you do to ensure that students with special needs receive the support that they require in order to succeed in school and in life? Who will you speak to in order to find out what those needs are?

I believe our service to students with special needs has been eroded due to the inadequate funding from the Provincial Government. I will encourage the Board to lobby our government for adequate and stable funding. I will also review our own budget allocation procedures and the system we use for designating students and the communication process between those involved.

I will speak to teachers, school administrators and parents to get more information on the needs of all of our students.

6. Please outline your involvement with, and commitment to public education.

I have been involved for over 30 years in Public Education as a teacher, school administrator and parent. I believe in the universality of Public Education. I believe that teaching is a noble profession and I will work toward raising the profile of educators and education in general in the public eye.

How Important is Education

I find it interesting that there is very little coverage about the School Trustee election in the media. Ron Seymour tried to create some controversy by saying that School Board's were irrelevant, and he even tried to incite people not to vote for any Trustees and thereby eliminate them altogether. One letter appeared in the paper in rebuttal: mine. That was it. Here is my letter:

This letter is in response to Ron Seymour's column "Who cares about the irrelevant school board?", Friday, October 14.

The work of the Board of School Trustees is much broader than bargaining with the BCTF. It is about the daily delivery of the educational program of our children. Below is a description of the role of the Board of School Trustees taken from the School District #23 website:


"School Boards have a duty to govern districts and their schools in accordance with specified powers in a fiscally responsible and cost effective manner. They have a responsibility to:

* ensure that schools provide students with opportunities for a quality education; to set education policies that reflect the aspirations of the community and that are consistent with overall provincial guidelines;

* provide leadership and encouragement to schools and the community; to cooperate with the community and social service agencies in the delivery of non-educational support services to students;

*focus on the following areas of district concern:

1. implementation of provincial and local education programs;
2. school finance and facilities;
3. student access and achievement;
4. teaching performance;
5. accountability to parents, taxpayers, the community and to the Province."

Ensuring that our children get the best education possible is not irrelevant. It is probably the most important thing our society is doing.