The Citizen asked all 16 school board trustees to fill out a questionnaire on who they are and what they wish for the future of education.
I am employed as a tax auditor at CRA and have a son who is 14 and in Grade 9 at DP Todd Secondary.
I am running for trustee because I have a passion for youth and education and an interest in public service and community involvement.
However, before stepping forward, I first did my homework making sure I could be an asset to education in the role. My key strengths, besides my passion for wanting to provide every child the best possible toolkit and skills to help them be successful, are a CGA accounting designation and local government experience. I served a term as municipal councillor in McBride from 96-99.
I have a common sense manner and would approach problems analytically to fully research issues and would present informed concerns and solutions when making decisions at the board table.
I am open-minded, a team player, and hardworking. I would have three main goals in the trustee position: enhancing fiscal discipline in the district increasing consultation and interaction between the board and its stakeholders and being a strong voice for rural schools at the trustee table.
I think there is room for constant improvement in everything we do. In regards to the school board, I think the district would benefit from more order at its monthly public meetings and possibly an increase in the frequency of the meetings.
Also, the board should initiate regular town halls or focus groups: informal meetings with learning partners particularly around budget allocations, spending priorities and education initiatives.
After salaries and benefits, our district only has flexibility over 15 per cent of our budget; so we should closely review expenditure line items for services, student transportation, pd and travel, supplies and utilities for fiscal efficiencies that could then be put back into our classrooms.
Provincially, the entire funding formula needs to be reviewed but particularly the Funding Protection Grant could be reallocated to basic student funding, the transportation supplement needs reviewing, and more funding must be allocated to the classroom and less to administration.
For example, could we conduct more of our administrator meetings virtually and save on travel costs?
The most pressing issue that the board will have to deal with will be the financial pressures on our budget from numerous sources:
The projected declining enrollments for our district, which, under the current per-student funding formula, will decrease revenues and create a structural deficit.
The NetZero government policy, which mandates that any salary and benefit increases negotiated when the teacher contract is settled, must be absorbed into current levels of funding
The rising costs of bussing and maintaining services while reducing the amount we overspend.
Education delivery for rural and vulnerable students and resources needed to meet their unique needs reducing the urban/rural gap.
Finding resources to provide appropriate levels of support for special needs students.
The costs to implement the 21st Century learning initiatives.
