Nine of the 10 candidates running for the two vacant School District 57 (SD57) trustee positions attended an all-candidates forum at Vanier Hall.
The forum was organized by The Prince George District Teacher Association (PGDTA) , CUPE 3742, and the District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) and was moderated by Citizen editor Neil Godbout.
Candidates were given nine questions on a variety of issues facing the district including transparency, the budget, SOGI, recruitment and were allowed 60 seconds to answer each question.
One of the questions provided by CUPE was ‘what do you believe are top two issues facing School District No. 57 and how would you approach these issues if elected?’
Here are the candidates responses:
The top two issues as we have seen tonight. SOGI is one of them and definitely transparency as well. I think they go hand in hand actually. I think if we are a little more transparent about what is actually happening with the SOGI program that is going to help with that issue and transparency with the board we need to open the lines of communication with the media and with the parents, just with the community in general.
I think the top issue is going to be governance for me and making sure the board knows what they are supposed to be doing and doing it and also work on re-fostering the culture of collaboration and respect on the board and on the district. Transparency is vital for building trust within the community, and I think there has been a lot of damage done to the relationships. I want to have that positive learning environment for all our students and staff. The other top issue is going to be budget. I was at the school board meeting in May where they were discussing the budget and at that time there was handouts regarding a 2 million hole in the budget and they had just discovered an additional $300,000 deficit. So are we facing structural deficits again where we are using accumulated surplus every year? What happens when we don’t have that funding are we going to cutting? And why and how can we advocate for additional funding from the province?
For me It would be ensuring teachers would be looked after in a good way and students. It would be that we work as a team together and set aside our differences and look at this budget. How can we find solutions around this budget? Safety is a big issue and ensuring everyone is safe in the schools, the learners, the teachers, and the administration and in among ourselves as a board that we are safe and able to express our own opinions and come to a true conclusion as a team. That is important for me.
As I said earlier, because of being time conscious it's the budget. We have to get that figured out before the end of June, following that I will go back to the safety in the schools for all of the students, the staff and the families that come to the schools. That goes through to our school board meetings too. People have to feel safe to come there and now some of them don’t and that is a bad place to be.
The budget was mentioned that’s one. Students, we need to meet the needs of our students. We need to support our students. We need to support our staff. We need to build transparency, credibility and accountability.
In 2019 an inquiry was made by the ministry of education that systemic racism is prevalent in the school district and is being practiced regularly. I think it is important that we need to come to terms with this. We also need to safeguard information and protect against misinformation. Experts need to try and gain the public's trust again and need to learn to listen to the public, because they are the most important voices and if we can’t take their perspective into consideration there is no point.
The two most important things to me is the safety of our staff and the safety of our students and raising the bar for education. Have the children work for their marks and have the support there to help them achieve their very best. Once a whistleblower policy is put in, we have to work together on that, and a worksafe policy is put in...and other people realize this district is turning around and is a good place to work, we will get the recruits and get the retention.
My top two are eliminating the bickering and the partisanship that is happening in our community over something that is already instituted in policy by the local district. We have to come together. I have had many opportunities to see factious groups come together to accomplish a mutual goal. I have an ability to seek understanding of issues and opinions. I can discern what motivates people and what they do and how they treat people. My goal is to always respect people. The second thing is the low standing of our schools educationally. I think ignoring it and hoping it comes out better…every year it is the same. We are in the bottom.
Heather Mckenzie was not in attendance during the forum and Josh Silva announced his resignation as a candidate during the forum.
On Saturday June 17, voters will have to elect two candidates to fill the vacant seats on SD57’s board of education left by the resignations of Prince George trustees Betty Bekkering and Gillian Burnett.
Polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m at Glenview (7310 Cluff Rd.), Heritage (257 Anderson St.), Malaspina (7900 Malaspina Blvd.) and Pineview (8515 Old Cariboo Hwy.) elementary schools, as well as the Van Bien Training Centre (311 Wilson Cres.).
Advance voting will be available at the School District 57 head office (2100 Ferry Ave.) on June 13, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
