As we are approaching October, I realized it is time I shared my priorities for this term. My platform consists of 7 planks, which can be grouped into 3 categories: student focussed, strong schools, and accountability. That looks like meaningful action in the following areas:

Student Focused

• Educators: Focusing on recruiting and retaining qualified educators and support staff.
• Health: Solutions to support the mental and physical wellbeing of staff and students navigating complex needs.
• Inclusion: Listening to under-represented voices and supporting education plans as unique as the student it serves.
  

Strong Schools

• Community: Creating culture grounded in care, safety, open-mindedness, and respect for each other.
• Funding: Advocating for sustainable, reliable funding that facilitates achievement and prepares students for the future.

Accountability

• Governance: Public consultation, transparent decisions, and effective governance through strong policies.
• Reconciliation: Committing to meaningful reconciliation practices and promoting Indigenous knowledge.

Over the course of the remaining days of the campaign, I’ll go into more depth on these platform planks.

Hello…. The school year has begun! So far, start seems to be going relatively smoothly. I’ve had a few questions from parents and caregivers regarding the timing of class placement announcements, which I will bring forward to our meeting this week. My intent in bringing these questions to staff is that letting them know will help them to improve communication in the future. Many times, it’s been my experience that communication is at the heart of most issues and concerns.

We had our first strategic directions committee meeting on September 16th. If you’d like to watch it, you can find it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcTc13ebZjw

I always suggestions that people watch our Strategic Directions meeting before the month end Board meeting. If you have questions prior to the month end meeting where any recommendations are passed as final motions, you can then send them in. Overall, our Youtube channel has all previous meetings aspas well other videos of interest related to the NLPS. Please feel free to take a look.

There will be a board meeting tomorrow, September 23rd, as we have to give final approval to our Enhancing Student Learning report. We must also approve the allocation of surplus budget dollars from the 2025-26 school year, so that both documents can be sent to the Ministry of Education prior to September 30th. Along with approving these documents, there are some policies that will be ratified, and some other matters of interest. You can find the agenda here:
https://pub-sd68.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=19023

And the livestream will be available on the District website tomorrow.

I will be sharing more election related information on Thursday!

I have been remiss in writing again, and for that, apologize. I am working on getting into a groove with keeping this blog up to date. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t want this blog be used to debate board agenda items. I have come to realize how important it is to keep debate to more formal channels. And yet I want to remain accessible & accountable.

It was a good year; I was active in educational matters both within our district and within our province. On a provincial level, I had the privilege of being part of the peer review process related to the Foundation for Enhancing Student Learning. It was a great opportunity to visit another school district on the Island & see different ways of approaching literacy, numeracy, social responsibility, support for students with diverse learning needs, and mental health.

Locally, I enjoyed being part of the NDSS zone with Trustee Lee. I admittedly had difficulty getting out to all my schools this year; I will ensure that I get caught up & get in a better groove for the 2023-2024 school year. I did have the opportunity to visit Mountain View a few times, and I got to see the work of their youth leadership group first hand. These students are passionate about sustainability! I also visited Ecole Quarterway & Ecole Pauline Haarer. In all the schools I visited, and in all the presentations I saw throughout the year, there was a recurring theme: our district is staffed by dedicated people who are committed to doing their best for students, and who care about not just their academic achievements, but their overall wellbeing.

In the fall we will be discussing the current status of our strategic plan. We will need to decide whether to update it, change it, or simply ask staff to focus on different aspects of our operational plan, while focussing on the same broad goals.

One of the core principles of our board which I am very proud of is our commitment to inclusivity & respect for diversity. As such, the following public statement was sent out today:

http://surl.li/jgkyy

Board & staff discussed this in great depth prior to making the decision & I believe it is the right course of action.

First, I want to make sure everyone is aware that there is a candidate meeting and greet tonight. It’s hosted by the Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, and it will include candidates for both school board and city council.

Second, you will see that I have added a page to my blog which shows the key bullets of my platform. I’ll be adding details to that page, and writing some posts about particular topics of interest, over the rest of the campaign. I had intended to get that page up and begin this process earlier, and the combination of life and pressing work deadlines simply made that an impossible goal to achieve. I would rather share the information properly than put something out that isn’t an accurate reflection of my thoughts.

Last, I want thank community volunteer extraordinaire, Joel Canfield, as well as candidates Mark Robinson, Greg Keller, and Naomi Bailey for their assistance in putting up the first batch of my signs. One of the hardest parts of campaigning for me is that I can’t put up my own signs. I currently have 5 signs left, and 20 more on the way. Of those 25, 6 are spoken for. If you would be wiling to take a sign – either for your lawn, or to put up somewhere in your neighbourhood (or both, if you’re willing to take more than one), please contact me at cycworker11@gmail.com

Please take a look at my updated get involved page for ways you can support the campaign. A few people had requested information on how to e-transfer a donation to the campaign, so I have now added that information. I wish that fundraising didn’t have to be a part of running for office; sadly, however, the rising costs of signs & other advertising make that very difficult. I am genuinely pondering some ideas I want to share with local elected officials on ways we can address this topic in the future. I view it as both an environmental issue & an equity issue.

On that note… I hope to see you tonight at Beban Park!

First, I apologize for not posting on my blog during the campaign. My desktop officially died in August and for a bunch of reasons I didn’t get it fixed. Basically, it had so reached the end of its life that I realized it wasn’t worth it. And I didn’t have time to research what to get.

I’m honoured to have been reelected. I look forward to four productive years of working with eight other strong,   committed individuals who believe passionately in public education.

Tonight we had our inaugural meeting, where we took our oath of office. We also held elections for the Board positions that required them. Here is the full list:

Jessica Stanley: Education Chair, BCSTA Rep

Lisa Marie Barron: Board Vice chair, Alternate for the BCSTA Rep

Tania Brzovic: Chair, Business Committee

Greg Keller: Vice Chair, Business Committee

Stephanie Higginson

Charlene McKay: Board Chair

Chantel O Neill

Bill Robinson

Elaine Wilkinson: Vice Chair, Education Committee

I am very excited to have the opportunity to take on a chair position. I’m genuinely excited for the possibilities this group of people brings to the District. It is a really strong mix of people.

As always, I welcome any questions people may have about anything in this post.

I would like to take the opportunity to formally announce my candidacy for a second term as a school trustee in the October 20, 2018 municipal election.

During my first term, I have shown myself to be a strong advocate for public education. Over the past four years I’ve worked diligently to make decisions that put the needs of children first, whether it be opposing the closure of Rutherford Elementary school, speaking out against cuts to CUPE positions, or calling for an increase in student support teachers.

As I reflect on the past term, I take pride in the District’s work in the area of social justice. As an active member of the Safe Schools Advisory Committee, I am particularly proud of our Inclusion Policy, which actively challenges racism, homophobia, and transphobia, and is highly regarded throughout the province. I am also honoured to be part of a Board that has embraced Reconciliation as one of our key strategic goals.  We have also invested both time & financial resources into an equity scan to further our understanding of challenges facing our Aboriginal students.

I strongly believe that we must support  neighborhood schools & the community schools. Our community school coordinators are a vital link to programs which provide important resources to our children and families. I have seen this first hand as a volunteer at one of our local schools in their breakfast and lunch program. The partnership between FoodShare and the School District is only one example of the amazing work that is happening.

A strong voice will be especially important in the next four years. The new Board will face challenges. We will be entering the collective bargaining process for both our teachers and our support staff. I remain committed to growing the public’s confidence in District decisions by continuing to advocate for meaningful consultation with partners and encouraging effective, appropriate oversight of management. A review our facilities plan must be completed so that we can come up with strategies to address the growth in various parts of the District, particularly the north end. We must ensure that we have adequate resources for special needs students so that all children receive the education they deserve. Lastly we need to continue our work to create welcoming, inclusive and safe schools. With my experience as a trustee, coupled with my personal background, I believe that I can make a significant contribution to the work of the Board.

The end of the school year is often a little bittersweet to me. It’s a time of both endings and beginnings. It was a privilege to attend both the CUPE and NDTA retirement functions, as well as the District retirement event. Every year I’m awestruck by the sheer amount of talent and experience in the room as we say goodbye and good luck to these incredible professionals, as they move on to the next part of their lives.

This year, we also said goodbye to a place… an amazing school – Rutherford Elementary – which will always hold a special place in my heart. I was grateful to have the opportunity to say goodbye to it; I was a Rutherford student from grade 1 through to the end of grade 7. Tamara Cunningham, the education reporter for the Nanaimo Bulletin, did a lovely write up on the ending events at the school, which you can find here. The staff did an amazing job with the final assembly; it was one of the best I’ve been to. I was unable to say a proper thank you and goodbye to the staff until the next day, as I had to leave to get ready for the Dover graduation, which was that afternoon.

As always, I’ll share my remarks from the ceremony.

Good afternoon staff, parents, family, friends distinguished guests, most importantly, the graduating class of 2018. It is my profound honour to bring you greetings on behalf of the Board of Trustees of School District 68.  

First of all, I want to say how incredibly proud I am of each and every one of you. I consider it the greatest privilege of my role as a Trustee to be able to be here and share this day with you. Although I work hard to have a unique message every year, there are two things I have to say that I will say until someone tells me I can’t anymore. One – as much as you may feel like you want to hurry through today’s proceedings, try not to do that. Savour this moment. You’ve earned it. Two – as hard as you worked to get here, to become the person you are today – you didn’t do it all by yourself. Many adults: Family, friends, teachers, coaches, neighbours, and others – have supported & encouraged you along the way. Take even just a few moments to find one or two and thank them for their efforts. It matters.

I want to take this opportunity to share my hopes for you as you move on to the next phase of your lives.

First…..  At the end of the day, who you are is more important than what you do. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work hard. Just remember that material success isn’t a substitute for character. The true measure of a quality education is that combination of developing knowledge, skills, self-awareness and character.  

Second.. There is a time to take action. Dr Martin Luther King Jr stated that the true measure of a man isn’t how he behaves in moments of comfort & convenience. It’s how he stands during times of controversy & challenge. And don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too young to make a difference. You’re not.I know by the way many of you have been involved in social justice efforts through the school – things like We Day, for example – that there are amazing leaders among you. Each of you has gifts to share with the world & those gifts are part of the unique contribution you make to society. Communities are formed by the way individuals come together & share those gifts to create a whole that’s bigger than the sum of its parts.

Last… And this lesson is the one I’ve had the hardest time learning. It really is possible to be responsible & take life seriously without taking yourself too seriously. It’s just as important to play, to goof off & have fun, as it is to work hard. Remember that George B Shaw was right… we don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing. So make time for fun in your life.

Class of 2018, you are an amazing group of people. Thank you for listening & for the privilege of sharing this ceremony with you.