School Trustee - General Discussion

[CarMa]

There's lots of talk about the election for councillor and mayor.

Anyone considering running for school trustee?

(I don't want to double-post in Westside, but there are regional trustee elections in Peachland, Westside, Kelowna and Lake Country.)

[Nebula]

Moyra Baxter is running again in Peachland.

Cheryl Wiebe has decided not to run in Westside.

[damngrumpy]

I hope we see Carol Harran run again, she lost her seat the last time and unfortunately she was probably one of the best candidates and a really good trustee when she was in office

[bornhere63]

Rolli Caccione is by far the most qualified person on the current council. Moira should step aside and allow him to lead.

[CarMa]

Anyone NEW interested? There are a couple of empty seats with Cheryl Wiebe and Shelly Nichol not running.

BTW, why did Carol Horan lose if she was the "best" trustee?

[2by4angel]

Hubby suggested that I run for a Trustee position but not sure whether or not I'd wanna be the one to make the 'hard decisions' that Trustees make...Not sure I'd wanna deal with all the politics that happens behind closed doors either...

Firmly believe that those elected should be those with children in the SD #23 system and not necessarily those more concerned about honouring collective agreements or the 'business' side of things - When statements are made to the effect that 'students come first', they should indeed come first!

[CarMa]

But EVERYONE gets to vote for trustees because everyone benefits from public education -- I think people forget that. So it doesn't matter to me whether a trustee has children currently in the system; that would only give one narrow perspective on the education of children. Most of us have children that have been, are, or will be in the system. If not, we have family, friends and neighbours who have children. All of society benefits from an effective public education system so all of society should be able to participate. I think balance is important.

I would hope that all trustees would "honour collective agreements" -- they are "agreements" after all. I think it's important to remember that the school system is made up of people who work on behalf of children. That's why the biggest part of the budget is salaries. These people, the parents, and the children need facilities and resources and that's where the rest of the budget goes.

2by4angel, school trustee isn't an easy task. I think people use it as a stepping stone to "other" politics. I'd like to see someone run who believes being a school trustee is the place to be -- the place where he/she can make the biggest difference. You should ask the partner groups (COPAC, CUPE, COTA, COPVPA - principals/vice-principals, and current trustees) what they think it takes to be a good trustee --- I bet they'll tell you up front, and not behind closed doors.

Your posts indicate that you believe children come first --- what a great starting point for a school trustee.

[CountryAtHeart]

I would love to be on the board however, I am to old school for what I think some of the changes need to be.
Currently, I think we really need to crack down on dicipline in the classroom. The way some students get away with treating teachers is absoluely disgusting, and if a parent does not want to work with the school in changing the child's behavoir then the school either keeps the kid in a segregated room to do their work or the kid is sent into the home learning program. Just one or two kids can send a room into chaos and thus effects the learning of all students. So, I think all parents should be concerned about this.

The dress code needs to be enforced, no ifs ands or buts about it.

No OPEN campus policies.

What do you think so far? Do I have your vote?


BTW - I do have a lot of ideas regarding ways to help the students who are having a hard time, especially in a class where the teacher paticipation is not up to par.

[CarMa]

No OPEN campus policies.

Do you mean open "boundaries"?

Would you be prepared to stand up against the provincial government and its policies that you, as a trustee, would be legislated to follow? ie: open boundaries, budget needs, etc.

I think this is where it is difficult for trustees -- policy changes are limited to the language of the School Act (and the collective agreements). I would find it difficult to go in with a list of things I wanted to change and find out it wasn't possible within the scope of the job or the funding provided by the provincial government.

Candidates for school trustee need to know what the job entails --- ask an outgoing trustee.

[CountryAtHeart]

Actually, yes, I would be prepared to stand up in front of the Ministry and tell them they have to change the policies!

I would have no problem going to the people and letting them know what the Ministry is doing, and how that is effecting our students.

Also, there are a lot of things that can be done by the Board regarding student, teacher and school issues that I do not believe are being addressed enough.

[bornhere63]

Such as?

I would like to make an informed decision.

[CountryAtHeart]

Ummm....just so you all know. Although I would love to be on the board there s no way that I would ever be elected. And quite frankly because of my illness, I don't know if I could do everything that I would expect of myself.

[Nebula]

I don't know if I could do everything that I would expect of myself.

At least you stated that up front, Elektrik. Many politicians promise the moon before an election and, once elected, forget what they said.

[FunkyBunch]

How do you go about trying to be elected to School Trustee?
I'm thinking about running but have no idea how to get started.

[Nebula]

Everything you wanted to know about being a candidate:

http://www.cd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/gov_structure/library/local_elections_candidate_guide.pdf