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Sep 7, 2018 at 1:41 pm
Bryce asks the School Trustee Candidates
School District 73 has an over-management issue and is "out of touch" with the actual users (teachers, students, and parent). As School Trustee how would you address this?
William James Turnbull
As Mayor, I would encourage Council to instruct the CAO to work closely with SD73 Staff & Trustees. Purpose / reason being there are many areas of mutual overlap & benefit between the City & SD73.
Beat Klossner
You are correct, SD 73 is getting very "top heavy", the same trend we are seeing at Interior Health.
This is not a good way to spend our recourse, since a Manager at the Board of Education level is worth 3 - 4 employees (teachers/support staff etc) at the ground level, and these are the people that work in the actual schools and make it all happen.
The Board of education seems to me more and more removed from what is happening in the schools. There is a great disconnect.
Any potential for another proposed management position needs to be questioned. Is it money well spent? Is that position really necessary? What would be the benefit to the schools (if any) compare to hiring 4 more support staff?
If elected I will make efforts to bridge the gap between SD73 and the actual schools. I want to meet on a regular bases with students, teachers, support staff and parents, so as to be well aware what the issues are every day at the ground level.
I believe that what is happening in the schools should guide what is happening at the Board level, not the other way around.
Kerri Schill
Transparency, accountability and trust are ways to engage the community and keep them informed. A lot of misinformation is spread by not being transparent. Being accountable to the community will help earn their trust. They need to know that I am making sure I am well informed, researching what I do not know, asking hard questions and advocating for them. In turn, this will help me make the best possible decisions, in the interest of our community and public education system.
Joe Small
As a School Trustee, a major part of our duties involves getting out to public school events. By visiting the schools... talking to the parents, teachers and students, we get their views on how our school district is doing when it comes to the education of our young people. It is then our responsibility as trustees to take that information with us to the board table when decisions are made.
John O'Fee
I have managed my own business and been the CEO of an organization with over 200 employees. I'm not willing to jump to your conclusion in the absence of facts. I would look at how our district aligns with best practices and see how we could improve. There is room for improvement in every organization but my own experience as a parent is that the current trustees and administrators were very much engaged in the school system. As a former trustee I know how many school events I attended and parents I met with. I'm confident that the current trustees are caring and committed people who have spent a lot of time connecting with their communities as well.