School board candidates delve into upcoming challenges

Salt Spring school trustee candidates vying for three spots are, from left, Cindy Clark, Scott Howe, Neal Wilkinson, Katharine Byers, Kathy Page, John Wakefield, Rob Pingle and Michael Ryan. (Missing is Christine Hunt.)

photo by Elizabeth Nolan

Tuesday night’s meeting with Salt Spring school trustee candidates proved to be a welcome antidote to the more heated exchanges surrounding recent local politics.

Moderator Les Brost, a school trustee in Alberta for 15 years, set out the rules for the evening with a demand for respectful and to-the-point questions, and said heckling or placard-waving would not be tolerated. The capacity crowd at the high school cafeteria showed no appetite for such behaviour, however, and instead served up a menu of well-considered issues for the school board hopefuls to digest.

Eight attending candidates, (listed in the order of their opening speeches) — Katharine Byers, Scott Howe, Rob Pingle, Michael Ryan, John Wakefield, Kathy Page, Neal Wilkinson and Cindy Clark — in return offered answers that showcased their positions, abilities, sense of humour and teamwork.

Christine Hunt, a ninth candidate vying for one of the three available places with the board, did not participate because of a prior commitment.

During the two-minute opening speeches, Byers highlighted a background of relevant experience that includes being a parent of a special needs child, a former teacher, an environmental activist and a small green-business owner.

Referencing the district’s move toward 21st-century learning ideals, she said, “The school district superintendent needs trustees that share his vision for authentic, place-based, project-based learning, who will work with him ensure all our children succeed to the very best of their abilities; trustees who are engaged with the changes of our education system, and who are committed to moving forward in an effective and equitable way.”

Howe outlined his community involvement as PARC commissioner, ArtSpring board member and Rotary Club president, his school involvement as middle school PAC president for the past two years and Tsunami basketball coach, and his valuable professional experience as a financial advisor.

His focus in running for school trustee is on improving foundation skills.

“While our district is seen across the province as an outstanding example of much of what is good in our education system,” he said, “I would say from the information I have seen . . . that we don’t have enough kids that exceed expectations in math skills, reading and writing. For me the results are not good enough, and we must keep this a priority. If our children are to be exceptional, they have to be more than average.”

Pingle, an incumbent who just finished serving his first term, said that as a lifelong learner he has enjoyed the process of learning the trustee role and would like to continue his work.

“Our schools are diverse places of learning, and need encouragement and support of everybody involved: parents, teachers, all staff, and the community,” he said.

“I really think that our district is amazing and it has great opportunities to embrace the changes that are there in front of us that the BC Ministry of Education would like us to work with. They’re asking for our input at this time, and this is the time when we can speak as a whole through our school board and as individuals to share where we think education should be going.”

Ryan’s background includes an entire career in education as teacher, principal,

director of education and assistant superintendent in a number of school districts in several provinces. He assisted in implementing the Royal Commission on Education, evaluated school educational programs throughout B.C., helped create an educational program for Man in Motion Rick Hansen, and worked with SD64 to improve programs for special needs. He also served as a board member of Ssplash.

Ryan said his background and knowledge would be an asset to the school board, especially during the transition to a new learning model.

“Everyone’s talking about 21st-century learning, but what is it? Different people have different views of what it is. So it’s really important for us to get together as parents, as teachers, to have forums, and understand what it is, and then have a plan of implementation, and especially a plan to evaluate what it is that we’re doing,” he said.

Wakefield’s professional experience includes marketing and PR positions for public firms and the University of Victoria. He has been both a small business owner and a director of not-for-profits, with the ability to realize a vision either with or without out the necessary resources.

“SD64 has great students, parents and staff,” he said.

“Yes, we have challenges, but there are also exciting opportunities ahead. The board’s primary directive is to improve student performance by engaging the community.

“Learning always starts at home. We need to encourage all stakeholders to take an active part in the evolution of our district. We need trustees that are equally adept at raising the bar as well as making consensus at the table. My level-headed and creative approach would be an asset to assist the district for continued excellence and better prepare our children for the future.”

Page, a professional writer and an educator with 25 years’ experience, has taught at innovative locations ranging from a high security men’s prison to the Banff Centre for the Arts. She currently works at Vancouver Island University.

A former PAC chair, Page said she has concerns and questions “about the practicalities of implementing 21st-century education in our district.”

Page said that balance will need to be important and that the system will need to be implemented in a logical manner, including making sure students are prepared first with strong foundation skills.

“Resources are always limited. Personalized learning will require more, not less. We are famous for ingenuity but still, some special needs and other students fall through the cracks. Parents are increasingly expected to participate — a wonderful thing for sure, but not possible for all. This creates inequality. I want to help make a school system that works for all.”

Wilkinson told the audience a large part of his family’s reason for moving to the island was its education system and also its strong sense of community. With one daughter entering kindergarten and the system changes toward 21st-century learning going into place, the timing seemed right for him to participate as a school trustee.

“Since doing this the learning curve has been huge,” Wilkinson said.

“I’ve learned tons of stuff talking to teachers, administrators, parents and the kids. It’s been great walking around all the schools and I would like to bring the information I’ve gathered from them to the board. And I’d really like to hear what you have to say.”

Clark has spent 10 years working on PAC, DPAC and school planning committees.

“As a parent what I was trying to do was really evoke more voices from parents. I was really tired of being at the same table at PAC with the same 10 people,” Clark explained, adding she went so far as to phone every parent in the school to get their input.

Working for the last five years as a family counsellor on the outer Gulf Islands, Clark said she has been working to create bridges between families and schools and has become more aware of challenges teachers face in the district’s classrooms.

“The other thing that concerns me is with the 21st-century learning plan coming in, there’s a lot of change that’s going to come with that. I think it’s going to be really positive change, but there’s going to be struggle as well, so I want to support ease of that struggle if I can.”

Questions from the audience following the speeches tackled issues including the four-day school week, communication between the board and the community and even on how the “Occupy” protests going on around the world would figure into potential trustee work.

In other segments, the candidates all agreed that foundation skills would need to be a priority under 21st-century learning, although definitions of what it means and how the skills will be taught were open to interpretation.

One member of the audience observed that previous questions about the four-day week and 21st-century learning were largely concerned with revenue.

“What ideas do you have for maximizing revenue in order to maintain and expand programs for students?” he asked.

In order of response, Ryan said, “I am a proponent for any school district to seek funds other than from the Ministry of Education. To expect the ministry to have full pockets and suddenly give more and more money is a dream and I think we have to be independent and seek other forms, alternative forms of monies.”

Clark demurred from the business model and said, “I think we have a lot of really amazing resources here that we could look at using as efficiently as possible. So before we go and spend money on more resources, [let’s look at] what’s available, what’s here, what can we use, how can we use it so we’re effective and efficient.”

Pingle observed the district has introduced programs in the past few years that are both educationally innovative and bring in extra funding.

“The SEEC program on Saturna is a unique way to educate people about the environment, in a wonderful environment, and it actually ends up being a way for our district to receive additional funds because of the isolation of the Saturna school.”

“I think the good thing about 21st-century learning and its use of technology is we can possibly get more technology into rooms and save in other ways,” Wilkinson said, noting the $20 million spent per year on paper in schools across the province. He also noted funding generated by the international student program.

Page warned against the district getting involved in business projects. “I think the business model is something we actually have to get away from. The countries that do education well, like Finland, they do it well . . . because they have high taxes. And they have an idea of the common good, which people want to contribute to.”

Byers agreed that the board could advocate for more funds from the ministry, saying, “I would certainly support that and be a strong voice in doing that.” In addition, she advised supporting green business practices and making energy savings with an aggressive hydro reduction program.

Wakefield suggested a three-tiered approach of reducing expenditures, advocating for more money from the ministry, and looking at appropriate revenue streams such as GISPA and international education.

“We have to be careful to don’t over-compensate and over-skew to a business model, but I believe they will play a part in trying to meet these financial challenges,” he said.

Howe agreed with Page that adopting a business model should be avoided, adding, “We should not be losing focus here and we need to focus on education — we should not be focusing on side businesses to try to generate revenue. We can do that through our international programs and through GISPA, but we’ve got enough on our plate as it is and we’ve got to spend that dealing with our education system.”