A Canadian Rockies Public Schools (CRPS) trustee forum for the upcoming election took place Friday night (Oct. 18) at Canmore Collegiate High School (CCHS).
A Canadian Rockies Public Schools (CRPS) trustee forum for the upcoming election took place Friday night (Oct. 18) at Canmore Collegiate High School (CCHS).
Leanne McKeown, Liz Baker and Carol Picard took part, with the public forum moderated by CCHS Aboriginal liaison teacher Jeff Horvath.
Questions were asked from the public in attendance, with candidates each given a few minutes to deliver their individual answers to the questions.
The first question asked to the candidates was directed towards school resources being spread too thin, and working towards improving what schools already have, e.g.) programs.
“I believe that given the numbers presented to the school board based on the popularity of the programs, funds that have come in have allowed for addressing some class size issues... My current understanding they are not a drain on the financial resources that are in our schools, but I strongly believe we need to balance that, ” answered McKeown.
“About $309,000 is spent on teaching staff, there’s no drain on our resources, answered Picard. “The schools were here anyway, they did all of the upgrades, improvements - everything that went into making those classrooms theirs they did themselves with their own fundraising... there is a surplus and the math does work. ”
“We have some amazing individuals with a vast range of individual backgrounds that would be an asset to provide assistance in areas we may have not even thought of, ” answered Baker. “We haven’t reached out to the community to harvest any of that yet, so wouldn’t it be interesting to sit with (Iba) Boda and see what they have to say. ”
Another question fielded from the audience addressed a lack of communication in our school division, and asked how the candidates would deal with it.
“We have no budget for advertising, ” answered Picard. “We just don’t budget for it, so we don’t run ads when our meetings are. ” “It is available on the website, most of the trustees throw it out there on Facebook when there is an upcoming meeting, not as often perhaps as we should... communication is the one real weak leak we ourselves have identified. ”
“I go back to partnership, if it’s not educational dollars we’re talking about, then it’s about raising awareness in communication, ” answered Baker. “Do advertising in the paper through a partnership with somebody else. ”
“I agree with you that communication is a struggle, ” answered McKeown. “As the chair at Lawrence Grassi we use websites, newsletters, weekly updates and which are all free services; so it wouldn’t cost anything. ” “None the less, there are parents who just don’t have the time or feel comfortable, but I think it’s something we don’t give up on. ”
Another question asked the candidates how they would go about in inspiring student’s hearts and minds.
“The teacher plays a dramatic role in that, ” answered Baker. “In a lot of times teachers don’t have the ability because they don’t have the time, and if they don’t have the time it’s not a reflection of the teacher, it’s a reflection of what’s going on in the class; the size of the curriculum they have to accomplish and all the other things that are going on. ”
“Inspiring hearts and minds is a brilliant approach to education, ” answered McKeown. “I think educating the whole child is a concept that just really speaks to me as a process of the education system, and I thin that CRPS has led the way in that provincially. ” “One of the ways I see expanding that into the classroom, I’ve seen it at Lawrence Grassi, through the leadership program that they have been running. ”
“It’s all about the teacher, ” answered Picard. “If the teacher is not inspired, the kid is not inspired, and how can a teacher be inspired if they’re buried under a mountain of paperwork quantifying all that they do? ” “To take away some of the burden of a system that seems intent on measuring every step of the way, and we do that as trustees and we also throw money at things like the instructional leadership project that was embarked upon last year. ”
School board elections take place Monday (Oct. 21). Visit: www.crps.ab.ca to find your local voting location.
