“As a parent and community member I want to see my son receive the best education possible to help set him up for success. I am driven to work with system partners to improve  education and to create a board that is responsive to student needs while working within the  nature of the trustee role.”

Why do you want to be a school board trustee?

As a parent and community member I want to see my son receive the best education possible to help set him up for success. I am driven to work with system partners to improve  education and to create a board that is responsive to student needs while working within the  nature of the trustee role.

What’s your background and experience, and how do you think that’s relevant to the job?

I work in healthcare, specifically in home care for a national not-for-profit social enterprise that delivers care to more than 25,000 Canadians daily. Through this role I work across the system and with the provincial government to enhance the senior care sector and ensure that the healthcare voices are heard so that the government can make informed decisions about the future of the system.

How do you see your role as a trustee? What are your main responsibilities?

The main role as a trustee is dualfold, to be responsive to my constituents as well as working with the entire board and my fellow trustees to properly manage the board. The former includes responding to local concerns and addressing them, which I find it’s about bringing the right people in and raising these concerns up the chain so that the appropriate person can hear them. I have found a lot of success with this approach and, if successful, I look forward to continuing that approach.

Like many governments and boards, school trustees are facing a budget crunch. Without an increase in provincial funding, how do propose to ensure that your board balances student needs with fiscal prudence?

This is challenging as there have to be tough decisions made while balancing everything. The provnicial budgets have not necessarily kept pace with the requirements of teaching in the 21st century, and school boards have to make decisions and operate within the funding envelope they receive. The board should look to make decisions that ensure student success and wellbeing while balancing all other priorities.

How will you support teachers and education workers as they begin contract negotiations this fall? How will you support parents concerned about labour disruption?

Bargaining is now outside the mandate of the school board, but I remain open to hearing from parents and teachers concerned about potential disruptions and will help any parent, student or educator navigate this in all the ways that are within the confines of the role of trustee.

Guelph is a rapidly growing town, how will you ensure that the school system is able to grow and accommodate the new students and the changing demographics?

The board regularly reviews areas of growth and works with partner municipalities on this. We saw success of this with the recent opening of Two Rivers Secondary School, it’s been on the books for a decade and was approved to meet the growing needs of south Guelph and the surrounding communities who will attend Two Rivers.

Absenteeism seems to be a growing problem in Ontario high schools, what are the ways that you can support teachers and administrators to assure that students are getting the proper instruction?

As a board we can ensure that educators and admin have a safe workplace and one that works with each individual. By tailoring apporaches to each individual and their specific need hopefully we can reduce absenteeism and create a strong, and safe workplace for everyone.

School safety is a big concern, from behavioural issues to school resource officers. How can schools be safe places for learning while also not making it feel like kids are learning in a security state?

There needs to be a balanced and thoughful approach. With the reintroduction of community safety officers in some schools across the province, we need to work with students, educators and the partner police services to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the school and the students. Student concerns regarding their safety but also concerns about safety officers should always be taken seriously and responded to.

If you get elected to be a trustee, and considering the increase in provincial influence, do you think you will serve a full four year term?

Absolutely. I am committed to the entire term to creating a board that looks after student wellbeing while helping them develop skills that will lead to success.

Let’s say I don’t have kids, and thus no proverbial “skin in the game” when it comes to my local school, why should I care about who’s my school board trustee?

That’s a great question, I think that even if you don’t have kids that you’re voting for a community representive that has powers and influence. Every vote makes democracy work and enhances it, so voting for this position also is a civic duty. Community leaders are at all levels and all individuals should exercise their right to have a say in all elected offices.

Is there anything else you want to tell voters as they make their decision?

AI has been a topic of discussion in our boards and across society. The school board has an AI policy but given the rapid advancements of AI trustees should be continiously reviewing AI and how we train students on it. Understanding that AI tools will be part of the workplace and are already part of the workplace, we need to be thoughtful in how we teach students to use these tools so that they both can enhance their work while retaining and strengthening the critical thinking skills that are required.