To All Potential Candidates:
The following are questions posed to you on behalf of the Langley District Parent Advisory Council. Your responses are not limited and will be posted on our website for parent review. Please sign and return the completed questions to by October 27th, 2014 in a PDF format.
We request you provide your responses in typed form, photocopied and available for distribution at the All Candidates Meeting. We will then formulate a package for distribution to our schools via their DPAC Reps or Pac Chairs.
Questions:
- How many Langley School Board meetings did you attend last year (2013/2014)?
I have attended all the meetings.
- What is the role of the District Parent Advisory Council?
DPAC represents the collective parent perspective to the Board and District.
- Tell us about your qualifications, educational background and/or
experience in education that prepares you to take on the role of School Trustee?
The qualifications of a good school trustee are not their Bachelor of Education degree or any other degree for that matter. Neither is it their expertise in teaching students or their ability to ask good questions that signifies that they are fit for the role. I would have to say that it is the willingness to stand alone to serve the whole community for what is in the best interests of all Langley students…yes it is because the greatest qualification is to care more than others care, to serve and protect the most precious resource. Our students.
- What is your understanding of Policy 7200 as it relates to Safe School?
This policy outlines the attitude of respect that we wish for our school community. Schools are safe when differences / diversity are acknowledged yet differences / diversity are not made prisoner of one another. We are all in this together.
- What processes could be put in place to assure parents that their feedback will be included in future discussions?
Feedback is the lifeblood of any organization. With today’s access to technology it would be appropriate to have input online on any number of issues. The District along with DPAC could jointly develop a online feedback system / website to poll parents on any issue.
- What are your thoughts on the Willoughby slope and what doyou think could be done to eliminate some of the issues?
Willoughby is the issue for the Board in the coming term. In my “Is there Another Way” document to the Board I pose looking at the problem in a new way.
The Issue: Is there an alternative approach that Langley might use to design, construct and finance a new school to address our emerging challenges?
Take Responsibility for “ensuring that no stone remains unturned.”
We are undertaking a community review process of known options. We need to continue on this process. The suggestion here is that we will do a potentially two stage process of un-turning all the work that exists in the BC, Canada, US and the World.
How would you answer the question, “How confident are you that we are aware of all the unconventional options out there that could solve our problem?”
It is likely safe to say that we are all on the same low level of confidence. Therefore it behooves us to look for “Is There Another Way” through this challenge that we have not seen or heard of before. Again, this process would be seen as a side-bar process that may or may not turn up anything for Langley. Did we do all we can to explore unconventional alternatives in unconventional times? Did we explore potential alternative approaches?
Stage 1: Broad Review of What Alternative Approaches That May Exist In Canada, US and the World.
Stage 2: Review of Learning
As previously stated, this process will be a side bar to the main review. It would be non-threatening. It just allows us to look into “is there another way” while the main process continues along. It may allow something to be added to the plan or it may not. It allows us to live with the consequences of our situation as we can take care in knowing we have searched high and low for alternative solutions.
This work of exploring potential options is a natural component of the review that the Secretary Treasurer would normally undertake and, if something comes out of it that looks promising then it should be reviewed further by one of the Board's existing committees or an appropriate group of people. In conclusion, it is expected through this process that we would able to hold our head high as community leaders knowing that we have gone far and wide to ensure “no stone has remained unturned”.
- How would you liaison with the Township and City to create early learning environments, daycares and preschools in new development areas?
We already have the Liason Committee that meets with each of the Township and City Mayors and administrators. What is needed is new innovative ways of delivering daycare and preschools in areas that are lacking in new space. We cannot realistically expect new facilities in these new development areas therefore, we must look at current under-utilized facilities. An example of this would be churches that have capacity during the week that could be rented for community learning environments, daycares and pre-schools.
- What do you feel are the greatest concerns for our elementary, middle and
secondary schools over the next few years?
Elementary Schools. Schools that are expensive to operate will have to be considered for closure. We have added to two elementary schools and a middle school which has increased our administration and support costs. This increase of expenditure has not come with an increase in revenue. Funding is based on the number of students in the district. We have increased our expenses but not our revenues. Other schools that are operationally efficient are unfairly paying for the operationally inefficient small schools. From a fairness perspective this does not make a passing grade.
I noticed that you did not pose a key question to the candidates. “Will you vote to close small inefficient schools?” This question must be asked…in all honesty and with the most integrity…if you do not close schools our school system is not sustainable. I guess you know where I am coming from. What about the other candidates?
Middle Schools. I suspect that we will have a similar make-up of different school configurations for years to come. Middle schools are a great way to organize learning. It is also could be said for the traditional K-7, 8-12 model. It is one of perspective. While our district favours middle schools…I disagree that a unified school district must look the same in each part of Langley. The Walnut Grove community of schools should not be re-configured just to have a middle school. Unity of purpose is powerful...uniformity is not. One size does not fit all. I am very pragmatic…if it works…don’t fix it.
Secondary Schools. Secondary Schools are really different from the rest of the system. Gator Pod at WGSS is a successful model that embraces the best practices of transition from elementary to secondary. I believe that we need to incentivize the entire system to keep students engaged in learning. We cannot afford to lose any student as we know the costs to society are great. Smaller secondary schools will also be a challenge for us in the future. Growth in Willougby and declines in DW Poppy and Aldergrove continue to be a challenge for the Board. Without the Fort students going to DWP we would have serious issues.
- Do you think the district would benefit from a district wide community hot lunch program similar to the Vancouver district?
The Foundation does much of this already and the interest in the community for students in need is a reality. Partnerships to fund breakfast and meal programs must come from outside our budget. This will be a priority for the Langley School District Foundation as many groups have displayed real interest in supporting these programs for needy students.
- What is your level of involvement in the school system over the past two years?
Fully engaged School Trustee.
- Do you attend the City and Township public council meetings and if not how do you keep up with the over lapping needs of the school district, city and township?
No… the School District Liaison committee has monthly meeting with both the city and Township and report back to us with each meeting. These are reported out at the Public Meeting as well for all.
- What is your view on middle schools?
I am a pragmatic person. I do not believe one size fits all. I am supportive of “whatever works”. Parents should have the choice to send their child to middle schools or not. In Langley we have both. Middle schools are a structure that works for some and not for others. I do not wish to engage in the war of paradigms as to which is best…both ways are good. What is your choice for your child at this time is the best choice.
- What are the most important priorities for the school district long term facilities plan?
Getting a new secondary school in Willoughby is our number one priority. We cannot have a list of priorities or nothing will happen. One priority is our focus. If we lose focus…we will never attain our goal. We need a secondary school…Everything else must serve that end.
- Do you feel the district has improved on its transparency over the past few years?
Yes. A core value of the new vision and mission statement process is INTEGRITY. We talk about this regularly and will continue to refer to our core values in all that we do. If we don’t ---remind us.
- How would you get parents involved addressing the district needs as a whole?
I believe that there is a technological solution that needs to be considered. A blog that focuses on SD35 issues…I am a great believer of the Wisdom of the Crowd. So many great ideas and thoughts come from all over the district. I would like to see 5 ideas per month come from parents on how we could improve our schools. Imagine if we had that kind of focus on improvement…how powerful that would be!? What if we incentivized them and had a competition for the best ideas each year with a valuable prize? Just an idea…
- How would you assist DPAC with parent communication?
I would ask you…”How can the Board assist you with parent communication?” Always open to solutions. Let’s go back to my tech solution…there has to be a way of improving it. Let’s make it the topic of our next Trustee DPAC Liaison Meeting.
- What is your view on a balanced calendar?
Again…I am a pragmatic person. One size does not fit all. It works well for the Douglas Park community. It does come with extra costs that the Foundation has supported. I am not sure we can afford to expand beyond what we have.
- What motivated you to run (re-run) for school trustee?
New Ways of Designing, Building and Funding our buildings.
Earthquake / Emergency Preparedness.
Innovation never comes from the top. It comes from those in the trenches. As you go up the food chain of governmentI believe you see less and less innovation. I was saddened when an elected councilor told me that at UBCM they are not interested in innovation…just getting money from the province. As community leaders we need to lead in innovative ways to achieve world class education and safety. It is up to us…not Victoria. Langley must take care of Langley.
The topic of Emergency Preparedness is not one that is one that very popular. It gets some traction when we have an earthquake in the Queen Charlottes’ but it dies down and people get back to living for today. This is banner that I intend to continuously raise. Is your school / community ready for three days should an emergency come? The people in emergency circles tell me it is likely more like a week we should look at realistically…but they believe the public cannot get their head around preparedness for a week so they settled for 3 days.
What do you know about the plans in Langley for serious safety crises?
Plans that sit in binders on shelves are of no good to us when it happens. We must take care of Langley for all emergency issues.
- How do you envision the implementation of the new curriculum from the MOE being implemented in Langley Schools?
Everything we do in a wise and prudent manner with as much support that we can. Our professional development team will be involved in assisting staff in the implementation of all new curriculum
- What committees do you sit on or volunteer on and in what capacity do you volunteer? How many meetings a month do they meet? Have you missed any meetings?
I sit on the Langley School District Foundation as a member and also the LGBTQ committee.
Thank you for your participation in this questionnaire.
Sincerely,
Langley DPAC Executive
Email:
Rod Ross
School Board Trustee Candidate Name
Oct 26, 2014
Date Completed.