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School trustees in it for the education

Priorities of Whistler candidates include improving communication, quality of education in corridor

Pique, Nov. 3, 2011

With 31 candidates running for council and mayor it's easy to overlook the four candidates running for two Whistler school trustee seats in this municipal election. But with 4,200 students, a budget closing in on $40 million and a long list of challenges ranging from budgets to the current job action, it's a serious job.

The candidates for that job include current trustees Chris Vernon-Jarvis, running for his third term, and Christine Buttkus, who was elected for the first time in 2008. The challengers are Riel Cairns and Rachael Lythe, both of whom are involved in the schools.

Chris Vernon-Jarvis said he was running for trustee to continue the work that's he's been immersed in since 2005.

In his last term, one of the big issues was reorganizing schools in Squamish to recognize demographics and the limited ability, particularly of the Squamish high schools, to host programs when the student body was divided into two groups. Starting this year, all Grade 8 and 9 students in Squamish will go to Don Ross Secondary as a designated Middle School, while all Grade 10, 11 and 12 students will attend Howe Sound Secondary.

As well, the board has been conducting a review of bullying policies and procedures, after it was reported in 2010 that older students at Howe Sound Secondary were forcing younger students to fight one another. The Board is also constantly updating schools to new provincial earthquake standards.

But one of the biggest priorities, said Vernon-Jarvis, is maintaining the school district's education plan. Although it's a dry read, Vernon-Jarvis said the plan maps out educational priorities for the district for the next 10 years or longer.

"In the end I have to stress that education is what we're all about and teaching children," he said. The plan was implemented last year, but Vernon-Jarvis said it would be updated with the new superintendent, Lisa McCullough.

And while budget issues are constantly a concern, Vernon-Jarvis said that the district is in better shape than other districts in B.C.

"Thanks to our staff that do a really impressive job, we've lived within our budget for the last six years I've been on the board, and managed to provide education to a level we expect and that we've improved on thanks to having a proper education plan," he said.

"We've improved on our test results on an annual basis, with is important. A lot of school boards never discuss education or results, but every year we get a list of who did what, how many graduated and how many had As and Bs... instead of just hearing the results, now we actually plan how students will be taught and how they will be assessed. And we have regular meetings with our principals to talk about the results, what's good and what could be improved, and every year we see an improvement in graduation results, which is very gratifying."

Christine Buttkus said she was also running to continuing the work of the board, including the implementation of an education plan. However, she said there was more work to be done in other areas, including communication and ensuring every student leaves with a good education.

"We still have a lot of work to do to reach every student in our district, and while we've made great strides with that there's still more to be done," she said. "That's probably the most significant issue for me, but there are also a lot of other areas that are of interest where we could do more - what I refer to as communications and customer service kinds of issues that I would like to see us make strides on."

Communication between the board, Parent Advisory Councils, parents, teachers and students needs to be improved, said Buttkus, and those relationships have to be stronger going forward if the school district is going to be able to reach and assist every student.

"We need to have strong relationships with all our partners in order to reach that goal," she said.

Those partners include provincial organizations involved in education, from the teachers' union to the public school employers' association to the Ministry of Education.

"I'd like to see us do more with the provincial organizations, and advocate on behalf of our small district," she said. "We can't do everything ourselves.

"I think we've built a good foundation for the future work that needs to be done and if there was ever a district that could be on the leading edge of what districts are doing, it's this one. I think the district has so much going for it, and I'd like to see us preserve all that good work and make progress on some of the other things."

Rachael Lythe is running for trustee a second time, and said she is even more committed after getting more involved with Spring Creek Elementary, where she is on the Parent Advisory Council executive and on the School Planning Council.

"I'm just passionate about education and the public school system, and over the last three years I've really gotten a lot more of a grip on what's going on," she said.

"I just feel there could be more transparency - more communication, more engagement with parents and between schools and communities, and we could be more accountable and approachable for people. I think I would be good at that. I'm always out in the community through business and in the school theatre, and taking up people's concerns."

Through the School Planning Committee, Lythe said she's been involved in the issue of class composition and the integration of special needs students into class, as well as the implementation of split classes where two grades are taught in the same room. "That's the kind of thing we communicate with parents, and I know that some parents are very upset with split classes," said Lythe. "I think we've done a great job communicating those reasons in Spring Creek, because we listened."

Lythe is also sympathetic with the teachers in their ongoing job action with the province.

"The teachers have to be heard as well," she said. "I support what they're after in the strike. Something has to be done."

Like other candidates with children in Whistler schools, Riel Cairns said he's personally invested in the education system and has ideas how to make things better.

"One thing I wanted to do is empower children a little more and provide a little more learning about society. I think in some ways we shelter students from a lot of things in society, but when you look at an 11 year olds' consumption of media... and the exposure they're getting is quite large, and we don't do a good job teaching kids things like media literacy - why products and services are being offered."

He would also like to see more applied learning outside of the classroom. For example, he thinks every child should be able to name every species of tree that grows in Whistler, and understand how the local ecosystem works.

Another priority, said Cairns, is to balance the school schedule.

"Right now it's heavily loaded, where kids do almost nine-and-a-half months straight with some little holidays, then a big 10-week gap," he said. "At the end of the school year the students are burnt out and they don't learn anything because they're cooked, and then the school holidays end up dragging on and kids forget what they've learned so the first part of the next year is spent in review."

Cairns said he would look at addressing the work-life balance by shortening summers and adding additional holidays to the school year - such as holidays in the spring and fall months, which is the traditional shoulder season in Whistler.

"I know in Whistler we have one of the highest school absenteeism of any school district, and that's because everyone wants to get out of here when it's slow in October or November or April. If we put holidays in those times, then families could take holidays without missing school days."

Cairns would also like to see kids play a greater role in the community, recognizing their achievements and encouraging their involvement.

As for the budget issue, Cairns said he would look at the new provincial education plan and what new funding might be available. However, as a parent he's seen that parents and children are on the hook for more costs than ever for school supplies.

The school trustees will take part in all-candidates debates.