Importance of the Trustee Elections

On behalf of CAPSC Executive, I submitted the following as a letter to the editor at the Herald:

Trustee Elections

This civic election will be part of a critical turning point for the new CBE board of trustees.

Our educational system is experiencing transformational change. At the provincial level, the Education Minister is opening up the School Act. Locally, the Calgary Board of Education, with a budget of just over $1B, makes decisions that impact over 100,000 students, 9,000 employees, the local community and economy. All of this is taking place in challenging economic times.

At a recent meeting of our membership, outgoing Trustee Gordon Dirks spoke directly to the heart of the matter. “The word ‘trustee’ focuses on trust – we are holding in trust the education of children, the resources that will help educate those children, the importance of public education as a vehicle to serve the wider interests of the community at large. It is an important and pivotal role.”

We need to learn more about the candidates we choose to support. CAPSC is working hard to facilitate engagement and to make information readily available. We are non-partisan and do not endorse candidates. Attend any one of our forums or check out candidates on their websites, Facebook, and Twitter. If you have the time, send them an email or better yet give them a call. Before you cast a vote, find out their values, their vision for public education and their understanding of the issues. Our kids and the public school system deserve nothing less.

Leslie Newton, Co-President
Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils
http://www.capsc.ca/

Update on Official Candidate's List for Public School Trustee

The list is now official (see previous blog post). The only candidate to change their mind within the allowed 24 hour period was Aaron Tennenhouse who was running in Wards 8 & 9. We are currently working on the list to provide website and email information for each candidate and will post to our election page as soon as possible. So if you are a candidate and reading this posting, please send us your info!

Nominations Day for the Civic Election

CAPSC has been amazed at the amount of interest in the Public School Trustee elections. There are races in all seven ward pairings and 32 candidates total. The unofficial candidate list is below. Once the official list with contact info is released we will post it to our site.


Candidate listing for Public School Board Trustee (Wards 1 & 2)
Bowen-Eyre, Joy
Durrani, J.
Gretton, Michael
Hurdman, Trina
Kneller, Jaret
McDonald, Roberta
Traptow, Josh

Candidate listing for Public School Board Trustee (Wards 3 & 4)
Ferguson, Lynn
Taj, Tanveer

Candidate listing for Public School Board Trustee (Wards 5 & 10)
Ashraf, Shahzad
King, Pamela
Mangat, Amar
Rowan, Rick
White, Ryan J.

Candidate listing for Public School Board Trustee (Wards 6 & 7)
Indarsingh, Lenore
Lane, George S.
Oliver, Carole

Candidate listing for Public School Board Trustee (Wards 8 & 9)
Cochrane, Pat
Shutiak, Laura
Tennenhouse, Aaron Wilson

Candidate listing for Public School Board Trustee (Wards 11 & 13)
Baehl de Lescure, Sarah
Guinn, Andrea
Heather, Larry R.
Heggerud, Catherine
Kearns, Julie
Lough, Victor
Mowat, Helen
Styles, Sue
Taylor, Sheila

Candidate listing for Public School Board Trustee (Wards 12 & 14)
Amery, Malik M.
Bazinet, Carol
Moore, Wendi Ann

Trustee Elections: Make Sure Your Voice is Heard

There are many ways to get involved in the democratic process that is so key to a healthy education system in our province. The Public School Boards' Association of Alberta (PSBAA), in a back to school message to parents, is calling for all of us to step up to the plate and make a difference. This civic election is key - transformational change is upon us and old challenges remain. You can have your voice heard in the following ways:

• CAPSC Public School Trustee Forums (see our website for complete schedule)



• Look for the Public School Trustee Questionnaire coming soon from CAPSC and the ATA (again see our website for more details and a link to the questionnaire and candidates' responses)



• Engage the candidates through social media - facebook, candidate's website, twitter (CAPSC will post links after September 20th when all candidates are confirmed)



• Share and discuss information at your school council meeting



• Talk it up in your community



• But most importantly - VOTE!