Frustrated School District 43 support staff hope to take their concerns to the ballot box by endorsing candidates in the upcoming civic election they hope will unseat the current board.
Dave Ginter, president of CUPE Local 561, which represents district non-teaching staff, said he's getting orders from his membership to support nine challengers in the hopes of electing a completely new School District 43 board of education.
"The membership has said we've had over 500 and some cuts over the last four years, it's a key issue," Ginter said, adding that while CUPE members have lost hours and jobs, they don't see the same cuts to management.
"There's a lack of cutting at the top," he said, "and nobody in the support staff is on that $75,000 [salary] list" contained in the annual Statement of Financial Information.
CUPE members are also upset about cuts to benefits for retired school board employees, he said.
CUPE Local 561 members are endorsing the following candidates: Celia Chiang in Anmore/Belcarra; Chris King (a Coquitlam resident) and Michael Thomas in Port Coquitlam; Lisa Park and Jeanette Jackson in Port Moody; and Chuck Denison (president of the District Parent Advisory Council) and Jodie Wickens in Coquitlam.
The endorsements come with some financial support, $1,500 on average, and Ginter said he doesn't expect anything from candidates other than asking them to be open to communicating with CUPE and being prepared to ask questions about issues facing the board.
"I want people that will question in board meetings," he said. "That's so key to me, people that ask questions."
The Coquitlam Teachers' Association, meanwhile, is asking school board candidates to fill out a survey and will publish the results on its website on Oct. 31.
