Three newcomers are expected to bring fresh perspectives to School District 43 board of education meetings after one incumbent was outvoted and two retirements cleared the way.
Saturday, Craig Woods and Jennifer Blatherwick, who both outpolled all but Carol Cahoon in Coquitlam, expressed surprise and pleasure at their election results while Christine Pollock said she was thrilled to be elected trustee in Port Coquitlam.
Blatherwick, who was second only to Cahoon in voter choice in Saturday's election, said her parent connections working with her children’s schools in Maillardville and as director of Odyssey of the Mind won her support.
She now says she intends to work on daycare issues, advocating for a change in the education funding formula and will oppose the current method of trustee pay that gives the school officials the highest pay in the province.
“A trustee is making more than an EA [education assistant],” she said.
Woods, a former District Parent Advisory Council president, said he appreciated voter support and credits his work in DPAC for outpolling two incumbents, including Chuck Dennison, who did not reclaim his seat.
“It’s definitely a dream come true,” he said of his election as Coquitlam trustee, “It’s a milestone for me in my life to be able to hold down a full job and put together a successful campaign and to do better than two incumbents was shocking. I thought it would be possible, I didn’t think it was realistic.”
He said he will have to learn the ropes but also hopes to look for opportunities to expand community engagement, find ways to put more money in the classroom through, for example, shaving money off a planned administrative building, and, like Blatherwick, said the current provincial education funding formula should be changed.
“I want to continue to work on how we can maybe change, shift or build upon our existing funding formula and work with other governments and jurisdictions to see where there’s an opportunity to collaborate.”
Pollock, a retired SD43 EA, said her intimate knowledge of challenges parents face when they have a special needs child likely resonated with voters.
“So many parents came to me in this campaign saying they’re struggling because they are not getting the support they should be getting," she said.
Pollock plans to keep an eye on the issue in her post as PoCo trustee, including finding out how the district is handling the increase of more students with special needs this year.
Also elected to the board were incumbents Barb Hobson in Coquitlam; Michael Thomas in Port Coquitlam; and Lisa Park and Keith Watkins in Port Moody. Current board chair Kerri Palmer Isaak was acclaimed in Anmore/Belcarra.
