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Column: Don't underestimate school trustees

The decisions they make affect local schools - pay attention at election time, reporter says
Diane Strandberg

With school trustee elections upcoming Oct. 20 and students heading back to school Sept. 4, The Tri-City News' longtime education reporter, Diane Strandberg, offers this column about how School District 43 trustees make decisions that affect local residents.

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School trustees tend to be like the sea kelp tossed from ocean to shore with the changing tides of the provincial government.

They don’t have much say over their budgets and must deal with whatever Victoria throws at them, whether downloaded costs or budget cuts, or, as is the case currently, creating more classrooms and hiring more teachers and support workers because of a court ruling that threw out the previous BC Liberal government’s class size and composition regulations.

And while the job of a trustee can be a thankless task of attending budget meetings and more or less rubber stamping administrative decisions, over time, a board’s collective decision making can change schools — for better or for worse.

As often touted by SD43, graduation rates and achievement at Tri-City schools are among the highest in the province; the international education program is B.C.’s biggest money maker; and new and rebuild school construction is brisk, with Smiling Creek elementary opening this Tuesday on Burke Mountain.

Other changes the district has seen over the last decade suggest trustees have a role to play and schools are not the same as they were even 10 years ago. Here are some notable differences in SD43 as a result of trustee decision-making:

Greater reliance on technology: For example, parents now see their child’s activities and progress via FreshGrade, a portfolio and assessment program. Under local trustees’ watch, there are now more tools and games to help students learn coding, now an important part of B.C.’s curriculum.

More education choice: Trustees have approved numerous programs of choice that have become popular, such as the Mandarin program at Walton elementary, the Reggio-influenced program at Meadowbrook, the Hockey Academy at Riverside and Centennial secondary schools; and alternative programs, such as First-Nations-inspired Suwa’lkh and the Inquiry Hub.

Less reliance on paper: To reduce its carbon footprint, the district cut back on its paper and printing. Now, full school board meeting agendas have to be obtained online and more school work is done on tablets. Schools are moving toward litterless lunches and trustees recently approved new recycling carts for all schools.

Budget cuts: Over the years, cuts have had to be made in staff and services to balance the budget. Free busing was canceled for most students, middle school cafeterias no longer sell food and crossing guards were cut years ago. (However, recently finances have improved and teachers and education assistants are being added into the system, albeit thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling.)

Closed schools: In 2007, five schools were closed to save money and to better align services with population. Recently, the board sold off the land that had been home to Coronation Park elementary, netting $25.1 million, which will be used to pay for a new school administration building.

More project-based learning: Under trustees’ watch, SD43 pioneered a style of learning that encouraged students to delve deeper into areas of interest with personal projects. Now, this learning is embedded in the new curriculum that has been rolled out for all of B.C.

Can trustees make a difference? It’s hard to say how much influence trustees have over this pace of change, except to get out of the way and let administrators do their job.
Still, change has occurred and trustees must both take the credit and the blame.