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Election Day for School Board Members
If your council or Home & School is interested in helping your school community become informed about candidates for school board member and the voting process ...
START TO PLAN EARLY!
School boards are delegated, by the province, the responsibility of conducting the affairs of the school jurisdiction. Board members will be elected for a 3-year term, so
don't miss your chance
to have a say about who will be making decisions about your schools!
Improvement in school conditions IS possible,
when a strong public opinion approves and demands it!
HOW TO GET THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS YOU WANT
If history is any guide, apathy will reign supreme and voters will stay away from the polls in droves.
DEMANDING JOB
School board members have important and demanding jobs that they carry out on a volunteer basis. School board members must handle a budget of millions of dollars. They oversee the education of thousands of students in elementary and secondary schools. Acting under broad provincial guidelines, the school board must set policies for our schools and constantly monitor results to see that objectives are being met. Day-to-day operations are the responsibility of the staff. School board members must be available to deal with the problems of their constituents and to monitor the public's expectations of the school system.
So what should the voter look for in a good school board member? First, the candidate must have adequate time to give to the job. There is a considerable amount of reading and studying required in order to make intelligent decisions, and the school board member must often sit on several committees in addition to attending meetings of the full board. Second, the candidate must have some grasp of budgeting and the organization of large bureaucracies because education is a complex business. Third, the candidate must be prepared to stand up and vote on contentious issues. It is irresponsible to be conveniently absent when hard issues must be voted on. Fourth, the candidate must be prepared to devote time to dealing with his/her constituents and the issues they bring forward.
LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE
"Liking children" or "having an interest in education" are not the prime attributes to look for in a school board member; well-meaning amateurs are not likely to fare well in the hard, real world of education. It is also a good idea to elect school board members who will be around for a few years and can, therefore, learn from experience.
A popular theory has it that people get the leaders they deserve. If you want good school board members, then you must do your part. Examine the background and policies of the various candidates and ...
WHO CAN VOTE? Any Canadian citizen 18 or over who is ordinarily a resident in the district on the day of the election.
SCHOOL ZONES You may vote in the zone in which you live, or in the zone where your child is attending school.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
BEFORE THE ELECTION
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- Get to know your area candidates.
- Ask specific education questions of the candidates at forums or at your door.
- Call candidates, if you miss them elsewhere.
- Talk with your friends and neighbours to share awareness of issues.
- Invite candidates to your school council/Home & School or sponsor a meeting to discuss issues with parents in your school
ON ELECTION DAY
Be informed.
Be aware.
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
Encourage everyone you know to VOTE too.
AFTER THE ELECTION
- Stay informed
- Stay involved - at your school council- in your school jurisdiction- provincially
- Support the ongoing work of NLFSC
- Follow up with your elected school board member regarding your education concerns
- Continue to volunteer locally and provincially
QUESTIONS YOU CAN ASK CANDIDATES (adjust to local needs and interests):
- What relevant school experience (or other qualifications) do you have?
- What have you done to advocate for/support public education?
- Why do you want to be a school board member?
- What do you see as the role of a school board member?
- How would you, as a school board member, represent the parents of your district?
- What choice of schooling have you made for your children's education and why?
- What school level fees should parents expect to pay?
- How would you deal with the issue of parents unable to pay due to circumstances beyond their control?
- What is your opinion of the thrust of the report of the Ministerial Panel on the Delivery of Education in the Classroom?
- What is your impression of the value of school councils? Of Home and School Associations?
- What are your public education issues? Which do you see as priorities?
- How will you support parents involved in public education?
- What should schools be fundraising for?
- What restrictions (if any) should be placed on schools and school groups for their fundraising methods or the amounts raised?
- What responsibility should our school board have in providing alternative forms of education?
- Regarding the current school board budget, what areas should be allocated more or less funding? Why?
- Should our school board be involved in revenue-generating activities? Why or why not?
- What are your views on advertising in the schools/classrooms?
- What do you see as priorities with regards to school facilities and transportation in our area?
Kick off the school board election race with a Council/Home & School sponsored all candidates' meeting:
Too often, the election of school board members is buried by the hype surrounding municipal elections; the ballots filled in as an afterthought, or even ignored.
It's time for school councils and Home & School Associations to make public school education an issue in their communities. How responsive your school board members are to the issues students and parents raise over the next three years is determined by the kind of people a community elects to its school board on September 25.
By sponsoring a district-wide all-candidates meeting, or inviting the candidates to a meeting of parents at your school, your council/Home & School Association provides the public and parents with an opportunity to question candidates on their beliefs and intentions regarding education in your community. You are also showing candidates that parents are an organized group committed to being informed and promoting positive change on behalf of students.
Here are some suggestions for organizing an all-candidates meeting:
- Have a date and location tentatively scheduled for an all-candidates meeting prior to the close of nominations. Estimate how many people may attend and decide on a location large enough to accommodate them. Many school districts are willing to provide space.
- As soon as nominations close, contact the candidates and ask if they will participate in a council-sponsored meeting. Few candidates will refuse a free opportunity to reach potential voters!
- Confirm the date, time, location and format of the meeting (e.g. how many minutes each candidate has to speak, length of question period, etc.) in a follow-up letter to candidates. Allow some time following the meeting for voters to meet informally with the candidates.
- Know your candidates! Political action committees in organizations urge their members to run and may even support them financially. It's a fact of life that persons with political careers in mind get their starts on school boards, hospital boards, etc. Municipal and board elections may be hot, particularly if candidates with political party affiliations are planning to jump into a provincial race later. It's up to your council/Home & School to ask the right questions to determine candidates' agendas.
- Organize the technical aspects of the meeting, including enough microphones for the floor, candidates, and the moderator, the lighting and sound system, the set-up for the podium and seating for candidates, moderator and the public. Generally your school district will have all of these, as well as students who are skilled in setting up and operating the sound system.
- Choose a moderator who can respectfully, but firmly, move the meeting along by keeping the candidates to time, defuse any "hot" issues, and encourage questioners to be clear. Meet with the moderator prior to the meeting to discuss the meeting format and potential issues. If possible, choose a capable moderator who also has a high profile in the community.
- •Choose a recorder to note the questions and candidates' responses. Decide whether you will record or video-tape the meeting, or whether your local community cable station is interested. If you decided to record or video-tape, let the candidates and public know prior to the meeting.
- Contact the media for coverage.
- Decide who will introduce the moderator and the candidates, in what order the candidates will speak.
- Decide how the question period will be handled. It is a good idea to limit people to one question per time at the microphone. Although you may ask them to direct their questions to a specific candidate, often they want to hear from all (and give their own opinions, too!)
- Invite students to attend to ask questions of relevance to youth, and as a reminder that public education is meant to serve student needs. Ensure council/Home & School members are enlisted to ask questions relevant to the current situation in your district.
- Have the moderator signal the end of the meeting by saying something like: "It's 9:10; we have time for X questions before adjournment."
- Close the meeting by thanking the moderator, the candidates and the people who attend, restating the date of the election and inviting the public to meet with the candidates when the meeting ends. Consider organizing refreshments to encourage the latter.
- Evaluate the success of your meeting. How many attended? Did you receive media coverage before and after? How well were hot issues handled? Would you use the moderator again? What worked well? What would you do differently? Compare voter turnout for this school board election to the last one.
Adapted from the BCCPAC Newsletter, September 1999
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