There is nothing I dislike more than campaigning. It is by its very nature an adversarial process. One focuses only on the strengths of oneself and others one favours, and solely on the faults of those you would prefer to see replaced, or at least knocked down a peg. This is not healthy human behaviour, and I'm glad it's over.

So here is my assessment, for what it's worth, of my school board colleagues as we head into another three-year term. Some I have known for a long time, others much more briefly. But they all have the public's interests at heart, as they perceive those interests; they are not politically ambitious but only want to serve kids and their families; and they want to work together in as collegial a fashion as is possible.

In alphabetical order:

Korky Neufeld (3rd term) - Korky reminds me at times of a big, lovable family dog: all curly hair, enthusiastic manner, booming voice, and happy smile. He rejoices when our district athletic teams do well (particularly Abby Collegiate football). He gushes over the various student groups who make presentations to the Board. He has shown real loyalty and support to people who have had to endure what he considers to be gratuitous criticism as trustees, or setbacks in their personal lives. He's great fun to be with at a hockey game. Every well functioning group needs a cheerleader, and Korky fulfills that role very well. That is not to say that he does not contribute solid content. But Korky definitely brings zest to board proceedings.

Rhonda Pauls (1st term) - One of our new trustees, Rhonda has proven herself to be an indispensable volunteer school district member as a driving force on the District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC). She has put in countless hours that the public never sees on behalf of children. She reminds me of an earlier day when Judy Smith (spouse of long-time school board chair and city councilor John Smith) was so active behind the scenes as an involved parent that I used to solicit her advice on school board matters. Rhonda has shown both excellent research and communication skills in her presentations to the Board on behalf of the DPAC, particularly during the school calendar debate. She does a lot of umpiring in local ballgames, and I suspect she'll bring that same sense of authority to our Board deliberations.

Stan Petersen (1st term) - Dr. Stan made a solid impression in his many years as a school district administrator at Mouat, Reimer, and Howe. He is, in one sense, the classic jock--tall, athletic build, tireless, quiet confidence. He has stayed active in basketball both as a leader and player. You have to like the guy; he defines 'nice'. But there is another side to Stan, which has come out in his retirement years. It is clearly demonstrated in his work (along with two other retired school district administrators, Bruce Nicholson and Ron Dufault) in Haiti, giving teachers there professional instruction in the craft, and raising money for desperately needed school supplies for the students. His giant heart for the vulnerable will be invaluable as we deal with complicated student issues in the term ahead.

Preet Rai (2nd term) - Preet is the classic big teddy bear. At 6'6" he definitely stands out in a crowd, and he has a lovely warm smile and friendly demeanour. Preet has those impeccable British manners that seem to be characteristic of so many South Asians in our community. You get the feeling that he wouldn't hurt a fly. He clearly loves children. He earned the strong liking of the parents at Dunach Elementary even though we closed the school. But underneath that favourite uncle exterior lies the careful, precise mind of the chartered accountant that he is. Financial statements are carefully scrutinized, and he can ask those technical questions that baffle trustees but bring out important insights from our finance department. And while the initial impression he gives is one of quiet affability, he has plenty of spine to stand up for things that are important to him, even if he is in the minority on the issue.

Cindy Schafer (3rd term) - Another DPAC graduate, Cindy has served as board chair throughout the past term. There are times when I have wanted to respond to her with "Yes m'lady" because of the air of quiet confidence that she brings to the job. She would probably best be described as the Mother Superior of the Board. She has, on the one hand, a big, warm, caring heart for students and their parents. On the other hand, she does not suffer fools gladly and can slam the gavel at times if she thinks it is warranted. Cindy is always well prepared for meetings and keeps discussions on track when trustees might like to wander off on other paths.

Shirley Wilson (3rd term) - If every group needs enthusiasm, and leadership, and love, and careful analysis, it also needs technical expertise and a concern for proper process. In other words, every group needs a Shirley. Her mind for detail is astounding. Shirley will be the one to remind us that what we are about to propose flagrantly ignores or violates an existing board policy. She has an encyclopedic memory for both board procedures and BC School Trustee Assoc. and Ministry of Education resources. She takes an avid interest in what is going on in other school districts, and brings us many examples of how things are addressed elsewhere. No one fills in the gaps like Shirley does. 

That's the group, and I daresay you could do worse. We have outstanding senior educational leaders to work with in Kevin Godden (superintendent), Ray Velestuk (secretary/treasurer) and their excellent staffs. There is no reason why we should not have a productive next term together.

Not for the first time, someone said to me yesterday, "I only just learned that we don't have to vote for seven trustees. We can vote for any number up to seven."

This is one of those things that I just assumed everyone knew--that when a ballot says "Seven to be elected", it doesn't mean that you have to vote for seven. You can vote for any number that you like (not exceeding seven, of course, or you disqualify your ballot).
 
As anyone who has been following my posts or Facebook page knows, I am running for the school board again (10th time!!), and am strongly supporting three other candidates: incumbent Preet Rai, and new candidates Freddy Latham and Stan Petersen. My recommendation is that you vote only for these four (unless, of course, you have good reasons to support other candidates as well).

Why less than seven? Well, clearly it strengthens those four votes. You are not giving votes to the competitors. We four go up the chart against the others. Some people call this strategic voting.

I am not so arrogant as to think that there are only four candidates who have something to offer. I am simply supporting the people I believe are the strongest choices. The great thing about elections is that we have the inestimable privilege of voting for whom we please. Stalin once said, “Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything" (I owe this quote to Dr. John Redekop). That's not our problem in Canada, for which I truly thank God.

So vote for whomever you please. I support P3. Vote NO if that is your conviction. I love Bill MacGregor and John Smith for city council. Perhaps you don't. I am promoting the four of us for the board of education. Vote for others if that is your preference.

But for goodness' sake, please vote.

Thank you.

There were two school district-related deaths this month. One was sad and engendered feelings of nostalgia. The other was tragic and filled one with grief and a deep desire for answers.

Bill Sharpe was the secretary-treasurer of the Abbotsford School District in the 1970s and early 1980s. When I was elected to the school board in 1983 he was by then a trustee himself and was chosen as chair. For the next four years he provided able leadership to the board. Bill was a very nice man with a lovely family, and a devout Christian. From the "old school", he had set an example of frugality as secretary-treasurer that few would care to imitate--he deliberately kept his own salary low so that when he negotiated employee collective agreements he could argue that he wasn't asking for anything he wasn't prepared to live with himself. Bill died earlier this month after a short illness at the age of 71. That seems too young to die, doesn't it? While Bill was a great deal more conservative politically than myself, I remember him with fondness. He was a public servant of dedication and rock-ribbed integrity.

Last night was a very different kind of death. I have no details other than that a young Yale Secondary student committed suicide last night. I dropped into Yale as soon as I got the news this morning. The principal looked completely drained. Of course, he was talking to a student, as were virtually all of the staff. Young people were standing in small circles, their voices subdued. Many were hugging each other and crying.

I stood in the parking lot later, just looking at the school in some kind of hopeless haze. Death is always too soon, isn't it,  whether age 71 or 15. Death has no manners, no caring, no finesse. So how can it possibly be more attractive to a young man than life, than family, than friends, than prospects? How could his future seem so hopeless to him, his present so overwhelming, his past so oppressive?

Better minds than mine will have to figure this out. But it did remind me once again that schools and teachers have to minister to the whole child. To not just teach them courses, but values; not just prepare them academically and vocationally, but emotionally, even spiritually (though not in the religious sense). Teach them to assess situations and make good, strategic choices. To fend off peer pressure. To not bully others into conforming, particularly to high-risk behaviours. Teach them how to say no.

And love them, love them, love them.

 I’ve listened to my fellow trustee candidates and read their literature, and I do wonder what some of them think school trustees do. “Walk the halls and talk to teachers,” one said. “Wander around in the school yards and talk to students.” People get arrested for doing that sort of thing nowadays.

The job is pretty varied, and has changed a lot since my earlier days at the school board table. We no longer set our own school tax rate, and we don’t negotiate the local teachers’ union contract. But while that has taken a lot of the politics out of the job, it hasn’t lessened the demand for what really are high-level organization skills just like the ones I employed in business, consulting, and post-secondary administration, and taught to my Commerce students at UBC and Trinity Western.

But the children are very important nonetheless. If you didn’t love children in this job, you’d soon lose enthusiasm for what you do.
·      It’s going to the schools and seeing the children learn and play;
·      It’s seeing student outcomes improve;
·      It’s keeping more kids in school;
·      It’s finding more viable choices that help meet student needs;
·      It’s improving student safety;
·      It’s helping to create education for a life worth living that makes the tough parts of this job bearable.

But while that’s the best part of the job, it fills only a small portion of the time you give to it. The school district is a big operation:
·      A $155 million dollar operating budget. The city's operating budget, including police, is about $120 million.
·      0ver 2000 employees, making us one of the largest employers in Abbotsford.
·      46 schools plus playgrounds and many other facilities.
·      A large transportation fleet.
·      Two unions.
·      Major capital projects like our new $45 Million Abbotsford Collegiate.
·      And partnership with the Council in the parks, recreation and culture of our city.

Our influence on school children is indirect. Our job is to cast a vision for the district, and to work with our highly qualified senior educators in developing a strategic plan appropriate to that vision. We sign off on budget allocations. We approve short- and long-term goals for the superintendent (who is excellent, by the way), and hold him accountable for results.

And we represent the public interest. But do we know what the various stakeholders who comprise the public want? The current school board has made a modest attempt to hold stakeholder meetings with the District Parent Advisory Council, the police, the city council, and our MLAs. But too many of these meetings are more of the meet and greet variety, usually an hour or so in length.  We spend more time approving field trips, sitting on interview panels for executive assistants and elementary vice-principals, approving middle school department heads, and sifting through anecdotal evidence than we do with assessing the world beyond the classroom door.

Much has to change.

If you didn’t love children in this job, you’d soon lose enthusiasm for what you do.

• It’s going to the schools and seeing the children learn and play;
• It’s seeing student outcomes improve;
• It’s keeping more kids in school;
• It’s finding more viable choices that help meet student needs;
• It’s improving student safety;
• It’s helping to create education for a life worth living that makes the tough parts of this job bearable.

But children are only part of the story. Star Wars producer George Lucas said this: Apart from my parents, my teachers have done the most to shape my life. From kindergarten through college, their struggle -- and it was a struggle -- to help me grow and learn was not in vain.

Teachers are our mission-deliverers in the school system, and must be given every opportunity to grow professionally, and to be motivated to keep doing their very demanding jobs well.

Finally, trustees must understand that we are running a huge $155 million dollar operation. They must know the difference between governing and administrating, between leading and micro-managing. The school board’s record has not always been good in this area.

I know how to listen and I know how to lead. Please entrust me with your children for a tenth time. I won’t let you down.

The ADTA will be publishing the results of their survey of trustee candidates on their website at some point. But in the interests of full disclosure I'm posting them in my blog. I mean no disrespect to the ADTA in doing this. The survey asked some good questions that deserve a wide readership, and it is for that reason that I am publishing them here.

1.    If elected how would you ensure that all classes in Abbotsford respect the class size and composition limits found in the School Act? (As of September 30th there were 168 classes that exceeded the class size maximums and 180 classes with 4 or more IEP students in Abbotsford)  

Obviously every effort should be made to respect class size limits. But class size issues are complicated by what is called the aggregate, which simply means average class size and is always lower than the class size limit. By regulation, it is not necessarily sufficient to be at or below the class limit. For instance, a school may have four grade one classes all within the class size limits. But the average size of those four classes may still exceed the government-required aggregate. This happens, for instance, when a number of unexpected students show up in September and have to be added to the established classes. All of a sudden, the average size of those four classes rises, even though the size limit may still be respected. Moving students around to get the aggregate down is the regrettable result. This has cost the district unnecessary millions, often causing split classes and requiring additional portables, and has been a real problem in getting students into their classroom with their assigned teacher at the beginning of the year, such as we saw this fall at Margaret Stenersen. The Board has been lobbying both our MLAs and BCPSEA hard on this issue.

As for IEP students, this issue exceeds, in my opinion, the class size issue. One teacher I know had seven different E.A.s over the course of a year (sometimes as many as four in a day) because of the E.A.s being part-time, taking maternity leave, or taking stress leave. And this with only two I.E.P. students. I think that this is an area where much work needs to be done.

2.    What are your top three educational priorities for the District?

 a. Leadership - Many trustees don’t know the difference between governance and administration, leading to much micro-managing of senior educators’ decisions. This undermines the authority and confidence of educational administrators.

b. Listening - While trustees are there as representatives of the public interest, often public input is given short shrift, as was seen in the school calendar debate. The Board has tried to make meetings with stakeholders a higher priority in recent years, but I find those meetings to be too perfunctory to have much impact on decision-making.

c. Kick-starting the district - Our students made steady, sometimes spectacular improvements in outcomes over the past 10-15 years. But that momentum has stalled and I feel that the district has gone into a slump despite its excellent educators. Ways have to be found to return to that upward path of motivated educators, flourishing learners, and supportive families.

3.     What steps would you take to ensure meaningful regular communication with teachers on matters of School Board policy?

As a long-time professor of management and organizational behaviour I have learned that communication is nearly always the number one concern of employees.

My own view is that the vast majority of policy-making decisions should be left to the senior educators, with the trustees being concerned only with issues of governance. The senior administrators, in turn, should mine the rich resources of our teachers for input on educational policy. But I have also found that the teachers’ unions want to pull out of such activity when there is a dispute at the provincial level. All of a sudden, policy-making is deemed to be administrative work that has nothing to do with teaching. So all sides need to get better at this.

4.   How should the current labour dispute between teachers and BCPSEA be resolved, or can it be resolved?

As the spouse of a teacher, I am in conflict on that issue; therefore, I can’t speak to it. I think I can say this, however: The current industrial model of collective bargaining employed in the public     sector needs to be radically overhauled. A system developed in the 1940s to 1960s, largely by big     industrial unions bargaining with the big auto and mining companies at a time when the public sector was all non-union, just doesn’t meet today’s needs. Students should not be caught in the middle. On the other hand, educators should not be taken advantage of because they teach innocent third parties. Surely there are “getting to yes” models of collective bargaining that don’t harm students, and are not weighted only to one side’s advantage. It’s been done in other sectors--why not in education?

Please circle Yes or No and provide a comment if you wish for the following questions.

1. Do/did your children attend public school?   Yes            No            N/A                              Comment: Yes, but the issue is more or less moot in the case of my children, who are in their mid-thirties. I am a graduate of public schools as is my wife. She is a public school teacher.
   

2.    Would you support the creation of a School District “needs” budget? Yes            No

Comment: By a needs budget, do you mean a budget that deliberately runs an illegal deficit to make a point? Frankly, no. But I do think that the board should continue to make its needs very clear to the Ministry of Education, and to lobby for improvements via every available avenue. Actually, the present board, and past boards have done this with a fair degree of success. One can’t ignore the realities of a recession, of course. But we do work hard at arguing against unfair aspects of the funding formula and other government actions and decisions that run contrary to Abbotsford’s interests; e.g., the transportation funding, job equity funding.

3.    Do you endorse the formation of a policy that specifically protects Gay and Lesbian students?               Yes            No

Comment: I endorse policies that protect anyone who is discriminated against, and we do have policies that prohibit discrimination. In asking this question, are you suggesting that gay and lesbian students have been requesting specific policy language? If so, we should certainly be looking into it to see why they would feel singled out over other groups that face discrimination (e.g., race, religion, etc.). By the way, I don’t refer to students in quite the way it’s phrased in the question. There are students who are of various races, students who live with a disability, students who are challenged, students who are gay, etc. But they are all students first, and all students deserve a safe, obstacle-free, enriched environment within which to learn.

4.    Do you support the restoration of the guaranteed class-size limits, specialist teacher ratios and support for students special needs that were stripped from the 2002 Collective Agreement?                    Yes            No

Comment: Again, as the spouse of a teacher, I am in conflict on contract issues and can’t comment.

How often have you followed someone's car at well under the speed limit and wished you had a loudspeaker through which you could yell something like "Would you reel in the anchor?", or "You got a gas pedal in that thing?" Well, that's how I feel about our school district.

To carry on with the car analogy for a minute, our district has great infrastructure (the chassis, tires, etc.), highly trained educators (the drivers), a great track record of innovation and accomplishment (the engine), plenty of things to do (gas), and goals to strive for (the destination). But we've hit a wall (oops! Better skip the car analogy with that one).

The crew chief--our superintendent--is not only highly accomplished and greatly admired, but is also a very likable person who can really motivate a group, and can call the occasional spade a freaking shovel when the occasion demands it. While he's new in the job, my 24 years of experience with superintendents tells me that he may become the best of the seven I've worked with (I wasn't on the board during the Des Mackay tenure).

In other words, there is plenty of spark at the top to get the district moving forward as it has in the past (spark plugs). But we're not moving. We've slumped. The reason?--There seems to be a big foot on the brake.

That's where leadership comes to the fore. If things aren't happening as they should despite all the pieces being in place, there is only one way to deal with it--cast a vision, get the strategic plan firmly in place, and motivate the educational leaders as they apparently haven't been in the recent past.

I believe that the people I'm supporting--Preet Rai, Stan Petersen, and Freddy Latham--are up to the task of leadership. Please vote for them in this election.

Thank you.

With that rather startling beginning, one of the loveliest and most gracious men I have ever met walked across the packed dirt floor to the microphone.

But before I go further with that story, a little background. One of the most effective leaders in our school district is District Principal Perry Smith (pictured). He is in charge of the Mamele’awt Community Aboriginal Centre, which is home to our Aboriginal Education Program.  The wonderful team that Perry has developed is dedicated to providing support for Aboriginal students from kindergarten to grade 12.

Perry made special arrangements with the Sumas First Nation to hold what is called an honouring ceremony. It took place in the Sumas Nation's longhouse on Sumas Mtn. Rd. Space does not permit a description of this marvelous event, but it is considered the highest honour in Sto:lo culture. Its purpose is to claim someone and recognize them for the work that they have done, the contribution they have made, and their great worth in the community. In this case, teachers from all over our district were honoured.

A number of aboriginal speakers participated, congratulating the school district for the great academic improvements that had been achieved for aboriginal students in the last decade. We enjoyed the drumming and dancing of both aboriginal children and adults. The actual honouring ceremony itself was both very educational, given that the Sto:lo have been living in the Fraser Valley for more than 9000 years, and quite inspirational.

But nothing compared to the address given by Sumas elder Ray Silver Sr. He strutted across the floor to the microphone as fast as his cane and compromised eyesight permitted, which was actually pretty quick. He won our hearts immediately with his opening line, reproduced in the title of this post. He went on to talk about his early years in school, which like that of most aboriginals in the 1940s, was horrific. Among other things, his brother died while in the residential school to which they were sent in Port Alberni. (For a full account of this time, see www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/community/125225789.html.)

Ray somehow got out of school at a very young age. He talked about growing up illiterate, ashamed of both this and his aboriginal heritage. He was not allowed to learn his own language or live according to his own culture. He finally taught himself to read and write as an adult. He was too embarrassed to ask girls out. But he worked hard, finally married, and fathered some wonderful children, including Ray Silver Jr., a noted carver whose works adorn several of our schools.

But at the end of his speech, without a hint of bitterness or reproach, Mr. Silver acknowledged that things were changing for the better, at least in our school district, and thanked us for our part it, invoking the Great Spirit to bless us. I have never felt so humble, so grateful, and so moved.

It takes many people to make an educational program great. But I want to especially thank Perry Smith, whose hard and creative work has reaped rich rewards for aboriginal kids, and a blessing on us from Ray Silver.

May the Great Spirit bless you both.

Back to the all-important topic of leadership. I have a friend who is a partner in one of the larger agricultural businesses in Abbotsford. I asked him about the company's CEO. My friend described him as very able and hardworking, and said that he was doing excellent work. I asked further what role the partners played. His response? "We get out of his way and let him do his job."

This answer is consistent with that of many strong Canadian corporate leaders. Aaron Regent, President of Barrick Gold, gave his definition of leadership: "Sometimes leadership's about leading, sometimes it's about following, and sometimes it's just about getting out of the way."

For many people who run for school trustee, leadership is the use of new-found power via reserving virtually all final decisions for board members, questioning plans, giving orders, and otherwise restricting the extent to which the senior educational professionals go about their business. There is not a management text, a competent business practitioner, or a leadership consultant who would recommend this, but it is a common enough practice on school boards.

If a board of school trustees is not to be significantly involved in day-to-day operations (and the Lord knows that many of them want to be), what is their role? First and foremost it is to cast a vision. A study conducted by a global human resource company of what workers most value in their superiors revealed this number one response: the ability to create and share an engaging vision for the future.

Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Co., agrees with this: "At the end of the day, you have to have some dream about what you're trying to achieve." The CEO of a large architectural firm concurs: "Leadership....means inspiration."

How is this done? My belief is that this is best accomplished by working closely with the senior educational leaders in developing a strategic plan that captures the values and objectives that our city stands for (excellence, inclusivity, safety, provincial leadership, character), and which any educational system worth its salt would provide (responsibility, self-respect and respect for others, creativity, productivity, education that meets the unique needs of all learners).

Once that is accomplished, the trained professionals are given the responsibility to carry out the strategic plan, and are held accountable for results. The CEO of Ericsson Canada puts it this way: "Managers and leaders don't have all the answers, but strong leadership seems to utilize the knowledge of the employees and the collective power of their motivation and experience." Another president adds: "What leadership has provided for me is the true joy that comes from seeing the success in others when they really unleash their hidden potential."