Candidates Questionnaire Week Three: Public Consultations and Transparency
Welcome to the third in a series of weekly articles we’re calling Candidate Questionnaires. Once a week, The Nest sends school board candidates from all six major political parties one or two questions, for their written responses to be published here. Responses are only edited for clarity.
Last week, we asked candidates:
How will you improve the public consultation process and ensure transparency in decision making?
Their responses are below. Candidates have been grouped by their political party, listed in a randomized order. Candidates under each political party are also listed in a randomized order. Please send your questions to ehnewspaper@gmail.com, and enjoy learning about the people running for your school board.
Green Party of Vancouver
Lois Chan-Pedley, Janet Fraser, and Nick Poppell have responded together to this week’s questionnaire. In future questionnaires, each candidate will answer separately. All parties will be reminded of this rule and non-compliant submissions will no longer be accepted.
All trustees, stakeholders, students, parents, teachers, staff, and the public have a role to play in ensuring decisions made for the betterment of the education system and students' success is a transparent and collaborative process. If we imagine our schools as a tapestry, we are each responsible for weaving our strands together, no one strand can dominate the tapestry as trustees consider their decision-making. Together we can weave that fabric. There are examples of success and areas we can definitely continue to improve on.
Most recently the VSB completed the Food Framework Engagement. Over the past term, the VSB has also completed consultations in creating the Education Plan and Equity Statement, SLO, Anti-racism and Non-discrimination Strategic Plan. Engagement also occurs through working groups, for example, the Administrative Procedures Working Group (stakeholders including the District Parents Advisory Committee (DPAC) and Vancouver District Student Council (VDSC) and the Indigenous Education Council. While successes have been achieved, lessons have also been learned, and as the work continues we need to always find ways to improve and grow.
Green Trustees are open to looking for ways to better share information and context with and receive feedback from stakeholders, rights holders and the public on the topics the VSB needs to consult on. Public education in Vancouver is essential, but also massively complex. Someone filling out a 5-minute survey is going to produce a small strand of useful information. A family attending a focus group will likely produce a somewhat larger strand of information in which we can weave together in our tapestry. Stakeholders and rights holders and community members with in depth knowledge will spin a yet larger strand. All of that is interwoven with other strands of information such as the district’s financial health, staffing resources, and external factors such as the provincial laws that govern how districts must operate.
We believe students have an opportunity to grow into larger leadership roles within their student body when it comes to consultation. We would like to formalize the current ad hoc way the VSB consults with students. However this should not be dictated by the VSB, but instead led by students. With the support of the VSB, students could take the lead in creating mechanisms/group structures to enhance the voice of the student body. The VSB can also look to improve how it consults with staff, teachers, parents, and the overall public as a whole. Only by working together can we successfully weave our threads into a tapestry truly reflective of the unique perspectives, shared values, and lived experiences needed for all students to thrive.
COPE
Rocco Trigueros
Public consultation is vital in order to deal properly and effectively with school board issues. Solutions to specific problems need to be understood from the perspective of all the parts, so the right course of action is implemented.
As a Behavioral Analyst student and Educational Assistant Level III, I understand the immense importance of documenting, using a diverse array of tools, any experience, data and observation related to the challenges that my students encounter. In a broader sense, getting to know the needs and challenges of the persons we serve, by inviting them to public meetings, direct outreach, workshops, interviews, town halls, panels, street booths and surveys, not only creates a truly democratic process but also helps us find sustainable solutions that will solve the challenges fittingly because we understand the core of the issue, not just one perspective.
It was with public consultation, that as a Youth Worker for Britannia Centre, I was able to build 15 programs that addressed correctly the needs of multicultural youth and their parents, based on our resources.
Suzie Mah
Currently, the school board does a lot of its consultation through online surveys and polls. It also limits delegations to publicly present at board meetings. Furthermore, the timelines are short for input and feedback. If elected, I would bring back the in-person public delegation process. Submitting proposals or questions through electronic means leaves out the emotion, body language, and personal connection people need to make their points. Real-time discussions are more democratic because it allows back and forth discourse.
Online surveys and polls allow those with internet access or computer skills to respond. The surveys and polls are only in English and not in other languages. If one doesn't feel comfortable with their English skills, computer skills, or if they don't have ready access to the internet, their voice is left out. At least with in-person delegations, people can bring translators, or the board can provide English translation if needed. Online surveys and polls are only one means of gathering stakeholder input. If we are to use this means, we need to provide other language options. Finally, timelines need to be expanded to allow more time for meaningful consultation and input. This means that trustees need to give senior managers a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished through decision-making and why it is choosing a particular consultation method and timeline.
In addition, once decisions are made by the school board, these should be announced on the school board's website (and in different languages) as well as communicated to different levels of management. Press releases of important decision-making timelines and decision-making should also be done.
Vote Socialist
Karina Zeidler
Everyone says they favour transparency and public consultation. But what does that really mean? Transparency means not doing things in secret. That seems like it should be obvious, but it’s clear that much of the decision-making about our schools currently goes on behind closed doors. That has to stop.
So that means the practice of in-camera meetings has to stop, except under very special circumstances. For instance, the VBE should no longer agree to meet with the Minister of Education in secret. What goes on in meetings between the Board and the Ministry of Education? The public has a right to know.
Another problem right now is the high-handed way the VSB staff refuse to share information. If staff obstruct the public’s right to know what’s happening inside the VSB, the trustees have a duty to fire them.
It’s clear that the board has become too reliant on management staff, and has lost touch with the people it’s supposed to serve. So I agree with those who say that the consultation process needs to change, and trustees should consult directly with the community, including students. They should not have staff consult for them and then report in. We need an activist school board that campaigns and governs in plain sight. Not the lamentable, opaque situation we have now.
Vision Vancouver
Vision Vancouver candidates additionally sent in a collective answer, which will not be included due to its non-compliance to the questionnaire format. We published a detailed explanation of this editorial decision here.
Aaron Leung
As the former Chair of the City of Vancouver’s Children, Youth and Families Advisory Committee where I convened children, adults, and elders on important community topics like housing or education or as the Co-Founder of the VSB Sustainability Conference that brought together VSB students on our climate future, I know how important consultation is for our communities. It’s a way for community members to feel seen and heard and I am especially mindful that we need to do better for those underrepresented at the board table (e.g. cultural communities, those with socio-economic barriers). As someone who has previously facilitated public engagements, I’m also committed to using the IAP2 spectrum.
Steve Cardwell
I am a former superintendent and long time leader at many levels in the system with strong connections to parents, unions, students, and community. My approach to meaningful consultation has always been to actively listen and ensure that all voices are heard. Being transparent and open within the public realm and clearly communicating evidence-based decisions are also critically important aspects of good consultation.
Hilary Thomson
Trustees are the link between the public and the school board. Families and educators are all part of the same team working together to support students, and our consultation policies should recognize that they have valuable input to share that help trustees make more informed decisions. It is important that we develop a framework for engagement that involves those with lived experience.
Kera McArthur
My background includes designing and implementing public engagement processes, both professionally and at the community level. I have an International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Certificate in Public Participation and I chaired the Dream Vancouver process in 2007, which engaged over 3,000 Vancouver citizens, community leaders, union leaders, students, and elected officials to identify public policy priorities for the City of Vancouver. I believe that transparent engagement with the public on policy issues is both key to strengthening those policies and is a cornerstone of good governance.
Allan Wong
The Board (and its committees) need to assist stakeholders and community members in creating ad hoc meetings on specific topics. Official liaison Trustee(s) would be attending these meetings to support outreach and relationship building. This is in addition to the existing 5 standing committees with stakeholders and monthly public delegations presenting to the Board.
OneCity Vancouver
Krista Sigurdson
Currently, public participation in VSB decision-making is increasingly marginalized through a number of policies and practices that are largely invisible to the average voter. For instance, the public is only permitted to speak at VSB meetings on "non-operational" issues. This means that if a parent, student or member of the public has an important issue they want to be heard about, it might not see the light of day if it is deemed "operational". Further, public participation has been relegated to special delegation meetings that have been separated from committee or committee of the whole meetings. This means that when parents, students, or members of the public speak about issues, there is no connection with the issues the trustees are considering and there is no active transparent debate on the issues that the public raises. If I were elected, I would allow delegations to present on relevant issues pertaining to Vancouver Schools, operational or not, and I would re-integrate delegation presentations into regular committee meetings such that transparent debate took place on issues raised by the public.
I have presented as a delegate to the school board a number of times on issues pertaining to Strathcona Elementary, where I have served as PAC chair. I have also represented the District Parents Advisory Council as a stakeholder at VSB committee meetings. I have experienced how closed off the VSB can be to public and stakeholder input and how confusing it can be to speak up without any knowledge on how your opinion is going to be taken into account, if at all. Much needs to change at the VSB and I’m excited about the opportunity to talk about how to make these changes.
Kyla Epstein
School board trustees are accountable to the students, families, teachers, workers, staff, and partner organizations of the school district and also to the general public. To me, this means having a consultation/participation process that is designed to be as open and accessible as possible, including to student journalists! It also means that, unless prohibited by legislation, discussions and decisions need to be made publicly and not behind closed doors or at trustee-only workshops. And we need to centre the knowledge and experiences of those who are most affected by decisions.
I have regular access to the internet, English is my most fluent language, and I work in a job that allows me to be somewhat flexible with my time. And even I have found navigating the process for participating in the VSB’s processes frustrating and full of barriers. One of the markers of true consultation is making sure that the participants have the time to become informed of the issues and engage (if they so choose). The current VSB policy does not meet that measure and needs to be amended.
Consultation is a process that facilitates, not a process that erects barriers. We need to make it really easy for people to participate, we need to have multiple ways that people can participate, we need to have multilingual options for participation, and we need to remove arbitrary timelines that makes participation more difficult. And when people take the time to share with us their experiences, stories, and knowledge, we need to listen, ask questions, and remember that we are accountable to them, even when - or especially when - they disagree with us or are telling us that we can do better.
Finally, let me separate out something from the public consultation process: meaningful consultation with the local Host Nations should not be part of a general “stakeholder” process. xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations are not “stakeholders”, they are rights holders.
Jennifer Reddy
When I first became a trustee I wanted to change the delegation policy, that is, the policy that defines how we hear from members of the public. At that time there was a proposal that individuals wishing to speak to the Board should request to speak three days before the board or committee meeting. I think that three business days is too restrictive, especially when the agenda is released after this cut-off point. It makes it difficult for members of the public to know what decisions will be made and how to engage. I believe it should be easier to speak at these meetings.
Over my term, the changes that have been proposed have only added complexity and limitations to the way the public may speak to the board. I will continue to work on enabling meaningful, accessible and accountable public consultation in policy and practice. For example, I will continue to advocate against any closure or limiting of public input and always within a human rights and responsibilities framework. I will continue to advocate for any changes to policies and programs to be supported by transparent open data and research.
Rory Brown
True public engagement is at an all time low at the VSB. The newly elected Board needs to immediately bring back the comprehensive nature of the advisory committee structure. Trustee workshops have largely replaced effective committee debate and the benefits of having trustees debate issues behind the closed doors of “trustee workshops” are minimal. Members of the public need to be able to participate and make presentations to the Board at and during the committee meetings where the committee is hearing and debating that particular issue. Delegations of parents and interested community members should be able to ask real-time questions of Trustees and staff and get answers. Stakeholder representatives should be able to make submissions to the Board in public. Trustee codes of conduct need to be designed such that public debate is fostered and promoted, not truncated or stifled. The tone and content of debate needs to be respectful yet full and parliamentary in its nature. Trustees need to be free to express their views during debates and on social media.
Gavin Somers
First and foremost, any consultation process should be made easily accessible and understandable to the public, otherwise, we create barriers for participation. For example the use of abstract and bureaucratic language can be a major barrier to understanding both process and participation in meaningful consultation.
Public consultation is an important part of the decision making process for publicly elected officials, as those of us elected are most commonly not the ‘end users’ of the services we are looking to provide and support. The ‘end users’ we need to consider are students, families, teachers and staff. With this in mind, it is absolutely imperative to include the experiences of our ‘end users’ in building our vision for a thriving, healthy and resourced school district.
Currently, it is difficult for members of the public to know how and when they should bring relevant issues forward. I believe a simple rearrangement would be helpful.
1st - Agenda release
2nd - Deadline for delegation request
3rd - Approved list of speakers and topics approved and made public
4th - Material presentations submitted
5th - Meeting date & delegation presentations
I believe it is the role of trustees to make the process for engagement, consultation, and decision making more transparent and fair.
Candidates with no response
The Non-Partisan Association has yet to announce candidates, and did has responded to numerous inquiries as to whether they will be participating in this series and when candidates can be expected.