Networking and opening better lines of communication with teachers, the school district and the board of trustees is Chris Ford’s primary goal.
One of three candidates in Zone Six School District 27 running for the trustee position, Ford said he is uniquely qualified to help mend the relationship between the School Board and the teachers.
Ford and his wife Robin and son have lived in Williams Lake for almost nine years and he works at the airport as a flight services specialist in air traffic control. Inspired to run after the vote of no confidence in the SD27 Trustee Board by the Cariboo-Chilcotin Teacher’s Association of last year, Ford thought that he could help rebuild the trust between the two.
“I feel I have the personality and the capabilities to help rebuild that relationship between the teachers and the school division,” Ford said.
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Coming from a family of teachers and working as a substitute teacher in the past himself, Ford said he can understand where the teachers are coming from and how to help them. His university background in political science will also be an asset in his opinion as will an extensive history of coaching and volunteer work.
He plans to focus his efforts, if elected, on the three main points raised in the report by Diane Turner from the Ministry of Education: communication issues, trust and relationships.
“I have been trying to reach out to the teachers, the school administrators and parent advisory councils. I’m trying to just reach out into the community as much as possible, to find out what issues are facing our schools here in Williams Lake and how best the school division can address these issues,” Ford said. “I am a big believer that if you identify an issue, come forth with a solution as well. Everyone can be negative, everyone can come up with problems but it’s a lot tougher to be positive and come with a solution to resolve the problem.”
He has seen a lot of this positivity within many of the candidates running for positions on the board this year but feels he can bring even more to the table.
“If everybody is pulling on the same rope together, we’ll get everything moving in a positive direction,” Ford said.
Ford said he was also inspired to run because their son is entering his sixth year in the school district.
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