Mary Forbes is passionate about waste management and community service, having spearheaded the Potato House Heritage Society. She contracts her time teaching best waste management practices to many organizations including at local schools and has two young children.
What do you think are the top issues facing School District 27?
Financial obscurity, low staff morale, lack of trust between stakeholders, poor communication strategies.
Why do you want to be a school board trustee?
I want to ensure the immediate implementation of Ms. Turner’s 12 recommendations for resolving the issues identified that resulted in a vote of non-confidence by the Teacher’s Association.
How would you go about improving relationships within the district in light of the vote of non-confidence from the CCTA?
Immediately implement a Visioning process with input from all stakeholders. Complete the negotiations with CCPVPA. Work closely with members of the CCTA as representatives of the voice of teachers in our district. Empower staff to achieve the governance goals of the BOD through their operations, providing mentorship and training opportunities as the changes to be enacted in the 12 recommendations by Ms. Turner will require hard work and a steep learning curve for all participants. Respecting the boundaries between BOD and Staff responsibilities. Implement BOD performance reviews to prevent power triangles. Implement staff performance reviews and eliminate duplication of roles. Apply the budget surplus to the entire fiscal year and use it to the benefit of student achievement. Agendas will be complete and sent out seven days before each meeting and will not accept changes to ensure everyone has the opportunity to contribute and prepare for the meeting. Meeting times and locations will be decided for the year in the first meetings of the BOD and distributed to all stakeholders to ensure adequate time to attend. Delegations from all stakeholders will be invited and encouraged at start of each BOD monthly meeting with time for questions from the directors and dialogue with the delegation. Difficult and controversial subjects will be welcomed in a respectful dialogue environment.
What are your thoughts on how the province funds the districts?
Base level funding needs to augment by applying for other sources and opportunities for partnerships and external grants need to be investigated. By identifying all the funding available, our teacher experts can provide the full learning environment all our children deserve.
Do you support the closure of schools when their population drops below a sustainable level?
I will make my decisions by evaluating evidence based research and receiving input from all stakeholders ensuring student achievement’s best interest are considered in all deliberations big or small.
What would you like to see in local schools that isn’t there now?
I would like to see complete stakeholder engagement and excellent staff morale in our local schools.
What could be used to attract and retain teachers in this district?
SD27 needs to provide an educational landscape filled with student achievement, excellent staff morale, positive work environments resulting in increased productivity and stakeholder satisfaction. This can be achieved by completely adhering to Ms. Turners report and implementing her 12 recommendations.
Contact Mary Forbes for more information 250. 855 8443 by call or text, or FB The Mary Forbes