Oleh Lazarchuk is running for school trustee in Zone 5 because he believes he has the time, business experience and commitment to do the job effectively.
“I have a background in business administration, understand budgets, am an ordained minister, and have worked well with politicians in the past,” Lazarchuk says.
“I am very passionate and committed to our children getting the best education in Canada so that they will be equipped to work and study in the area of their choice in our global market place.”
Lazarchuk lists his top three issues as finding ways to keep rural schools viable; meeting the needs of First Nations youth and other ethnic minorities; and finding creative ways to do more with available funding.
“We have to get more creative with the resources that we have,” Lazarchuk says. “We need political, educational, and business will in order for this to happen.”
Lazarchuk, is married to Area D CRD director Deb Bischoff. He says they moved to the Williams Lake area in 2005 to be near her children and grandchildren.
Prior to relocating to the Williams Lake area, Lazarchuk says he operated a computer training school and retail business in Kamloops from 1986 to 2000, then moved his business to Logan Lake to help his father who had suffered a stroke.
His current computer business is building and maintaining e-commerce websites.
He says he started taking a greater interest in education when he attended meetings in which he learned that Wildwood and other rural elementary schools could be closed due to low enrolment. He supports finding alternate ways to keep rural schools open such as renting unused space for day-care centres, after school programs, and adult education.
He says rural schools are the heart of their communities and the needs of rural schools need to be balanced with those of the secondary schools in the larger communities.
He supports expanding use of high-speed communication technologies for rural secondary students.
Lazarchuk says he is also involved in the proposals for an outdoor skating rink and a disc golf course in Wildwood which he hopes will bring families with children to the community.
He says parents also need to get involved with their school parent groups and the district parent advisory council.