Kate Baggott's Blog: Cornfields of the Sea - Posts Tagged "st-catharines-votes-2014"
Writer-Citizen: DSBN Trustee Candidate Alex Bradnam
Yes, this is a writer blog but I am a citizen with children in the District School Board of Niagara public school system. There has been a woeful lack of coverage of the school board election, so I am using my role as a general busybody and citizen to interview the 9 candidates competing for the 4 seats representing St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Alex Bradnam is the first of the 9 candidates to respond to my questions in full. Alex is a sitting trustee seeking re-election after one term in office.
Question 1. What in your background do you believe prepares you for this public office?
Question 2. What has been your role in community volunteer work, educational activism and politics?
Alex's Reply: 1. and 2. (Combined these)
As your current elected Trustee, we have accomplished much during the past four years, but our work is not done! I have and will continue to collaborative make decisions to spend your tax dollars wisely to provide the quality staff, programs, and leadership that our students, parents and public should expect. Everyone expects no less than our best. We can, we should, and we must continue to do this to provide the best education that our children and grandchildren deserve.
As a retired elementary school Principal and Teacher, former local Federation President, former co-chair of the DSBN joint worker/management health and safety committee, member of local and provincial education committees, husband, and father of two DSBN graduates, and grandfather of one (soon to be two), I feel I have a unique perspective on a wide variety of education issues and questions that have been addressed and continue to be worked on. I can honestly say that I have sat on all sides of the table when working with students, staff, parents, and communities within the DSBN. I have the reputation of being a hard worker, and a trusted member of the DSBN Board of Trustees. However, I am not afraid to challenge and ask the hard questions of those who I work with and for. My voting record shows that I have supported many different communities and their wishes and constantly keep up the dialog with parents,, community leaders and DSBN staff. I will continue to work hard to represent the best interests of our students, and all that I serve. Our children are our future. Their education comes first.
Question 3. While local elections are not party-driven, do you have any party affiliations that influence your political ambitions?
Alex's Reply: Absolutely no party affiliations at all. I vote for the best candidate in all levels of government that I feel can serve us the best at that time.
Question 4. How would you describe the current relationship between elected trustees and hired superintendents?
Alex's Reply: I have a great working relationship with our Senior Team. I respect their positions and hope that they respect mine when we do not agree on any given issue.
Question 5. The province offers trustees various forms of procedural guidance and training in legal and procedural responsibilities of trustees. Which of these forms of guidance and training have you used and/or participated in to prepare and undertake your role as trustee?
Alex's Reply: I have taken the inservice modules provided by OPSBA (Ontario Public School Board's Association) and try to attend as many MOE (Ministry of Education) workshops and conferences to gain knowledge and clarity of provincial mandates and issues.
Question 6. Where do you stand on the issue of amalgamation of school boards in Niagara and in Ontario as a whole?
Alex's Reply: I have to say that I did not think I would live to see the day that we have one publicly funded school system in Ontario. But I am starting to see the "cracks" in the governing party and other political parties that must have the candidates and members in power to make this change sooner than later. I am in full support of one publicly funded school system in Ontario.
Question 7. Where do you stand on the issue of provincial oversight of school closure decisions and financial transparency of the DSBN?
Alex's Reply: I agree with any community or group that desires to challenge the Province's decision in regards to the ARC process. I believe that the Province is now working on the ARC process to give it more clarity, more community involvement, and a less onerous procedure.
Question 8. Among members of the public, there appears to be a problem with nepotism in the hiring of teachers in the board. Have you looked into this issue and, if so, what did you find out?
Alex's Reply: MOE Provincial Regulation 274 began the process to make seniority the main criterion in the hiring structure. I believe that bill 122 has given the school boards in Ontario the right to set up the hiring process to prevent nepotism based on years of service in the occasional teacher pool.
Question 9. The EQAO results in the DSBN are rather troubling, but standardized testing in general is a controversial issue. What do you think of our students' results on the EQAO and about the role of standardized testing overall?
Alex's Reply: I have never been a "fan" of the EQAO testing that only gives a snapshot of individual student progress. It is just one of many tools used by school boards and teachers to evaluate students. I feel that the press and other outside agencies have unfairly put too much attention on individual classes and schools results. The Province has put an immense amount of tax dollars setting up this agency over the years with mixed results. Yes, individual literacy marks are improving across the Province but the dismal results in mathematics signals perhaps a new approach in spending our tax dollars wisely to improve student success. I believe the DSBN has done a good job in setting up programs for our students and staff to improve literacy and numeracy results. But we can do better, and are challenging our Senior Staff to come up with ways to help our kids, and to support our teachers, to both grow in new methods and teaching styles to raise these marks for all of our students.
Question 10. Many members of the public are concerned about the level of support for students with special needs. They have also expressed concern about the continuity of staff assigned to particular individuals and the job security of those staff members. What is your position on how the DSBN is doing supporting students who have special needs and the role of Educational Assistants in providing that support?
Alex's Reply: It is no mystery that our Provincial funding formula for our special need students was flawed for over 10 years. I have been very out spoken that this needed to be fixed. I have challenged all officials in all levels of government in verbal and print form to fix this problem. Finally, the Province has given the DSBN a fairer (not where it should be yet in my mind) level of funding for our special need students and will (let's keep our fingers crossed) give a more balanced funding formula that helps the the DSBN. There is no new money for this but the MOE with redistribute the funding through a revised formula to make this right. Schools are often ruled by contractual agreements. Our support staff have the contractual right to move when positions become available to them. I know that it makes more sense to leave support staff in a school where the familiarity with the student(s) will enhance individual growth, but again, you cannot blame the staff or the administration in the school when changes take place that are out of their control. I am an avid supporter of our budget lines that support our neediest students. I have sat on the only Provincial 4 year term mandated committee (SEAC - Special Educational Advisory Council) within our Board. I "asked" to be appointed to this committee four years ago. The work here is not done!
Question 11. What do you believe is the role of the trustee in supporting participatory democracy and the role of parents in school board operations?
Alex's Reply: I also sit on the Board's PIC (Parent Involvement Committee). I believe in the democratic right of our public to take an active role in education when ever and where possible ruled by MOE directives.
Question 12. Additionally, please provide links to your web site and/or Facebook page and twitter handle.
Alex's Reply: I do not take part in Facebook or Twitter accounts.
This post reflects whom I've decided to endorse and this summary post explains why. As usual, here is a list of all the candidate information posts I wrote to cover the race:
Alex Bradnam is the first of the 9 candidates to respond to my questions in full. Alex is a sitting trustee seeking re-election after one term in office.
Question 1. What in your background do you believe prepares you for this public office?
Question 2. What has been your role in community volunteer work, educational activism and politics?
Alex's Reply: 1. and 2. (Combined these)
As your current elected Trustee, we have accomplished much during the past four years, but our work is not done! I have and will continue to collaborative make decisions to spend your tax dollars wisely to provide the quality staff, programs, and leadership that our students, parents and public should expect. Everyone expects no less than our best. We can, we should, and we must continue to do this to provide the best education that our children and grandchildren deserve.
As a retired elementary school Principal and Teacher, former local Federation President, former co-chair of the DSBN joint worker/management health and safety committee, member of local and provincial education committees, husband, and father of two DSBN graduates, and grandfather of one (soon to be two), I feel I have a unique perspective on a wide variety of education issues and questions that have been addressed and continue to be worked on. I can honestly say that I have sat on all sides of the table when working with students, staff, parents, and communities within the DSBN. I have the reputation of being a hard worker, and a trusted member of the DSBN Board of Trustees. However, I am not afraid to challenge and ask the hard questions of those who I work with and for. My voting record shows that I have supported many different communities and their wishes and constantly keep up the dialog with parents,, community leaders and DSBN staff. I will continue to work hard to represent the best interests of our students, and all that I serve. Our children are our future. Their education comes first.
Question 3. While local elections are not party-driven, do you have any party affiliations that influence your political ambitions?
Alex's Reply: Absolutely no party affiliations at all. I vote for the best candidate in all levels of government that I feel can serve us the best at that time.
Question 4. How would you describe the current relationship between elected trustees and hired superintendents?
Alex's Reply: I have a great working relationship with our Senior Team. I respect their positions and hope that they respect mine when we do not agree on any given issue.
Question 5. The province offers trustees various forms of procedural guidance and training in legal and procedural responsibilities of trustees. Which of these forms of guidance and training have you used and/or participated in to prepare and undertake your role as trustee?
Alex's Reply: I have taken the inservice modules provided by OPSBA (Ontario Public School Board's Association) and try to attend as many MOE (Ministry of Education) workshops and conferences to gain knowledge and clarity of provincial mandates and issues.
Question 6. Where do you stand on the issue of amalgamation of school boards in Niagara and in Ontario as a whole?
Alex's Reply: I have to say that I did not think I would live to see the day that we have one publicly funded school system in Ontario. But I am starting to see the "cracks" in the governing party and other political parties that must have the candidates and members in power to make this change sooner than later. I am in full support of one publicly funded school system in Ontario.
Question 7. Where do you stand on the issue of provincial oversight of school closure decisions and financial transparency of the DSBN?
Alex's Reply: I agree with any community or group that desires to challenge the Province's decision in regards to the ARC process. I believe that the Province is now working on the ARC process to give it more clarity, more community involvement, and a less onerous procedure.
Question 8. Among members of the public, there appears to be a problem with nepotism in the hiring of teachers in the board. Have you looked into this issue and, if so, what did you find out?
Alex's Reply: MOE Provincial Regulation 274 began the process to make seniority the main criterion in the hiring structure. I believe that bill 122 has given the school boards in Ontario the right to set up the hiring process to prevent nepotism based on years of service in the occasional teacher pool.
Question 9. The EQAO results in the DSBN are rather troubling, but standardized testing in general is a controversial issue. What do you think of our students' results on the EQAO and about the role of standardized testing overall?
Alex's Reply: I have never been a "fan" of the EQAO testing that only gives a snapshot of individual student progress. It is just one of many tools used by school boards and teachers to evaluate students. I feel that the press and other outside agencies have unfairly put too much attention on individual classes and schools results. The Province has put an immense amount of tax dollars setting up this agency over the years with mixed results. Yes, individual literacy marks are improving across the Province but the dismal results in mathematics signals perhaps a new approach in spending our tax dollars wisely to improve student success. I believe the DSBN has done a good job in setting up programs for our students and staff to improve literacy and numeracy results. But we can do better, and are challenging our Senior Staff to come up with ways to help our kids, and to support our teachers, to both grow in new methods and teaching styles to raise these marks for all of our students.
Question 10. Many members of the public are concerned about the level of support for students with special needs. They have also expressed concern about the continuity of staff assigned to particular individuals and the job security of those staff members. What is your position on how the DSBN is doing supporting students who have special needs and the role of Educational Assistants in providing that support?
Alex's Reply: It is no mystery that our Provincial funding formula for our special need students was flawed for over 10 years. I have been very out spoken that this needed to be fixed. I have challenged all officials in all levels of government in verbal and print form to fix this problem. Finally, the Province has given the DSBN a fairer (not where it should be yet in my mind) level of funding for our special need students and will (let's keep our fingers crossed) give a more balanced funding formula that helps the the DSBN. There is no new money for this but the MOE with redistribute the funding through a revised formula to make this right. Schools are often ruled by contractual agreements. Our support staff have the contractual right to move when positions become available to them. I know that it makes more sense to leave support staff in a school where the familiarity with the student(s) will enhance individual growth, but again, you cannot blame the staff or the administration in the school when changes take place that are out of their control. I am an avid supporter of our budget lines that support our neediest students. I have sat on the only Provincial 4 year term mandated committee (SEAC - Special Educational Advisory Council) within our Board. I "asked" to be appointed to this committee four years ago. The work here is not done!
Question 11. What do you believe is the role of the trustee in supporting participatory democracy and the role of parents in school board operations?
Alex's Reply: I also sit on the Board's PIC (Parent Involvement Committee). I believe in the democratic right of our public to take an active role in education when ever and where possible ruled by MOE directives.
Question 12. Additionally, please provide links to your web site and/or Facebook page and twitter handle.
Alex's Reply: I do not take part in Facebook or Twitter accounts.
This post reflects whom I've decided to endorse and this summary post explains why. As usual, here is a list of all the candidate information posts I wrote to cover the race:
Cornfields of the Sea
When I was in high school, I was lucky enough to be part of a writing workshop with author Barbara Greenwood. Every member of the workshop was to write a short story for a group anthology. I thought w
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