Writer-Citizen DSBN Trustee Candidate Eva Longhurst
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.
Eva Longhurst has chosen not to respond to my questions. Below is a copy of our complete email correspondence. I encourage voters in St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake to attend the "meet the candidates" event on Friday (complete details follow the content of this blog post) to ask Eva Longhurst questions themselves. I regret that the formatting, font colour and font size of Ms. Longhurst's signature have been lost.
On 6 October 2014 12:52, Kate Baggott wrote:
Hi Eva,
Given the lack of media coverage of the DSBN election race, I have decided to interview the candidates myself and share the results with my friends and family via Facebook, Twitter and my blog. Here are the general questions I will be asking all the candidates. There is some variation in wording for those who are seeking re-election versus those who are seeking election for the first time. If I have engaged in communication with a candidate in the past, I make note of it in the email. As you are not a sitting trustee, there is nothing to note in this case.
1. What in your background do you believe prepares you for this public office?
2. What has been your role in community volunteer work, educational activism and politics?
3. While local elections are not party-driven, do you have any party affiliations that influence your political ambitions?
4. How would you describe the current relationship between elected trustees and hired superintendents? Or, what should that relationship look like?
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 will you use and/or participate in to prepare and undertake your role as trustee?
6. Where do you stand on the issue of amalgamation of school boards in Niagara and in Ontario as a whole?
7. Where do you stand on the issue of provincial oversight of school closure decisions and financial transparency of the DSBN?
8. Among members of the public, there appears to be a problem with nepotism in the hiring of teachers in the board. Will you look into this issue?
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?
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?
11. What do you believe is the role of the trustee in supporting participatory democracy and the role of parents in school board operations?
12. Additionally, please provide links to your web site and/or Facebook page and twitter handle.
With kind regards,
Kate Baggott
Hello Ms Baggott,
Before I answer these questions, I would be interested in information about you, and who you represent. The in depth questions that you are asking show me that you are not just an average voter.
BLESSINGS ON YOU
EVA LONGHURST
Psalm 5:3
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you and
WAIT IN EXPECTATION.
CHOOSE to have A HAPPY DAY
Hi Eva,
I am a writer with children in the DSBN schools. I am in constant contact and discussion with other parents about their concerns all the time. In that sense, I am just an average voter with journalistic experience. I do expect candidates to engage in deep discussion with the electorate, but I do not represent anyone in undertaking this civic duty. I am simply quite shocked by the lack of information available about candidates for DSBN trustee.
Information about my work can be found here: http://www.katebaggott.com
Here is the blog post explaining who I am and what I do on this project: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
:And here are the transcripts of candidate replies that I have posted so far:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
The posts are being and will be shared via twitter and facebook until the day before the election.
All the best,
Kate
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:
Eva Longhurst has chosen not to respond to my questions. Below is a copy of our complete email correspondence. I encourage voters in St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake to attend the "meet the candidates" event on Friday (complete details follow the content of this blog post) to ask Eva Longhurst questions themselves. I regret that the formatting, font colour and font size of Ms. Longhurst's signature have been lost.
On 6 October 2014 12:52, Kate Baggott wrote:
Hi Eva,
Given the lack of media coverage of the DSBN election race, I have decided to interview the candidates myself and share the results with my friends and family via Facebook, Twitter and my blog. Here are the general questions I will be asking all the candidates. There is some variation in wording for those who are seeking re-election versus those who are seeking election for the first time. If I have engaged in communication with a candidate in the past, I make note of it in the email. As you are not a sitting trustee, there is nothing to note in this case.
1. What in your background do you believe prepares you for this public office?
2. What has been your role in community volunteer work, educational activism and politics?
3. While local elections are not party-driven, do you have any party affiliations that influence your political ambitions?
4. How would you describe the current relationship between elected trustees and hired superintendents? Or, what should that relationship look like?
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 will you use and/or participate in to prepare and undertake your role as trustee?
6. Where do you stand on the issue of amalgamation of school boards in Niagara and in Ontario as a whole?
7. Where do you stand on the issue of provincial oversight of school closure decisions and financial transparency of the DSBN?
8. Among members of the public, there appears to be a problem with nepotism in the hiring of teachers in the board. Will you look into this issue?
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?
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?
11. What do you believe is the role of the trustee in supporting participatory democracy and the role of parents in school board operations?
12. Additionally, please provide links to your web site and/or Facebook page and twitter handle.
With kind regards,
Kate Baggott
Hello Ms Baggott,
Before I answer these questions, I would be interested in information about you, and who you represent. The in depth questions that you are asking show me that you are not just an average voter.
BLESSINGS ON YOU
EVA LONGHURST
Psalm 5:3
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you and
WAIT IN EXPECTATION.
CHOOSE to have A HAPPY DAY
Hi Eva,
I am a writer with children in the DSBN schools. I am in constant contact and discussion with other parents about their concerns all the time. In that sense, I am just an average voter with journalistic experience. I do expect candidates to engage in deep discussion with the electorate, but I do not represent anyone in undertaking this civic duty. I am simply quite shocked by the lack of information available about candidates for DSBN trustee.
Information about my work can be found here: http://www.katebaggott.com
Here is the blog post explaining who I am and what I do on this project: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
:And here are the transcripts of candidate replies that I have posted so far:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
The posts are being and will be shared via twitter and facebook until the day before the election.
All the best,
Kate
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:
No comments have been added yet.
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
...more
- Kate Baggott's profile
- 35 followers
