Platform

Safety

Before anyone can learn, they must feel safe and secure in their environment. We must make sure our schools are safe, caring and welcoming environments where students feel valued and cared for. Our schools must be maintained in a way that ensures that our students, staff and visitors are safe within the buildings. This means we need to advocate for new schools and upgraded ventilation systems within our buildings.

Pandemic Recovery

The pandemic has been a challenge for all of our students. Everyone did the best they could in the circumstances, but learning was interrupted many times. Some students were unable to cope in school and struggled with online learning, others pivoted in and out as they had to self-isolate one or multiple times, and all students were out of class for at home learning three times. It is going to take time to get individual students back to where they should be. Teachers will be doing more differentiating than ever before and must be supported as they support the students. High school students may need more time to confidently complete their education and should be fully funded as second or third year grade 12s. Most of all, kids need to be allowed to be kids again!

Mental Health

More than any other time in history, our children our struggling with mental health issues. Our schools must help support parents as they take care of their children. We need counsellors in our schools and community supports to help our most vulnerable develop resiliency. Emotionally healthy students are more likely to be successful academically. Working with other agencies to provide wrap-around services is both morally and fiscally responsible.

Curriculum

Curriculum must be relevant to the times. Our government needs to pause and revisit the proposed new curriculum and take into account the enormous amount of feedback from all stakeholders. We need to take our time and get it right. As we work to recover from the last few years, we should not be asking teachers to focus on learning to deliver a new curriculum but allow them the time to help their students fill in the learning gaps. Implementing a new curriculum is also an expensive endeavor and our dollars can be spent much more wisely at this time.

Funding

Albertans have had economic challenges over the past few years but we need to invest in our future - the education of our youth. Education must be properly funded. We must be responsible with how we spend our dollars but our children deserve a first class education. We need new schools in Elk Island and we need to be able to provide all of our students with the supports they need to succeed. I promise to advocate for fair funding and to look for ways to optimize how we use those funds.