Blair Norton

1)   What are your views on education funding in Alberta and the role of school boards in funding decisions?

The Board of Trustees needs to address the shortfalls in education funding to the Education Minister and must continue to advocate for rural boards and the lack of access to professionals, such as psychologists and Speech-Language Therapists.  If the current funding does not change, the board will have to re-evaluate the feasibility of running programs such as the Mobile Trades Lab, and the Trades Exposure Centre.

Given the overall decrease in funding, the board needs to be transparent and accountable for the scarce dollars they have to operate. Therefore the board should look at how dollars are spent, including how dollars are spent in central office.  

2)   How can learning conditions in schools be improved? 

1. Improve the infrastructure of some of our schools/classrooms so that students don’t have to wear winter jackets into the classroom to stay warm, and classrooms should be able to run fans in May and June when the temperature outside gets hot.  

2. Keep the teachers in the classroom with their students, Professional Development is important for teacher growth as is collaboration, but taking them out of the classroom for meetings and PD takes away valuable instruction time for students.

3. Ensure Support Staff are available to work with students with different learning abilities, stop cutting/reducing school support staff and expect that learning will magically happen.

3)   What are your views on the recently released draft curriculum?

As stated by many teachers and parents across the province, the draft curriculum needs to be scrapped, plain and simple.  The Alberta Education system used to be revered by other provinces and countries, if this draft curriculum is implemented the students of Alberta will be put at a disadvantage compared to other provinces. As a former teacher, I feel that the government’s approach to this draft curriculum is a slap in the face for teachers.  

The board needs to actively petition the government to abolish the draft and not participate in piloting it.

4)   How can trustees and school boards best support teachers and other school staff?

1. Advocate for improved learning and working conditions for teachers.  Rural schools are at a disadvantage when it comes to supporting students.  Compared to big city school boards, rural school boards are at a disadvantage for immediate specialized services and support for their students, within their communities. Big city school boards have access to specialized schools and professionals to support students; whereas rural boards have limited or no access to professionals to support our students that need specialized help. 

2. Trustees need to hear from teachers and administrators to address concerns they may have so that trustees are better attuned to what teachers are saying and experiencing in the classroom.  It is through these discussions that trustees can make informed decisions at the board level in developing priorities, policies, and determining where dollars should be allocated.

5)   As a school board trustee how will you encourage and facilitate the calls to action as outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?

 #10.1 from the TRC states  “Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation.”  I will advocate for FNMI dollars the division receives to be targeted to help identified students.  The Division’s Annual Education Report shows poor results on yearly PATs and PDEs, and are consistently a cause of concern with low achievement and participation rates.  

The other area I would address is to look for indicators that demonstrate our schools capacity to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms, as well as provide opportunities and funding for teachers to improve their knowledge and understanding.  We must continue to engage with and listen to the knowledge holders, leaders, and members of our Indigenous communities to become education partners.  I would encourage school councils to reach out to FNMI communities and invite them to meetings.  I would also like to see more involvement at board meetings with our Indigenous leaders, any decision that impacts student learning should have input from them.

6)   What improvements or changes could be made to improve student and staff safety in the division?

I believe this question focuses on the behaviour of some students and in some cases parents. Under section 37(1) of the Alberta Education Act, it states that the board shall expel the student. For many years the decision to expel a student is determined by an Associate Superintendent and not the board. I would like to see expulsions adjudicated through the board.  Further to that, Under section 256, Prohibited Activities, I believe school administration through Central Office should be able to issue No Trespass letters to parents/adults who are belligerent or interfere with the day to day activities of the school.  School staff should never have to tolerate parents who think that they have a right to scream, shout, belittle or intimidate staff.  Many government offices, hospitals, businesses have posters/signs as you enter their building stating that rude behaviour will not be tolerated, schools should have the ability to post the same.