Stephanida Gostevskyh

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

As far back as I can remember, even to my own days in school, funding was always an issue. I was under the impression that as technology progressed along with society, funding wouldn't be an issue, now that my own kids have entered the school system funding continues to be a problem. 

The old model was flawed but It did work better than what we are facing now. With the new three-year averaging system we are going to see major funding shortfalls post pandemic, if we only get funding based on rolling averages. That formula doesn't factor in the 2-3% enrollment increases we are seeing yearly across all schools which means the newest, youngest school attendees will see very limited funding. 

Along with that, the amount of available grants that schools can now apply for has shrunk putting more kids at risk of not getting proper educational support. 

I believe School board members need to be advocates and act as a buffer between government and schools because they act as advocates for schools and students. Without active school board members, schools would have to advocate for themselves and we know that not every school has the staff, time or parent engagement needed to take on this major role. 

2)   How can learning conditions in schools be improved? 

Schools need to be a safe and stable learning environment. Buildings need to be modernized to prevent temperature fluctuations based on building capacity. Modernization and building of rural schools should be a priority. We also need more support staff for large class sizes and to have more help for students. Especially more support staff for grades four to nine. We also need to improve anti bullying and anti harassment policies in all levels of the school. 

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

From comparing the current curriculum to the draft one, it's not appropriate, it doesn't engage critical thinking and encourages only memorization. 

It teaches kids what to think, not how to think. This was also the consensus from parents and teachers I spoke with. 

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

As board members I feel it's our duty to support our staff in whatever way we can and that will look different for each person but it has to start with clear communication. 

If the board is to function like a business which is stated in the policy then in order for it to thrive there has to be a relationship between teachers, staff and all people within the school structures. 

To improve our schools overall we need to implement shared governance values to move forward more cohesively. 

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

As trustee I will work with our First Nation's Meti Inuit people and help create the space to follow their lead. I will dedicate time to stay in dialogue with the Elders of these communities to understand the needs and what they wish to see happen. 

We need truth, understanding and collaboration in order to move these calls to action and for that to happen we need their voices brought to the table; I will continue the work already started by the board. 

Considering that the last residential school closed only 23 years ago we have a lot of work to do. 

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

In our rural school in Plamondon we have had issues with attempted child abduction and the schools going into safety protocol because of this, there's no reason our schools, staff and students should be going through this kind of trauma. 

We need more awareness of these issues and to possibly have a police presence around the schools but first we need to build relationships between schools and police because not all students trust any form of authority. 

We need to go back to building community bridges with these organizations and possibly putting together school safety policies and procedures.

Another issue we face here in general is rural crime which directly affects school and staff safety, we as a town have asked for more police presence from the county because of this. This was a direct result of collaboration between the county and the PDCDS board which I am currently a part of.