Why run for election if you don’t know what a Trustee does?

I remember what it was like my first campaign running for the school board . I was like a deer in the headlights . But a deer with a purpose. There were things I wanted to change. Things I wanted to improve . But most of all things I needed to know more about. To all the voters and especially the new candidates …. PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH ON WHAT A TRUSTEE DOES.

I put that in capitals because  over the past four elections I run into candidates that have very little knowledge on what a Trustee does. Some think it is a once a month commitment because that is when our meeting is. Believe me it is way more than that. I hope you have the flexibility to take the occasional afternoon and morning off, along with weekends and nights . Can you do that? I also have had candidates not know when or where the board meetings are, and have never been to a board meeting. My goodness people. REALLY! Being an active part of the school board meetings is very important and is actually mandated in the School Act. Do you even know what the School Act is? I have had candidates say that they will have trouble making our meetings because they are during the day so they are going to change that when they are elected. Fair enough, but what if you can’t change it? Our meetings were in the evening for many years and only the past year have been during the day. If you cannot attend anything during the day that will interfere with going to any school activates. I personally think that is a very important part of this job. Going to schools and being part of their activities , talking to parents , staff and the kids is a connection I need to make the best decisions for the district. I have been told our pay and hours limit the kind of candidates we get in an election. Fair statement again. But at this moment our board is not all stay at home parents or wealthy retired seniors. What I see are a group of individuals that have a variety of backgrounds, opinions, experiences and passions. But we all have one thing in common. We do what we do because it is best for kids. You are not going to get your name in lights or make a lot of money being a trustee.  Most times you have to make very difficult choices. School closures, boundary changes and budget cuts are just a few where I have lost sleep. But there is also many occasions where my heart smiles. Graduations, playground openings, extra government funding  and community members that just stop to say “Thank you “.

Would you hire someone that did not know what the job was? Would you apply for a job that you didn’t know what was all needed to be part of a team. Yes you are part of a team. The nomination papers are being filed at city hall next Monday. You still have time to ask questions or not submit your papers. I may sound a bit harsh in some of these comments , but being a trustee is very important to me and I take it very seriously. I encourage people to put their name forward and I understand its hard to know everything about the job of a trustee. But those that I have met during the campaign that don’t even bother to ask about the roles and responsibilities really insults me. It is a true honor to have this community show their trust in me by electing me as a trustee. I will never take that for granted.