Author Archives: cmenzies

QE Annex back in the news as english stream parents leave school slated for transition to French Immersion

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The Report Card

I just talked to an irate parent who is sitting at the Vancouver board of education office and says he isn’t leaving until he gets to see superintendent Chris Kelly.

Jonathan Ehrlich said he has taken the day off work to deliver a message to Kelly and the Vancouver board of education. “Parents in this community are sick and tired of being treated like children,” he stated.

His anger is a result of a string of problems at Queen Elizabeth annex on the city’s westside. Last year, the annex was slated for closure so the board could raise money to pay for more space for University Hill secondary, a school that is overflowing. The annex was rescued at the last moment when the board said it had found another way to raise the necessary money.

The Courier on Vision’s Group of Four School Board Candidates

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Vision sends four to head of the class

Vision Vancouver gave the nod to four candidates last weekend to run in the Nov. 15 municipal election for a seat on the school board.

As agreed with COPE, the party will run four of its members for the nine-seat board. COPE is running five candidates.

Incumbent Sharon Gregson led with 2,969 votes, as selected by party membership Sept. 20. Mike Lombardi came in second with 2,177 votes, and Patti Bacchus third with 2,053. Ken Clement beat out 23-year-old Stepan Vdovine by a nose–less than 10 votes–to become the fourth candidate.

When does a ‘hobby’ become a ‘real’ issue?

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The courts of Canada have ruled that teachers are teachers 24/7 and that we do not take off our teacher hats when we are off-duty and in our private time. Like it or not, teachers are held to a higher standard than other members of the public, because they are role models and deemed to be transmitters of Canadian values. Under la, we are required to be role models for our students and to adhere to the standards of the profession. … a teacher holds a position of trust, confidence and responsibility. If a teacher acts in an improper way on or off the job, there may be a loss of public confidence in the teacher and in the school system.

From: TC: The Official Magazine of The BC College of Teachers. summer/fall 2009 (pages 13-14).

For teachers it is clear: an inappropriate hobby and the public display of behaviour that is contrary to “Canadian values” is a violation of professional standards and, as the published record in the TC shows can result in the loss of a teacher’s certificate and their capacity to teach. But is there the same sanctions for a politician? Long time parent activist and public education advocate, Dawn Steele, has this to say about the hobby versus issue debate:

Sharon has been a great trustee and a great voice for kids, no two ways about it, which leaves those of us who have problems with her position on firearms feeling really conflicted. Bill Tieleman argues that we should be able to separate the two issues, but I find that impossible. I have friends & family in Toronto’s West Indian community, where underprivileged youth & gangs & guns have proved to be such an explosive and tragic mix. While Sharon has never in any way suggested guns belong in the hands of young people, I nevertheless worry about the “guns & glamour” adult role model that she projects and how that plays on insecure &/or impressionable youth.

Canadian society has historically distinguished itself from our cousins to the south by a more restrained approach to gun ownership and control. Sport and aboriginal use use of guns for hunting is a part of our history and, one might suggest, a very real part of our cultural fabric. Many of us who have grown up in the interior and coast of this province understand and accept the use of rifles and other firearms for the hunting of food. But what we don’t understand is the use of concealed handguns. As Dawn comments it contributes to a sense of worry and concern.

In Texas one school district has decided that the safety of their students means arming the teachers. Hard to imagine; at least I find it hard to imagine as a Canadian that arming teachers is the best way to quell fears over school violence.

Bill Tieleman’s advice is that we need to keep the issue of NRA-style gun rights separate from the discussion of who is best suited to be our public school trustees? But is it really possible to separate the issue?

The opening quote from the teachers’ college highlights the fact that teachers must live to a higher set of standards than the rest of us. I think that it is only fair that the politicians who make policy decisions about the education of our children should be held to the same high standards.

Vision Makes Their Choice [Updated 22/09/08 08:00]

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Vision School Board candidates are: Gregson, Lombardi, and Bacchus.

Kenneth Clement and Stepan Vdovine, separated by only 8 votes. A recount will take place within the next 72 hours to determine the fourth school board candidate.

Vote Counts:

  • 2969 Sharon Gregson
  • 2177 Mike Lombardi
  • 2053 Patti Bacchus
  • 1962 Ken Clement
  • 1954 Stepan Vdovine
  • 1881 Narinder Chhina
  • 1846 Helesia Luke
  • 1574 Anastasia Mirras

News and Blog Items

Vision Vancouver nomination battle goes to recount after high turnout :: The Hook

Vision Vancouver’s seemingly never-ending nomination race has still not ended. Recounts will be required to determine the final seats on the centre-left party’s council and school board slates.

More than 4,500 Visionites turned out in the rain to cast ballots at Charles Tupper Secondary school on Saturday. That’s more than ten times the number who voted at last week’s low-key Non-Partisan Association meeting.

Frances Bula — vancouver city life and politics

I’ll sign off here, even though there’s a crowd around kissing, hugging, commiserating and all the rest.

One thing to note: If Kenneth Clement stays on, he will be, as far as I know, the first aboriginal school-board candidate. Clement became a candidate because local aboriginal leaders decided they should get involved in politics. He was part of a slate with Sharon Gregson and Narinder Chhina. Interestingly, Gregson won by a landslide, even though she wasn’t part of the Vision education group.

The Gazetteer: September 2008

Originally this was going to be a well thought-out, organized, bullet-pointed version of my impressions of Vision Vancouver’s big nomination vote celebration at Science World last night.

But then things went haywire and the count came in three hours late.

And, because I was riding my bike, I didn’t get home ’till about 1:00am.

And before I even had a chance to write much of anything I noticed that my sitemeter was going completely bonkers.

irwinloy.com Vancouver – Blog – Vision will need recounts for council, school board

School board will also see a recount. Nominated for sure are:

Patti Bacchus (2053 votes)
Sharon Gregson (2969)
Mike Lombardi (2177)

There will be a recount between fourth place finisher Ken Clement (1962) and fifth-placer Stepan Vdovine (1954).

Bill Tieleman

Lastly, I especially am pleased to see that Sharon Gregson has been nominated to run for Vision on the Vancouver School Board, where she was the party’s only incumbent trustee. It shows that her hard work, dedication to kids and parents and expertise in both education and child care issues were more important to Vision members than unfortunate controversy about her personal hobby.

Vision still without official team – 12th and Cambie

Good morning, he said scratching the sleep goo from his eyes. For those of you looking for results of Vision Vancouver’s nomination meeting yesterday, final spots for council and school board are still being sorted out. At midnight last night, Vision’s co-chair Mike Magee told the crowd of supporters at Science World that two recounts were required for council and school board. That’s because council hopeful Kashmir Dhaliwal (2240 votes) only finished 17 votes ahead of David Eby (2223). Magee promised to make the results official within 72 hours. Same goes for the school board race where Kenneth Clement (1962 votes) finished eight votes ahead of Stepan Vdovine (1954).

Vision Vancouver has diversity, but few women on council slate | Straight.com

In addition, Vision members did not nominate Narinder Chhina, the only candidate of South Asian descent who sought a position on the school-board slate. He placed sixth. [Charlie Smith, is this all you can say about School Board?. ED]

Vision Vancouver nominees decided

The selection of school board nominees required a recount as well, but Sharon Gregson, Patti Bacchus, Mike Lombardi and Kenneth Clement will represent Vision.

Stepan Vdovine placed fifth, eight votes shy of Clement.

Vision fills park-board and school-board slates minus Ian Waddell | Straight.com

For school board, one handbill endorsed district parent activist Patti Bacchus, former teacher and British Columbia Teachers’ Federation staffer Mike Lombardi, Helesia Luke, and Stepan Vdovine, a 23-year-old West End resident who was elected to the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school board in 2005.

This one came quite close. Lombardi placed second and Bacchus third whereas Vdovine placed fifth, only eight votes behind Ken Clement, an urban aboriginal man who attended a residential school.

Under the Vision-COPE-Green deal, Vision was permitted to nominate four candidates to run for the nine-member school board.

There will be a recount to confirm the fourth slot.

Incumbent school trustee Sharon Gregson, who moved from COPE to Vision, topped the slate. Gregson, a strong advocate of child care, attained some notoriety when she told CBC during her first term that she is a gun owner.

Vancouver Sun blogs

Sharon Gregson was by far the most popular choice as Vision Vancouver members selected their school board candidates for the November election. She garnered almost 800 votes more than second-place finisher Mike Lombardi. Patti Bacchus and Ken Clement followed in third and fourth place — although a recount is planned because Clement was only a few votes ahead of Stepan Vdovine.
Gregson is best known for her childcare advocacy, but nothing got her as much publicity as her support for the right of people to carry concealed weapons. That story broke in 2006 after she posed for a picture on the cover of the Canadian Firearms Journal. She was carrying a .45-calibre Colt and said she had recently applied for a U.S. permit to carry a concealed weapon when visiting the U.S.

Local News Story

Vision vancouver has decided its candidates for the next municipal elections.

But the results won’t be official for a few days.

Party spokesperson Ian Baillie says recounts will be done for the final spots on school board and park board, “We always knew this race was going to be competitive. We saw that the candidates were working incredibly hard and tonight it shows their hard turned out very tight results.”

Just 17 votes seperated Kashmir Dhaliwal and David Eby for the eighth spot on council and for school board, a mere eight votes seperated Ken Clement in fourth spot and Stepan Vdovine in fifth.

For city council the party’s eight candidates are George Chow, Heather Deal, Raymond Louie, Ted Stevenson, Kerry Jang, Geoff Meggs, Andrea Reimer, and Kashmir Dhaliwal.

On park board the candidates are Constance Barnes, Aaron Jasper, Sarah Blyth, and Raj Hundal.

The school board slate is Sharon Gregson, Patti Bacchus, Kenneth Clement, and Mike Lombardi.

Vision Vancouver blocks nomination of David Eby Left eye on Vancouver: A critical look at municipal politics

More on the Vision Vancouver nomination coming soon, including a look at the inexplicable selection of Sharon “shotgun” Gregson for school board.

The Vancouver Observer: Articles

Here are the voting results from yesterday’s candidate selection vote, from Vision Vancouver. More than 4000 people came out to vote. An estimated 400 or so voters came out for the NPA selection process, but insiders worry that this could result in Vision Vancouver assuming victory, instead of fighting hard. “The NPA is going to raise a lot of money and I expect a difficult race,” a source said last night at the Vision Vancouver celebration party at Science World. “They will come on strong.”

Metro – Vision picks sliced slate

Vision Vancouver members sliced their political roster in half, announcing yesterday the selection of 16 of 37 hopefuls to run with mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson in the Nov. 15 election.

Over the next three days recounts will be held in a pair of tight races separated by only a handful of votes.

“It was an exciting race that was very competitive,” said Coun. Raymond Louie, who received the highest number of votes with 3,746.

“We’re happy to see that we’ve got a very diverse and strong list of people running for us.”
Vision is running a co-operative slate with COPE, whose members select candidates Sunday.

Four incumbent Vision councillors, Louie, Heather Deal, Tim Stevenson and George Chow received the most votes. Meanwhile, incumbent school trustee and childcare advocate Sharon Gregson beat her closest rival by almost 800 votes.

In two races, Kashmir Dhaliwal squeezed past David Eby by 17 votes. For school board, Kenneth Clement beat Stepan Vdovine by eight votes. Vision spokesman Ian Baillie said recounts would be conducted in those races.

Less than one-third of Vision’s 16,000 members voted. Baillie said the turnout was 10 times larger than the Non-Partisan Association’s nomination meeting a week before.

Vancovuer Secondary Teachers Prepare for Civic Elections

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VSTA > Home Page

Tuesday, September 30th, 4:00 pm at Tupper. There is a very important General Meeting for our membership as we head into the election season.
It is critical that every school is well represented.

  • Update on the new Bill 33 consultation process;
  • Decide on the VSTA direction and strategies for
    the upcoming municipal election for School Trustee;

  • Vote on whether to support or reject a proposed two week spring break vacation in February 2010
    (to coincide with the 2010 Olympics).

School Fees are Inappropriate

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globeandmail.com: Why September is the cruellest month

VICTORIA — Julianne Doctor’s teenage daughter was distraught when she came home from school one day last week. To explain, the girl thrust a piece of paper from a school counsellor at her mother. After reading the document, Ms. Doctor was as devastated as her daughter.

Ms. Doctor was being asked to justify, in writing, why she couldn’t afford to pay the full $70 to share in the school’s hot lunch program this month.

“I had just written cheques for her school agenda, photocopying, workbooks,” the single mother with a low-income job explained in an interview. The fees totalled $129.50. “I got caught a little tight on the school lunch program.”

The public education system in B.C. is not supposed to present a burden to vulnerable families. According to a 2006 B.C. Supreme Court ruling, programs leading to a Grade 12 diploma should be provided free of charge.

Endorsements for School Board

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School Board is one of the hardest and least appreciated of municipal-type councils -but it is also one of the most important. The three main municipal parties in Vancouver are holding nomination meetings on successive weekends in September (NPA Sept. 13; Vision Vancouver Sept. 20; COPE Sept. 28.)

Since my children began school in 1996 I have seen four different school boards and several dozen trustees. Some work hard -irrespective of their political parties, some work hard but only for their political parties and some didn’t appear to either work or understand the issues at all. Some very good people found themselves hamstrung by party affiliation and didn’t seem to be able to do good work when it meant cooperating with trustees from their opposing party. Over twelve years one does build up a set of strong opinions about the people in public positions and about what they should be able to do.

My criteria for a ‘good’ trustee involves some simple points. First and foremost, I think that they should have a history of direct and meaningful involvement in public education. Secondly, they should have a capacity to work well across political and partisan lines. And, finally, they should be able to demonstrate effective involvement with community members in a manner that builds collaborative engagement.

Using the above criteria here’s my list of the top people via for school board nominations from the three main municipal parties. Please note that if I do not know about a candidate (i.e. have never met with, talked with, or otherwise been able to see them in action) or if I have nothing positive to contribute about a candidate I will not list them below.

If I were voting today (in order of preference):

Helisa Luke (Vision): I have known Helisia since we were parents involved with the founding of Save Our Schools in the early days of the Gordon Campbell government. S.O.S., while severely attached by then Min. of Education Christie Clark for being a front group for the BCTF/NDP/COPE, was in fact a very middle of the road group of parents from across Vancouver who had really had enough. Serious cutbacks to education (through a legislated teachers contract, increases to MSP premiums, etc) made it difficult for schools to provide the education that we should have. S.O.S. included parents from all political stripes. Anyone who was there can have nothing but positive things to say about Helisia’s capacity to work in common cause with people of a variety of outlooks. For this work alone I would give Helisia my strongest support. I have also seen her work in support of public education since then through my role on a number of Parent Advisory Councils at school and district level. In this domain it is even clearer that Helisia is a candidate who is interested in education for all children and furthermore, that she truly understands what is needed to do a good job.

Patti Bacchus (Vision): I also first met Patti through the Save Our Schools campaign. Patti exemplifies the type of parent who gets involved because they care about education for all children, not just education for their children. Like many of us her first brush with education politics arose from her experiences as a parent, but Patti shows us that concern about education is a community effort. Patti has been involved in advocacy groups for special education, school seismic safety, and proper funding and resources for public schools. During the several years that I have been involved in the District Parents’ Advisory Council, I have had the opportunity to see Patti working as a parent advocate at the district level on a variety of committees and task forces. As a parent and community member I know that we would be well served by Patti

Bill Bargeman (COPE). I first met Bill when he was on the Vancouver Secondary Teacher’s Union executive. I am a strong supporter of unions and workers rights to fair representation in unions. However, I take a dim view of the unionist who use the hard won gains of previous generations to hide incompetence, avoid responsibility, or to opt out of ethical behaviour. Bill is not that sort of unionist. Everything that I have about Bill gives me great confidence in him. I respected his leadership in the teacher’s union. He’s the type of teacher that I would love my son’s to have. In my role on the District Parents’ Advisory Council I have seen him act in a firm, clear and respectful manner. As a union leader he would not always agree with the School Board. What makes Bill a rare leader is that he could take the disagreement and still keep the path open for collaboration. Too often politicians and others talk about the importance of unity or agreement when what they are really saying is be quiet if you don’t agree with me. Democracy, however, is built upon disagreement and the capacity to work through that. Bill can work with people even when he disagrees. The outcome is often a better thing for all concerned. Bill will make a great trustee. I look forward to seeing him elected!

Ken Clement (Vision). Ken has been a First Nations community worker for many years in Vancouver. One thing that our public system is failing on is the way in which aboriginal education is back-seated to a host of other concerns. Administrators and politicians will put in a good word here and there, but the real work that needs to be done is constantly overlooked. The problem is that the aboriginal voice in our education system is constantly silenced and ignored. By having a person like Ken on school board we can go a long way toward making sure that the Aboriginal
voice (parents and students) is heard.

Alan Wong (COPE). Alan Wong is one of the longest serving trustees on the school board. I have known Alan since I was a member of the COPE Education Committee about a decade ago (I’ve since left COPE to participate in Vision’s education committee). Alan strikes me as fair minded in his dealings with education issues. He clearly has strong perspectives, but is willing to consider alternatives without dismissing them out of hand. These are important qualities for a school trustee.

Stepan Vdovine (Vision). A UBC student and current school trustee in the outer Fraser Valley, Stepan has a lot going for him that makes him the right choice for Vancouver’s public education system. He has demonstrated that he can do the job. He brings a perspective to the job that is lacking among those of us who are a bit long in the tooth and who may have grown a bit jaded in the process.

Jane Bouey (COPE). Jane was a trustee during the COPE majority board of a few years back. Of all the trustees that I met during the COPE term of power she was among those that I most liked and appreciated for her sincerity, hard work, and willingness to actually make education work. Her work in the areas of special education in particular demonstrated to me that she has what it takes to be a good trustee.

Mike Lombardi (Vision). Mike is recently retired from one of the BC Federation of Teachers most critical staff jobs -communications director. I first met Mike around the issue of the provincial government’s grade ten exam policy. These exams have introduced an entire level of control and monitoring in the school system with problematic outcomes for many students. At the time Mike was involved in the Prince of Wales Parent Advisory Council and they were mounting a strong opposition to the new exams. Mike’s strength lies in the way he approaches an issue that he feels passionately about and is not afraid to make those opinions clear. As a member of the DPAC executive at the time I was struck by the forcefulness of his argument but also by the fact he was able to work with a large group of parents, many of whom actually supported the grade ten exams. The combination of Mike’s professional background in the teacher’s federation with his commitment to public education will make him a good choice for school board.

Carol Gibson (NPA). Carol will be a strange pick for those who know me. I would be the first to say that I disagree with Carol politically on many points. To be blunt, I think that she, like many of her NPA colleagues on the School Board, should take more decisive public action and positions on the matters before the school board instead of letting senior management do all the talking. That being said, Carol certainly demonstrated her capacity and ability to work with parents at the local school level and for this I would put a check beside her name on the ballot. University Hill area schools are grossly over capacity yet we have had practically no action for almost a decade. Former COPE trustee Kevin Milsip did a lot of good work during his brief term in office. Carol picked up the ball and worked with us at the school to get the information we needed and to keep our needed school concerns on the agenda.

__________________
If I were voting at the COPE nomination meeting here are my picks:
Bargeman, Bouey, Wong, Blakey -I would leave the fifth spot empty unless forced to vote for five. Then it would be Noel Herron.

Chhina Checks Off His Top Four for School Board

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Listing a vision for Vision – 12th and Cambie

It appears to be Vision Vancouver school board candidate Narinder Chhina’s wish list for school board and council. On the left side of the page is a Vision school board ballot. The letter X is marked in boxes for Chhina, Kenneth Clement, Shargon Gregson and Stepan Vdovine.

Vdovine was surprised to learn that he had been added to the Chhina list as the first he had heard about it was when the mailout arrived at his door.

Vision is running four school board candidates in the Nov. 15 election.

French Immersion Spaces Still Lacking

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Spaces for students in Vancouver’s French Immersion programme are still lacking. Rising demand and expectations for French Immersion has not been met by the Vancouver School Board. The problem has persisted for over five years with many parents sitting waiting in lineups, putting their faith in lotteries or shifting to private Catholic schools.

Meanwhile educational facilities review percolate, governments dither, and nothing really gets down.

There are serious problems finding staff to fill the positions that would be needed and there seems to be just as strong opposition to French Immersion programmes as there is demand and support for it. Nonetheless, it doesn’t make sense that more can’t be done to resolve the issue and to make places for students to learn in either official language a reality for all students.

Parents face problems finding French immersion school places | Straight.com

West Side resident Miro Jackanin says he had several reasons for wanting to enroll his five-year-old daughter at L’Ecole Bilingue elementary, one of four French immersion–only public schools in Vancouver.

The Czech-born emigre related that he has been living one and a half blocks away from the school for the past 22 years. According to the father of one, it would have been practical for either him or his wife to walk their daughter, Emily Ann, to the school when she started kindergarten this month.

Like many parents, Jackanin wants his daughter to learn French, one of the country’s two official languages. “I arrived when I was 25 years old,” Jackanin told the Georgia Straight. “I had two jobs and I studied for six years. I’m a model immigrant citizen, the same goes for my wife. Now I want the best for my kid, and some bureaucracy problems aren’t helping it.”