Choice and Accountability
Plans change but the act of creating a plan matters. An agile School Board must consider:
What could we do? - That is to say, “What’s possible?”
What should we do? - Which possibilities align best with our goals?
What will we do? - Selecting from the best options and knowing the trade offs of those choices.
Evaluate! This is where it can fall apart. This is where we have to be straight with ourselves. This is the part where we can celebrate successes and find ways to improve. This is the mindset I will bring to Parkland School Board.
Priorities: What the Next School Board Must Accomplish
1. Meaningful Advocacy Helps Capital Projects Move forward Faster
I believe our community can create a stronger communication strategy around our priorities for new schools and significant renovations to existing schools. We cannot be passive. We need an approach that cultivates support from across Spruce Grove and beyond to give as many reasons and voices as possible to highlight these priorities. The most urgent Capital priorities identified by the current School Board is a new school in Tonewood and an expansion of Brookwood. We need to be successful in elevating these priorities as Spruce Grove continues to grow.
New and modern schools can be a feature of our community and we need robust advocacy to make that happen.
2. More Partnerships = More Opportunities
Our school division can encourage administration to seek broader and deeper partnerships in our region to help find innovative opportunities for students to connect with new learning experiences.
Our work with Community Futures Capital Region is a strong example: We have worked with Spruce Grove Composite High and Stony Plain Memorial High over many years to provide entrepreneurial learning and experience via the Young Entrepreneur Training Initiative (YETI) and has helped to recognize and create opportunities for new businesses in our community.
Another Opportunity: Alberta Computers for Schools. A local not for profit that provides quality refurbished laptops, at a cost of $12 per unit, that PSD currently is not working with, which would help make sure we have more hardware assets and would help alleviate the need for computers to be hauled to and from school every day.
3. High Youth Unemployment: We need to Make sure more students are finishing high school
The Alberta Youth Unemployment Rate is currently higher than any other time, excluding during the pandemic. According to the Government of Alberta, the current unemployment rate is 17.2% for people aged 15-24.
It is always important to have the right skills for the work students wish to pursue, but what we must encourage as a community is to have students complete their high school program, and make sure that they finish high school with as many available avenues as possible be it university, college or a trade program.
According to Parkland School Division, the percentage of students completing secondary school in the most recent year is 76.8%. This measure has decreased the last four years and is below the rate measured across Alberta. This is where there is opportunity to improve. More thoughts to come….