At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: I believe that in order to truly prioritize core academics we need to look at encouraging and supporting specialized teachers.

Chris Johnston: School boards do not set curriculum, nor do we set the amount of time that is spent on different courses over the school year. Our budget principles are listed online and focus on supporting teaching and learning, leadership, and inclusion as our three priority areas. You can see our budget development principles below: https://www.gppsd.ab.ca/download/435489

Donna Koch: I believe we have prioritized core academics and is currently reflected. We as a board have also set priorities to try and meet the needs of all.

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: I believe it to be an important element because if parents feel the public education system is not serving their family, they should be able to choose an education path that does. Perhaps this would allow school districts to look at what they can improve to ensure parents are wanting to enter or remain within the public school system.

Chris Johnston: I think the idea of a voucher system is compelling in theory, but in practice leads to a two tier education system in our current education environment in Alberta. I write more about this in a post I did about charter schools in Alberta, which you can read below: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19pmZ5QMM6/

Donna Koch: I believe in Public Education for Everyone and it is one of my priorities in my election campaign. Its Student First in a public Education System and I will continue to advocate for that!

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: I believe local decisions should be made by local decision makers, however there may be exceptions to this.

Chris Johnston: This question reads like a non-sequitur (or at least the two premises aren't particularly connected). I do believe that local government should take responsibility for their decisions, absolutely. Some decisions are also best made centrally (for example, the provincial government sets funding and capital expenditures, and local boards then make local decisions about how to use that funding in their community). These two statements are not contradictory.

Donna Koch: It is a balance for sure but where possible I believe in local decision making that meet local needs.

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: There are some policies that I question why there is a need for them such as why elected officials are not permitted to enter schools unless invited and why parent concerns brought to a trustee are to be immediately reported to the superintendent.

Chris Johnston: I think Grande Prairie Public is extremely transparent, maybe moreso than people realize! Our board meetings are recorded and posted online, we have our publicly audited financials and budget report online, our three year capital plans, our annual results reports, and almost every report that we receive from administration can also be found on our website. I think government transparency is crucial to help instill confidence and assurance for stakeholders in the community.

Donna Koch: As a currrent trustee running for a second term, I believe Grande Prairie Public School Division operates with transparency sharing information, including board meetings which are availalbe for all to listen to and or attend.

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: Absolutely!

Chris Johnston: I think this is kind of a leading question which is actually focused on pronoun usage in schools regarding gender identity, so that is what I will address. At the Board policy level, we have Policy 20 about Welcoming, Caring, Respectful, and Safe Working and Learning Environments, which was recently amended after the minister's order regarding pronoun usage, in section 11, to comply with the provincial mandate: "The Board believes parents are critical partners in a child's learning and as such, parental involvement, notification and consent while supporting students of diverse gender identities is required." Operationally, we will follow our Administrative Procedure 359.1 on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity which I will link below: https://www.gppsd.ab.ca/download/435280 If there is another topic other than pronoun usage and gender identity regarding keeping secrets which people are interested in, then I would love to hear from them about their concerns.

Donna Koch: yes

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: 100%

Chris Johnston: I trust and respect our teachers to determine what is a sensitive part of their instruction which requires parental consent, and what does not. In general I do not want to overload teachers with additional administrative tasks and red tape. We will of course follow the recent ministerial order on opt-in requirements for sex ed in the division, although I have to note my misgivings personally about it, as I worry that this will inevitably result in some students falling through the cracks and not receiving important health information because of a communications gap or parents missing a letter, form, or e-mail.

Donna Koch: Parents and families know best and must be respected.

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: Yes

Chris Johnston: This is kind of a strange question; we don't develop many courses at the local level. The process for our locally developed courses is laid out in administrative procedure 219: https://www.gppsd.ab.ca/download/435225 The board reviews our locally developed courses every year at a public board meeting, and the list is also publicly available as part of that annual report. Locally developed courses also have an expiration date on them where they need to be renewed, to ensure that they are timely and relevant. As far as focusing on clearly defined knowledge outcomes, we collect a lot of data about student achievement and success, in all aspects of our schools' operation, and locally developed courses are no different.

Donna Koch: Yes

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: I think there is an importance for letter grading and percentages as well as class averages. Teacher comments of course are valuable as well as they can add anything additional that a parent might need to know about their child.

Chris Johnston: I have no opinion on educational best practice on this; I am not an expert on education research. I trust our administration and staff, who are experts, to determine the best way to reflect student progress and achievement at different levels.

Donna Koch: We in our division have several methods of collecting infomation and feedback from parents and this is a great example of making a local decision with their input. I am proud of our communication strategies and we can always do better!

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: I would like to have more conversations with teachers to find out what value they are getting from the PD days and if they feel there is an adequate amount.

Chris Johnston: I believe our PL day structure is appropriate, although I would personally like there to be more time built into teachers' schedules for preparatory work and for them to be able to catch up on administrative tasks and busywork. We have very good survey results for staff satisfaction with the level and type of professional development which is offered in our division, using a collaborative inquiry model.

Donna Koch: We receive excellent feedback from our teachers/leadership regarding professional development days. We meet annually with all of our schools and these meetings are called assurance meetings. They help us gauge and understand and support changes.

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.

At Large

7 To Be Elected

Saara Bain: No response.

Casey Lynn Brown: No response.

Ray Buziak: No response.

Jody Lynn Dryer: I support the teachers right to strike but I would also support the Province looking at making union participation for teachers optional. I'm not for or against unions, I just feel that if a teacher does not feel the union has their or the children's best interests in mind that they should not be forced into participation.

Chris Johnston: I neither support nor oppose the teachers' strike. That would be very inappropriate considering that they are currently negotiating with TEBA, which school boards are part of. I understand the reasons that many teachers chose to strike, and I fully respect their RIGHT to strike. It does seem to me that many of their grievances are fair, as they have seen a huge drop in real purchasing power over the last decade, while class sizes and complexities have ballooned. I explain my thinking about how we got here and what teachers are hoping to achieve in the following post, which you might find helpful: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14KouvxfuJ8/

Donna Koch: I support teachers!!! I have family and friends who are teachers and have family attending university to become a teacher. There is nothing more important than our children and we need teachers to "Together Create Great Citizens"

Ainsley Miller: No response.

Joan Nellis: No response.

Lisa Marie Petrie: No response.

Tanya Swanberg: No response.

Dale Tiedemann: No response.

Andrea Willman: No response.