Belinda Wheatley Candidate for School District 43 (SD43) Trustee speaks to Patrick McCarthy (TCCTV) about why she is running. Belinda is a Montessori teacher in Burnaby and is concerned with the direction some things are going. As an immigrant, she feels she can represent all immigrants. Belinda’s career has focused on children. She is a team player and feels she has a lot to offer as a board member. Belinda says policies, BCTF, Unions, MLAs, and rules must be considered for the team to come up with decisions. Trustees make decisions on new schools (e.g., on Burke Mountain), needs of the community, before- and after-school daycare, school maintenance and upgrades, lessening the carbon footprint, and the international school program. Financially SD43 is doing well. They have made good decisions in closing older, smaller high-maintenance schools, and selling land. Curriculum is decided by the Provincial Government and BCTF. Trustees make decisions on how to implement it. Sexualization is a platform where parents used to be notified and invited to be with their children during the program. Now parents are not notified and this needs to be reconsidered. It is a very sensitive issue and needs to be done in an appropriate way with transparency for parents to avoid suspicion. If enough parents are unhappy with a particular book in the library, then this would also need to be looked at. Belinda feels it is possible to have emotionally charged conversations if they are well-managed. Belinda would like to see the schools have a lighter footprint and more programs (e.g., composting, recycling) developed at the grassroots level. There is a huge push on the environment, but a gap in delivering programs. Parent’s Voice BC is a slate of 29 candidates who are independently fundraising over 8 school districts. Parents are excited to have a voice in what their children are being taught. A campaign manager helps candidates with training and deadlines. Parents are mainly concerned about a lack of support for children with special needs. Educational Assistants are not paid a liveable wage and that needs to be looked at too. Parents need to be aware that political indoctrination including critical race theory is creeping into schools. Cultural knowledge stops racism. A critical virtuous program would solve everything.