Patrick McCarthy (TCCTV) chats with Fritz Radandt (Campaign Manager for Parents’ Voice of BC. Parents’ Voice is a ‘grass-roots’ organization started 4 months ago to run slates of independent school trustee candidates (28 in total) in eight separate school districts. Fritz feels parents are being increasingly shut out regarding decisions about their children. There is a top-down approach and parents who ask questions are marginalized.

The decision to run slates was done to create a brand, so voters quickly know what the candidate stands for. Fritz feels the role of School Trustee has been eroded. Direction comes from Victoria where Ministry of Education sets policy and curriculum. He wants to see more local control and input from parents. Parents’ Voice doesn’t have a platform on specific issues. School Boards should reflect community values.

School Trustees can hold events and use technology to be a conduit for transparency and parents’ concerns. Parent Advisory Committees (PACs) do this in a small way. Fritz realizes that School Trustees’ authority is largely limited to budget, but they could ‘shine a light’ on issues. A change in the system is needed. Over 13% of BC students are in private schools.

Fritz says Sexual Orientation Gender Identity (SOGI) programming is controversial and more input is needed. A lot of people, including Trustees weren’t aware it was being implemented. Fritz thinks it’s a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach. School Trustees don’t have authority over these program decisions but could use their platform to encourage transparency.

The goal is to have a majority to set agendas such as getting more input and consultation on major initiatives coming from Victoria. Parents are experts and other experts often disagree or are wrong without accountability. Parents should have freedom to make decisions about their kids. Discussions on sexual orientation should vary on how conservative or liberal a community is. The battle is between bureaucrats thinking they know best and families wanting more rights and responsibilities.

There are 15-20 issues bothering candidates including the way the Government handled the COVID response. Candidates were not vetted on religion or beliefs. A lot of candidates were skeptical about the COVID response and vaccine effectiveness, but there is no conspiracy of anti-vaxxers behind Parents’ Voice. This campaign reached out to the Conservative Party but received no support.