Advocacy was the word of the night at Wednesday’s school trustee all-candidates meeting in Richmond.
Hosted by the Richmond Teachers’ Association (RTA), all 15 candidates – including six incumbents – who want a spot on the Richmond Board of Education were asked questions about the teacher shortage, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) policy as well as school closures.
While most of them focused on their role to advocate for more resources from the provincial government, they also acknowledged their role could be to close schools as well.
The discussion on school closures was in response to the question whether trustees would close a school if district staff recommended they do so.
Incumbent trustee Ken Hamaguchi, who is running with the Richmond Education Party (REP) said, when he was first elected as a trustee, he visited a lot of high schools. At that time, “virtually every high school principal” told him “you got to close down a high school.”
This is because schools with lower enrolment can’t offer a full suite of programs for students, he explained.
“That hit home to me because when I went to high school, Hugh Boyd and Steveston, we had wealth of elective classes that we could take,” he said. “That’s not there anymore and I feel that our students are being short-changed that way.”
Closing schools could be one option, he added, but “it comes down to education.”
Heather Larson, vying for a second term on the board of education and running with REP, said closing schools would depend on “so many factors (and) programming is a factor.”
For independent candidate Kay Hale, the decision would have to be "a fiscal decision." It would be with a "heavy heart" that she'd vote to close a school, but she would do it if that was what was recommended by district staff.
Richard Lee, seeking re-election to the board of education, said he must be convinced by facts to vote for a school closure, adding the “burden of proof” would be with staff.
It's "never easy to talk about school closures," said REP candidate David Yang, but he’s concerned about declining enrolment in schools, something that neighbourhood planning to help alleviate.
“What we need to do in the long-term is work with partners in the municipal level to develop more affordable housing so that families and staff can afford to stay in the city,” Yang said.
Most trustee candidates support SOGI
Dean Billings, who is running as an independent, has stated in his platform he’d like to “modernize” SOGI.
At the all-candidates meeting, Billings said he supports some aspects of the SOGI policy, like anti-bullying, but adjustments are needed in “gender affirming care” because using puberty blockers have “life-long consequences,” Billings said.
“Parents need to be aware of what the school system will not tell you because of those privacy restrictions,” Billings said.
However, schools don’t address medical or pharmaceutical issues related to transitioning, explained school district spokesperson David Sadler. They only support families, referring them to their family doctor or the Foundry, a hub in Richmond for youth who have mental-health issues.
In Vancouver Coastal Health, any medically related transitioning for youth takes place at Children’s Hospital and requires a doctor’s referral, Sadler added.
But Billings said he thinks the school district should be reporting on how many students are "socially transitioning" with a semi-annual report.
“It’s incredible that it’s such a high priority and yet we don’t get a decent picture of how many kids are in that category,” he added.
Larson, however, pointed out the need for accurate information about SOGI, saying it’s not a piece of curriculum or a subject in school, rather it's a policy that is aligned with the Human Rights Code of B.C.
“Schools create inclusive environments and ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity resources are included, and every child gets to see who they are and be who they are,” Larson added.
The school district’s SOGI policy talks about the LGBTQ+ community having the right to be recognized in the school district, that homophobic behaviour undermines the safety of students and staff, homophobic language isn’t tolerated in schools and staff are obligated to intervene when there are homophobic or gender-based slurs or insults.
Richmond Community Coalition (RCC) candidate Rod Belleza said he believes in SOGI is based on human rights, adding everyone should be free of discrimination no matter their race, religion or sexual orientation.
“We’re all children of god, we are all belonging to the same race – the human race,” Belleza said.
Chris Dinnell, running with the Richmond Education Party, said when his son “came out” in Grade 10, his school experience improved dramatically, because he felt included and respected. The only change he suggested with the SOGI policy would be to have better communication with parents and staff.
REP candidate Andrew Scallion, who has been involved with the RDPA, currently sits on the SOGI advisory committee.
“(The committee) does very important work in making sure that that policy is implemented across our district and that our schools are a safe space for all of the kids,” Scallion said.
But REP candidate Debbie Tablotney pointed out a recent survey showed 62 per cent of LGBTQ students still feel “unsafe” at school, while 92 per cent of teachers felt schools were safe.
“There was a bit of a disconnect,” she said. “That’s why we need a policy. We need to understand and apply policy so that it can help build support for learning environments.”
As for independent candidate Rajan Paul, the issue is about children and how the school system can support them.
“Why don’t we concentrate on the important thing, that is what are they going through and how can we be there for them to help them through this process,” Paul said.
Donna Sargent, running for re-election with Richmond United, said voting for the SOGI policy was “one of the most important votes I took” as a trustee.
Getting the policy written and implemented was driven by students who said the school district wasn’t safe enough for LGBTQ students and changes were needed, Sargent said.
“If you believe in human rights, you believe in the SOGI policy,” Sargent said.
The vote in 2017 to pass the SOGI was a contentious one and public meetings were marked with loud protests.
At that vote, then-trustee Alice Wong, who is now seeking a seat on the board of education, voted for it, but later said she did so by mistake. She, however, told the News recently that she is pro-SOGI, but at that time wanted more consultation on it.
At the all-candidates meeting, Wong vigorously defended the SOGI policy.
But Ken Hamaguchi, running with the Richmond Education Party slate, said, with issues like SOGI, sometimes it just needs to get done.
In fact, he said he can’t think of a better description of the role of the trustee than listening to students concerns and making things happen.
“As for more consultation, at some point… you have to have action,” Hamaguchi said. ”You can talk forever and ever and ever, (but) sometimes I wonder if talking is just a way of delaying it.”
RCC candidate Linda Li, speaking in support of SOGI, pointed out the learning resources, called SOGI 1-2-3 learning resources have been evaluated and deemed to be “age appropriate” and aligned with the provincial curriculum.
Li’s RCC running mate, Rachel Ling said there might be a need for better communication on SOGI, but also there should be opportunities to “celebrate the success of the SOGI policy.”
