CANDIDATE PROFILE: Shahriar Behmanesh

This is a reality that is palpable to parents and teachers, but it is also corroborated by the numbers. In the last 10 years, B.C. has seen the fastest decline in learning in Canada, especially with regards to language and math proficiency.

At the same time, education inequality keeps increasing; the difference between the top and bottom student has never been wider. SD73 is not immune to these trends. I would be the first one to tell you that a meaningful education goes far beyond test scores. What it represents is far more consequential.

We have small window in children’s most formative years to develop their critical thinking skills, aptitude, work ethic and conscientiousness, not only to better their own lives but make a meaningful contribution to society. There is a human element here. When children can’t read or do basic math, we have failed collectively.

These outcomes did not come out of the blue. They were proceeded directly by top-down changes. We need a school board, superintendent down, that supports appropriate learning standards and guided education. Our advocacy needs to be focused on returning to knowledge and outcome-based education. The number one priority of the schools should be learning.

What do you think is the biggest issue facing the SD73 and how would you use your elected position to address it?

With tepid decline in enrolment and poor provincial fiscal outlook, budgetary constraints are going to be the biggest issue for the school board in the coming years. How do we balance this with our strategic goals?

My priority is on learning. As a rule of thumb, the closer someone is to the students, the more impact they are having on their learning, and as such, I will prioritize funding for staff that have the closest proximity to our students (teachers and CEAs for example). My focus is on basic language learning that occurs early in life (K-3) as that sets the tone for the rest. We need to prioritize the resources that teachers and staff need at this stage where sometimes unique challenges with behavior management exist.

We need adequate oversight to make sure funds are being used appropriately. I will first look towards cutting supplies that do not affect learning directly if cuts are needed. Additionally, our district administration costs have grown disproportionately compared to rest of our budget in the last 10 years even though administration costs typically go down as a share of total costs as districts grow larger. We have one of the highest, if not the highest, per capita administration costs when compared to similar school districts. If these costs cannot be justified, they should be reallocated to support front-line staff.

What do you think is the biggest issue facing students and how would you address it?

It’s learning on Mondays. It is learning on Tuesdays. It is learning everyday.

I am worried that we are not equipping our students with the proper education to succeed after graduation. In particular, basic proficiency in math and languages is lacking. I want children today to be afforded the same opportunities that residents in British Columbia used to be afforded.

As your school trustee, I will engage the school board to make two broad changes:

a) Although I have been very critical of the curriculum changes that were made 10 years ago, there are private schools, including ones in Kamloops, that do a very good job teaching using B.C. curriculum because of how they approach it. The new curriculum lacks adequate “prescribed modules” and clear indication on learning standards. Operationally from the superintended down, we need to prioritize appropriate learning standards and guided education. Where possible, we need to provide proper assessments to find students falling behind and provide support.

b) Our advocacy with the ministry needs to be lasered in on explaining why our proficiency is falling so rapidly. For several years now, the ministry requires the districts to write a learning report showing trends in scores and what we are doing about it. We need to explicitly indicate in these learning reports that the drop in scores occurred right after the ministry made these changes. No amount of learning reports is going to change that, and all the money we spend on literacy and numeracy programs since then have been necessary Band-Aids. Just as we advocate for capital funding and special-needs education funding, we need to advocate to obvious changes from the ministry that will improve learning for all our students.

What are your thoughts on communication between SD73, its schools and the region’s residents? As a trustee, would you speak to your votes and decisions on the record?

Transparency is an integral responsibility of civil servants because they are trusted with the community’s money. This gets especially important with the budget. The school board needs to be transparent about our strategic goals and why cuts and additions need to be made. Interested parties in our schools should be consulted, and the communication needs to be reciprocated. That transparency happens now. Candidates asking for public trust should be open and detailed about their values and priorities.

Following a term highlighted by allegations of bullying and harassment by its former superintendent and a $2.2 million budget shortfall, how would you use your position to bring stability to the school district?

It is very hard to comment on the bullying allegations without knowing the inside-baseball of what exactly happened, and I don’t want to make assumptive statements. Differences exist between the school board, unions and various organizations. Constructive disagreements are desirable and should be hashed out with the interests of the students in mind. The school board should expect the various parties to engage with the cordiality and respect that we expect our students to mirror.

Similarly with the $2.2 million budget shortfall, it is hard to comment without knowing the details of the investigation. The school board should review the financial forecasts before approving the budget. It was never made clear whether this was done or not. Could this accounting or clerical error have been spotted. The school board said they made some changes so that this mistake does not happen again. I am not sure what those changes are, but financial forecasts should be reviewed by the school board.

Why should residents give you their vote?

My priorities and plans are clear. The priority of our schools should be on learning, and we have increasingly not met this standard. If you agree, I would love your support and vote.

by CFJC Today

CANDIDATE PROFILE: Shahriar Behmanesh

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