Party affiliation (if any): N/A
Education: Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA)
Occupation: Accountant
Previous political experience: Federal Electoral District Association Treasurer, Fleetwood-Port-Kells Riding (Surrey), BC
Residency: Mission, Turnbridge
Community involvement: Mission Search and Rescue – Member in Training, Board Member and Treasurer – SOS BC Children’s Village
Marital status/children: Married with a Child
Email: info@FraserValleyAccountingSolutions.com
Social media: www.facebook.com/VOTE.PAUL.LOYLA
What do you feel are two key education-related issues Mission voters should be considering when choosing trustee representatives in this civic election?
Why, and what would you do to address these issues?
The two key education-related issues Mission voters should be considering when choosing trustee representatives in this civic election are the declining enrolment numbers at all levels which means less funding from the Ministry.
The second issue, which I believe is directly related to the first one, program/class availability. I would address this by giving the mandate to the senior staff of Mission Public Schools to provide a detailed report with metrics such as: trends, comparisons to other districts, program/class practicality (i.e. do we have the means to provide the program/course), etc… with recommendations and fully developed implementation plans. When a direction is chosen we need to remember to ultimately measure the results against the expectations and adjust the plan as required. For example, the one high school is to provide the critical mass required offering many more courses, but the students still have to enrol in the numbers required to run a class. The same is true for our trades programs.
In other words the interest needs to be there and this interest will change year over year. This needs to be explained properly to students and parents having them pick classes and programs of study earlier on so the administrators have the opportunity to plan for courses that will be in demand the following school year and beyond.
If we don’t address this, parents and students just hear before school starts, “sorry not enough numbers” causing students to pick classes they may not be interested in and this serves no one’s interest. How do we provide as many opportunities as possible to our children within the constraints of the environment we operate in? This is no easy answer but that doesn’t mean we can’t work on, and as a Board Trustee I will vote on, acceptable, viable, sustainable solutions.