After an unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2014, Debra Edwards thought she’d be happy to watch school board business from the sidelines.
“I had four years of a ‘sabbatical’ and I had zero intention of doing this since my defeat in 2014,” she said.
Over those four years, she has welcomed three grandchildren, whose future has turned her mind back to public office.
Edwards is running against incumbent Trustee Jodi Lloyd to represent Orillia, Ramara and Severn at the Simcoe County District School Board.
“I feel like I have some valuable contributions to make,” Edwards said.
She is no stranger to the trustee table. First elected in 1988, she was consistently either re-elected or acclaimed until 2014, when Lloyd unseated her.
Part of the reason she is running is she wants to see a new elementary school built in west Orillia. It was something she advocated for when she was a trustee. With the board having created a business case for the school, Edwards would like to be at the table when it becomes a reality.
“I’ve heard from people in West Ridge that they’re taking their kids to Notre Dame (Catholic School),” she said, noting that has an impact on the per-pupil funding the board receives.
The board is dealing with some controversial issues and Edwards wants to help guide it through them. One of them is the province’s suspension of the modernized sex-education curriculum, which was updated in 2015 after almost 20 years.
“I have the greatest respect for diversity, but I think for the Grade 1 to Grade 8 curriculum, there have been a lot of concerns raised about the age-appropriateness,” she said, citing gender identity and sexual orientation. “Given the controversy, I’m OK with (revisiting the curriculum).”
Students across the province walked out of class last month to protest the move.
“A lot of them think (the modernized curriculum) is OK and it’s necessary, but it’s controversial,” she said.
The board is also looking to hike education development charges – its only means of funding the purchase of new school sites. The board has always applied the same rate to all municipalities in the county, but it is considering an area-specific charge. Developers and mayors in areas with less growth have criticized the nearly 300 per cent increase.
Edwards wants to see an area-specific charge and she feels the current practice of reviewing the bylaw every five years isn’t good enough.
“Five years is a long time. It would be more congruent to do it every four years, aligned with municipal elections,” she said.
If elected, Edwards said she will hit the ground running. After all, she believes this will be the last term – not only for her, but for all trustees in Ontario.
“I think there will not be school boards at the end of this term,” she said, describing the current role of trustees as being little more than “policy makers.”
“We’ve lost a lot of autonomy that we once had. We did have a very meaningful role,” she said, noting boards used to guide curriculum and handle collective bargaining. “It will be unfortunate when trustees are no longer in existence, but I don’t see their role being anything more than rubber stamps.”
Asked if she agreed with doing away with school boards and trustees, she said, “They may as well, unless they restore more of the autonomy that trustees once had.”
Before it comes to that, she would like to see improvements in special education, with more attention paid to individual education plans for students in need.
If she isn’t elected, “so be it.”
“I hope that the best candidate is elected. I would welcome the opportunity to be elected and I would do a good job,” she said.
Editor’s Note: OrilliaMatters will run its profile of Jodi Lloyd on Saturday.
