Elect ASHLEY HULL

I make a habit of setting very ambitious goals. That way, by the simple act of setting out towards a goal, something significant is being accomplished. Stagnation is one of my fears in any organization I am a part of.

By focusing on the positives, we can turn our liabilities into assets for our district.
 

• We are experiencing declining enrolment. Which provides an opportunity for an expanded international program that brings an added revenue stream and greater student diversity.

 

• Some of our current facilities are under-used. Here I would suggest exploring the possibility and feasibility of creating magnet schools; offering a specialized education and utilizing the specialized skills our current teachers may already have. Be it sports, language, fine and performing arts, technology or the outdoors, Powell River has the potential to attract new families based on the varying opportunities we can provide. We must market these effectively, and we must find out what our current population can sustain and support.

 

• We need to get creative and find ways to retain our younger workforce, and their households represent a portion of our student base as well, and losing them to other communities only perpetuates our problem of declining enrolment. They really do represent the future education of our community and we will shortly be in great trouble if we do nothing on this topic.

 

• One obvious liability we will always deal with is the ferry system. Our current board of trustees has begun the dialog with a letter to the minister of transportation on November 25, 2013, outlining the injustice our students feel by not receiving free fares when travelling for sports, unlike the lower Sunshine Coast and other ferry-dependent communities. I plan to actively advocate for the cause until I see our students treated to the same privileges that others in our province are afforded. We cannot sit idly and quietly by as student and families bear such unnecessary exclusionary financial costs. Money should never be a barrier to health.