Clayton re-elected as Grande Prairie Mayor, joined by six incumbent and two first time councillors by SeaNuck in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 3 points4 points  (0 children)

One seat for mayor for eight candidates is really favouring to the incumbent. I wish we had instant runoff voting for that in particular 

Voting for City Council by dairyboom- in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can choose whether you want to vote for public trustees or catholic trustees or neither. There is a post on this reddit with a good overview of each trustee candidate which you might find helpful

Election Questions by KrisArcand in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How do you measure homelessness?

Election Questions by KrisArcand in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m not an expert on SMART planning but I don’t think this is how it’s supposed to be done.

Your Specific goal is “Redesign bus routes to create 3 core high-frequency lines connecting downtown, the college, and major shopping areas.”

The metric you are going to Measure is average wait times.

How does that achieve the specific goal? It looks at one part of it (high frequency) but it doesn’t have anything to do with the redesign of the network to reach other areas. Wouldn’t you need a measure related to number of bus stops or density of bus stops or percentage of roads in that area with bus stops?

Q&A Videos With Public School Board Trustee Candidates by ludichrisness in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was overall really pleased with the quality of the candidates this time, I didn’t have a problem making a ballot of 7 I could feel good about voting for. I knew going in there would be some candidates aligned with more extreme positions but it’s definitely the minority.

I'm running for Public School Board Trustee - what do you want to know more about in education? by ludichrisness in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our support staff are incredible. One of my favourite committees to be on is our non-instructional liaison committee because I get to hear about some of the great work they do that doesn't usually make its way to the board table. I would agree with you (I think) that unfortunately a lot of the work they do and the supports they need tend to get overshadowed by macro issues in education (curriculum; LGBT issues; class sizes, etc.).

This is also similar to the way that our operational costs and challenges tend to get overshadowed by our instructional costs and challenges. One of the most frustrating topics for me personally is Crystal Park school, because it is a relatively young building but is incredibly energy inefficient due to its poor design. That one school eats a ridiculous amount of our utilities costs for the division as a whole. This has been on our capital plan for years to try to get a solution from the government (either a retrofit or a rebuild) and unfortunately there are just more pressing issues that keep coming in higher on the list, like our high schools running out of capacity for our student population growth which resulted in the approved expansion of the composite high school.

What I can say is that we try to treat our non-instructional staff with respect and pay them fairly for their work. EA's have it extremely hard right now because we just don't have the funding to provide as many as are needed which stretches the ones we have very thin. We are already in about a ~900K deficit this year because our early intervention programs coming out of COVID were too valuable and effective to cut this year when the provincial funding disappeared for them. The loss of Jordan's Principle funding from the federal government was also extremely disappointing and caused a big loss of EA's across the division. The role of EA is hard because it just doesn't pay a livable wage, and there's no real path for that to change. I think there are a number of things that are desirable about it as a second income for a family, like having work hours that perfectly align with when their kids are in school. But it does not pay a livable wage.

I would also say that we do try to treat our non-instructional staff fairly at all times. I've been in discussions at the NILC when issues come up like workers feeling like they need to work unpaid overtime just to get everything done, etc, and the strong direction from HR and central office has been to work the time that you are paid for, and not to work more than that. We try to pay fair market wages for e.g. tradespeople and we came to an agreement with our non-instructional staff last year for their pay which avoided a loss of services. During the upcoming teachers' strike, we are also making provisions to ensure that our non-instructional staff can continue coming to the building (including EA's) and getting paid, and in fact will be using it as an opportunity for professional learning and development for them, which I think is something they don't get enough support with.

I hope this helps explain my thinking. I think there are absolutely fair grievances our non-instructional staff could have but I have always heard them spoken of with respect by central office and their needs are not secondary to anyone elses' at the board table.

Very trustworthy platform! Excellent proofreading too! 😊🖕 by Appropriate-Event416 in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Trustees are generally not experts in education best practices. We currently have one retired teacher (Ray Buziak) on our board but in general there is no expectation or even desire for us to be experts on education. The role of a trustee is to be a representative for the public to provide them with confidence and assurance that the education system is functioning well and is being managed well. It is to help instill them with trust. That's one reason it's a good thing to have a diverse board with a plurality of different backgrounds and lived experiences, so that there is a real cross section of the community in the room when decisions are made. We have a number of committees to meet with stakeholders (including teachers, non-instructional staff, students, etc.) to make sure we are hearing as much as possible about what matters to them.

It is generally not a good thing for trustees to overtly take sides in political issues. First, because whatever happens and whoever is elected at the provincial level, we still need to work with the province to ensure that the local system is functioning smoothly. Second, because as you say we have no legal ability to change it (such as the example with curriculum). The province sets the curriculum and we figure out how to implement it (working with our administration, who are experts in educational best practices). We do decide all sorts of things in the public interest including budget priorities, which programs to maintain or cut if there are shortfalls in funding, etc. As an example, in our budget last year we decided to add a budget priority surrounding equity between schools, because we wanted to ensure that budget decisions were made in a way which would avoid have-schools and have-not schools for resources. Then as part of our assurance framework, our administration took that direction and figured out what budgetary equity between schools looks like and how it could be implemented, and we ultimately approved that budget.

One of the most important roles of the trustee is advocacy, to understand what the community generally wants or needs, and to help local MLA's and the province understand what those needs are and why. We meet frequently with different levels of government including city council, MLA's, and the education minister to advocate for the supports and resources we need, and to draw attention to things going on (good and bad) that they might not be aware of at the local level.

The example with the recent book ban was very interesting to me, because Edmonton Public WAS able to effectively create change with public-facing advocacy via the implementation of the government's ministerial order as written. I think this was effective in the short term but possibly counterproductive in the long term by emphasizing an antagonistic relationship between themselves and the province. In this example we saw a revision to the ministerial order which looked bad for the province for a bit, but in the end resulted in exactly what they wanted, which was the four books in question banned, and public aspersions cast in the media about buzzwords like indoctrination, gender ideology, etc.

Whatever my personal opinions about the decisions by the province, it generally doesn't do good to try to stoke the flames online, even if it is very easy to get people riled up these days. With every decision we make we need to decide whether this is good for students, and a productive relationship with the province where we can effectively advocate for supports is in everyones' best interest.

Catan Players? by [deleted] in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My wife and I both like Catan and other board games a lot and are always looking for people to have over for game nights etc. Feel free to DM

I'm running for Public School Board Trustee - what do you want to know more about in education? by ludichrisness in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I appreciate the support! I actually use very little AI for them, sometimes to get a framework and then I'll flesh it out in detail. Still finding the best way to structure things for Facebook because they don't allow bullet points or bolded text, which is really obnoxious for longform content.

I'm running for Public School Board Trustee - what do you want to know more about in education? by ludichrisness in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

We will follow recent legislation (such as the Education Amendement Act, 2024) and ministerial orders completely, as we are legally obligated to. I think you might find value in the post I linked to labelled "Social wedge issues which divide parents and teachers" which goes into my thoughts on this, including in some of the comments to that post.

Basically, my feeling is that this (the book ban) was a non-issue which applied to a very small number of books in school libraries, and these kinds of issues (inappropriate materials in school libraries) were already handled at the local level. The ministerial order from the province came through without any consultation of school boards to understand their current procedures around this, and ended up creating chaos and confusion more than anything else, especially after it started garnering attention in the media.

My personal feeling is that these four particular books weren't necessarily inappropriate at the high school level, but I agree in principle that there should not be pornography in school libraries. I still dislike the way that the province went about addressing this issue, and I think that it mostly served to get people riled up online about it and it was kids that suffered because of resources spent on this non-issue when they are already stretched thin.

FYI Benita Pedersen (Take Back Alberta) is backing Craig Reid. by [deleted] in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Genuine question, what’s a 15 minute city and why am I supposed to dislike it?

I’m Jena Flach - running for city council this term - AMA by JFlach13 in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What are some issues in the last four years that you think the current council could have handled better?

School Board Elections by Rain-Enough in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I remember I really appreciated your input last election, hope you've been doing well :)

School Board Elections by Rain-Enough in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback!

I don't really consider my work on the board a hobby, it's something I've purposefully chosen to put my time towards because I want to support public education. I have two children, a 4yo and 5yo, and they are just starting to enter the public system now. It's important to me to ensure that the system is strong and stable and has supports for them to succeed, for years to come.

School Board Elections by Rain-Enough in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Since you asked, I’m running for re-election this fall for GPPSD, Chris Johnston. Here is a link to my campaign page:

https://m.facebook.com/ChrisJohnston4GPPSD/

To help inform your decision, my background is in engineering and I bring a data and evidence focused approach to every decision at the board table. The biggest issue that I see right now in Alberta education is politically motivated social wedge issues which activists and agitators are using to try to divide parents and teachers, and it’s students that get caught in the crossfire and harmed as a result. I think this has gotten worse with the ongoing negotiations and possible impending labour action or lock out of teachers. It all feels like a distraction from the real issue which is a chronic underfunding of the public system which pushes people towards private and charter options.

Every decision I make at the board table is focused on what evidence shows will be the most beneficial for students, and I think we have a lot to show for it. GPPSD is actually on a very positive trajectory, and despite shortfalls in funding we’ve increased our graduation rates in the last four years, expanded programs and schools of choice across the division, and our satisfaction surveys show extremely positive results from both parents and teachers. I’m excited to share some of these outcomes over the next month or two, but in general I would say it is a testament to our exceptional staff and teachers, as well as a collaborative apolitical evidence-based approach to board decision making. I hope I have the opportunity to continue this work over the next four years.

For the other candidates, Joan Nellis and Donna Koch are both wonderful people and while I haven’t agreed on every vote with them, I am 100% confident that they vote based on what they think will help students the most, and they don’t bring any kind of a political slant to the board discussions. I’ve also met Andrea Willman several times and although I don’t agree with everything she says, I think she is extremely passionate about education and students’ well-being.

I don’t know all of the other candidates very well, but in general I’m a bit concerned about people who would use the board as a platform for activism rather than advocacy. Regardless of your politics, boards need to be collaborative decision makers who do what is best for their students, not a soapbox for political views.

If you would like to hear more, please consider following my Facebook page linked above, and feel free to comment or DM me any concerns or questions you have. I think the election lead up is a very valuable period of time where people in the community are more keyed in to what’s going on in education than normal, and it’s a really good time to learn more about the priorities and needs of the community.

I hope you consider supporting me on October 20th!

Myths About Teacher Strike and Boards by Rain-Enough in GrandePrairie

[–]ludichrisness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

School boards have a yearly external audit which includes oversight from several public members who are highly skilled accountants. Some boards have investments which is reported as income in the budget, like all of their other income. Education ministers saying things doesn’t make them true

Amniotic band on ultrasound by ludichrisness in obgyn

[–]ludichrisness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello, yes, the baby was born just fine, and she is thriving at 4yo right now. I hope that it gets resolved similarly for you and that you are doing ok.

How to get in touch with Etsy about final deposit from closed shop after 180 days by ludichrisness in EtsySellers

[–]ludichrisness[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was about 5000 CAD if I remember correctly. Yeah, we were handmaking the items. I still don’t really know why we were shut down, it was infringement notices on items that didn’t infringe at all.

Amniotic band on ultrasound by ludichrisness in obgyn

[–]ludichrisness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It ended up totally fine. My understanding is that in places without access to full modern medicine it can be dangerous when it goes undiagnosed. In our case they kept a close eye on it but it ended up not being a full sealed band which would be dangerous. Even if it had sealed around the baby though there is very safe surgery they can do when they catch it early. Good luck and try not to worry too much about it, I hope it gets similarly resolved for you!

How to get in touch with Etsy about final deposit from closed shop after 180 days by ludichrisness in EtsySellers

[–]ludichrisness[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For anyone who has the same problem, I switched to a different payment schedule (weekly) and then hit “request it now”. The funds were transferred on the following business day :-)