The race to fill the vacancy for Rocky View Schools trustee for Ward 5 is wide open with three candidates vying to fill the position last held by former Board Chair Colleen Munro who resigned and is now running for election as a Rocky View County councillor for District 9.   

Dan Cavanagh, Judi Hunter and Kristyn Schmidt filed nomination papers on Monday and will run in the October 16th election to represent Bragg Creek, Springbank, Bearspaw, Westbrook and Rural Cochrane as trustee.   

Cavanagh lives in Springbank, is married with four daughters all of whom attend school in Springbank.  Much of his time is spent supporting his daughter's passion for sports as all four of them play hockey, two at the elite level .  He has both a BEd and an MEd and has been a teacher, assistant principal and principal as well as a lecturer at Concordia College.  He and his wife, who is also a teacher, are now the owners of Delmar College in Calgary.  Cavanagh has also worked for the past five years on the Alberta Attendance Board, a panel that takes the place of a judge to hear truant cases and stop the clogging of the courts with such cases.

Dan Cavanagh

Cavanagh says he is a firm believer in making sure that RVS is a professional learning community and looks at all decisions in the light of what their impact is on learning.  "Providing proper resources for staff, for schools. Championing equal education opportunities in a safe and caring environment, thinking positive, not punitive,  Making sure that parents don't find out at report card time how their child is doing.  Making sure that teachers are keeping our parents informed on an ongoing basis."

Cavanagh has three priorities he wants to concentrate on if he's elected.  "I call them the A,B,C's.  One is accountability, strong division and school based leadership, fiscal management at all levels, Information and  communication technology promoting digital citizenship in a rapidly changing world.  B is balance the budget.  There are many competing interests and a limited amount of dollars in the public purse.  And C is children first.  Excellent classroom teaching must be a daily reality, not just a slogan."

Judi Hunter is also from Springbank, has been married for 50 years and has eight grandchildren attending Rocky View schools.  She's been active in the Springbank community for several years coaching soccer and previously was active in politics, coaching debate clubs and was involved in public speaking for youth.  She also has attained a BEd and MEd and served as a principal with the Calgary Board of Education.  She states that nothing gives her more pleasure than to see someone learning.

Hunter sees herself as an advocate for public education.  She says, "I've always been interested in children, I love kids.  I'm very interested in what I perceive to be a challenging future for our children.  For me it's around that strategic thinking of 'what do we need to do in the future to ensure that our kids are going to have, at least a lifestyle that would be at least equivalent to what we have.  The world is changing so rapidly and are we prepared for those changes and what do we need to do as an educational system."  

Hunter believes the education system is a foundation for society,  "It's the way we come together as people and how we have a shared experience"

She likes the current governance model that RVS has, "Where the bulk of your time is spent in the community getting ideas on what people feel is a proactive approach to education,  I love that aspect of working with the community so that would be a top priority for me.  The west area schools also need an advocate, particularly with the capital budgets."  

Kristyn Schmidt has been married for ten years and has three young children.  She lives on an acreage at Bragg Creek.  She is also very active in the community having served as the President of Little Schoolhouse in Bragg Creek and also served terms as the President and Treasurer of the Bragg Creek Community Association.  Schmidt has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Schmidt says her number one reason for running for school board trustee is to make sure students get what they need from schools and the education system to ultimately have success.  "I have small children of my own that have yet to go through 18 years in this school system and I kind of want to make sure that schools in our ward are running at their best and being advocated for because I have a vested interest in them for the forseeable future based on my own children."

Specifically, Schmidt wants to ensure funding is getting to where it's needed most.  "That our children with the higher needs have a voice and are getting what they need , that our smaller, rural communities are being recognized fully and not forgotten amongst the population boom areas and that I'm keeping the community informed about what's happening in our education and school system, so bridging the gap of communication between the community and the schools.

Schmidt says she understands the funding issues that the Rocky View division is facing.  "You have to battle against the growth of Airdrie and new developments that are happening.  The smaller schools keep getting pushed down the line because new schools have to pop up to accommodate the population.  I just want to give the smaller schools and older schools a voice and make sure all the populations are represented equally that it's not just the bigger centres that are siphoning all the funding their way, but also understanding that they need it as well."