When she’s not writing and publishing children’s stories, Cranbrook School Trustee Trina Ayling is on the campaign trail talking to parents and teachers about her last three years with the Board of Education.

The mother of two came to the Board with a background in adult continuing education instruction, retail training and human resources, corporate stakeholder relations and small business management. Currently she is a local author and publisher.

But the beginning of Ayling’s journey to elected office can be traced to 2006.

“That’s when the previous Board wanted to close Pinewood and Muriel Baxter schools,” explained Ayling. “It was a decision that galvanized the whole school community to take a hard look at how our local education system was run –and to demand improvement.”

Ayling says that she spent a lot of time in the two years leading up to the election talking with and listening to parents, teachers and other community members. She even took time to research the history of the provincial education system to better understand current funding challenges.

“I learned some important lessons along the way,” said Ayling. “I put those lessons into a set of campaign principles for the 2008 election and received a strong mandate from the citizens of Cranbrook and Area C to do things differently.”

Ayling explained that the most important principle is to make a concerted effort to open the door for parents, teachers and community to have a meaningful role in Board decision making.

“We’ve done that, and we’ve made better decisions as a result. To take just one example, Trustee Chris Johns and I went out and met one-on-one with over fifty community groups over four months to help us shape the Neighbourhood Learning Centre concept for a Mount Baker high school replacement,” said Ayling. “We are always looking at ways to give stakeholders a genuine say in what we plan to do –and before we do it.  I think this approach is fundamental to a healthy school community.”

Ayling’s second principle is that trustees have an obligation to be constant advocates to other levels of government to improve their local public education system.

“Enrolment has started to stabilize but we’ve still had funding shortfalls of $993,000 and $1,050,000 respectively in the past two budget years,” said Ayling. “I think our students, parents, staff and teachers have benefited from the relative stability and consistency that we fought to maintain during our term, but it has forced us to make some cuts that are not sustainable over the long term.

“We need strong voices to continue to advocate for the provincial government to work with us to do better.”

Ayling says that the third principle is that citizens should expect more from the elected trustees who manage the 50 million dollar annual District budget and make decisions that can affect the lives of children and parents right across the East Kootenay.

“As a trustee you can do the minimum, show up to monthly Board and Committee meetings, and vote on issues with the basic information,” said Ayling. “But to be a really effective leader, to give vision and direction to school administrators, you have to be willing to do your own research, connect with the public, ask informed questions and invest a significant amount of your own free time to find better answers.”

Ayling says she would welcome another three years at the Board to continue to build on her previous achievements.
“It has been my great privilege to meet so many dedicated parents, staff and teachers over the last three years. Our combined commitment keeps me pushing to make SD5 the best district in the province for our students.”

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