Mark Peters runs for HSD trustee, values transparency, traditional family values

Steinbach resident Mark Peters is running for Hanover school trustee with the goal of creating transparency of the board; rebuilding trust between teachers, parents and the board; and promoting traditional family values.

Peters, who is running for Ward 3 Steinbach, was raised in Kleefeld and now lives in Steinbach. He has been working as a mechanical engineering technician for New Flyer Industries for 10 years. He has three children, one of whom goes to school in Hanover and the other two are homeschooled due to ADHD and behavioural issues.

He ran for school trustee in the last election and has decided to run again because he feels that there isn’t enough support in schools for children like his who have ADHD and behavioural issues.

“It’s, I think, things that have been with the division for a while. And that’s not to say that the people who have been working for the division aren’t trying. That’s just to say that there are rather opportunities for improvement. It’s very unlikely that we’ll ever be in a situation where nothing can be better. So, I saw some things that I thought that I had ideas that might work to address and the best way to do that is to put my hat in the ring, as I did four years ago,” he said.

One of the ways that Peters would like to improve things for students is by giving incentives to educational assistants to remain at their jobs past the five-year mark. He feels they should be paid a wage that is more than what they are receiving now and that they should get an increase after their contracts are renewed in five years.

“Right now, we have approximately one EA for every two teachers…But right now, for example, our EA contract doesn’t reward staying past five years at all, instead the hourly wage plateaus…I’d like to keep as many of those people who want to, who really find their calling in serving in that way, to stick around and provide an incentive so that they’re not being financially damaged for the thing that they are passionate about doing,” he said.

“I’m not going to say it’s easy to find the money for it, right? But as a trustee, if elected, I will work with the board to figure out what we can do.”

Peters also wants to see improvement in literacy and math in schools and he wants to lobby the province for more space in school buildings, thereby eliminating portable classrooms.

“I would love to see a division that has no huts. We just have adequate facilities everywhere. The hut should be a temporary thing,” he said.

He believes in human rights and he understands the role of a trustee is to develop policy as a group with a vision for the school division with the superintendent implementing that vision with principals.

He feels the current board’s mature minor motion to create an anti-mature minor policy, which was rescinded after the minister of education ordered the board to repeal it because it was unlawful and went against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Health Care Directives Act, was the board going beyond its jurisdiction.

Although he believes the mature minor policy motion was the board overstepping its bounds, he feels that if there was another government in power the situation would have been handled differently.

“I think that what happens is it falls to ideological lines, and I think that a different government may have had a different approach to it. It was at least less severe in its correction. In terms of the other policies, no, I don’t think (they overstepped their bounds).”

Peters feels that the motion probably deserves more discussion as it is not completely resolved as parents would like to be informed and schools need guidelines on who is considered a health care professional and who is considered a school employee, for example, a guidance counsellor.

Regarding the student activism policy, which received first reading but was tabled during the last board meeting, Peters believes activism shouldn’t be done during school hours and teachers and principals shouldn’t be involved. Security should be hired to monitor any activism rather than having staff supervising the protest if it is done on school grounds.

Peters is in favour of Policy AK-Responsible use of school resources, but would like to do a review of how it is being implemented, what situations are resulting from it, and if it is achieving its intended goal.

He also wants to have policy discussions during regular board meetings with the media present rather than have those discussions in private.

“We let the media be present for the discussion. We don’t have anything to hide, right?” said Peters. “And I think that will help to build trust.”

He said trust has been damaged between the board and the community, teachers and the community, and potentially the board and teachers. That trust can be rebuilt with transparency and making parents aware of what is being taught in the classroom, according to him.

Peters would like to see the board hold open houses in each ward where people can voice their concerns regarding education to trustees. He said the current system is too dependent on approval and time limitations. No decisions will be made at the meetings and there will be no discussion on policies.

“We can hear those concerns that people have and the issues that they’re dealing with (at the open house) and address them in a much more timely manner and then we can have awareness of them,” said Peters.

Peters has seven years experience on different boards and he’s worked as a tutor in schools and understands how they are run.

“I saw some really good things that I would support and would like to have those collaborative discussions with the administrations of the schools, right, the principals and the superintendent, about how we can implement the best practices for discipline and maintaining order,” he said.

“Because every minute we’re spending reorganizing the classroom, we’re not spending teaching. So, I think if we can have orderly classrooms that’s going to be a major contribution to that as well.”

Peters believes people should vote for him because he has problem solving skills, he supports families, traditional values, with a focus on in-classroom spending and supports that are “focused on improving results and outcomes for students.”