Kaethe Jones announced her candidacy for the Chilliwack school board Tuesday (Aug. 23), saying she will champion the right of parents to be involved in every aspect of their childs’ education.
“Parents need to be kept informed of all clubs, classroom work, interviews conducted and/or counselling their child is participating in and receiving,” she said in a news release. “There should be no secretive decisions made by the student or teacher/counsellors.
”Students are still minors in their parents’ care.”
Jones ran in the 2018 race and finished eighth, 34 votes behind Jared Mumford.
She alleged suspicious conduct by election officials and filed an affidavit in Chilliwack provincial court asking for a judicial recount, which cost the Chilliwack school board between $30,000 and $35,000 and resulted in Jones gaining one vote, attributed to a missing ballot.
This time around, Jones is promising to work towards a learning environment that is “calm and without controversy,” allowing students to focus their minds on learning.
“School should be about teaching/preparing our children well academically, socially and emotionally for their future,” she said, adding that she’ll support Chilliwack teachers through ongoing professional development “to learn the best instructional strategies to provide an excellent education for all students, including special needs and gifted students.”
Jones pledged to promote policies that emphasize “brain research-based learning in reading, writing, spelling and math skills.”
“Particularly in the early years, which are the foundation for a successful education for students,” she explained. “For example, brain research and imaging shows that cursive writing prepares the child’s brain for reading and enhances their writing fluency and composition.”
The UBC and Simon Fraser University alum claims 24 years of teaching experience, most of it in public schools. Her experience includes teaching students in Kindergarten through Grade 3, working as a learning assistance and special education teacher, as an enrichment catalyst teacher and as an English Language Learners (ELL) instructor.
“Kaethe (pronounced KAY-teh) has taught in isolated to semi-isolated communities in the Northwest Territories and northeast British Columbia,” her news release said. “Her work has included working with marginalized communities of society.”
For 17 years Jones was a union staff rep for the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association. She spent two-plus years as a member of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Executive and served as an AGM delegate at British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) conventions.