Voters in 2026 are being given the golden opportunity to wrest control of the Vancouver School Board away from the Greens, ABC Vancouver, and its right-of-centre predecessor, the Non Partisan Association, and place the decision making on Vancouver’s Board of Education firmly back into the hands of advocates for public education, the parents who have children enrolled in the school district, and the approximately 51,859 students who attend elementary or secondary school in Vancouver each and every day.

Do you know, there was a time not so long ago that …

• The Vancouver School Board operated a volunteer programme on the Downtown Eastside and in Strathcona where immigrant parents — who spoke little or no English — were enrolled in a programme that afforded them an opportunity to support the goals of their children who are enrolled in the Vancouver school district. Now, this was a wildly successful programme. However, thanks to successive Greens, NPA and ABC Vancouver School Board administrations — that would be the folks we elected to Vancouver’s Board of Education — due to “cost cutting” measures (cuz the parents and volunteers and immigrant parents met in a school setting) — that invaluable programme no longer exists;

• The Vancouver School Board (VSB) operates four standing committees.

  According to official VSB records, the names of these four committees are:

  • • Education Plan Committee
    • Facilities Planning Committee
    • Finance and Personnel Committee
    • Policy and Governance Committee

  Additionally, the Board is occasionally supported by specific subcommittees or ad hoc groups, such as the Audit Committee, Advocacy Subcommittee, or the Food Framework Ad Hoc Committee.

  There was a time in the recent past when these committees — chaired by an elected School Board trustee — were active, and provided the union workers employed by the school district, parents who have children enrolled in Vancouver and students themselves to play a significant role, through these committees, in determining policy at the Board level, where the Board Trustee Committee Chairperson would report out at the regularly scheduled meetings of the Board, often moving motions that arose from various of the Committees’ discussions.

  Unsurprisingly, not so much anymore, as the last two terms of the Board of Education encouraged these very important committees to lay dormant, negating the opportunity for the public to be involved in Board decision-making.

The above are but two examples of how the two most recent Vancouver Boards of Education has wrested control of decision-making away from parents, students and CUPE staff employed by the Board.

In 2026, we call that: undemocratic or an unconscionable power grab by Board trustees, over the course of the last two terms of the Vancouver School Board.

With the support of voters who have turned up at the Advance Polls, or intend to vote on Election Day, this upcoming Saturday, October 17 — in what is widely regarded as a change election — the very real opportunity exists, at the Board of Education level — to once again, after so many years of “fiscal prudence (read: destruction of public education in the Vancouver School District) to restore democratic governance at the Vancouver School Board, where once again the voices of the public will be heard around the Board of Education table and, more often than not, acted upon.

Yes, we know the numbers above are out of order, but the candidate ballot numbers are correct.  

VanRamblings knows and has worked with each of the candidates running to become a Trustee around the decision-making table at the Vancouver School Board.

• • Dr. Krista Surgurdson is an academic researcher and educator, political staffer, mother, community organizer, parent advocate, friend, and spouse. She has a PhD in Sociology and worked as a health care researcher at Stanford University and as a research and writing instructor at UBC. Krista believes all Vancouver children, regardless of where they live or their economic or family circumstances, deserve to experience the best possible educational experience that Vancouver schools can provide. Krista has been working her butt off these past weeks and months to become a VSB trustee, because she wants to be a part of putting children and families at the centre of decision-making around Vancouver’s Board of Education table.

• • Rory Brown is an educator with 15 years experience teaching at the secondary school level in Vancouver, has in the past served as President of the Vancouver Secondary Teachers Association, and now teaches the next generation of teachers, at BCIT and UBC. Rory — who has rarely missed a meeting of the Board, in years — would bring a wealth of knowledge to the School Board table, not the least of his myriad skills a deep understanding of labour relations — critically important to a Board, where the VSB administration is too often given to fighting every grievance filed by an employee of the Board, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars before the Labour Relations Board, often in losing causes for the VSB administrators — and even more importantly, Rory’s dedication to promoting the cause of public education on behalf of students enrolled in the Vancouver School District.

• Suzie Mah is fighting for an education system where everyone has the ability to raise a family in this city and has the right to the best educational experiences.
  A retired teacher and union organizer for more than 30 years, Suzie has taught every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 12, including non-graduated adults. Suzie, perhaps better than any other trustee, knows what our students needs are, and understands our public education system. As a VSB Trustee since 2022, Suzie has held the line and fought back against ABC’s callous agenda — and won for students. Since being elected, Suzie has played a pivotal role in seeing life-saving defibrillators placed in schools, worked to save school meal programmes threatened by cuts, led the fight for free transit for teens, and opposed ABC Vancouver’s war on democracy, and their handouts of city land to private developers — every step of the way.

• • A four-term Vancouver School Board trustee, and former VSB Chairperson, during his terms in office — because Christopher is so dedicated to his work on behalf of students, particularly learners with disabilities or diverse abilities — that he completed studies in educational leadership and an M.Ed (’25), focusing on inclusive education and learning disabilities within UBC’s Faculty of Education — having earlier completed an Honours Bachelor’s degree at UBC. Both degrees inform Christopher’s approach on Board policy issues, oversight and Board governance, where his academic works helps to provide strategic direction to ensure that the VSB continues to provide K-12+ public educational opportunities for ALL learners, especially those who are vulnerable for whatever reason. Given his depth of experience, the fact that he completed two degrees at UBC while serving as a Vancouver School Board trustee, all the while serving as a Chartered Account and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC (ICABC) — and working as the longest serving Auxiliary police offer with the Vancouver Police Department — for which he received the Exemplary Peace Officer Service Award in November 2019, presented by the Governor General of Canada, Christopher is a must, must, must elect.

• Derrick O’Keefe is, quite simply, one of my favourite people in the world, heartbreakingly bright and articulate, someone we met a quarter century ago when Derrick and his friend Charles Demers published Seven Oaks magazine, Vancouver’s best ever, most  thought-provoking political journal. Derrick O’Keefe will fight for fully funded, high quality education for ALL students – regardless of learning needs. As a parent of two school-aged boys, he has seen up-close how the system is failing under Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver’s cuts. Bringing his experience in advocacy for public education and his work as a journalist and writer, Derrick will fight for the needs of the many ahead of the wealthy few. He understands that in order to empower the next generation to fight for their communities, we need universal meal programmes, affordable and accessible childcare, and public land that is used for the public benefit.

• Sherry Breshears, parent advocate, educator and education researcher, is running a campaign rooted in a straightforward conviction: every student deserves an inclusive, well-resourced public education system, and families should have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their children. Breshears holds a degree in Education from the University of British Columbia. Through her experience as a parent, she became increasingly involved in advocating for the educational support her own children and other students needed. She has served with Vancouver’s District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) and the Inclusive Education Working Group, working to make schools more responsive to students with diverse learning needs. Breshears’ campaign emphasizes equity, inclusion and transparency in school-board governance, and is focused on ensuring that students have access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed, families to be heard, and teachers and school staff to be treated with dignity and respect.

• Steve Cardwell, a former Superintendent with the Vancouver School Board, is running for trustee with OneCity Vancouver. With more than four decades in education, Cardwell brings extensive experience in classroom teaching, school-district leadership and post-secondary education. In 2010, he became superintendent and chief executive officer of the Vancouver School Board, a position he held for five years. Cardwell holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of British Columbia, as well as a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Simon Fraser University. Cardwell is campaigning to strengthen student well-being, support teachers and school staff, and protect inclusive, welcoming neighbourhood schools. He also advocates transparent School Board governance and keeping public school properties in public hands. Cardwell’s candidacy offers voters a trustee with first-hand knowledge of the Vancouver school system, combining experience in educational leadership with a commitment to strengthening public education for students, families and communities.

• Ishi Dinim, throughout his life, has involved in himself in advocacy as a way of bringing himself to this Earth, while setting a community activist example for his two teenage daughters. As a student at Emily Carr University, Ishi was elected to the Board of Governors. Later, Ishi joined the Vancouver School Board’s District Parental Advisory Council (DPAC). Ishi has spent nearly 10 years as an activist member of DPAC, six of those years as a general member and the last three as an Executive Member. This decade of experience with the VSB provides Ishi with an informed perspective on issues facing our public education system, and knowledge of how the VSB functions, which will allow him to understand and properly address such issues. Ishi Dinim believes in strong, thriving public education in Vancouver. He is passionate about student well-being and believes every learner should feel safe enough to be their whole self at school. He also believes we have a responsibility to protect and improve upon school land and other public assets for generations to come. Healthy public schools must meet the diverse needs of our communities, and Ishi Dinim will work to ensure that the VSB is properly staffed, and has the needed resources and supports to meet the learning needs of every student.