My name is Jill Osborne and I am seeking Re-election for my second term as a Trustee for Parkland School Division.
Statement of beliefs
I have a proven track record of listening to education partners, supporting teachers and doing what’s best for kids.
Priority areas
Success-Through Learning Support and Meaningful Opportunities.
Wellness-Nurturing the whole child so that every student has what they need to thrive.
Community-Supporting environments that foster a sense of belonging and connection for all.
Views on funding
If you take the total dollar amount Parkland School Division receives in their funding profile and divide it by the amount of students, the number comes out to roughly $12,000 per student. However, that is not how we are funded. Funding comes in 4 main grants including Instruction, Maintenance, Transportation and Administration. The Instruction grant, which is the money that goes toward classrooms, is funded at $8740 per student. That’s not enough. The current funding model does not allow individual boards to make decisions based on their local context. Funding envelopes have set amounts, and we are not permitted to move money between grants. If re-elected, I would continue to advocate for Board autonomy of provincial funding. Every dollar possible would go to classrooms and we would allocate and account for increased dollars in classrooms through budget reviews and the yearly audit.
How learning conditions can be improved
Classroom complexity and student dysregulation negatively impact student achievement and well-being in our classrooms. Classrooms need to be adequately supported with additional teachers and education assistants for students to be successful and to address Classroom Complexity. If re-elected, I would continue advocacy to increase the per student funding for Instruction and direct every dollar possible toward classrooms. I would also continue my support of the Division Psychologist Model and Nutrition Programs to address Wellness Initiatives in PSD.
How trustees and school boards can best support teachers
By requesting information from their Administration that introduces data to back up anecdotal evidence of teachers lived experiences in classrooms. Parkland School Division Trustees receive a report for information called Student Conduct and Behaviour. In October 2024 the report showed that, year over year, there had been an alarming increase of expulsions, suspensions and student dysregulation. In February 2025, our Board took this information to our Associations to see if other divisions were experiencing the same alarming trend, and so that we could compile that information for the Ministry to aid our advocacy. Unfortunately, only 3 other boards had received similar reports. That type of quantitative data would be beneficial to your current negotiations.
Views on the new K-6 curriculum
I’m going to focus on one Curriculum. Math. The new outcomes are not age appropriate and there was no scaffolding provided to students who were essentially skipping sequential learning concepts. Students were set up for failure and their teachers have been given the nearly impossible task of bringing kids to grade level. Class sizes, student dysregulation and the governments lack of new curriculum resources are all contributing to putting kids further behind.