I am ALLISON PURCELL. I am currently a trustee and am seeking re-election to continue to serve.
I am the mother of 3 amazing children. All have went thru Lethbridge School Division. One is currently working as a Parts Technician at Southland International, working on his trade, and he ended up in his employment opportunity through work experience(Churchill), then RAP, then onto full-time career. My second child, he is currently at the U of L, he is the Vice President of External on the Student Union. And my daughter is currently in grade 11 at LCI.
I am probably most known for my advocacy around inclusion and that what we provide for our students matter – that is what made a difference for my own children and proper supports are necessary for our students to be able to learn. If you don't know some of our story, please reach out, always happy to share.
Since being elected as a school board Trustee 4 years ago, I made sure I offered my service to advance the work we do as a Division. I began by serving as 3 years at Board Chair of the Lethbridge School Division. Also, I started by being the first ever Director – Education Sector with Economic Development Lethbridge as I believe the future we create for our students needs to be connected to our local business community. Keeping and growing the connection with our business community, helps to provide our students with opportunities, gives them experience and helps to see that they have a future right here in Lethbridge.
I also ran for and was elected as Vice Chair of ASBA Zone 6 (10 most southern school Divisions) and then went onto be elected as Director of Zone 6, taking the voice of the south to the Board of Directors table of Alberta School Boards Association. I am able to participate in many engagement opportunities, and ensure our voice is shared at the provincial table. Through ASBA I was able to also sit on the Advocacy Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee.
In addition, I have recently been appointed as a Trustee on ASEBP (Alberta School Employee Benefit Program) Board. I have been able to be apart of strategic planning, and use the voice of what I hear from the members, and school boards when making decisions.
I do not take my role as School Board Trustee lightly, I believe there is much work to do and I am prepared to continue to do the work necessary.
I should add that while I am able to engage in much of the tasks I take on for my role as trustee, I am supported at home by Brad, assisting to ensure things continue to run smoothly. He is a long time Lethbridge resident and was a graduate of Lethbridge School Division.
As for previous to my 4 years as a Trustee:
I am a University of Lethbridge Graduate.
I was appointed by Ministerial Order, to sit on the Provincial Parent Advisory Committee for Family Supports for Children with Disabilities.
I served as Director and was President of Alberta School Councils' Association
I believe my proven leadership, knowledge and experience are needed for good governance and I look forward for the opportunity to continue to serve on Lethbridge School Division.
Statement of beliefs
I believe students first.
I believe students learn in different ways and at different speeds.
I believe all students can be successful.
I believe we have amazing teachers/staff.
I believe teachers/staff need to feel supported. And they need to actually have the support they need.
I believe we are all partners in education and together we can do what is best for students.
I believe in good governance processes.
I believe in authentic feedback.
I believe in relationships and building/maintaining trust.
I believe in being agents of change.
I believe we can always do better.
I believe we must acknowledge what we can do better at and be willing to work on those things.
I believe we can grow from and be better when we accept and listen to what needs to change.
I believe in transparency, accountability, open communication.
I believe inclusion is a way of being.
I believe in all of you teachers/staff doing the great work you do everyday with our students! And I believe I can help support you, by making good governance decisions as a Trustee.
I believe in PUBLIC EDUCATION.
Priority areas
Funding!
Fund every student
Advocate for what we need and make decisions based on that!Complexities within the classroom (and schools)
Governance
Policies, Strat plan, Budget
Ensure what we do with budget aligns with strat plan.
Views on funding
Funding is a priority of the Board and pretty much our funding decisions is our most important job.
I ensure the words I say and hear in the community are reflected at the Board table and I invite people to listen to the Board Budget meeting to hear my views/concerns and how I represent the concerns I have and hear about funding. The May 26 Budget mtg 2:45:00 to 2:49:45 is where I speak & would answer this question. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqeuJ5TJtow&t=18357s
I believe we need to fund every student. I have advocated during the past 4 years on this, meeting with our local MLA’s, advocating to the Minister of Ed as well as other Ministers as able. We were able to get the WMA changed from 3 years to 2 years to get us closer, but we need every student funded. Further to this, we need the Base Funding grant to increase. This past budget the Base Funding did not increase, to deal with any inflationary pressures etc.
I also believe in properly funding PUBLIC EDUCATION!
How learning conditions can be improved
The complexities in the classroom are getting ever more challenging and met with little to no resources, either with very few (if any) Educational Assistants, resources, training or other tools/plans in place.
I have advocated for dealing with the complexities in classrooms, long before I was ever on the Board. I have children of my own, that with proper resources, have gone on to be contributing members of society (1 still in Grade 11). I have helped support other families as well as classroom staff as they try to navigate what they face every day. Challenging to say the least, frustrating and impossible are words I hear often.
We must keep advocating for what our students need for support. As the saying goes, working conditions for our teachers are the learning environments for our students. Lets make sure those places are safe, and a place students can learn, with appropriate staffing both with lower class sizes and complexities managed.
How trustees and school boards can best support teachers
Listen, Listen, Listen!
I feel as a trustee, we need to understand what the working conditions are (as they are the learning environment for our students). We need to take those concerns and use the power we have as trustees and advocate for what is needed. When we make decisions at the Board table, we need to keep in mind what we hear would best support our staff.
Our staff need to feel they are heard and they need to know we are advocating for them. We are making decisions that best support our Division as a whole, with the priority being our classrooms.
We also need to tell the stories of our amazing teachers. The stories of success, the stories of over coming struggles – they are important and who we are. Our teachers went into the profession to make a difference, and the decisions we make at the Board table, need to support our teachers to keep making a difference in the lives of our students!
Views on the new K-6 curriculum
I have worked thru previous governments on many years of curriculum development in my previous roles. It is priority that teachers are part of the process, have input in pilots and most importantly have the resources to be able to teach it.
As a governor, my role is to hear the concerns and to advocate for what is needed with curriculum development. There has been some changes to ensure teacher input thru pilots has been available.
I consistently hear the concerns of the resources not available to go along with the new curriculum offerings, nor the time or funds available for teaching staff to prepare (that they feel they need). As a Division we have done some work around the implementation of the new curriculum, but we need to continue to support our staff with where they are at. And ensuring they feel able and with the appropriate resources to deliver the new curriculum, and feel they have input where any curriculum is not what it should be.