Brit was raised in the Northwest of Calgary and is a writer and communications consultant, primarily working in the wine and hospitality industry. Her experience running her own business and managing operations for some of the country’s largest hospitality groups provides her with an excellent foundation for creating and implementing policies and procedures.
She sees incredible value in community building, fostering relationships and making meaningful connections and values transparency in all interactions. Community service is a core value that Brit’s family instilled in her at a young age. The impact her grandfather, Stu Hart, had on the City of Calgary is immense and these values of inclusivity and collaboration have been passed down to many members of the Hart family.
From the age of 15 Brit has been an active volunteer in her community. Over the last 25 years she has offered her time to Calgary Quest School, Trellis Society (formerly The Boys and Girls Club of Canada), The Bowness Food Network and Calgary Reads as a one-to-one volunteer. She has sat on the board for Music Mile, the Bowness Community Association & Soup Sisters and has helped raise funds for The Alex and other non-profits throughout the city. She currently sits on the parent board at her son’s school and is an active volunteer in her community in varying capacities.
Statement of beliefs
Brit believes in an inclusive and equitable public education system for all students. Schools function as so much more than just a place to learn to read and write, they provide safe spaces for our youth, an opportunity to develop social skills and open doors to new experiences, cultures and ideas. Protecting these institutions and the teachers and administrators within them is a key component to ensuring the success of our students and our communities.
Priority areas
Increased engagement with teachers, students and families to better advocate for better policies.
smaller classrooms by building more schools and improving existing infrastructure.
Increased transparency on public education funding and more efficient use of funds available.
Views on funding
I believe that we need more funding for schools in Alberta. As so may already know, Alberta provides the lowest per-student funding is the lowest in Canada – nearly $1600 below the national average. Despite this, The Calgary Board Of Education is one of the strongest public education systems in Canada and ranks among the highest in the world. An incredible feat considering the resources currently being provided to public education. I can only imagine our potential if we push our government to prioritize funding for every student accessing public education!
We need to advocate for more resources and encourage more people to get vocal and reach out to their MLA’s and cabinet members in support of better funding for public education. An easy way to accomplish this at no cost to tax payers is to divert some of the funds allocated for private schools back to the public school system.
How learning conditions can be improved
Learning conditions can be improved by implementing caps on classroom sizes and increasing in class supports to students and teachers. We need more EA’s, more ways to help regulate children in their classroom, lower student teacher ratios and more government funded assessments for students in need of IPP’s to succeed in public schools. By allowing teachers more time to focus on students one on one and providing resources to students with more complex learning needs we make classrooms more inclusive and create a more regulated learning space for all students.
How trustees and school boards can best support teachers
I think there needs to some investigation into how trustees can better engage with teachers and support them. Within the current system trustees a school boards need more engagement with schools, to make themselves and their availability more apparent to parent councils and to advocate for policies that create more inclusive classroom spaces while efficiently using budget finds to ensure they are truly serving all students.
Views on the new K-6 curriculum
The new curriculum should have been down with more consultation from the teacher community in Alberta. The loudest critique is the focus on rote memorization with less room for critical thinking. I would like to see significant changes made to mathematics and how we address historical events throughout history. In particular, BIPOC history and colonization in Canada with a less Eurocentric take and rather one that teaches about the real devastation done to vulnerable populations over time. We can only truly learn how to go forward by reflecting on our past and this is not something we should be hiding from our students.