Carol Bryden is seeing a fourth term as the East Kent/South Lambton St. Clair District Catholic School trustee.
The former board chair says safeguarding students health and well being, maintaining schools with careful management and more French immersion programs are important issues this election.
The Issues: “Safeguarding student physical, emotional and psychological wellness. Continuing and strengthening support for students;  offering ongoing training for staff and strengthening  community partnerships.
“Careful management of financial and material resources.  The cost of maintaining schools in good condition, and providing the needed resources for students, requires a strong focus on fiscal responsibility.
“I would also like to see the expansion of access to the French Immersion programs for students in all areas of East Kent and South Lambton.”
There has been much talk of merging school boards, what do you think?
“Merging the four school boards will not save money. Funding for school boards is determined by the number of students in the schools. That number will not change. The only way to ensure savings would be to merge existing schools and this impacts students. It would cause a potential boundary review for every school in the province resulting in closing some schools, and building on to others.
Bryden adds transportation costs would rise and merging contracts for school staff would be difficult.
She added; “Catholic Schools have always had a strong value in making Ontario a great province…Parents choose to send their students to Catholic schools because they want to reinforce these ideals for their children.”