Local residents had a chance to hear from both local school board candidates here on Sept. 30.
In the running for those running are James Coffey, of Arthur, and Stephen Kitras, of Centre Wellington.
The local ward for the Wellington District School Board covers most of northern Wellington County.
Kitras was a near miss to the debate, arriving after Coffey had reached the podium.
Following presentations of their platforms, candidates were offered the chance to respond to identical questions from the floor.
What would you do about the problems of bullying and drugs in the schools?
Coffey said “I believe we would have to direct more resources to these initiatives. Currently our educational budget is very limited and we’d have to increase funding for the resources to deal with the issues.
Kitras said those are social problems that require the connectedness of many people involved in the school system.
“As somebody who was bullied when I was younger, I have zero tolerance for that. Parent councils, principals, and trustees would have to make policies that would enable to solve that problem.”
What would you offer the children that has not been offered in the past?
Coffey said “I believe that technology will be more evident over the next five years.”
He pointed to the new smartboard system in Arthur.
St. John School was the board’s pilot site for the interactive computerized white board system.
He sees new computer programming coming on board as well.
“I think technology is the way of the future for educational purposes,” Coffey said.
Kitras stated, “There are certain issues that for residents in the north that are difficult for the students here.”
He believes addressing the issues of bussing and access to activities are the greatest issues to students in the north.
