Lisa Moore, a resident of Brookswood in Langley, has decided after many years of advocating for special needs children to run for the Langley Board of education. She is seeking one of the five positions open on the board in Langley Township on election day on Nov. 15.
After being a single mother for many years, and in recent years welcoming three special needs children to join her other two biological children, to make a blended amily of five, she has a lot of experience with the current school system.
She has seen the joys of her children learning and growing but she has also experienced the frustration of over-crowded classrooms, competing for support with other special needs children, and a need for more special needs assistants.
Despite her effort, she has experienced a lack of resources in regards to accessing psychologists for assessments, school counsellors, greater speech therapy hours, increased special needs assistant hours and before and after school care for all of her children.
In June, as the teachers' strike and lockout was getting underway, she had enough and reached out to the Vancouver Sun and the Langley Times for help. The following article was published and outlines some of her frustrations: http://www.langleytimes.com/news/262890721.html
She has been the vice-president of the Belmont Elementary PAC for the past two years, and she has been astonished to see how many resources are being paid for by the parents of the children who attend Langley schools. There have been fundraisers for laptops, projectors, iPads, cameras, basic toys, books and educational material.
"The most outstanding issue facing most Langley schools is the need for new playgrounds that are being deemed as dangerous and being removed from schools. Parents and the community are the ones faced with replacing these basic and fundamental outdoor structures for children to play, grow and laugh with each other. Langley School District has no money and no intention of replacing any of this capital equipment," she said.
Her goal is to raise many of these concerns and others that she hopes parents will share, in order to give her the opportunity to bring to the table and advocate for children who are in dire need of funds, resources and support from the board of education and the provincial government.
She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in 2000, and has pursued a career in business and has worked in health care at a senior management level for various profit and non-profit agencies. She currently works in the transportation industry in business development.
She is also completing her Masters in Psychology in the pursuit of advocating for special needs families. Her blended family includes five children ranging from ages three to 12, three of whom are diagnosed as special needs. In her spare time when not advocating for her children, she enjoys playing the piano and singing, boating, reading, yoga, writing and cooking.
She can be reached through a Facebook page entitled “Vote Lisa Moore School Trustee - Township of Langley” (https://www.facebook.com/Votelisamoore) and via email at ldmoore@telus.net.