Rod Ross
RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT
Business educator, age 65
Walnut Grove resident who’s lived in Langley 30+ years
I am a compassionate and innovative leader.
My mission is to encourage everyone.
My vision statement for my life is to encourage cities, towns, and countries.
This is achieved by supporting entrepreneurial mindsets in educational and business communities.
My first school board meeting, I was challenged to solve a $1-M budget challenge. And, the board at the time saw writing letters to the government asking for funds as the answer.
I have always believed in taking personal responsibility for my life.
What flowed out of this mindset was a 10-year journey for the system to embrace revenue generation. It resulted in the creation of the Langley School District Foundation and the highly successful International Students Program (which generates $10 million to $14 million per year).
Website: www.rodross.ca
Phone: 604-866-6895
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Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: Elected School Trustee…best job as far as I am concerned!
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CLICK TO CHECK OUT OUR FULL ELECTION GUIDE ONLINE
Questions:
(These answers are presented as the candidates submitted them)
1. Do you agree with how SOGI material and other sex education is currently taught in the classroom, including LGBTQ2S content and sexual consent?
Yes.
2. Are class sizes too big?
No.
3. Should all students with diverse abilities or special needs be taught in regular classrooms?
Yes.
4. Is the provincial government providing enough funding for public schools?
No.
5. Should the district set a deadline to switch to an all-electric bus and vehicle fleet?
No.
6. Should there be more emphasis on STEM courses in schools?
Yes. My desire is to see a K to BA school district.
Our linkage with post-secondary is weak at all levels.
We need a business /STEM incubator in Langley for all out students to access.
The word “entrepreneurship” is in the provincial curriculum now, which has allowed us to showcase creative student problem solving in our Idea Summit/IdeaX events.
The problems of society are huge, and we desperately need the “fresh eyes” of our youth to solve them.
This is my focus for the term, and I intend to engage with KPU, UFV, and SFU to see this occur.
Our MLA has embraced the idea, and it is time to set the vision down on paper and proceed with an action plan.
I have written extensively on the topic at my website (see below).
We have the most powerful potential right in front of us.
Our students can/will solve world problems, and we need to adapt our structures and systems to allow them to successfully create “real world solutions.”
I am very excited about the potential.
It took me 10 years to get the board to agree to the Langley School District Foundation.
We can do this, too.
7. Should the district consider offering distance education for some students on a regular basis, based on what was learned during the pandemic?
Yes.
8. Should the district have a strategy to reduce the use of portables?
Yes.
9. Should there be more emphasis on Indigenous-based history and culture courses?
Yes.
10. Should new elementary schools be built larger, to accommodate more students and deal with continuing rapid enrolment growth?
Yes.
CLICK ON OUR ELECTIONS 2022 TAB TO FIND A WIDE VARIETY OF RELEVANT STORIES
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EDITOR’S NOTE:
How the questions were presented to each candidate
Langley Advance Times readers have repeatedly told us how much they value this important, straight-forward reference guide that helps orient them with the range of choices on the ballots – both at the council and school board levels.
Towards that end, we have attempted to make this package available (along with the following instructions) to each of the candidates in a timely fashion ahead of the Oct. 15 election.
Please read carefully before you start to fill this out.
To help voters in Langley make their choices on election day, the Langley Advance Times is asking local candidates 10 issue-based questions.
You must provide a ‘yes,’ a ‘no,’ or a ‘don’t know’ (Y, N, D) response to EACH of these questions.
Each question MUST be answered with yes (Y), no (N), or Don’t Know (D). This will be published in a grid in the Oct. 6 edition. Any questions not answered will be LEFT BLANK.
Candidates may also expand on ANY OR ALL of these questions (to a maximum of 200 words each). Please note any responses longer than that will be cut off at the 201-word mark.
Due to space limitations, we can only guarantee to run one of these answers in the Langley Advance Times print edition ahead of the election. You must CLEARLY indicate which expanded answer you want to see published in print. If you do not specify, we will choose. Any and all expanded answers provided will be published online at www.langleyadvancetimes.com.
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