Wendy Johnson will be seeking a second term on the Langley Board of Education in the upcoming Nov. 19 municipal election.
“There’s a sense in our community of a Board of Education that is adrift and in dire need of fresh leadership,” said Johnson.
“The huge school district debt resulted from the inattention of previous trustees and from poor internal controls and out-dated governance practises. We can change all that with a new board of trustees willing to provide real leadership. I’d like to offer that leadership”.
Johnson taught Grades 1-7 in her 17 years as a classroom teacher before becoming the principal of Douglas Park Community School for 10 years.
She was appointed principal of H.D. Stafford Secondary School in 2004, where she worked until her retirement in 2008.
As a teacher, she worked on the Langley Teachers’ Association executive, and then as a principal she served as president of the Langley Principals and Vice-Principals Association for two years. “During my first term as a trustee, I’m proud to have supported all of the recommendations made by the Auditor-General to improve our district’s financial management, to have initiated the community forum on the future of education in Langley and supported the creation of the LSS Community Roundtable, and to have listened to two school communities and opposed closure of their neighbourhood schools” said Johnson.
Johnson served as vice-chair of the Board of Education for 18 months until the resignation of the board chair occurred in October of 2010.
“The Board’s decision to appoint a rotating chair for the past year has resulted in a lack of clear direction,” said Johnson. “Issues such as the location of a new school for the Willoughby slope, involving parents through advisory committees in the district, and implementation of the Auditor-General’s recommendations to improve our financial practises have all been compromised by this lack of leadership.”
In 2009, she earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of British Columbia. In addition, in the spring of 2011, she worked as a Faculty Associate in the Simon Fraser University education faculty, supervising student teachers.
“Our district has so much potential, and yet morale amongst educators and parents is at an all-time low. Imagine what we could achieve together in this district under fresh and bold leadership at the board table”, said Johnson.
“If parents, educators, students, and community members were invited to participate in newly-created district committees (the norm in most other districts), if the board treated its partner groups as allies instead of adversaries, if we had trustees willing to debate openly about their honestly-held views and they invited the public to participate in that discussion, just imagine how much better we could be doing in our school district.”
Johnson, a resident of Walnut Grove for the past 23 years, will be running for one of the five Township seats.