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Three Surrey Students NOW activists running for school trustee

Cindy Dalglish, Charlene Dobie and Mary-Em Waddington have thrown their hats in the ring
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Surrey School Board offices. (File photo)

SURREY — Three members of Surrey Students NOW are hoping to be elected as school board trustees this fall.

Cindy Dalglish, Charlene Dobie and Mary-Em Waddington, founding members of an advocacy group comprised of local parents that was formed in 2016 to address overcrowding in this city’s schools, are seeking to take their campaigning “to the next level,” according to a press release they issued Monday.

Cindy Dalglish. (Photo submitted)

“Communication is key to good governance, and that communication needs to be across all levels of government and through the channel of parents, educators, support staff and administrators,” Dalglish says.

Dobie served on the Surrey Board of Education from 2011 to 2014, having “spearheaded” the First Nations land acknowledgement protocol and LGBTQ+ inclusion regulation, the release notes, and has worked more that 20 years as an education assistant and early childhood educator.

Charlene Dobie. (Photo submitted)

“Teachers, support staff and administrators have become much more that educators and we need to provide them with adequate support so that they can do the very best for students and families,” she said.

Waddington, who works in the non-profit sector, said she has seen “firsthand” how overcrowding in schools and lack of capital infrastructures and space limits students’ access to library time, sports clubs, gym time and even bathrooms.

Mary-Em Waddington. (Photo submitted)

Surrey voters will elect six trustees to the school board on Oct. 20, and White Rock voters, one.

Trustees serve for four years.

The Surrey School District has 125 elementary and secondary schools with more that 70,000 students enrolled.



tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com

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About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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