The Vernon District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) wants voters in the general election to know they are not affiliated with ParentsVoice BC.
ParentsVoice BC is a conservative elector organization representing a number of school trustee candidates in the province. Running under the slogan “take back our schools,” the organization purports to represent the views of parents at school boards while working against what it sees as classrooms overrun by political interest groups.
Local DPAC president Sarah Lauman said the advisory council has been hearing from voters who are confusing ParentsVoice BC with their organization.
“ParentsVoice BC does not represent the diverse parents in our school district, nor do they have any affiliation with the Vernon/SD22 DPAC, or any school Parent Advisory Council (PAC) or DPAC in our province,” Lauman said.
ParentsVoice BC is backing three candidates in Vernon: Sylvia Herchen, Jewlie Milligan and Nellie Villegas.
Lauman said while ParentsVoice BC claims to support trustee candidates who will listen to parents and the wider community, their Vernon candidates they have endorsed “have made no effort to engange” with the DPAC, which is the “actual legislated parent voice in the district.”
DPAC, along with the Vernon Teachers Association and CUPE 5523, invited all candidates to take part in a forum on Oct. 3, but none of the candidates endorsed by ParentsVoice BC attended, and two of the three did not respond to the invitation at all.
“All other trustee candidates attended the forum to openly engage with the public,” she said, adding the candidates also declined to complete a survey that was uploaded to its website.
“It is important to get to know the people who may ultimately be our representatives and advocates for public education. Parents need to know their trustees are approachable and share their vision for their children’s education,” said Lauman, adding the forum and survey were “the only ways we get to hear candidates in their own voice.”
The local DPAC works closely with the Vernon School District and the board of education to advise on matters relating to education in the school district. Lauman notes that the DPAC remains nonpartisan while it represents the collective voice of parents.
“We advocate on behalf of all parents and students in our district and are available to advise all parents on how to best advocate for their own children,” Lauman said.
“Being nonpartisan, we will not endorse specific school rrustee candidates. We will, however, share which candidates have demonstrated that they value the legislated voice of parents in