It’s one of the most important jobs on your ballot this October, and one of the least understood. So let’s fix that.
A school trustee is a locally elected representative who sits on the Board of Education for SD43, the district covering Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore, and Belcarra. The board has nine trustees in total, and two of those seats are held by Port Moody candidates. Every four years, trustees are elected the same day as your municipal council, this year on October 17, 2026.
What does a school trustee actually do?
Trustees govern. They don’t run schools day-to-day, that’s the superintendent and the teaching and support staff. The board’s job is to set direction and make sure the district lives up to it. In practice, that looks like:
Setting the strategic plan. The board decides where the district’s energy and priorities should go over the coming years. SD43 just rolled out its new strategic plan, Directions 2030, this year.
Approving the budget. Every dollar the district spends starts as a board discussion. Trustees review and approve the annual budget, making sure spending aligns with priorities and the process remains transparent.
Hiring and overseeing the superintendent. The board hires the district’s top administrator, the superintendent, and ensures the right systems are in place for them to do their job effectively.
Representing the community. Trustees are the bridge between families, educators, and the provincial government, bringing local voices into decisions that affect them.
What a trustee is not
A trustee is not a principal, a teacher, or a superintendent. Trustees don’t evaluate individual staff, settle classroom-level disputes, or make unilateral calls about a specific school. The School Act hands decision-making power to the board as a group, never to one sole trustee. As a trustee, I can advocate at the boardroom table, but once the board votes, that decision belongs to everyone on it. I will work to be an active voice at the table with fellow trustees.
What a trustee can promise to do is to show up prepared, listen hard, and push the board toward decisions that put students first. That’s the job I am stepping up for this October.
How Port Moody elects trustees
On October 17, 2026, Port Moody voters fill two trustee seats as part of SD43’s general election, running alongside municipal elections across the province.
It’s a quieter race than the mayor’s chair or council seats, but the decisions this board makes reach into nearly every family’s life, from how schools handle a growing city to how tax dollars are spent to what programs your kids get to choose from.
Why this matters to me
I’ve spent over two decades connecting with community here in Port Moody and want to contribute to one of our most important community assets – our youth. The job of school trustee deserves candidates who’ve done their homework, understand exactly how this role supports students, and know how to collaborate and move things forward.
That’s why I am running. Informed. Committed. Community-driven.
