Surrey residents will have a second slate to vote this fall for when it comes to school trustees.
Team Surrey Schools debuted a full slate Sunday (Aug. 7), with six candidates.
The Surrey Board of Education has seven seats, with one seat designated to represent White Rock which is included in the Surrey school district.
Dr. Balbir Gurm, the slate’s leader, is a Kwantlen Polytechnic University professor.
Gurm, who founded the Network to Eliminate Violence in Relationships (NEVR), said she and her team were saying they “need to do prevention and we need to get into the schools.”
From there, Gurm said she worked to find a group of people who wanted to improve their community and also wanted the “best future for our kids.”
Along with Gurm, Team Surrey Schools candidates include: Dupinder Saran, an international student advocate and Sikh activist; Roxanne Charles, an activist from the Semiahmoo First Nation, Maryann Pyne, a student and Caribbean community activist; Tony Rebelo, a safety professional and youth sports advocate; and Bobbi Taylor, an advocate for children with special needs and their families.
Gurm noted Team Surrey Schools wants “to inspire, to create safe and healthy classrooms,” inspire classroom partners, provide more resources and “be accountable and transparent.”
“Those are the types of things I’ve been hearing in the community.”
So far, the only other full slate to declare candidates is the Surrey First Education team.
READ ALSO: Surrey First Education team seeking re-election, July 27, 2022
Currently, Surrey First Education team makes up six of the seven seats of the education board. The seventh seat is the White Rock representative.
That seat is held by Laurae McNally, who has been part of the board on and off since 1980. Prior to the 2018 election, McNally told the Now-Leader she would run “one final term.”
However, McNally has since confirmed she will be running again in 2022.
Surrey residents go to the polls to elect a mayor, eight councillors and six school trustees on Saturday, Oct. 15.
lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram and follow Lauren on Twitter