Headley, Sparkes run for RETSD seats

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This article was published 14/10/2014 (4001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Throughout the 2014 election campaign, The Herald has worked to feature all candidates for school trustee in River East Transcona School Division with in-person interviews.
The Herald was able to reach the final two candidates last week: Ward 3’s Roland Headley, who is up against incumbents Eva Prysizney and Wayne Ritcher for two seats, and Ward 5’s Doug Sparkes, who fills out a slate of fresh faces with Della Hall, Michael West, and Jackie Rochelle. The election is Oct. 22.

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Doug Sparkes said he’s been teaching pretty much all his life.

From instructing others as a kid, the East St. Paul resident, who is in his 60s, developed a career teaching in Morden, the old River East School Division, at Red River College, and at Rockwood Institution and Stony Mountain Institution.

Though he has the practical background, Sparkes said if elected, he would work to find the best possible solutions to problems for all affected.

“From the time I was four years old, I was teaching, but that doesn’t mean I’m just an advocate for teachers,” he said. “I’m not representing special interest groups. That’s not the idea. The idea is to do the best job for the kids and the ratepayers.”

He also said he has taken a different approach to campaigning — instead of telling residents on their doorstep everything he plans to do, he said he’s instead asking them what they’d like to see.

“They’re quite surprised, because when people have come to their doors on any critical issues, it’s usually ‘I’m going to do this,’” he said. “I’m saying ‘What do you want me to do? How can I effectively represent you?’”

One common refrain he has heard is concern about taxes. Sparkes recently finished a 16-year term as a board member for Work and Social Opportunities, during which he was a director and past president. He said the organization started with a small budget and was able to grow dramatically in that time through wise financial decisions — an approach he would plan to take with the school board if elected.

“The way people resolve issues is throw money at it, and I don’t think that’s the solution,” he said. “I think that we can reallocate resources within the division. It’s not a question of raising taxes.”

For more information, contact 204-504-5801.

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Roland Headley is running school board for the fourth time, and feels he has made headway over the course of his campaigns.

The East Kildonan resident, who is over 50, finished just over 300 votes behind Ritcher for the second seat in the ward in the 2010 election.

Headley coaches with the Special Olympics, which he said gives him perspective on helping those with different challenges, while he also volunteers with the local Lions Club, which gives bursaries to local students.

“It is nicer to have students that are working towards making themselves better, and also making society a better place,” he said.

Headley, an insurance broker, also said he is concerned about how many students all over the division go to school hungry and need to be supported by breakfast programs. He pledged to help them out.

“If I’m elected, half of my pay will go to the lunch and the breakfast programs in the division,” he said.

With the news of Manitoba’s poor academic performance breaking last week, Headley said the key is discovering issues earlier. In terms of the provincial assessment, Headley is concerned that results aren’t able to directly help students.

“One of the problems is other jurisdictions will report the tests, but I think now the government has control where you don’t know how Johnny or Mary did on a test,” Headley said. “The stakeholders really don’t know the results of the tests.

“It would be beneficial to the students and beneficial to society to know the results, because you have to set some standard. If it’s in the early stage, you can make the corrections that are needed.”

Headley suggested increased peer-to-peer tutoring, like his daughter experienced at Miles Macdonell Collegiate.

“She was struggling in math and they had mentors,” he said. “You would have a Grade 12 student who was a math whiz helping a Grade 11 or a Grade 10.”

For more information, call 204-668-6393.