Mills making third school board run

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/10/2023 (1076 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman many in Brandon will recognize as an active voice in the community has thrown her hat in the ring for the Brandon School Division Ward 1 byelection on Oct. 25.

Bonnie-Lynn Mills is the community engagement manager at Habitat for Humanity Manitoba’s Brandon Chapter, and previously ran for the BSD board of trustees in 2022 and 2020. She has lived in the Brandon area for the last 19 years, and serving the teachers, staff, students and parents of local schools is something she remains passionate about.

“It’s still something that I feel strongly about,” Mills told the Sun. “I strongly believe in supporting our community and being involved. I really feel very strongly about our education system and providing for our students and their families, and want to give back in that way, and have an input, and make a difference.”

Having run unsuccessfully twice before hasn’t made Mills second-guess herself this time around. Instead, she believes she has learned a tremendous amount each time she has run for school board and is ready to tackle the challenge all over again.

“There’s always many things to learn,” she said. “I don’t necessarily like to be in the spotlight … but it’s something that has to be done if you’re running in any form of election.”

The issues Mills is focusing on in her campaign and will continue to advocate for if elected include student and staff mental health; front-line staff retention and addressing burnout; active engagement with each individual school; financial accountability through transparency; and ensuring the school board serves the best educational interests of all students by providing the necessary supports and resources.

The shortage of front-line staff retention and burnout needs to come into greater focus, Mills said.

“There’s definitely a shortage on staff in our school division,” she said. “That definitely needs to be addressed — looking at how we can retain our staff and support them so that they’re not experiencing that burnout.”

When it come to fiscal responsibility, Mills says it’s important to hear from each school how things are working. Staff and students need to feel comfortable bringing forward any issues or questions they have to the board, she said.

When it comes to supporting all students, LGBTQ+ children must be included in that, Mills says. LGBTQ+ issues came into focus for the BSD when a proposition to review and possibly ban books with subject matter surrounding gender identity and sexual health was first brought forward during a school board meeting on May 8 by former trustee Lorraine Hackenschmidt.

On May 23, most school board trustees rejected the request during a lengthy meeting, which took place at Vincent Massey High School and lasted into the early hours of the next morning.

Trustees Kim Fallis, Blaine Foley, Jason Gobeil, Linda Ross, Duncan Ross, and Jim Murray all denounced Hackenschmidt’s proposal and voted against it. The only holdout was Breanna Sieklicki, who said that some books in the school division’s curriculum should be subject to review given their alleged “graphic” nature.

Trustee Calistus Ekenna could not attend the May 23-24 meeting due to a personal matter and did not vote, but went on record saying he did not support the creation of a book review committee.

Mills was shocked by the way things unfolded around the book ban discussion in May, since she says she’s a person who believes everyone is entitled to be who they want to be and live their life in a way that’s going to bring the most meaning and fulfillment to them.

“Everybody needs to be their own person. I definitely also don’t believe that anything should be pushed on anybody if they don’t feel the same. It’s the same as religion — we’re not going to push religion on our students, we’re not going to push anything that people don’t want to push,” she said.

It all comes down to protecting people for who they are and respecting their choices, no matter what side of the fence people are on religiously or politically, Mills added.

“Respect is the biggest part of it,” she said. “We have to support all of our students and find the best way that we can do that — that we can respect all of the students and all of the families in whatever their choices are.”

And while proponents of the book review committee have stated that they’re looking out for the best interests of their students, that comes from allowing students to make their own choices and supporting them along the way, Mills said.

The issue of “parental rights” has also come into focus – not just for the election for school board, but also during the recent provincial election. The Progressive Conservatives used the term in August during an announcement about modifying the Public School Act to include more parental oversight.

However, critics of such a move have labelled it not only unnecessary and redundant, but an anti-LGBTQ+ dog whistle, especially after new education policies in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan that require children under 16 to have parental consent before changing their preferred first names or pronouns at school.

Mills says it’s a complicated situation.

“I do strongly believe that parents are the first educators of their students, and that it comes from home, and I think parents should be kept informed as much as possible,” she said. “There’s lots of answers that need to be figured out. There’s lots of learning and relearning that we need to do, and changes that we have to make along the way, and I don’t think we’re going to get it right the first time.”

Mills hopes that as changes occur in the school system, the board will be open to learning what works and what doesn’t work to better serve the students, and that parents should be kept informed, and students kept safe.

“That’s going to be different in every case. That’s not going to be the same in every scenario,” she said.

Mills believes that what sets her apart from other candidates is her background in early childhood education and program management, which she thinks will serve her well if elected. Her focus will be on child development, which she says she is passionate about.

Her job at Habitat for Humanity keeps Mills involved in the community on many different levels, with people from all walks of life, and she believes that’s an important dynamic to bring to the BSD.

“I think it lays well for me and my role, and what I can bring forward to the board,” she said. “I’m dedicated and passionate about it, and I just want to give back and help out where I can.”

» mleybourne@brandonsun.com, with files from Kyle Darbyson

» X: @miraleybourne