Keep Langley Schools Strong: five pillars for students, staff, spaces, community and funding

SCHOOLS AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Langley Strong on schools

The trustee platform, released September 19, 2026, says the district's six-year graduation rate rose from 93 to 97 per cent while the current Board was in office, and that 5,030 new student spaces were opened or approved since September 2024, about $515.5 million in provincial investment. Those figures are the organization's own account of district and provincial records. Board chair Candy Ashdown, trustees Holly Dickinson and Charlie Fox, and new candidates Kathie Dalziel and Neil Turner ran for the five Township seats.

Pillar 1 promises to use district and provincial information to find students who need extra help, to strengthen literacy, numeracy and social-emotional skills, to help students earlier with mental health, to keep supporting the Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement, to protect choice programs and trades pathways, and to report publicly on what is working. Pillar 2 promises more training spaces for teachers, education assistants and specialists, action on workplace violence, and staff voices in Board decisions.

Pillar 3 promises to move school projects forward in Willoughby, Brookswood-Fernridge, Aldergrove and Langley City, to secure land for schools earlier, to push the Province to pay for portables so classroom money stays in classrooms, and to care for existing schools, including earthquake safety. Pillar 4 promises schools planned as neighbourhood hubs with child care, parks and sidewalks, and a Board that meets both councils three times a year. Pillar 5 promises careful stewardship of every education dollar and a push for provincial funding that keeps pace with growth.

6 PUBLISHED COMMITMENTS

What they say they will do

• Find students who need help earlier, and report on results

  Pillar 1 promises to use district and provincial information to identify students who need extra help, to strengthen literacy, numeracy and social-emotional skills, and to report publicly on what is working and what needs to change.

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• Earlier mental health help and more counsellors

  Pillar 1 promises to help students earlier with mental health, to make support easier to reach, and to press for more school counsellors and psychologists.

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• More training spaces for teachers and support staff, and action on workplace violence

  Pillar 2 promises to work with colleges, universities and the Province for more training spaces for teachers, education assistants, early childhood educators, counsellors and psychologists, and to address workplace violence with prevention and timely support.

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• New schools in growing areas, with land secured early

  Pillar 3 promises to move school projects forward in Willoughby, Brookswood-Fernridge, Aldergrove and Langley City, to work with local and provincial governments to secure school land earlier, and to push for faster provincial approvals.

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• Provincial funding for portables

  Pillar 3 promises to push the Province to fund the purchase and placement of portables so those costs do not take money from students' education.

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• Schools planned as neighbourhood hubs, and three meetings a year with both councils

  Pillar 4 promises that every new school is planned as a neighbourhood hub with child care, parks and sidewalks, and that the Board sits down with both councils three times a year.

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