This record covers school board candidate Noosha Mehdian's teaching, research and university governance work, which Adler University and University Canada West records confirm, the platform the Vancouver Liberals publish under her name and for the party, her own written answers to a student newspaper questionnaire, and the public events in the final weeks of the campaign.
The score counts how complete and checkable the published plan on this issue is. Whether the plan would work is a separate question, left to the reader. Measured October 4, 2026. The same seven points apply to every candidate for this office.
Schools and student support2/10
2/2
A position in the candidate’s own words
“the ability to use AI responsibly rather than depend on it”
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
Vancouver Liberals’s platform on schools: 1 commitment, none with a number. Party text earns the candidate the position point only.
What this office controls. The Board of Education runs Vancouver public schools, sets catchment boundaries and approves the district budget. Teacher pay and the provincial funding formula are set by the province.
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
What this office controls. Council, the Park Board and the Board of Education each set their own meeting rules, committees, public consultation and reporting. The Vancouver Charter and the School Act create the three bodies and set their powers, and only the Province can change those acts.
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
Vancouver Liberals’s platform on taxes and budget: 2 commitments, at least one with a number. Party text earns the candidate the position point only.
What this office controls. The Board of Education approves the school district’s operating and capital budgets. The Province sets the funding formula and the school tax.
Party platform; candidate not quoted. Vancouver Liberals publishes 2 commitments on this issue.
0/2
Names a mechanism the office controls
Party text earns no points here; the statement must be the candidate’s own.
0/2
States a measurable target
Party text earns no points here; the statement must be the candidate’s own.
0/1
States a cost or funding source
Party text earns no points here; the statement must be the candidate’s own.
0/1
States a timeline
Party text earns no points here; the statement must be the candidate’s own.
0/1
A dated, sourced action on the issue
No dated public action on this issue found.
0/1
Answered the voche.me question on the issue
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
Vancouver Liberals’s platform on public safety: 2 commitments, none with a number. Party text earns the candidate the position point only.
What this office controls. The Board of Education sets safety policies for its schools and decides whether police liaison officers work in them. Policing itself is the Vancouver Police Department’s.
No position found by voche.me as of October 4, 2026.
0/2
Names a mechanism the office controls
No statement to read.
0/2
States a measurable target
No statement to read.
0/1
States a cost or funding source
No statement to read.
0/1
States a timeline
No statement to read.
0/1
A dated, sourced action on the issue
No dated public action on this issue found.
0/1
Answered the voche.me question on the issue
The questionnaire has not been sent yet. No candidate has this point.
What this office controls. The Board of Education decides how school buildings and land are used, including child care on school sites. Licensing and operating funding are provincial.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Noosha Mehdian
Noosha Mehdian appears on the City of Vancouver's final 2026 candidate list for School Board, with ballot number 313. The City records the affiliation as Vancouver Liberals.
The party page says Mehdian has taught at the University of British Columbia and at other post-secondary schools. The party page says Mehdian has held senior academic leadership and governance roles, including faculty senator and committee chair.
The Vancouver Liberals candidate page, posted on August 25, 2026, says Mehdian is an educator, researcher and parent with experience in higher education, academic governance and organizational leadership, and is seeking election as a Vancouver School Board trustee.
Adler University's faculty directory lists Noosha Mehdian, PhD, as adjunct faculty at the Vancouver campus, teaching in the Psychology: Health and Wellness and Industrial and Organizational Psychology programs.
The same Adler University profile lists adjunct appointments at Adler University and the University of British Columbia and an associate professor role at University Canada West, and lists artificial intelligence in education and sustainability among the areas of work.
Adler University reported on May 11, 2026 that Mehdian is a member of AI in Education at Oxford University, a research group in the University of Oxford's Faculty of Education, and takes part in its Teaching and Learning Collab Lab.
In that Adler University article Mehdian warns against what the article calls "AI ping-pong", where a teacher writes an assignment with AI, a student answers it with AI, and the teacher then grades it with AI, and sets out three ways to handle AI in an assignment: restrict it, scaffold it, or build it in fully.
The party page says Mehdian has held senior academic leadership and governance roles, including faculty senator and committee chair, and led curriculum changes in those roles.
The event listing for a campaign talk on October 7, 2026 says Mehdian has more than 20 years of experience in education and has held the roles of department chair and faculty senator.
Mehdian appears on the Vancouver ballot as number 313 for school board trustee, according to the candidate list published on September 22, 2026.
University Canada West's Senate membership page, in an October 2023 copy kept by the Internet Archive, lists Mehdian as an elected faculty member of the Senate for a term from November 2022 to October 2025. An April 2025 copy lists her on the Senate as program chair of the University Access Program, a seat that comes with that job. These university records match the faculty senator role the party page describes.
University Canada West announced in June 2024 that Mehdian received its Leadership in Teaching & Learning Award at the spring 2024 graduation ceremony. The announcement described her then as an assistant professor and vice-chair of the Department of Arts, Social Sciences and Communication, and said she had taught at UBC Vantage College, UBC Continuing Studies and Alexander College before joining the university.
In written answers published on September 22, 2026 by The Griffins' Nest, the student newspaper of Eric Hamber Secondary, Mehdian said she is running because decisions about education benefit from having educators at the table.
voche.me assembled this profile from the official candidate list and the campaign material, university records, a student newspaper questionnaire and community media linked under Sources. The campaign has not been contacted, and no candidate-supplied content appears on this page.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
19 commitments shown · Checked Oct 4
2026 · Education and technologyCampaign pledge
Teach students to use AI without depending on it
The party page says Mehdian wants students to graduate able to use AI responsibly rather than depend on it, and the October 7 event listing says Mehdian will set out what responsible integration looks like without creating dependence.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Both sources are campaign pages. Neither names a policy, a grade level or a rule Mehdian would ask the board to adopt.
What still needs checking
Whether Mehdian supports, pauses or limits the Microsoft Copilot accounts the district gave to students aged 13 and over.
The party page says Mehdian believes students must graduate with strong foundational knowledge plus critical thinking, media literacy, digital citizenship, creativity and sound judgment.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The page states the goal. Curriculum in British Columbia is set by the provincial Ministry of Education, and the page does not say what a trustee would change locally.
What still needs checking
Which district policy or programme Mehdian would use, given that the province sets curriculum.
The party page says Mehdian wants Vancouver schools to be safe, inclusive and well-resourced, with educators supported and families involved in a meaningful way.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The page states the aim. It names no budget figure, staffing target or engagement process.
What still needs checking
What family engagement would look like in practice and what it would cost.
Party position: keep the School Liaison Officer programme
The Vancouver Liberals say the party supports keeping the School Liaison Officer programme, which places Vancouver Police Department officers in schools. This is the party's position. Mehdian is not quoted in the party's September 22, 2026 release on the programme.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The party issues page and the release both state the position. The release names mayoral candidate Kareem Allam and school board chair Victoria Jung, and does not name Mehdian.
What still needs checking
Whether Mehdian states a personal position on police officers in schools.
Party position: follow the province and the teachers' union on AI accounts
The Vancouver Liberals say the party would align with the position of the province and the BC Teachers' Federation on giving students AI chatbot accounts. This is the party's position.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The party issues page states it. The Ministry of Education does not require districts to give students chatbot accounts, and the BC Teachers' Federation has published research on the ethics of generative AI without taking a formal position on accounts.
What still needs checking
What the party would do if the province and the teachers' union disagree.
2026 · Safe and well resourced schoolsCampaign pledge
Safe and well resourced schools
The party page says Mehdian would work for schools that are safe and inclusive and have enough resources, with support for teachers and a real role for families.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Taken from the campaign page listed in the sources. No independent confirmation was found.
What still needs checking
What would this cost, who would deliver it, and by when?
In her answers to The Griffins' Nest, Mehdian named as a priority making sure public funding reaches the classrooms and supports where it has the greatest effect.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From her own written answer to The Griffins' Nest. It names no dollar figure, no Board policy and no date. It does not say which budget lines she would change.
What still needs checking
Which parts of the district budget Mehdian would move toward classrooms, and by how much.
In her answers to The Griffins' Nest, Mehdian named supporting and trusting educators as one of her priorities for the district.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From her own written answer to The Griffins' Nest. It names no dollar figure, no Board policy and no date. It does not say what support teachers would get.
What still needs checking
What Mehdian would ask the Board to do for teachers, and what it would cost.
More transparency and accountability in Board decisions
In her answers to The Griffins' Nest, Mehdian named strengthening transparency and accountability in Board decision-making as a priority.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From her own written answer to The Griffins' Nest. It names no dollar figure, no Board policy and no date. It does not name a meeting rule or reporting change.
What still needs checking
Which Board practices Mehdian would change to make decisions more open.
Party platform: seismic safety first in the capital plan
The Vancouver Liberals platform says the party would put the 43 Vancouver schools still at high seismic risk at the top of the board's capital plan and press the Province to fund them on a firm timeline.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From the Vancouver Liberals platform published on October 1, 2026. The platform lists Mehdian among its School Board candidates, but this section is written in the party's voice and does not name her as the person who will act, so it is recorded as a party position. It names no cost and no date for any school.
What still needs checking
Which schools Mehdian would put first, and by when.
The platform says the party would protect catchments and rule out a return to mass school closures, and would press for the King George Secondary replacement and for expansion at the next most crowded schools.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From the Vancouver Liberals platform published on October 1, 2026. The platform lists Mehdian among its School Board candidates, but this section is written in the party's voice and does not name her as the person who will act, so it is recorded as a party position. It gives no count of schools and no date.
What still needs checking
Whether Mehdian would vote against any school closure the board considers in the term.
Party platform: before and after school care on school grounds
The platform says the party would open before and after school care at every school site that can host it and attach a childcare plan to every seismic rebuild.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From the Vancouver Liberals platform published on October 1, 2026. The platform lists Mehdian among its School Board candidates, but this section is written in the party's voice and does not name her as the person who will act, so it is recorded as a party position. It gives no number of sites or spaces and no cost.
What still needs checking
How many school sites Mehdian expects could host care, and by when.
The platform says the party would hold school district land for schools, childcare, playing fields and public partners, and would keep it out of private hands.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From the Vancouver Liberals platform published on October 1, 2026. The platform lists Mehdian among its School Board candidates, but this section is written in the party's voice and does not name her as the person who will act, so it is recorded as a party position. It names no site or lease.
What still needs checking
Whether this rules out long-term leases of school land to private builders.
Party platform: protect mental health and special education in the budget
The platform says the party would make counsellors and student wellbeing a top budget priority and protect special education and inclusion supports from cuts when the board sets its budget.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From the Vancouver Liberals platform published on October 1, 2026. The platform lists Mehdian among its School Board candidates, but this section is written in the party's voice and does not name her as the person who will act, so it is recorded as a party position. It names no dollar figure or staffing number.
What still needs checking
How much of the budget Mehdian would move to these services, and from where.
The platform says the party would grow and protect school meal and nutrition programs with the Province and community partners.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From the Vancouver Liberals platform published on October 1, 2026. The platform lists Mehdian among its School Board candidates, but this section is written in the party's voice and does not name her as the person who will act, so it is recorded as a party position. It names no number of schools or students and no cost.
What still needs checking
Which schools Mehdian would add first, and how they would be paid for.
Party platform: renew the Indigenous Education Enhancement Agreement
The platform says the party would negotiate a new Indigenous Education Enhancement Agreement with Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh and with urban Indigenous families in the first year of the term, with yearly public reports on graduation and completion.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
From the Vancouver Liberals platform published on October 1, 2026. The platform lists Mehdian among its School Board candidates, but this section is written in the party's voice and does not name her as the person who will act, so it is recorded as a party position. It names no cost.
What still needs checking
Whether Mehdian supports the first-year timeline in her own words.
Each entry below names its source. Campaign material is the candidate's own account. Nothing here is presented as a verified outcome unless the entry says so.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
Recent appearances / Read and watch
Talks, interviews & statements
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Interview
Written answers to The Griffins' Nest candidate questionnaire
Mehdian told the Eric Hamber Secondary student newspaper that she is running because decisions about education benefit from having educators at the table, and that she wants to bring her experience in teaching, academic governance and decisions based on evidence to the Board. She named her priorities as public funding that reaches classrooms, support and trust for educators, and more transparency and accountability in Board decisions. She also wants students to graduate with basic knowledge, critical thinking, media literacy and judgment, able to use new technology without depending on it.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
News coverage / Original publishers
Read the reporting
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
Adler University
Not redundant, but reimagined: Noosha Mehdian, Ph.D.'s work with AI in Education at Oxford University
The university's own news item describes Mehdian's research with the Oxford group, the warning about assignments written, answered and graded by AI, and three ways to set assignment rules around AI. The piece was published before Mehdian entered the school board race.
Many Iranian-Canadian candidates in the 2026 BC municipal elections (Persian-language article)
A Persian-language survey of Iranian-Canadian candidates across British Columbia by Manouchehr Pourataei includes a short profile of Mehdian as the Vancouver Liberals' School Board candidate. It retells her background and priorities from the party page, notes that she is one of 31 candidates for 9 School Board seats, and links her party page. The article says the magazine did not interview each candidate.
Candidates Questionnaire Week 2: Generative AI in schools
The student newspaper's second questionnaire asked trustee candidates about generative AI in schools. It lists Mehdian among the candidates who did not respond by the deadline.
Sources checked October 4, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
Mehdian has no personal campaign website beyond the Vancouver Liberals candidate page. The City's candidate list gives an Instagram account (drnoosha4vsb) and an X account (DrNooshaMehdian). Her own Instagram posts, read through Instagram's public embed pages on October 4, 2026, carry no caption text beyond a hashtag, and the collaborative posts that list her account were written by other people about other candidates, so nothing from them is recorded. The X account could not be read on October 4, 2026: X's public embed service refused the request (HTTP 429). The party's August 25, 2026 video introducing its five School Board candidates has automatic captions with no speaker names, so no words from it are attributed to Mehdian here; a person who watches it and identifies the speakers can add them. The Griffins' Nest's second questionnaire, on generative AI, lists her as not responding by its deadline. Her VoteMate page carries only a biography and a reason for running that repeat the party page word for word, and no answers to VoteMate's issue questions. University Canada West's directory page for her returned HTTP 404 on October 4, 2026; the last copy found, from November 2025, lists her as an associate professor, so her current position there is not confirmed. The University of British Columbia has not been checked directly: the UBC teaching role rests on the party page, the Adler University profile and University Canada West's pages. The party's earlier record had no child care commitment; its October 1, 2026 platform now includes before and after school care on school grounds, recorded here as a party position. A September 29, 2026 fundraiser that listed her as a featured candidate has passed, and its page now asks visitors to sign in, so no source shows she attended and it was removed from the calendar. No independent news reporting on her campaign beyond the ballot list, the student newspaper and Hamyaari Media was found. No past candidacy for any office was found.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on October 4, 2026: the Vancouver Liberals candidate page, issues page, full platform of October 1, 2026 and event listings, the City's candidate list, Mehdian's own answers to The Griffins' Nest questionnaire, Hamyaari Media's Persian-language article, University Canada West's directory, Senate and award pages, the Adler University article on her Oxford research, and her VoteMate profile. Earlier review: September 26, 2026.
10 stated positions tied to a school board issue in her own words and 9 party positions with no personal quote from Mehdian are recorded here, each checked against the page that carries it.
Checks still to do: confirm the UBC teaching role with UBC, confirm her current position at University Canada West, read her X account, and ask Mehdian for a number, a cost or a date on any of the positions above.
The ballot name, office, ballot number and party label come from the City's final candidate list. Everything described as campaign material is the campaign's own account and has not been confirmed by an independent source.
03 / Background
Experience & community
Current, start date not stated
Adjunct faculty, Adler University, Vancouver campus
Adler University's directory lists teaching in the Master of Psychology in Health and Wellness and Master of Industrial and Organizational Psychology programs.
University Canada West's directory listed her as Associate Professor, Continuing Faculty, teaching English and academic writing in the MBA Foundation program. The directory page returned an error (HTTP 404) when voche.me checked it on October 4, 2026, so her current position there was not confirmed. The Adler University profile also lists this role.
Adler University says the group sits within the University of Oxford's Faculty of Education and that Mehdian presents research there and contributes to publications through Oxford University Press.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
What rules should govern AI tools in classrooms, and how would their educational value be assessed?
No response has been submitted.
How would you balance student learning support, facilities and staffing within the district’s available funding?
No response has been submitted.
Have your own question?
Ask Noosha Mehdian directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
05 / About this page
Questions about this page
Facts voche.me can state about Noosha Mehdian's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Noosha Mehdian?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Noosha Mehdian's own campaign.
What is Noosha Mehdian's ballot number for the 2026 Vancouver election?
Noosha Mehdian is number 313 on the City of Vancouver's official 2026 ballot for School Board.
What party did Noosha Mehdian run with?
Noosha Mehdian ran for School Board with Vancouver Liberals.
Does Noosha Mehdian currently hold public office?
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Noosha Mehdian.
How many sources does this Noosha Mehdian profile cite?
This profile lists 2 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Has Noosha Mehdian filed nomination papers for the 2026 election?
voche.me has not yet added a nomination record for Noosha Mehdian. This does not mean no nomination paper was filed, only that voche.me has not completed that research yet.
Why do some questions on Noosha Mehdian's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Noosha Mehdian in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
When was the election Noosha Mehdian ran in?
The 2026 Vancouver municipal election, including the School Board race, was decided on October 17, 2026.
06 / Candidate contributions
Space for campaign updates
Added her questionnaire answers, university records, the party platform and new coverage; corrected an event and a job entry
Added her written answers to The Griffins' Nest questionnaire of September 22, 2026, with three positions in her own words (funding that reaches classrooms, support for educators, and open Board decisions), and the paper's September 28 questionnaire that lists her as not responding. Added University Canada West records that confirm her Senate seat from 2022 to 2025, her program chair role and her 2024 teaching award, Hamyaari Media's September 27 Persian-language article, seven party positions from the Vancouver Liberals platform of October 1, the City's listing of her Instagram and X accounts, and an online School Board forum on October 6. Corrections: the October 7 event runs from 9:30 to 10:30 am under the title 'Preparing Our Children for the World Ahead With AI', as its listing showed on September 26 and still shows; the record had 9 to 10 am and a shorter title. The University Canada West job was marked as current; the university's own page last listed it in November 2025 and now returns an error, so the entry now says that. Removed the September 29 fundraiser, because no source shows she attended and the date has passed, and the October 3 advance voting day, which has passed.
