The operator of an Abbotsford pro-life charity is eyeing a seat on the local school board.
Jared White — executive director of Advokate Life and Education Services, a charity organization that “[strives] for a society in which every life is protected, respected and valued from conception until natural death” — running as the sole candidate of the Abbotsford ParentsFIRST slate. That slate has no affiliation with the AbbotsfordFIRST slate in city hall.
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In White’s announcement, the ParentsFIRST slate says their “foundational value is that parents be respected and acknowledged as the first and primary educators of their children.”
White has held pastoral roles in the community, has been a speaker at events at independent schools in the area and is on the executive of the Abbotsford Christian Leaders Network, with the ParentsFIRST site noting “many years of experience with governance, managing budgets and making difficult decisions.”
White says he is running on a “platform of change,” proposing increasing question period to 30 minutes from 10, using online polling to gain input from parents and adding mediators to schools to cut down on bullying.
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He is also calling for a return of the former kindergarten to Grade 7 rural schools, which were recently reconfigured to kindergarten to Grade 5.
“I am running under a ‘Parents First’ banner because I want to make children my number one priority by listening to those who love and care for them the most,” White said in a statement.