Nine months into the job, Calgary Public School Board trustee Lisa Davis wants out. She is looking to leave the post for a shot at provincial politics, putting her name forward for the UCP nomination in the riding of Calgary Bow.
Davis and a number of others ran under the banner of “Students Count” and she got into office in October’s municipal election, but she’s not happy.
Her website detailing her nomination plans states, “Since becoming a trustee, she has encountered significant roadblocks that prevent her from fulfilling her duty to the public that elected her. Her job as a trustee is to make decisions in the best interests of the 122,000 students in the CBE. Without full and timely access to information, it is impossible to make these crucial decisions in the well-informed and objective fashion necessary to serve our students and, by extension, our staff and the citizens of Calgary.”
In an interview Thursday morning with Danielle Smith on 770 CHQR, Davis believes change in public education has to come from the provincial level.
“Things like improving math, things like ensuring money gets into the classrooms, ensuring a robust curriculum. All those things, at the end of the day, the authority rests at the provincial level.”
Davis, the trustee for Wards 6 and 7 in Calgary, sees no problem in remaining a trustee while seeking the UCP nomination.
LISTEN: Lisa Davis joins Danielle Smith to discuss seeking the Calgary Bow UCP nomination
“I do believe it’s important to continue on doing what I can do in the position that I’m in for as long as I can,” she said. “When I talk to the constituents who have been encouraging me to run, they’ve also been really clear in that, saying, ‘We want your voice at the table. If it’s at the board of trustees and that’s where it ends up, please stay.'”
A date for the UCP nomination for Calgary Bow has not been set, but at least three other people are interested, including Cheryl Durkee, Harrison Fleming and Demetrios Nicolaides.
Calgary Bow is currently represented by the NDP’s Deborah Drever.
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