OK, Let's Vote — Lori Mindnich
School trustee questionnaire — trustee-v1-2026-09-21
SD22 — Area 3 (Lumby and RDNO Areas D and E)
Submitted September 22, 2026, 07:38 Pacific; reviewed September 24, 2026.

Published with the candidate's explicit authorization. Answers below are the candidate's own statements, not independently verified outcomes or recorded votes. Original wording retained except normalized whitespace and the marked privacy redaction. Private contact and technical identifiers excluded.

1. What experience and perspective would you bring to the school board?

I am in my second term as trustee with the district, and am the current Vice Chair.

2. What are your three main priorities for the district, and what progress would you want voters to see in your first year?

I would like to review some of our policies, with the lens of looking at having some tiered policies. One policy for the Vernon District, and another for our rural and remote schools. It is not a one size fits all in terms of schools.

3. How would you assess whether students are learning and thriving, and what would you do at the board level if outcomes are falling short?

While many rely on the FESL. Framework for enhanced school learning report. I like to consider the How are we doing report. Look at the data at how many feel safe or are scared at school. You can't learn if you are scared or feel bullied.

4. When needs exceed the available budget, how would you decide what to protect, change or defer? Please explain a trade-off you would be prepared to consider.

I would consider laying off board office staff to keep our staff in schools.

5. What would you prioritize to improve access to learning and support for students with disabilities or diverse learning needs, and how would you measure progress?

This begins with the Principles, many say it is the district, or lack of funding, but sometimes it is as easy as putting up blinds in a classroom to prevent glare for a sight impaired student. Our district is working really hard to improve learning supports for our students. The FESL and How are we doing report does give data on the learning of of diverse learnings. So is a good way to measure.

6. What board policies or oversight would you prioritize for student safety, belonging and well-being, including responses to bullying and discrimination?

I really want to see bullying being addressed, not just words spoken from the Principal, and nothing reported in the student files. The reason is that they don't want the reports to follow the bully into their future. But if we could initiate "temporary" reports that can be removed from files if the behavior changes that would be great, but this needs to be addressed. Especially if the student moves and continues the behaviour, we have to let others know what to watch for. We need to start standing up for the "victims" and stop protecting the person doing the harm.

7. How would you work with local First Nations and Indigenous families on Indigenous student success and the district's education responsibilities?

Our district has a LEA, (Local Education Agreement) with our Band, and we work together on what we believe will work for the student learning needs. The Province has also mandated that we have a plan with learning supports and extra initiatives to help support all our self identified Indigenous students.

8. How would students, parents/caregivers and staff meaningfully influence board decisions, including people who do not usually attend meetings?

Please email or call your local Trustee to let them know how you feel. When there a policies looking for feedback, go to the websites and read the policy and give your feedback. Let us know how we can help make it better. We rely on you to let us know what isn't working. We also like to hear what is working.

9. How would you approach school space, maintenance, transportation or other capital and service pressures in your district? Which choices can the board make, and which need provincial support?

School space is at a premium in our larger schools in Vernon. Maintenance always needs funding, it is less expensive to keep a school repaired than it is to build a new one. For transportation, I would like to see different policies for our urban schools, and another for our rural and remote school. They both have different needs. The board makes the policies, we ask the Province for funding and curriculum changes.

10. How would you oversee the superintendent and monitor the strategic plan while respecting the boundary between governance and day-to-day school operations?

This is hard. It sounds good on paper, but when you bring forward concerns from your community you are crossing into operations. Many parents do not feel comfortable or listened to when they call the board office, which is why they call their Trustee. This is why we need to change many of our policies that we just did, as they are great for our Urban school, but not for our Rural and Remote schools.

11. How would you keep decisions transparent and remain accountable to the public, including when you disagree with colleagues or must protect confidential information?

Our meetings are online, so anyone can attend. Confidential information is just that, confidential. I always say (when asked) that it was a board decision. If asked I will say how I voted, but also reiterate that it is now a board decision as it has passed with a vote of 5/7 as an example.

12. What interests or affiliations should voters know about, and how would you identify and manage potential conflicts of interest?

My daughter in law is an EA at JW Inglis. I cannot participate in bargaining, so I remove myself from those discussions.

Additional material: Is there anything else voters should know, or a public source supporting your answers? If you already completed the general questionnaire, you may identify an existing answer you want retained instead of repeating it.

I come to meeting prepared and I am willing to ask the hard questions. I do not speak, just to repeat what was already said at the table, but if there is a rebuttal, I will speak to support or not support a motion. I do tend to cross the line between governance and operations, as I will speak up for our communities and our schools. Thank You to Gen Acton who gave me a wonderful endorsement in her retirement notice/ article.