OK, Let's Vote — Robert Stepaniuk
School trustee questionnaire — trustee-v1-2026-09-21
SD67 — Area 2 (Summerland)
Submitted September 22, 2026, 02:45 Pacific; reviewed September 22, 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; whitespace normalized. Private contact and technical identifiers excluded.

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

I bring 27 years of successful teaching experience, 12 years of full time post secondary education, and 28 years of parenthood.

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

Three main priorities include:
1. Increased district funding including improved site-based fiscal management.
2. Improved student, family, and staff wellness and growth.
3. Additional planning and integration of research-based and data-driven applications to the #SD 67 school education framework.
I the first full year I would like to see the above three priorities addressed in an electronic satisfaction survey report, at the response rate of 60% or higher.

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?

This could be achieved through the aforementioned electronic survey which would contain “10 simple reader friendly questions” only (5 quantitative and 5 qualitative). The methodology would employ a convergent mixed-methods design through Qualtrics or Survey Monkey which have little to zero cost.

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.

When prioritizing needs, student and staffing needs are protected, and all other fiscal needs would be changed or deferred.

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?

Priorities here include support for diagnosing and neurodivergent needs, then Human Resources (staffing) and training for these students, families, and staff. This would be measured through current data-driven and research-based models, e.g. electronic communication and tracking within the confidential and collaborative mainframe.

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

This would also follow the district’s policies and procedures for the aforementioned electronic collaborative communication compass…..that is what I would initiate and design (the 3 C’s document) Collaborative Communication Compass!

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

Respecting that they were here first, they would be the first to be invited to all planning and district level meetings and activities. Respect starts with what you do versus what you say.

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

Again, this would be intentional, so each of the groups named above would be an equal ingredient to any multidimensional meeting, group, or team.

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?

This too would be collaborative, but would also advent from what has been working in SD#67, in concert with current best practices in this area. The board is voted by the constituency, so local needs should be fluid and responsive, in order to make best use of the provincial funding. For example, if we need more support one year to address needs after a natural disaster, we should lobby there. Our compass should be our constituents.

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

Any oversight would follow the three R’s of effective board governance.
1. Respect for roles and responsibilities.
2. Relevance of priorities for all stakeholders.
3. Rigor in maintaining regular, open, and honest conversations and communication.

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

The three R’s above also apply here, except the most important caveat is the reverence of true transparency. For example, when mistakes are made, because there will be, so just be sure to own what has been shown.

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

All interests and affiliations will be transparent so any conflicts here will be easy to rectify through healthy relationships outlined above.

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 do not use AI, but feel free to run my answer s through a checker. AI is a useful tool, but my answers have been founded and grounded through a love of an educational career already lived. Thanks so much, and good luck again to everyone involved for your civic pride.