When Cristina Bairos Fernandes brought concerns over the benefit and safety of masks and other Covid-19 protocols for her children, board officials blanket ignored her and other parents, carrying on with top-down edicts on what was best for her children. During a third party ‘Question-Answer’ presentation for parents regarding the safety of vaccinations for children, Fernandes came prepared with questions regarding evidence-based data. She was again disregarded. And, as is common-place in this post-“pandemic” world, vilified for daring to question publicly-funded boards policies, that is, advocating for the health and safety of her children.
And that’s when Fernandes, a mother of two and healthcare practitioner, realized that so much of the board’s policies needed to be reviewed and said, “That was enough.”
Rather than follow her first inclination to pull her children from school, Fernandes is now running for a trustee position within the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB). A powerhouse with a keen sense for what a truly equitable school system requires and the disturbing trend in education (and society at large) that values snuffing out individual thought questioning curricular content or board policies developed by a select few, Fernandes is looking to enrich the WRDSB with a philosophy that empowers the constituents–all constituents–that they serve.
Fernandes values trust, truth and transparency and is fighting for a pedagogical philosophy that teaches children how to think, not what to think. To learn more about Fernandes, visit her website, cfernandes.ca.
Any other GOOD school trustees? And where are they running, election day Oct 24th, I need to know soon who to vote for in Toronto-Danforth
Common sense in public education? How radical a concept is that?
We need so many, many more people running for Trustee positions. Need to clean house on most school boards.
Meant to say more individuals like
Christina.