Trustee candidate Roman believes in equitable access to safe and inclusive education

October 5, 2022 · 0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Sheralyn Roman believes in everybody’s equitable access to a safe and inclusive education.

And she’s taking that belief on the hustings in a bid to be voted a trustee on the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. She’s running against three candidates to represent the board’s Dufferin-Caledon region.

Voters will make their choice October 24.

“Our goal must be one that emphasizes providing the resources necessary for every child to succeed,” Roman said. “Further, I feel educators, in consultation with various experts, are the people best-positioned to determine curriculum content rather than single-focus special-interest groups.”

She believes the role of school board trustee is about advocacy for families facing a challenging situation for a child or children. Trustees are advocates for the community of schools and parishes to various levels of government regarding funding, she said.

“They address matters of concern in education as an advocate for all teachers, staff, and administration,” she said. “We work together to find solutions to the various challenges facing education.”

Roman would like to see improvements in how and where education funding is allocated, how the funding is used, and “where the opportunities exist to do better to ensure every classroom has what it needs to foster student success,” she said.

Students, teachers, and other school staff need to be kept safe from the novel coronavirus. Safety needs to be enhanced with better COVID-19 protocols.

Roman said the role and purpose of the provincial Education Equality and Accountability Office (EQAO) standardized testing needs to be reviewed.

“In a world where nothing is standard, I feel the significant funding allocated to EQAO could be better utilized elsewhere,” Roman said.

She said she’s been involved in almost every aspect of the education system from parent volunteer, parish representative, and parent council chairperson to an emergency on-call supply teacher.

She also supported early learners reading one-on-one as part of the All-Star Reading Program.

“I’ve been hands-on in the school system for many years,” she said.

She said her time as a parish representative and her parent council involvement through high school years provides her with valuable insight and understanding about the challenges facing education.

Roman is a former teacher with the Sheridan College School of Business. She has a background in human resources and she now works in communication and volunteers extensively in the community.

“These latter skills are critical to forming and maintaining relationships with my fellow trustees and working together with parents, the parish, teachers and administration to resolve concerns with mutual respect and that provide outcomes everyone can support,” Roman said.