Baggott: Not comfortable supporting status quo

My name is Kate Baggott and I’m one of four DSBN trustees currently representing the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the city of St. Catharines.

My great-grandfather A.J. Coyne was one of the pharmacists who practised in what is now the Apothecary Museum on Queen Street in NOTL. He was the beloved son of a privileged family. It’s been a great privilege of my life to see the opportunities for education he had, become more accessible. We can and should open education’s opportunities to even more people.

It’s been an honour serving the people of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

In March 2022 I was the only trustee to vote against preserving the status quo in electoral boundaries.

“We have parents of students in Niagara-on-the-Lake who attend high school in Niagara Falls, and that has often raised the issue that they don’t get to select their representation,” I said at the board meeting. “I’m not sure protecting the status quo is very comfortable.”

My first concern is always students. I advocate for complete compliance with the Safe Schools Act to work against sexual violence in schools and I support those who have experienced it. I uphold, promote and defend the Ontario Human Rights Code.

First and foremost, I am a passionate parent who has raised her children (now 16 and 20) to play fair, work hard and think critically. I believe their generation, and their younger counterparts, are fundamentally excellent people because they respect others and let them be themselves. In a country where adults have failed to correct profound threats to our young people’s environment, to their food system, and their very futures, educational policies that respect and encourage fairness, equality and safety are the very least we can provide for them.

Public education is a right. Trustees must protect it.

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