Every student deserves the opportunity, resources, and support necessary to reach their full potential.

We must focus on academic achievement while also recognizing the social, emotional, and individual needs of students.

Every child should feel safe, respected, welcomed, and included at school.

We need learning environments where students can focus on education without fear of discrimination, bullying, or exclusion.

As a parent myself, I understand how deeply personal it can feel when you are advocating for your child and believe your voice is not being heard. I have experienced moments where I was frustrated, persistent, and driven to speak up because I knew my concerns deserved to be taken seriously. I remember feeling that I had to keep pushing, asking questions, and advocating to make sure my child’s needs were understood. That experience stayed with me, not simply because it was frustrating, but because it made me think about how difficult it must be for a parent who does not feel confident, supported, or empowered to keep pushing.

That experience fuels my commitment to parent and community engagement. I never want a parent to walk away feeling dismissed, unheard, or that they have to fight the system just to have their concerns acknowledged. I want to help create an environment where parents feel welcomed, respected, and genuinely heard from the beginning. Every parent should know that their perspective matters and that their lived experience is an important part of understanding and supporting their child.

Being a parent has given me an even stronger appreciation for the importance of listening with empathy, building trust, and making space for honest conversations—even when those conversations are difficult. My goal is to ensure that parents feel they have a partner, not another barrier, when they advocate for their children and their community.

For me, literacy and mental health cannot be separated. In a school system as large and diverse as the TDSB, including communities across Toronto and Scarborough, we have to recognize that a student who struggles to read is not only facing an academic barrier—they may also be experiencing frustration, anxiety, low confidence and disengagement.

The TDSB’s own data shows why this deserves attention. In the 2023–24 school year, 70% of TDSB Grade 3 students and 81% of Grade 6 students met or exceeded the provincial standard in reading. That means 30% of Grade 3 students and 19% of Grade 6 students did not meet the provincial reading standard.

At the same time, TDSB data demonstrates that student mental health is a significant concern. In the Board’s student census, 34% of Grades 7–8 students and 40% of Grades 9–12 students reported concerns related to their mental health/emotional well-being. Even more strikingly, 74% of Grades 7–8 students and 79% of Grades 9–12 students reported worrying about their school marks.

That matters in the TDSB because literacy is one of the Board’s stated priorities, alongside student achievement and wellbeing. The TDSB itself notes that concerns about students’ literacy development following the pandemic have occurred alongside concerns about students’ mental health and wellbeing.

So my approach would be simple: we cannot treat literacy intervention and mental-health support as two completely separate conversations. When a child repeatedly struggles to read, falls behind classmates, avoids participating, or begins to believe they are “not a good student,” the emotional consequences can be significant. We need early literacy support that protects a student’s confidence as well as their academic development.

And this is especially important in Toronto and Scarborough, where students come from incredibly diverse communities and arrive at school with different experiences, languages, strengths and needs. Every student deserves the opportunity to become a confident reader without having their academic struggles become a source of shame or anxiety.

The goal is not simply higher literacy scores. The goal is students who can read, participate, feel capable, and believe they belong in their classrooms.

School infrastructure is not simply about how a building looks—it is about whether the physical environment allows students to learn effectively. The evidence supports this. A meta-analysis examining research on school building conditions found a statistically significant relationship between building condition and student performance.

Factors such as lighting, temperature, ventilation, acoustics, adequate space and access to appropriate equipment were identified as important elements of the learning environment.

This issue is particularly relevant in Scarborough. TDSB’s own facility data shows substantial differences in the condition of schools across the community. For example, Scarborough Village Public School has a 2024–25 Facility Condition Index (FCI) of 15.72%, while Scarborough Centre for Alternative Studies has an FCI of 76.27%. The FCI measures the estimated cost of repairing or replacing building components relative to the building’s replacement value. TDSB also reports that approximately 50% of its schools are more than 65 years old, and that its system-wide renewal needs backlog was approximately $4.45 billion as of January 2025.

These numbers tell us something important: students should not have fundamentally different learning environments simply because of the school or neighbourhood they attend. If we know that lighting, ventilation, temperature, noise, adequate learning space and the overall condition of a building can affect academic performance, then maintaining and modernizing Scarborough schools is an investment in student achievement—not merely an investment in bricks and mortar.

And the long-term argument is even more important. TDSB’s current Student Achievement Plan identifies both student literacy achievement and graduation within five years as key measures of student success. In 2022–23, 86.8% of TDSB students graduated with an Ontario Secondary School Diploma within five years of starting Grade 9.

We should therefore think about infrastructure as part of a student’s entire educational pathway. A well-maintained, organized and functional school creates an environment where students can focus, teachers can teach effectively, and students have a better opportunity to achieve academically. Academic success, in turn, is associated with greater access to post-secondary education and employment opportunities. Our responsibility is to make sure a student’s future is not limited by the condition of the building in which they are expected to learn.

For Scarborough, that means treating school infrastructure as an equity issue. Every student deserves a school that communicates the same message: you matter, your education matters, and we have invested in the environment where you will build your future.

Accountability cannot simply mean making promises during an election, it means showing the community what you are doing, what has been accomplished, and where more work is needed. If elected, I would make transparency a regular part of how I communicate with students, parents, educators, staff and the broader Scarborough community.

I would use multiple platforms so that information is accessible rather than expecting everyone to find it in one place. I would provide regular updates through a dedicated Trustee website, email newsletters, social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, and community meetings. Important updates would also be available in written form so that residents who do not use social media are not excluded from the conversation.

Every three months, I would provide a more detailed progress report against the commitments I made, including what has been completed, what is still underway, and—just as importantly—what has not moved forward and why.

I would also hold regular community meetings and listening sessions, with a particular focus on making them accessible to families in Scarborough. These would not simply be opportunities for me to speak. They would be opportunities for residents to ask questions, raise concerns and hold me accountable. I would keep a record of the issues raised and provide follow-up on what action was taken.

Most importantly, I would be honest when progress is slower than expected. Transparency means more than sharing successes. If a commitment is delayed, if the Board rejects a proposal, or if something is outside my authority as a Trustee, I will explain that clearly rather than making excuses or allowing people to wonder what happened.

My commitment is simple: you should never have to wonder what your Trustee is doing on your behalf. You should be able to see my priorities, track my progress, question my decisions and hold me accountable throughout the entire term—not just during election season.