SURREY First Education on Thursday told the VOICE that it is not affiliated with any mayoral candidate or Council team.

All the members of its current team will be seeking re-election to the Surrey Board of Education in the civic elections to be held on Saturday, October 15.

The board is currently made up of Board Chair Laurie Larsen, Vice Chair Terry Allen, and trustees Bob Holmes, Garry Thind, Gary Tymoschuk and Shawn Wilson.

“We have a strong team with demonstrated leadership skills for public education”, said Gary Tymoschuk, President of Surrey First Education Society. “We have an amazing team of trustees who have consistently demonstrated a keen desire and strong focus to work together in order to make sound decisions that provide the best education for the children of our community, and give teachers, support staff and administrators the tools they need to be successful.”

Current Chair Laurie Larsen said, “This board has demonstrated a consistent commitment, collaboration and focus as we have all worked together this term to achieve some amazing results. We are so proud of the six new schools opened in the last four years – as well as the 1,100 new spaces added to existing schools. And, we have thousands more seats planned in the next four years. In addition, we are excited to be adding a significant number of childcare spaces in our schools this fall. It has been a challenging time over the past couple of years, but we ensured a strong focus on delivering education to all the students in Surrey.”

The Team says: “We look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve our community, to work with our teachers and staff and to celebrate the ongoing successes of our students by creating a public education system we can all be proud of.”