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Meet the candidate: Patrick O' Connor

Josh Hall / rdnewsNOW

One candidate for Red Deer Public Schools trustee says the division needs a more modern board.

Patrick O’ Connor, born and raised in Red Deer, says he initially gained interest in running for school board trustee upon realizing no one currently on the board has children within the district.

“I was thinking gee whiz, is nobody willing to step up? Is there a reason for this?”

O’ Connor doesn’t intend to be critical of those who’ve served over the last term, but he feels the community could be better represented on the school board.

“Considering Alberta has the youngest average population in Canada, I feel like we don’t have that on our school boards and we need to represent our community a little better,” he says. “I just think it’s time for some of us younger folks to step up and be part of the system.”

O’ Connor says among other things, he’d like to take a closer look at standardized testing and expanding pre-k programming for three and four-year-olds.