Board Chair Candy Ashdown leads a six-candidate team pledging one district, one team — trustees and councillors pulling in the same direction
LANGLEY TOWNSHIP — Langley Strong’s school trustee team today released Keep Langley Schools Strong, its platform for the Langley School District, and the record it is built on: a six-year graduation rate that has climbed from 93 to 97 per cent, four points above the provincial rate, and 5,030 new student spaces opened or approved since September 2024, roughly $515 million in provincial investment and more new spaces than the Province approved over the same period in Surrey, a district nearly three times Langley’s size.
The plan rests on five pillars: Strong Students, Strong Staff, Strong Schools and Spaces, Strong Community, and Strong and Sustainable Funding. It commits the team to closing achievement gaps and getting mental-health help to students earlier; to attracting and keeping skilled staff and addressing workplace safety head-on; to securing school land early and pushing the Province to fund portables so classroom dollars stay in classrooms; to planning new schools as neighbourhood hubs with child care, parks and sidewalks built alongside; and to careful stewardship of every education dollar paired with a steady push for funding that keeps pace with one of the fastest-growing districts in B.C.
“Every one of those numbers is a young person with a story of hard work and possibility, and every one of those spaces is a family that gets a school closer to home,” said Board Chair Candy Ashdown, who is seeking a Township trustee seat. “That’s the record. This plan is how we build on it, and it starts with a reset: trustees and councillors pulling in the same direction. When we do that, the Province listens. When we differ, kids wait.”
“Strong students means every kid learns, belongs, and has a caring adult to turn to on the hard days,” said Holly Dickinson, a classroom teacher and Township trustee. “Our graduation rates for Indigenous students and students with diverse abilities are well above the provincial rate, and we are going to keep closing those gaps.”
“Nothing good happens in a school without the people in it,” said Charlie Fox, a Township trustee who spent 33 years in Langley schools as a teacher and principal. “Strong staff means we attract good people, keep them, make sure they go home safe, and let the people doing the work help write the plan.”
“You don’t build a team the week of the game, and you don’t build a school the year the neighbourhood fills up,” said Neil Turner, a Trinity Western University professor and 40-year Langley coach running for a Township seat. “Land secured early, classrooms that keep pace with rooftops, and portables paid for by the Province so that money stays in the classroom. That’s planning ahead.”
“A school is more than a bell. It’s the gym on a Tuesday night, the field on Saturday, and child care at seven in the morning,” said Kathie Dalziel, a longtime Langley parent volunteer running for a Township seat. “Strong community means every new school is planned as a neighbourhood hub, and the Board sits down with both councils, three times a year, every year.”
“A trustee does two jobs at once: guard every education dollar, and fight for the ones our kids are owed,” said Tony Ward, Langley City trustee since 2018. “Too many supports for kids disappear when a grant runs out. Langley families deserve their fair share of every new investment, and public budgets they can read.”
The Langley School District serves about 27,000 students in both the Township and the City of Langley. Township voters elect five trustees and City voters elect two. Langley Strong is running Candy Ashdown, Kathie Dalziel, Holly Dickinson, Charlie Fox and Neil Turner in the Township, and Tony Ward in the City.
Keep Langley Schools Strong is available in full at LangleyStrong.ca/Platform. Langley Strong’s council platform, including its Respect for Our Kids pillar, is at LangleyStrong.ca.
Langley Strong is a team of Langley residents running to restore respect at Township Hall and keep Langley’s schools strong: mayoral candidate Jay Lundgren; council candidates Lauren Chalus, Shumail Javed, Margaret Kunst, Barb Martens, Kim Richter, Teresa Townsley and Blair Whitmarsh; and school trustee candidates Candy Ashdown, Kathie Dalziel, Holly Dickinson, Charlie Fox, Neil Turner and Tony Ward. The full platform is at LangleyStrong.ca.
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About Langley Strong
Langley Strong is a team of Township of Langley residents running to restore respect at Township Hall: mayoral candidate Jay Lundgren and council candidates Lauren Chalus, Shumail Javed, Margaret Kunst, Barb Martens, Kim Richter, Teresa Townsley and Blair Whitmarsh, and with trustee candidates Candy Ashdown, Kathie Dalziel, Holly Dickinson, Charlie Fox, Neil Turner and Tony Ward. The full platform is at LangleyStrong.ca.
Media Contact
Karen Zukas
Media Relations, Langley Strong
Email: media@langleystrong.ca
