School trustee seeks re-election alongside Charlie Fox, says the Township and the School District must start working together again

Langley Board of Education Chair Candy Ashdown announced today that she will seek re-election as a school trustee this October as part of the Langley Strong team, joining sitting trustee Charlie Fox.

Ashdown has chaired the seven-member Board since November 2022. She said the District’s ability to keep pace with enrolment growth and secure new school spaces depends heavily on its working relationship with the Township Mayor and Council, a relationship she believes needs to improve significantly.

In February 2025, the Woodward slate on Township Council unilaterally suspended the joint park-school site land acquisition program. Since the early 1990s, the Township and the District had bought land together so that new schools opened with parks and playing fields beside them. The District was not consulted before the vote.

“This partnership was about planning ahead. For more than 30 years, the District and Township worked together to secure school and park land early, keeping costs down and helping new schools move forward faster as neighbourhoods grew. It became a model recognized at the provincial level,” said Ashdown. “Yet the Board was not told its suspension was even being considered and had no opportunity to discuss it before Mayor and Council voted.”

“Our two elected bodies serve the same families. We may have different responsibilities, but we share an obligation to work together,” said Ashdown. “I want a School Board that comes to the table ready to listen, solve problems and find common ground. I also want a Mayor and Council willing to do the same.”

Ashdown has chaired the Board through the fastest growth in the District’s history. The District now serves more than 27,000 students across 46 school sites. Since September 2024, it has opened or secured provincial approval for 5,030 new student spaces, representing approximately $514.5 million in provincial investment, including three new schools and the joint stɑtl̓əw̓ Middle and Emery Dosdall Secondary campus in Willoughby, the largest public-school infrastructure project in B.C. history. That is more new student spaces than the province approved or opened over the same period in Surrey, a district nearly three times Langley’s size.

“I am very proud of what we’ve accomplished during this term. These projects are the result of persistent advocacy, careful planning and a strong working relationship amongst our Board, District staff and the teams at the Ministry of Education and Child Care and Ministry of Infrastructure,” said Ashdown. “More than 5,000 spaces is major progress, but it is not the finish line. Langley remains one of B.C.’s fastest-growing school districts, and we must keep making the case for the schools and classrooms our students need.”

Student outcomes continue to improve. The District’s six-year graduation rate is 97%, higher than the provincial average of 93%. The completion rate for Indigenous students has risen to 87% and the rate for students with Diverse Abilities to 86%.

“Every one of those numbers represents a young person with their own story of hard work, perseverance and possibility,” said Ashdown. “I am especially encouraged by the progress of our Indigenous students and students with disabilities or diverse abilities, but we must be honest about the gaps that remain. We need to keep listening, working together, and removing barriers so every student has the support and opportunity to succeed.”

Ashdown is a graduate of the District she now helps lead and spent more than a decade volunteering in school communities before she was first elected, serving as President of both the Uplands Elementary and Wix-Brown Elementary Parent Advisory Councils. She served as a Trustee from 2011 to 2014 and returned to the Board in 2022, when her fellow trustees elected her Chair. She also chairs the Board’s Policy Committee and serves as the Board’s representative on the ya:yestel Indigenous Education Council.

Ashdown brings the Langley Strong team a sitting Board Chair with a strong working relationship with the ministries, a record of getting schools approved, and first-hand knowledge of what broke down between the Township and the District.

“Candy has spent four years doing the hard work: getting schools funded in one of the fastest-growing districts in B.C.,” said Jay Lundgren, Langley Strong mayoralty candidate. “With her and Charlie on the Board and our team on Council, Langley’s kids and families will come first, and the turf wars will end.”

Langley’s Board of Education serves both the City of Langley and the Township of Langley: five trustees are elected in the Township, two in the City. Ashdown will seek a Township School Board seat, along with Fox. General voting day is Saturday, October 17, 2026.

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About Langley Strong

Langley Strong is a team of experienced councillors, trustees and community leaders running for Mayor, Council and School Board on a platform of fiscal responsibility, transparent governance, and community well-being. langleystrong.ca

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