| Election date | Saturday October 17 | | -------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | | **Election website** | https://www.sd35.bc.ca/2026-trustee-election | Full list of candidates: https://localelections.ca/election_candidates/212_2026_candidates.html Current district AI guidelines https://www.sd35.bc.ca/instructionalservices/sd35-ai-guidelines ## Celine Hoag > [!success] Supports a pause on AI with caveats ![[celine-hoag.png|200]] Candidate website: https://celenehoag.com/ Celine Hoag's statement: > My experience with AI comes from multiple angles of exposure - in addition to being a parent and school trustee candidate, I also run a technology consulting firm and am a post-graduate student at SFU. As such, I have extensive experience both with AI use in general, as well as AI policies and use in an educational setting specifically. > > Many studies, including ones from [Harvard](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025arXiv250608872K/abstract) and [MIT](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872v1) show cognitive decline and a potential for brain atrophy as a result of AI usage. [One study that included children](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.07.687207v1) found a much bigger negative impact of AI on children' brains vs. adults. Frankly speaking, the effect of AI on children's brains and their ability to learn terrifies me. > > At the same time, I am extremely cognisant that access to AI is widespread, and students will use it regardless. It is extremely difficult for even professionals (let alone untrained teachers) to track AI, particularly with models that create output undetectable by AI detectors. ([These are also largely inaccurate and disproportionately flag neurodivergent, black, and non-native English-speaking writers as AI](https://lawlibguides.sandiego.edu/c.php?g=1443311&p=10721367).) > > I broadly support a massive reduction of AI in classrooms and a shift toward learning opportunities that remove the possibility of AI usage (in-class dialogue, exams, etc.) At the same time, I believe there should be some AI access within classes for the specific purpose of teaching children responsible AI use and safety. Knowing children and youth will have access to these tools at home regardless, it is critical that we provide them with the best possible outcomes for using them. Knives are sharp and can injure, so we teach children safe handling and cutting skills so that when they inevitably encounter them, they know how to be safe. I do not support the use of chatbots in school for daily teaching. > > Finally, I believe teachers need to be given extensive training, resources and support in how to adjust their assignments, tests and teaching style with AI in the mix, preparing them to promote real learning and measure results in the post-AI world. ## Tina Patterson > [!Success] Supports a pause on AI ![[tina-patterson.png|200]] Candidate website: https://www.tinapatterson.ca/ Tina Patterson's statement: > As an English teacher of 26 years, my position on AI chatbots in education is rooted in deep, practical experience with how students learn, connect, and develop critical thinking. I strongly support an immediate pause on the implementation of AI chatbots in British Columbia classrooms. Our primary focus must always be on genuine human literacy, authentic communication, and safeguarding the mental and emotional development of our children. > > If elected, I will actively work to keep generative AI chatbots out of our K-12 classrooms. This is not about being anti-technology; it is about being pro-child. We are currently witnessing the serious harms of an ever-growing "Attachment Economy," where algorithms are explicitly designed to capture and monetize children’s attention, driving them away from real-world relationships and toward digital dependency. The social risks—ranging from decreased attention spans to heightened anxiety and an erosion of independent thought—are far too significant to ignore. > > In School District 35, the Technology Plan and AI Steering Committee have already had to grapple with major concerns around data privacy, FOIPPA compliance, and AI-generated inaccuracies. While the district attempts to navigate these issues, I believe the safest approach for our students is a firm pause on conversational chat tools. Teachers should not have to act as the "cellphone and AI police." > > This protective ==stance== aligns perfectly with the broader, necessary shift we are seeing across the country, including the highly anticipated federal legislation around cellphone bans from Prime Minister Mark Carney, which builds upon the province's bell-to-bell restrictions that simply —  teachers must be supported in their compliance efforts. Classrooms must remain sanctuaries for focused learning, human mentorship, and deep peer-to-peer engagement. Before we introduce powerful, unregulated conversational AI into SD35 schools, we must prioritize the digital well-being of our students and protect them from the predatory mechanics of the digital attachment economy.