Instead of a student’s voice, Jalen Bachra hopes to be a trustee’s voice on the New Westminster School Board.
Community First New Westminster has announced the 21-year-old Glenbrook North resident will be its candidate in the upcoming school board byelection. Bachra was a founding member of the New Westminster Schools’ Student Voice, when he was a student at New Westminster Secondary School.
“I think the prospect of having a young person on the school board is really exciting,” Bachra said in news release. “I can amplify that students’ perspective, while still addressing the concerns of parents.”
Bachra said he first became interested in government during his campaign to improve transit for Queensborough students attending New Westminster Secondary School.
“We are very happy to put Jalen forward as a candidate,” said Nancy Kato, chair of Community First New Westminster. “We are confident that Jalen’s youthful perspective will be invaluable to the school board. Community First would also like to thank the other members who considered seeking the nomination and are supportive of Jalen Bachra.”
Bachra served as a non-voting student trustee with the school board in 2020. As a recent graduate of New Westminster Secondary School, Bachra said he understands the needs of New West students and he brings a student-focused agenda to the role of trustee.
Bachra currently works as a part-time constituency assistant to Burnaby South MP Jagmeet Singh. At university, he has served as president of the student newspaper, The Ubyssey.
According to a Community First New Westminster press release, Bachra’s priorities include working for more space in schools, improved mental health resources, and support for learning about sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). If elected, Bachra wants to focus on equity, anti-racism, the environment, and inclusion for people with a variety of needs.
“I want to continue making the student experience better, so students can be excited to go to school,” he said.
Bachra will be running for Community First, which currently holds the majority on both city council (five of seven seats) and school board (five of six currently filled seats).
The Feb. 3 school board byelection will fill a vacancy left by the departure of Community First New Westminster trustee Dee Beattie, who resigned in September. Her resignation came after New West resident Sarah Arboleda posted a thread on Twitter on June 14 suggesting Beattie was using a fake “Allan Whitterstone” Twitter account to troll parents, including herself, and other individuals.
Two days later, Beattie admitted she was behind the account, apologized and went on a medical leave of absence from the board. She resigned in September.
Bachra is the fourth candidate to announce plans to run in the byelection. Other residents who have announced they plan to run in the byelection are: Kathleen Carlsen of the New West Progressives, who ran in the 2022 election and was less than 40 votes shy of the final seat on the board; Alejandro Diaz, an independent who previously ran in the 2018 school board election; and Shawn Sorensen, an independent making his first run for a seat on the board.
