Should public school students have more homework? Sebastian Dumitrescu-Georgescu believes they should.

Dumitrescu-Georgescu is hoping to be the next public school board trustee for Burlington’s Wards 1 & 2. He believes homework should be increased.

“It’s my understanding that homework is virtually non-existent and teachers are heavily limited as to what they can prescribe. …I feel strongly about increasing our competitiveness in academic excellency. The solution isn’t obvious, but one of the factors hindering this is the lack of practice, for example, homework. I would propose to reverse the ban on homework, among other things to be determined.”

The volume of homework is currently at the discretion of individual teachers in Halton. There is no Ministry or Halton directive, according to a source close to the board.

Dumitrescu-Georgescu is 33 years old, lives in the Maple and Fairview area and works in financial services. He reports having hosted workshops for public school students on various subjects like water safety and financial literacy. He visits retirement homes on behalf of the St. John Ambulance dog therapy program and volunteers with local food banks.

“I chose to run to serve my community and advocate for our children to have the best resources at their disposal to be set up for success.”

Dumitrescu-Georgescu also wants to increase opportunities for students to learn, first-hand, about career options.

“This could potentially be done by public-private partnerships with our schools and local industry. Through a well-thought-out framework, we can create school-run programs that are interactive, exciting and instructive for students to continuously assess their future in society.”

Another priority for Mr. Dumitrescu-Georgescu is reducing administrative work done by teachers to free them up for more time with students.

If elected, he promises to set up online and in-person meetings with constituents to share ideas and respond to questions and concerns.

Also running for the Wards 1 & 2 trustee position are Matthew Diodati and Omar Kayed.

Diodati is also employed in financial services. He lives in Aldershot.

Mr. Kayed has been out of the country, but is returning next week to commence his run for office.

The election is October 24.