School trustee candidate David Yang said he supports re-election to continue building what he described as a more equitable, inclusive Richmond School District.
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David Yang is seeking re-election as a Richmond school trustee and says he wants to continue work to build a more equitable, inclusive and vibrant Richmond School District for students and families.
Yang said he is running because he wants to keep supporting student success through trustees’ responsibilities to nurture the public education system, and he pointed to challenges including growing complexity and workload in classrooms, increasing threats to the rights of marginalized groups and a grim fiscal outlook affecting public education funding.
In answers to yes/no questions for Richmond school trustee candidates, Yang said schools should teach more basics such as reading and math, and that curriculum should focus more on trades training. He said there is not enough focus on social issues in the curriculum, and he supported allowing school districts to set school tax rates.
Yang said students should be taught drug awareness in high school, elementary track meets should be more inclusive and students should have more outdoor education opportunities. He also said artificial intelligence should not be banned in schools.
Yang said he believes school trustees should develop evidence-based board policies for responsible AI use, and that the school district should establish guardrails to protect students and educators from risks including plagiarism, privacy breaches and impacts to wellbeing and mental health. He said he supports a short-to-medium-term pause on the expansion of AI tools in schools to allow the Ministry of Education to work with local boards and education partners on provincial frameworks.
On cellphone use, Yang said cellphones should not be banned in Richmond schools. He said cellphones and other personal devices are already restricted under the Ministry of Education’s ministerial order in 2024 and Richmond board policy, and he agreed devices should not be used for non-educational purposes during instructional time while educators retain discretion for educational needs and for health or accessibility purposes.
Yang also said he does not believe teachers are adequately paid. He said there should be more educational support workers in schools and that he supports SOGI policies in Richmond schools.
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