It’s another four years of service for Ward 15/Toronto-Danforth Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Trustee Cathy Dandy, who came away with 75 per cent of the vote in Monday’s election.
Dandy garnered 22,094 votes in the ward, a landslide over newcomer opponent Nadeem Jilani’s 7,325. She celebrated her success alongside winning Ward 29 city council candidate Mary Fragedakis at the Fox and Fiddle pub Monday evening on Danforth Avenue.
“I just feel really, really honoured and humbled,” Dandy said. “I’m just really pleased that people recognize the good work I’ve been doing and that they’ve sent me back to continue that work.”
Dandy believes community involvement led to her win.
“I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve really connected with the people of Ward 15,” she said.
Since she was first elected in 2006, she has worked to prevent school closures and to promote access to French immersion. The Toronto Star recently endorsed Dandy for her work with a late-start high school pilot project at Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute.
According to Dandy, her main focus over the next four years will be continuing to prevent school closures and improving student engagement.
“One (priority) is the continued push to integrate services into our schools, to repurpose our space, not to sell it off before we’ve done that,” she said. “The other issue is how do we serve students properly? They’re not just literacy and numeracy and test-scoring widgets. We have to do much more to engage them, to make the curriculum relevant to them.”
According to supporter Kelly Dyment, Dandy has an ear for parents’ concerns.
“She really seems to have a handle on the issues in the community and is a really good listener,” she said. “She doesn’t come into the meetings with her mind made up, she really does listen to the parents that are there. She’s fun, she’s open, and that’s made her very approachable.”