While an architect by profession, Joe Muego is also a long-time, dedicated volunteer in Delta, with a strong sense of civic duty.
Joe is passionate about fostering an educational environment that prepares students with real options to meaningfully contribute to their communities. When Joe and his wife Gina’s oldest of two sons entered Kindergarten, Joe made a commitment to be involved in their schools.
For the last 14 years, Joe has served in executive positions in elementary and secondary schools, most often as PAC chair or vice-chair.
His service carried over to the Delta District PAC where he sat as vice-chair and ultimately chair – representing parents of all 31 public schools in Delta to the School Board, Superintendent and to other education stakeholders.
Joe’s civic volunteerism in Delta, compliments his school experience and ties together a rich understanding of local governance.
His civic appointments include Area Plan Committees, Zoning Advisory Groups, and as an architect on the Advisory Design Panel providing advice to Delta council on larger scale development projects. Joe is running for School Board to continue his proven record of service to Delta as an advocate for healthy schools and healthy communities, and to champion the importance of parent engagement.
What are your election issues?
Delta is a consistent leader in student performance in the province and is an internationally recognized district for innovative teaching and inquiry-based learning.
This means we have some of the most talented and dedicated professionals being supported by a District that has a clear vision.
The experience that I have gained within the Delta school system, having been an executive parent leader for 14 years, has made me very proud to have been the official voice of parents in my various roles as elementary and secondary PAC chairs, and ultimately the chair of Delta DPAC representing parents of 15,000 students from 31 schools.
That said we cannot rest on our laurels. We need to build upon our success by making sure that students continue to thrive throughout their years and graduate with options. We can do this by supporting teachers and staff in their professional practices, promoting inclusive classrooms so that everyone feels safe, and through continued fiscal responsibility.
One issue of dear importance to me is physical and mental health in schools.
My record shows this commitment as I have been on the District Healthy Schools Committee for years as the parent voice. In this committee we initiated discussion and action that made real differences.
The importance of mental health was deeply underscored when I was at the helm of DPAC at the start of the pandemic and undertook the task of a District-wide survey of parents to report back to the Board and Superintendent on parents’ concerns. The number one concern was mental health.
While the pandemic was an extreme occurrence, it did elucidate mental health as a core issue for parents.
As a leading school district, it is our responsibility to continue to work with education partners to ensure our work in this area remains progressive and effective.