Manas Khanna · Durham District School Board Trustee Candidate
I am a Whitby parent, senior technology leader and accessibility advocate. My family has firsthand experience navigating special education, IEPs, assessments, available resources and the search for learning strategies that recognize a student’s strengths as well as support needs.
Whitby elects two Durham District School Board trustees. Ontario’s municipal and school board election day is October 26, 2026.
My reason for running
My family has firsthand experience with the complexity that can come with navigating special education and trying to understand the supports available to a student. I have also seen the commitment educators bring to this work.
IEPs and accommodations are important, but planning should also help identify strengths, build confidence and connect today’s support to greater independence and future opportunity.
“We should not only ask how a student can fit the existing system. We should also ask how the system can respond to the different ways students learn.”
This is not about blaming educators or asking a trustee to intervene in an individual case. It is about bringing informed, public questions to the Board table: how needs are assessed, how resources are prioritized, how families participate and how progress is understood.
Four commitments
Students need strong foundations and the judgment to navigate a world shaped by AI, automation and constant change.
Accommodations are essential, but student planning should also make strengths, development goals and future pathways visible.
Important information exists, but residents should not need to search across multiple reports to connect results, targets, funded actions and progress.
DDSB’s published accommodation plan identifies growth and holding-school pressures in Whitby.
Questions raised by the public record
These figures do not prove that a program is succeeding or failing. They identify areas where clear information about access, service levels and outcomes would help residents understand public decisions.
DDSB’s accommodation reader guide, published in October 2025, reported more than 1,000 Whitby students in holding schools. It also identified two elementary schools under construction and a funded secondary school.
Question: Are updated counts, timelines, interim supports and capacity risks clear to affected communities?
DDSB October 2025 source ↗DDSB’s approved 2026–2027 budget estimates district-wide special-education expenditures of approximately $161.8M.
Question: What service levels and student outcomes help the public understand the effect of this planned spending?
DDSB 2026–2027 budget ↗The approved 2026–2027 budget identifies approximately $0.3M for professional assessments, including speech-language and psychoeducational assessments, with the stated purpose of helping reduce wait times.
Question: How many students are served, what are the wait times and does access improve?
DDSB 2026–2027 budget ↗As reviewed on August 30, 2026, EQAO’s public results page displays 2024–2025 results and provides provincial, school-board and school views. Assessment results are one signal and require context.
Question: Which strategies respond to identified gaps, and how will progress be reported over time?
EQAO results ↗Budget amounts are district-wide estimates from DDSB’s approved 2026–2027 budget—not actual spending or Whitby-only amounts. The holding-school figure is a dated October 2025 report, not a current count. Last reviewed August 30, 2026. See sources and context →
Strengths-based accessibility
Accommodations remain essential. The opportunity is to complement them with a clearer picture of strengths, development goals, consistent supports and future pathways—developed with professional judgment, student dignity and meaningful family participation.
What I bring
I am a Whitby resident, parent and senior technology leader. My professional experience includes leading complex services, managing risk and resources, and making performance visible to the people who depend on those services.
I would bring that perspective to the Board table while respecting the expertise of educators, the responsibilities of administration and the collective authority of elected trustees.
Community input
Share what is working, what needs attention or which public question deserves closer examination. Input will help identify concerns, test these priorities and inform what I report hearing from the community.
Questions residents may ask
Under the role described by DDSB, trustees currently work collectively to set direction, provide oversight and make decisions within authority established by provincial law and Board bylaws. An individual trustee does not manage schools, direct staff or independently implement programs.
No. These are areas Manas would raise through questions, motions where permitted, review of public plans and financial information, and collaboration with other trustees. Collective Board decisions and administrative implementation remain subject to provincial law and Board bylaws.
Yes. DDSB reports that Bill 101 received Royal Assent on May 7, 2026 and that implementation details affecting trustee responsibilities were not yet confirmed when its election information was published. The campaign will update its governance language if authoritative guidance changes before election day.
No. Technology should support excellent teaching—not replace educators, weaken foundational learning or expose student information to unnecessary risk. The priority is informed judgment, responsible use and preparation for changing pathways.
It means maintaining necessary accommodations while also making a student’s interests, abilities, measurable development goals, support ownership and future pathways clearer in planning and oversight.
It would bring selected existing public information into one understandable view: the current result, the public target, the action or investment and the measured progress.
Input will help identify questions, test priorities and inform what Manas raises publicly. Submitting feedback does not guarantee that an individual request can be acted upon or that the Board will adopt a particular proposal.