Abbotsford – Eric Nyvall has filed paperwork to run as a School Trustee for the Abbotsford Board of Education.
My purpose for running is to fight back against bullying and violence within the school system. To me this has become personal. I aim to advocate and fight for children who are victims of violence in the schools and children who are the victims of such severe bullying that they would consider taking their own life.
I suppose I am in a way I am also fighting to save public education. I value it as a public benefit and recognize its universal application to all children. A public school principal really did tell my wife and I that if we have access and financial means we should transfer our daughter to a private school. That is such a pathetic and impotent indictment of the public system. If all families with means and access leave, what are you left with? Certainly you’ll still have all the problems but your families with the best supports and abilities to be a pillar within your school community will be gone.
In December 2025 my wife and I left a very disappointing meeting with our principal and Mary looked at me and knew I wasn’t going to let this go. She said “you’re going to run for Trustee over this”. She was right.
One of my beautiful daughters was the victim of such severe bullying last year. The school was aware of it. The incidents were not isolated. Other children have been victims. It culminated in a threat to her life and a threat of assault in the most devastating sexual way. I am glad that we caught this, glad that my daughter is alive and glad that she is now thriving at a different(private) school. I am appreciative of the efforts of the Abbotsford Police to work the file and do what they can.
The principal told us there was absolutely nothing that could be done. Thus the suggestion to leave for a private school if we have the access to get there and the financial means to pay for it. Pathetic.
I reached out to SD34 to alert them of this threat. The Trustee who watches over this school gave a “sorry this is happening” response. She hit reply-all to include the assistant superintendent who has never responded to me. Within that email I laid out all concerns and told them that this is a very troubling situation and if they don’t do anything now it will forever be on their conscience when something does happen and they’ve done nothing. Nothing is precisely what they did.
Thank God my daughter is away from that situation, but many would not get the chance to leave. 5 months later, I received notification from multiple parents in this class that my prediction of a much worse incident had come true. A child was choked out until they violently passed out and started spasming on the ground. The children in the classroom who witnessed it thought he’d been killed.
I am stating as fact that SD34 did nothing to prevent this when they were appropriately warned. Multiple principals, vice principals, assistant superintendents did nothing. I reached back out to SD34 in May/2026 to follow this up. I asked what supports were to be made available to victims. I have asked numerous times what the red line is before a student will be removed. I received no response from SD34 as an institution. I cc’d all 7 trustees. I credit 3 good trustees for their genuine personal responses, but it was their personal response. They do not speak for the Board or any majority(Jared White, Mike Rauch, Arsh Kaler).
What concerns me is SD34 completely blew me off. They all know who I am. 1 of the trustees asked me to write an endorsement in the last election. Multiple trustees came to my BBQs when I ran for Mayor, attended the debates, etc. I’ve had many moments of close interaction on other campaigns with them and watching our children compete. If I get zip for a response how much worse would they treat a parent without access and the ability to advocate.
So now, what am I to do about it?- I considered requesting one of Abbotsford’s 2 MLAs to do me a personal favour and ensure this ends up in front of the Minister of Education. I have no doubt I could get that. I worked on each of their campaigns in very senior roles. But it would do nothing. Best case, a sharply worded email to a SD34 bureaucrat and staff member which may or may not change anything.
– I considered taking this to the media. I had the support of one of the Trustees who would have sat with me. That’s a bad idea because it likely would generate nothing. SD34 would say nothing and fall back as such because children are involved. Nothing would happen.
– I considered filing a lawsuit. The damages would be the significant amounts of therapy we paid for out of pocket. Maybe the filing of a lawsuit would generate some attention, but actual cases drag on forever. It would be like David fighting Goliath. I could throw $10,000 towards legal fees and all that would accomplish is sending around a lot of demands and responses.
– I considered doing nothing. That was really not an option, and it’s not my style.
My last consideration is as my wife told me. I am going to run to be a SD34 Trustee. I have had many highlights from SD34 and our 5 childrens’ experiences. It is not all negative. Far from it. I have some other ideas about how I would do things differently and those will come out later. Primarily and almost solely, I am focused on addressing bullying and violence in the schools. I have held my paperwork and application to the last minute to get a gauge of the field and see who is running. During that time I’ve had discussions with numerous candidates about how the bullying and violence in the schools will be addressed. The resolution as I see it is a severe bully(not talking about someone calling you four-eyes on the playground) or violent student will be removed from the classroom and enrolled in virtual school. During COVD19 the Government told us that virtual school was real and it is still around. A child unsuitable for the classroom will get to continue their education at home and online where they can no longer harm anyone. I will introduce a motion to move this forward at the first meeting after I’m elected and sworn in. I believe there are 3 other Trustee candidates with a high likelihood of winning who support this.
What I ask of you? I ask first for your vote. Second, I would ask you to share this story and keep me in the discussion with your friends and family for support. Third, if you are able I would ask for your financial support. I am prepared to make personal donations to my own campaign to a suitable level to buy some signs and a full page ad in the AbbyNews to share this but any additional funds will help and will increase the ability to reach voters.
I am very serious about supporting children and advocating for them. If your child has been bullied so badly to where they’ve had to switch schools or are a victim of brutal violence, I’d like to hear your story. I will never speak of your name or story without your consent but I want to learn the magnitude of how pervasive this problem is across the district. Once elected, I will certainly advocate for you to the point where the Superintendent gets tired of me and they start doing their jobs, or I’ll advocate to find somebody who will.
Lastly, some will view this as a ploy from a perpetually politically involved person to seek office in a role that is probably easier to get elected to. The School Board can be perceived as a junior elected office, or a good starter. My interest is solely with the children and people who don’t have the same ability to advocate that I do. If you elect me, it doesn’t matter what office opens up within the 4 year term I am not running for it. In 2030 I will not be running for Mayor or council and if I’m as successful in 1 term with the School Board as I hope to I probably won’t run for Trustee either. My wife and I have been blessed with our career opportunities and our family. That’s where my focus would be best directed. 23 people make their living serving mothers and babies at the clinic my wife co-founded in 2021 and I do have some degree of involvement managing the business side of that. My CPA firm now employs 6 accountants. I have 5 busy children who are the greatest thing we’ve ever done. I hope and pray that I am successful in a 4 year term of public service and I’ll move on.
Eric Nyval
