LDCSB Trustee Candidate Profile - Mary Holmes

Friday, 5 June 2026 12:30

Mary Holmes says education is her calling and she has more work to do.

OXFORD - She's been the Oxford County trustee for the London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB) for about 11 years now and she's looking to add four more.

Mary Holmes was first hired on as the Oxford trustee when Cliff Roach retired in 2015. Holmes had already had lots of experience in education at that point, working as a high school teacher and as a coordinator for the LDCSB.

She has won three elections since then, so this is her fourth campaign for the job.

She has been a big advocate for French immersion throughout her years as a trustee, especially when French immersion was taken away from Holy Family Catholic in Woodstock.

"All of the parents who wanted to send their kids to French immersion would have to send their kids to another school for Kindergarten before they got there! So I fought about that and finally we got it back."

Holmes also fought to reinstate the French immersion status at St. Mary's Catholic High School.

As a former teacher at St. Mary's in Woodstock, she became very involved when there were talks about making the school's cafetorium all one level. The drama club wasn't as popular during the time, and school was experiencing some water issues, so the board wanted to get rid of the auditorium's incline. Holmes fought hard to save it, and its still there to this day thanks to her.

If she's re-elected for another term, Holmes would like to continue to advocate for more critical thinking.

"Right now in the world, we have critical thinking crisis. With all of the advancements in technology, the screen time that kids have, and their inability to decipher how the messages are affecting them and affecting them deeply."

She says board needs have a methodology, so the teachers have a simple way of passing critical thinking skills on to students.

The municipal election is scheduled for October 26th.