Board of Education Meeting Highlights

An overview of discussion items and major decisions of the Board of Education of School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake). For meeting agendas/minutes and a schedule of upcoming board meetings visit our meetings and minutes page. 

Numeracy Report 

The Numeracy Annual Report 2022 outlines how our SD8 learners are doing in numeracy and provides a description of the supports, resources, and goals that comprise our commitment to improving numeracy success for all learners. Action Items from the report include:  

• Develop a 3-year district numeracy plan focused on improving numeracy outcomes for all K-12 learners, in consultation with Aboriginal education staff, district inclusion staff, and school teams. 
• Support the development of a district-wide numeracy community of practice to implement and guide the district numeracy plan. 
• Implement a K-9 district level numeracy assessment toolkit. 
• Develop an online numeracy resource hub to support all classroom and non-enrolling 
• teachers. 
• Support school teams in developing objectives and strategies to support their school numeracy goal within the context of their school learning plan. 
• Continue to strengthen SD8 community, regional, and provincial connections that support numeracy from the early years to Grade 12. 

Enrolment Projections 

For 2022-23, School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) is projecting an estimated enrolment of 4,343 students which results in an estimated funding loss of -$362,230 and the potential loss of Funding Protection revenue of -$117,000. We can expect that declining enrolment projections will require reductions in teacher and education assistant staffing levels. 

Policy Changes 

The Board approved the following policies for field testing:  

• Policy 250: Tobacco and Electronic Smoking Devices 
• Policy 260: Scent Free Environment 
• Policy 530: Public Interest Disclosure  
• The Board approved the following policies: 
• Policy 311: Illegal Use of Drugs and/or Alcohol  
• 320: Student Attendance 
• Policy 642: Procurement and Purchasing  
• The Board rescinded the following policy: 
• Policy 321: Student Withdrawal 

These policies are available on our Board Policies page.   

Student Symposium 

This year’s Student Symposium centered on the theme of anti-racism and was facilitated by 10 student trustees. On February 25, over 100 Grade 8-12 students attended the symposium either virtually or in person from across the school district. Attendees also included school trustees, school principals and district leadership.  

The SD8 Anti-Racism Policy Advisory Council is in the process of developing an anti-racism policy for recommendation to the Board of Education that will include public, student and staff input from a survey that was part of a public engagement process held in January and February 2022. 

These highlights exclude confidential information such as business negotiations, personnel issues and legal matters. For other information or to provide feedback, please contact our Public Engagement Manager at 250-505-7005 or engagement@sd8.bc.ca .