News Stories

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. 

On March 10, the Province of B.C. announced several changes to existing public health orders (PHO) that affect the Provincial COVID-19 Communicable disease Guidelines for K-12 Settings. These changes come into effect the first day of Spring Break – March 14, 2022.

At a meeting on March 3, the SD8 Board of Education directed Superintendent Trish Smillie to extend the implementation date of the district’s Proof of Vaccination Regarding COVID-19 Administrative Procedure from March 11 to April 11, 2022. This one-month extension will allow the Board time to consider evolving COVID-19 data and changes to public health directives.

The purpose of the Proof of Vaccination Procedure is to safeguard the health and safety of employees and students from COVID-19.

An overview of discussion items & major decisions from the School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) Board of Education (SD8). Full meeting agendas/minutes and a schedule of upcoming board meetings are available on our meetings page.

The recent announcement by the Williams Lake First Nation of 93 unmarked burial sites discovered at the former Williams Lake, St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School adds to the terrible truths of missing children buried at other former residential school sites in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada.

January 20, 2022, Nelson, BC -

The Board of Education - School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) passed a resolution on January 18 that directs Superintendent Trish Smillie to create and implement a Proof of Vaccination Procedure for all staff and contractors. It will not apply to students.

The purpose of the Proof of Vaccination Procedure is to safeguard the health and safety of employees and students from COVID-19.

- Partners and public invited to complete online survey

School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) invites students, parents, staff and the wider community to share their voices in an online survey. The survey is part of a comprehensive public engagement process initiated by the Board of Education to inform a new policy to address racism.

The past two weeks have been busy for families, students, teachers and other school district staff who have worked together to make sure students safely returned to school, and that we have plans in place for continued learning if school closures occur due to spread of the Omicron variant.

To assist us, the Ministry of Education has shared provincial protocols with school and district administrators and staff so together, we can manage school associated activity in the best way possible.

SD8 hosts Virtual French Immersion Information Sessions

Families in both Creston and Nelson who are interested in the Late French Immersion Program can now register for a virtual information night session. School District 8 Kootenay Lake offers late French immersion as a vibrant and competitive program of choice.

All students who have successfully completed the preceding year and are residents in School District 8 (Kootenay Lake) are eligible to apply for the program.

SD8 student athletes happy to be back on the courts

The suspension of sports in BC last year took affected student athletes and coaches in our district, with BC high school sports halting the play of all sports in the province due to the pandemic. However, with the return of some of the traditional sports this fall, we now have SD8 students, teachers, staff and parents all cheering.