Monday July 3, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated 1:35 pm]
Editorial Feature by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
NEWS SECTIONS: PUBLIC EDUCATION | SOOKE SCHOOL DISTRICT 62 | BY-ELECTIONS
He was asked to maintain a poker face about it at the June 27 SD62 board meeting, but in that twilight zone between last day of classes and start of summer break, Sooke School District 62 (SD62) announced that their deputy superintendent Paul Block had been selected as the fast-growing school district’s next superintendent. The top job.
And here we are in summer — with kids, families and teachers on summer break — talking about things to come once the 2023-2024 school year is nearly half-way through. Block will take over the reins effective January 1, 2024.
But a lot of things will happen between now and then, some of them underway already.
People-person:
“I’m a people person,” Block tells Island Social Trends. He listens and responds, and builds working relationships. He sees that as a key part of his success until now, and going forward.
Block is also the data-cruncher, but with a vision. For many years now it’s been Block (in previous roles as assistant or associate superintendent) who has prepared the school population increase projections, in some years with input from an external consultant.
In nine of the past 10 years he got the projections nearly bang-on. The notable exception was a few years ago when he missed the mark by 50 percent… as did many of us… not yet fully integrating how the economy is changing and housing prices are far beyond reach. In the case of families moving to Langford that meant people were living more-to-a-unit than would have been previously presumed by even housing experts and Realtors.
Always there to support the superintendent (working under Jim Cambridge to 2018 and currently Scott Stinson), Paul Block has never really been held back. He puts the well-being of students first. That’s been his north star.
Staying grounded:
Paul Block says he remains grounded by adhering to a belief in “the joy of learning” and how the school system can support kids. This keeps him “driven and clear”. Students should be able to learn in an environment where they feel safe, welcome and included, he says.
As well, he’s strongly impacted by the fact that SD62 is the largest employer in the west shore. SD62 is an economic driver that is felt or should be felt across the region, not just within the four walls of schools, he believes.
When Block is steering the SD62 ship his broad focus will include the broader range of people who live in the west shore community, who are impacted by the size, operational rhythms and employment opportunities that SD62 generates.
Deep history in SD62:
Block’s leadership will emerge with the evidence of having a deep history within SD62. He’s been part of the west shore’s education journey since 1992. Taking on the superintendent’s role will be what he calls “the last chapter” of his career. Among other things:
- Block was instrumental in the ‘alternative’ learning concept that was spawned as the Westshore Learning Centre (offering low-key, more interactive learning custom-paced experiences for students in their high school years, at locations around Langford, Colwood and Sooke), which has now become West Shore Secondary.
- Along with leadership by Associate Superintendent Dave Strange, he has had a hand in revisions to the approaches to student mental health and well-being, through creative adaptations to the delivery of counselling including peer-style counselling.
- Block has taken to heart his direct work with Indigenous leadership and groups as part of enhancing the learning experience for students who self-identify as Indigenous (though at this month’s board meeting — based on statistics — it was apparently evident that more needs to be done).
- And he’s been the data-oracle to predict student population growth and help translate that in to the increased number of classroom spaces.
“When I started I wanted to change the world and make a difference in people’s lives,” Block said last week. He’s been methodically working on that goal.
SD62 has had to address many social justice issues over the years, translating them into policy. There’s been a goal of sustaining, maintaining and retaining not just staff but also the values and principles that seem many times unique to SD62.
Carrying that overall banner of progress in public education forward in 2024 seems threaded into his presence. He will no doubt be particularly pleased with the opening of the Royal Roads University West Shore campus in Langford in September 2024, which will integrate SD62 classroom participation.
Pondering the big issues:
“There is social push back on gender fluidity. Basic human rights are being challenged.”
Block feels that SD62 needs to approach all this with an “appreciative lens”, as “not everyone shares these beliefs”.
He plants firmly the idea that the role of education is for people to understand what’s going on around them.
Knuckling down on the practical issues:
“It’s a bit scary,” says Block about the unrelenting population growth in the west shore and its impact on the operation of schools with enough space for everyone. Still on top of the numbers, he points out that the biggest population squeeze will be in the high schools, with space challenges also in the elementary schools.
The timeline for a new school — from determination of need, to design, through building and setup for opening– is about three to five years. “But we can’t wait that long.” Speeding that up to a three-to-four-year time frame will rely on using pre-built timber modular classrooms, instead of using portables.
Block describes the modular classrooms as “more accommodating”. As permanent structures they become part of the school footprint instead of sitting outside the main area of school activity.
De facto, this means that school yards are smaller (no mention of impacts on playgrounds, parking lots and sports fields). But it also means that dollars for use within classrooms will be spared; unlike portables which must be funded by the school district, the provincial government would take on the capital cost of expanding with modular.
Expansion projects could be seen in central-area sites like Ruth King Elementary and David Cameron Elementary, says Block.
Reflecting on the governance issues:
The new board has undertaken a “firehose of learning” and a heavy load of service since being sworn in November 1, 2022, says Block.
They’ve now been through their first budget process; the budget is in year three of a four-year plan, he notes. They’ll soon move into the strategic plan revisions in 2024 (the next plan is likely to be time-stamped for 2026-2030, or perhaps one year shorter than that).
The current SD62 board has four trustees that when elected in October 2022 were entirely new to elected politics and board-style governance: Cendra Beaton, Russ Chipps, Amanda Dowhy, and Trudy Spiller (though arguably Dowhy and Beaton had front row exposure to SD62 from being on the district parent PAC, committees or other forms of education-related leadership, while Chipps is a First Nations chief, and Spiller has been MP Randall Garrison’s right hand on Indigenous issues for many years).
Ebony Logins has previously been a District of Sooke councillor and long-time SD62 employee. The only two incumbent trustees from the October 15, 2022 election are Ravi Parmar (now in the process of moving on as MLA-elect for Langford-Juan de Fuca) and Allison Watson.
Making their choice:
The current board picked Paul as their next superintendent, out of hundreds of applications for the job. Interim Board Chair Amanda Dowhy says that the board worked with a consultant to help them define what they were looking for. All members of the board and “key staff, stakeholders and rights holders” were involved in the hiring process, says Dowhy.
A long list of attributes was used by the board during the selection process, Dowhy told Island Social Trends last week. That include being compassionate and dynamic, and having a good working relationship with the Indigenous community.
The new board also chose their next superintendent on the basis of who could best support them through continued growth. “It was a really tough choice, we took quite a while,” says Dowhy, but it came down to “skill set, relationships, being knowledgeable, a commitment to Indigenous reconciliation, and wanting the new board to succeed”.
“Paul is all heart and he shows that in everything that he does,” said Dowhy on June 30.
Dowhy said she feels the new board is still finding its voice. She said the hiring process sought a top administrator who ascribes to the idea of ‘leader as servant’.
Relations outside of SD62:
Block has good working relations with Parmar (who will soon be at the provincial level once he’s sworn in as MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca) and local MLA Mitzi Dean (who has been well-integrated with delivering for families previously through the Pacific Centre Family Services Association).
Block has been part of the ongoing administrative work to improve communications and working relationships with the three key municipalities in which SD62 schools are located (i.e. Langford, Colwood and Sooke).
Block has been a key staff lead on the SD62 Education Policy Committee, where — among many other things — the approval of new courses are approved.
Upcoming SD62 by-election:
Most people in political circles knew for several years that Parmar would be moving on to run for MLA in Langford-Juan de Fuca upon John Horgan’s retirement. Had Parmar not run for trustee in Fall 2022 that would have eliminated the need for a by-election in SD62 now, but the BC NDP was leaving nothing to chance.
Block will see the newest trustee join the ranks around the time he shifts into the superintendent position.
The SD62 by-election in 2023 will be in the west shore Belmont Zone of the large school district, i.e. for voters in Langford, Colwood, Metchosin and Highlands. (The Milne’s Landing Zone is for voters in Sooke and Juan de Fuca).
SD62 is already preparing to hold a board meeting in August, to get rolling on a motion about the by-election. That can only happen once Parmar has resigned his seat as trustee.
More strategic, more transparent:
The incoming superintendent says SD62 needs to continue becoming more strategic and more transparent. The strategic plan (currently for 2021-2025) and tons of documents and processes take care of a lot of that.
Sometimes there is media engagement beyond the quick coverage of high-profile announcements; Block says for him the media can be an ally.
Of particular note for future budgets, IT dollars are not going as far as they used to. That’s not just about equipment and software but the “maturity” of the organization that Block says needs automation, metrics and data (which probably also means continued expansion to the IT staffing contingent). Lingo like “quantifying our successes” rolls of the administrator’s tongue but one expects that Block knows there’s more to success than numbers.
Leadership shift:
There will no doubt be many points of administrative transition between the current and incoming superintendents. The current superintendent Scott Stinson retires at December 31, 2023.
When Block settles into the superintendent’s chair there may not be immediate or noticeable changes for parents and students. Teachers will carry on, as will support staff, bus drivers, and people who clean facility spaces.
But Block’s vision runs long and the work leading up to this point has run deep. Leadership starts at the top and now he will be there. If anyone has a chance to filter the best possible change through the ranks in these complex times, it’s Block.
No administrator will please everyone, but in Block most people who engage with the Sooke School District will find in him a professional who seems to know how to weave through the obstacles toward goals that others seem to align with.
Parents seeking change:
Parents who seek change in the SD62 system may wish to pay attention for new ways and opportunities to have their voices heard in 2024 and going forward. That engagement should of course go through the board-level elected officials (i.e. the trustees who parents have voted for on election day), as in days of old. But access to trustees has been locked up and buttoned down for the last several years, and SPEAC (the parent PAC) is a tightly knit shop that funnels up to the board level.
Going forward, parents who work directly with SD62 senior staff and administration may get farther. Hopefully there are soon also fresher ways of accepting public input online or through a dedicated email portal.
===== RELATED:
Parmar presently holds two seats in the west shore (July 2, 2023)
Langford-Juan de Fuca by-election could lead to SD62 by-election (June 1, 2023)
SD62 Superintendent Scott Stinson retiring at 2023 year-end (May 1, 2023)
Five brand new trustees on SD62 board (October 21, 2022)