Saturday January 4, 2025 | LANGFORD, BC [Posted at 7:10 pm]
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The new Chair of the Sooke School District (SD62) board of education is Cendra Beaton.
The new vice-chair is Allison Watson.
Those appointments by acclamation from among their fellow trustees on the SD62 board became effective December 17, 2024.
Winter break ends tomorrow, with students, teachers and families preparing for a return to school on Monday January 6, 2025.
Dowhy steps back:
The immediate past-chair of the board is Amanda Dowhy, who held that spot from summer 2023 when Ravi Parmar resigned from the board in order to become the local MLA (for then Langford-Juan de Fuca, now Langford-Highlands).
Dowhy continued the previous board’s focus on getting more land for schools and the continued construction of more schools, in light of a consistent population increase in the west shore since 2010 (particularly in Langford, Colwood and Sooke).
Dowhy was first elected in 2022 from the Sooke side of the riding. SD62’s immediate past vice-chair Ebony Logins is also from the Sooke side of the riding.
There is a by-election coming up for District of Sooke council in spring 2025 with at least one seat open (now that former District of Sooke Councillor Dana Lajeunesse is the MLA for Juan de Fuca-Malahat), possibly two (if current Sooke Mayor Maja Tait wins as the NDP candidate in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke in the upcoming federal election).
The next SD62 trustee election will be in October 2026 (as part of the municipal/school trustee 4-year election cycle).
Beaton’s direction:
“We look forward to collaborating with our partner groups to make a positive impact for the greater good of our school district,” said Beaton in a post in social media this week.
“Together, we will work toward creating a brighter future for all students and the community,” she said.
Partner groups include principals and vice-principals, teachers, CUPE staff, and the parent councils.
Two sides to the SD62 footprint:
The board of seven SD62 trustees aims to operate with one voice, but trustees are elected from two sides of the school district geographical area:
- Cendra Beaton was first elected in the 2022 school trustee election from the west shore side of the school district (i.e. Belmont Zone / voters in Langford, Colwood, Highlands and Metchosin). Prior to that she had served as the rep for the district parents group (SPEAC) and Canadian Parents for French.
- Allison Watson is now in her second term, first being elected in 2018 and in 2022. She is elected from the Sooke side of the district (i.e. Milne’s Landing Zone / voters in Sooke and Juan de Fuca).
Currently the board is comprised of six trustees who are women, and one man.
New directions started in 2024:
SD62 began the year 2024 with a new superintendent.
Under Paul Block as SD62 superintendent for a year there has been a direction of putting further emphasis on academics to help balance out the strong work in areas of facility growth and sports in the past 10 years.
Student population growth has increased by about 400 per year since 2014, seeing two previous SD62 superintendents (Jim Cambridge and Scott Stinson) leaning heavily to expansion of school administration to manage the facility growth. A heavy community push for team sports facilities found its way into school board decisions over the past 10 years.
Recently there was a public engagement effort about the 2025-2029 SD62 Strategic Plan that tried to involve the broader community beyond SD62 staff and students. This is a new direction for SD62 as it grows in size and complexity within the west shore region (where it also happens to be the largest employer).
There will also be further collaborative work with Royal Roads University to introduce SD62 high school students to a new kind of undergrad program at the new campus that is set to open in Langford in Fall 2025, as a way to improve Grade 12 graduation rates and going further into the post-secondary training that is considered necessary for at least 80% of new jobs in the changing economy and workplace.
Recent new Minister of Education & Child Care:
As of November 18, 2024 the new BC Minister of Education and Child Care is Lisa Beare.
===== RELATED:
- SD62 opens up 2025-2029 strategic plan input to broader community (December 9, 2024)
- 2024 year-end retirement for SD62 Secretary-Treasurer Harold Cull (November 26, 2024)
- SD62 student enrollment up 4.3% in 2024-25 (October 8, 2024)
- New SD62 superintendent Paul Block is building partnerships (May 22, 2024)
NEWS SECTIONS: K-12 EDUCATION | SD62 – SOOKE SCHOOL DISTRICT | POLITICS