Candace Spilsbury, the Cowichan Valley School Board chair calls the group of trustees her ‘dream team’ as the seven will serve for the next four years.
There are a number of priorities for the board of trustees, including opening up additional spaces to accommodate increased enrollment and working on the largest capital project in the area, the replacement or renovation of Cowichan Secondary School.
Spilsbury said the implementation of the new curriculum is well underway.
“We are in the middle of assisting our teachers with the implementation of the new curriculum and reporting requirements,” said Spilsbury. “We’re in the middle of continuing to develop effective partnerships and working relationships with our First Nations, our local governments, and our broader community.
Spilsbury added, “We also have an urgent need, in our minds, about early learning.”
A project definition report is almost done and it will be submitted to the province in the hopes of the government approving funding for the replacement of Cowichan Secondary.
It can go one of two ways, either a replacement or renovation of the school and Spilsbury is hoping for a complete replacement of the old, outdated facility.
“The board’s intent is to have approval for a new school on a new site, that’s our advocacy that we have been promoting,” said Spilsbury. “We are hoping that the report says that that’s the best strategy.”
A demographic report indicates that more than one thousand new students are going to enroll in School District 79 in the next decade.
