Letter from Corporation of the Township of Esquimalt Re: Trustee Electoral Area election model

Re: Trustee Electoral Area election model

Further to the Township’s letter to your council dated September 27, 2024 regarding our request of the Greater Victoria School District No. 61 (SD 61) to give consideration of a new Trustee Electoral Area election model in place of at-large elections for school board trustees, I am writing to provide you an update.

At the November 25, 2024, SD 61 School Board meeting, the Township of Esquimalt’s letter was placed on the board’s agenda. There was very little discussion among the now terminated board other than to suggest that our request instead be sent to the Minister of Education and Child Care for consideration.

In response, I am informing you that the Township of Esquimalt Council passed the following motion at our March 4, 2025 Special Council meeting:

“WHEREAS: The vast majority of B.C. School Districts that serve multiple municipalities have implemented a Trustee Electoral Area election model whereby local communities each separately elect their own School Trustee representative(s) to help optimize fair and equitable school board representation among the various municipalities,

AND WHEREAS: Part 4 – Division 1 – Section 30 of the BC School Act grants authority to the Minister of Education to approve and implement a more fair and equitable Trustee Electoral Area election model for electing school board trustees,

AND WHEREAS: the previously elected Greater Victoria School District 61 Board of Education has now been terminated, and a new Board of Education will not be elected until October 2026

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Township of Esquimalt ask the Honourable Lisa Beare, Minister of Education and Child Care, to direct School District 61 to create an inclusive and collaborative task force to consider a Trustee Electoral Area election model for the Minister’s ultimate consideration of approval for implementation in time for the 2026 Local Government/Board of Education elections.

AND THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Township of Esquimalt author letters to School District 61 official trustee Sherri Bell, the City of Victoria, District of Saanich, District of Oak Bay, Town of View Royal, District of Highlands, the Songhees Nation and Kosapsum (Esquimalt) Nation, as well as area MLAs within School District 61 to inform them of the Township’s request to the Minister of Education and Child Care.”

Under Part 4 - Division 1 – Section 30 of the BC School Act, the Minister is granted the authority to allow for a Trustee Electoral Area election model for electing school board trustees. Many school districts across British Columbia that serve multiple municipalities have already adopted this model, allowing each community to elect its own School Trustee representative(s) to promote fair and equitable representation on the school board.

The Township of Esquimalt believes that an SD 61-led task force—designed to be inclusive and collaborative with the communities served by SD 61—would be the most effective way to explore, define, and propose designated Trustee Electoral Area boundaries. This proposal could then be submitted for the Minister’s consideration and implemented in time for the 2026 Local Government elections.

We ask that your council consider joining us in making the same request to the Minister of Education and Child Care to consider implementing a Trustee Electoral Area model based on consultation with all our communities for the school district in which we all share.

Sincerely,

Mayor Barbara Desjardins

Attachments:

• Appendix A - Election Systems for CRD School Districts
• Appendix B - List of BC School Districts that Elect Trustees Proportionally by Community/Trustee Electoral Areas