Letter from Minister Lisa Beare regarding Additional Trustee Electoral Areas

May 1, 2025

Ref: 308217

Their Worship Sid Tobias, Mayor Town of View Royal Email: c/o jcochrane@viewroyal.ca

Dear Mayor Tobias:

Thank you for your letter of March 21, 2025, regarding the creation of additional trustee electoral areas (TEAs) in School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria). I appreciate you taking the time to write on behalf of your Town to advocate for your community and I acknowledge the importance of the recommendations in your letter.

As you are aware, s.30 of the School Act provides the Minister with the ability to set the number of trustees in each school district as well as the manner in which they are elected. In general practice, boards of education, First Nations or community members propose TEA changes to the Minister in alignment with the process set out in the Ministry’s Trustee Variation Guidelines.

I understand the Official Trustee for School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria), Sherri Bell, is aware of your request and has expressed a willingness to bring interested parties together to work through a potential proposal for TEAs in the District in alignment with Ministry guidelines. I anticipate she will be reaching out to you soon. Any proposed TEA changes for School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) would need to be submitted to the Ministry by September 2025 to allow adequate time for review prior to the next trustee elections in 2026.

Thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

Lisa Beare Minister

cc: Sherri Bell, Official Trustee, School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) Jennifer McCrea, Associate Deputy Minister Cloe Nicholls, Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance and Analytics Division