Superintendent's Weekly Digest - October 20, 2025

As part of a settlement agreement with CUPE resolving an unfair labour practice complaint, the parties have agreed to place a printed copy of the LRB decision on CUPE bulletin boards in every school and at Operations until June 30, 2026.

As per the email to Principals and Vice-Principals on October 21, 2025, please ensure you have printed and posted the document titled British Columbia Labour Relations Board - 2025-000587, on the CUPE bulletin board at your school/operations. Please confirm with Mona that the above two steps have been completed prior to Friday, October 24th.

Effective September 1, 2025, the District has implemented a comprehensive insurance policy for all students participating in school-organized trips. After a thorough review, StudyInsured was selected as the provider, with costs fully covered by the District. This standardized policy ensures uniform coverage for medical emergencies and trip cancellations, reducing administrative burdens and protecting students, staff, and volunteers.

https://www.studyinsured.com/sd23outbound/en

The Operations Department has arranged for additional security coverage for Halloween - Friday, October 31st and Saturday, November 1st. There will be increased patrols at the middle and secondary schools as well as at some of our elementary schools who have experienced vandalism in previous years. The standard emergency call-out procedures will remain in place for the weekend.

The registration window for schools to register students for the November 2025 Graduation Assessments session closes October 23, 2025.

Instructions

1. Review the November 2025 Graduation Assessment Registration instructions.

2. See the 2025/26 Graduation Assessment Schedule for important notes and reminders.

3. Contact student.certification@gov.bc.ca if you have any questions.

Date: October 21, 2025
Time: 6:30 pm
Topic: Meeting your SD 23 Team
Location: Microsoft Teams (contact Amanda Tapp in Inclusive Education for the Teams link)

Partners for inclusive Education (PIE) is a welcoming online space committed to supporting caregivers to learn more about the how students with neurodiversity, support needs and/or diverse abilities are supported in their neighborhood school.

On October 21st we will be learning about School Based Teams and meeting some school staff members that support all learners and are a part of their School Based Team.

As part of our multi-year district focus on Learner Agency, this year’s professional learning series with Shane Safir and guest speakers will deepen understanding of Pedagogies of Voice. Lead school teams (principals, vice-principals, and lead teachers) will explore pedagogical practices that strengthen identity, belonging, inquiry, and efficacy in service of improving student experiences and outcomes.
District-Wide Learning Sessions
October 28 (3:30–5:00 pm)
January 27 (3:30–5:00 pm)
March 3 (3:30–5:00 pm)
Teams will gather in person at host schools coordinated by the Learning & Innovation Team and connect via Zoom to collaborate and make learning visible across Families of Schools.
Community of Practice Gatherings in January and April/May will bring lead teams together to share, learn, and celebrate their impact.

For more details: https://sd23.org/lead-team-sessions

Teachers and administrators are invited to join members of the Learning & Innovation Team on the October ProD day as we dig into exploring Agency through Inquiry. This will be a hands-on day all about inquiry-based learning, a powerful approach that boosts student agency, confidence, and engagement.
We’ll dive into practical strategies that work across all grade levels and subject areas, and you’ll walk away with ready-to-use routines and tools that make inquiry feel doable and exciting, not just another thing on your plate. You will hear from both teachers and students who’ve been exploring inquiry and how this has impacted them. This day will involve active participation by all who attend, as the best way to learn about inquiry is to experience it in action! If you teach in a team, this is a terrific opportunity to co-plan something cross-curricular. Please register through COTA: https://cota.ebasefm.com/programs Hope to see you there!

November 3rd from 8:00am - 10:00am
Session 2 of the Learning Series: Strengthening School Based Team through Interschool Collaboration
Work Alike Sessions: facilitated virtually at a host school
Topic: School Based Teams - Creating culture, norms, solution-focused and strength-based language; collaboration, data, systems, teacher voice and parent voice, etc.