Superintendent's Weekly Digest - October 27, 2025

Board Policy 621 – Protocol for Flying Flags at Half-Mast states:

“1. Occasions for Half-Masting

The Superintendent of Schools/CEO, or designate, has the authority to determine those occasions when

flags in the District should be flown at half-mast. The following protocols will typically be followed:

(a) National (all schools and worksites)

(b) On the death of the Sovereign or an immediate member of the Royal Family

(c) On the death of the Governor General or the Prime Minister

(d) On Remembrance Day, November 11, if the school is flying its flag(s) on that day

(e) On the National Day of Mourning

Accordingly, please lower your flag to half-mast after school dismisses on Monday, November 10th in respect of Remembrance Day on November 11th.

The MDI is a self-report questionnaire for students in Grade 5 that is completed in January/mid-March. The questionnaire asks about how students think and feel about their experiences both inside and outside of school. The questionnaire is completed online through the e-MDI and takes one to two class periods to administer. The MDI questions align with the BC Ministry of Education’s K-12 curriculum which includes a focus on promoting children’s personal and social competencies. As Principal, your role is to support your teachers or another designated staff to administer the MDI in your school. You may also directly administer the MDI. My role is to support you in this process. The MDI will be administered between January 13th and March 13th. You and your teachers will be granted access to the e-MDI in January. Please see attached additional resources to support with implementation.

Please click here for additional information to support MDI implementation.

Please read and familiarize yourself with the information contained in the link below that outlines the schedule and pertinent information regarding the Grade 3 Swims Program. Could you then forward the document to your Grade 3 teachers so they have this information and next steps.

Swims Information

Book Creator Premium Licenses – 75% Discount Offer
Book Creator Premium licenses are available to educators at a 75% discount through our partnership with FocusedED Resources.
Important: Any licenses from last school year will expire on November 29, 2025.

As in previous years, licenses will be paid for at the school level but coordinated through Software Support. Requests due by November 15th, 2025 so renewal licenses are not interrupted.

For teachers:
If you’re interested in using Book Creator this year, please speak with your school administrator.

For administrators:
If you’d like to support this tool, please share this offer with your staff. When teachers request a license, complete the linked form with:

-The names of the teachers requesting licenses
-The account code the Tech Department should use for billing

Cost: Approximately $45 per teacher (after discount)
Access: Unlimited books and libraries for students, available for all K–12 classrooms

Links:

Book Creator

Form

This action-focused district committee is dedicated to improving the Work Order process to make it faster, fairer, and more service-oriented, while also addressing communication and decision-making challenges. Key actions include clearing backlogs, setting service standards, enhancing communication, and modeling a service-first culture. To support this work, principals will soon receive instructions on how to review their current work order lists and confirm which requests are still needed. This will help the committee develop an accurate understanding of outstanding needs. The committee includes district staff and Principals Hugh Alexander, Nina Ferguson, and Brady Ibbetson.

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.

Link to StudyInsured

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.

Due to BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU) strike action in the BC Public Service, the Graduation Assessment Session for November 3-7, 2025 will be cancelled for all grade 10 and 12 assessments. The next available session will be begin on January 12, 2026 and will be extended by an additional week, to January 30, to allow more time for a larger administration.

The Ministry has confirmed that early admission to post-secondary institutions in B.C. will not be impacted by the cancellation, as students are able to write the assessments in another session (January, April, or June) and submit their results when completed.

If you have any questions regarding the November graduation assessment administration session cancellation or specific concerns related to impacts for students, please contact the Ministry by email at assessments@gov.bc.ca. 

Due to BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU) strike action in the BC Public Service, any additional FSA materials requested after September 22, 2025, cannot be sent. If additional materials are required, it is recommended that you contact other schools in your district who may have extras or to photocopy materials, at your discretion. Schools are asked to follow the existing FSA timelines (October 1- November 10).

As FSA scoring materials (including student exemplars) cannot be sent at this time, schools are requested to hold secure all completed student booklets for marking until these resources are made available and new FSA scoring and score entry deadlines are provided.

Canada recognizes National Indigenous Veteran's Day on November 8th. Indigenous Veteran's Day is observed Friday, Nov 7th this year in schools. We encourage all schools to discuss National Indigenous Veteran's Day with their students and to honor Indigenous veterans in a moment of silence on Nov 7th, 2025.

November 8th is a day for people to pay tribute to the important contributions and the sacrifices made by First Nations, Inuit and Métis in service in Canada and below the border. Our schools can play a vital role in educating our students about the hardships Indigenous Veterans endured enlisting to the military.

The Indigenous Education Department is worked hand in hand with the Learning and Innovation Team to provide these learning offerings (linked below) in support of truth, remembrance, and reconciliation.

This resource, which has been reviewed by community, takes a localized approach to learning and provides entry points for meaningful reflection for all learners K–12.

Learning Offerings

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.