School trustees are members of the community who have been elected to form the Board of Education for the school district.
School trustees are elected for a four-year term. The next election of school trustees will be held on October 17, 2026.
School trustees are community members elected by other community members to represent the interest of the entire public in the education process of creating our next generation of citizens to strengthen Canadian democracy.
Locally elected school trustees, who make up boards of education in British Columbia, represent a unique form of democratic governance. Unlike municipal councils, provincial legislative assemblies and the federal parliament, boards of education have one primary mandate: improve learning for all students.
All board decisions, policies, regulations and actions must support the vision of improving learning outcomes for all students.
School trustees work collaboratively to develop a Strategic Plan for the school district, review and pass balanced budgets, review operational plans, and develop, apply and refine policies and procedures to ensure the effective operations of the school district.
School trustees commit themselves to learn and listen to the citizens who voted for them, as well as those who did not vote for them and those who did not vote at all. Once elected to a board, trustees must learn about the interests and views of students, parents, school district management, teachers and public education agencies such as francophone and First Nation authorities.
Learn more about Boards of Education and trustees from B.C. School Trustees Association (BCSTA).
Board of Education Meetings
The Board of Education meets three times a month:
- Regular Board of Education Meeting (Open to the Public) Regular Board meetings are typically held on the fourth Wednesday of every month, from September to June.
- Strategic Directions Committee Meeting (Online, Open to the Public)
- Professional Working and Learning Group
Making a presentation at a Board of Education Meeting
If you wish to appear before the Board as a delegation, you need to submit your request to the Secretary-Treasurer’s Office in writing nine days before the regular meeting. Your letter should identify the spokesperson for your group; the topic you will be discussing, and the phone number or address where you can be reached.
Depending on the number of requests for delegations to appear before the Board, you may be scheduled for the next regular meeting or one sometime after that. When appearing before the Board, delegations are given 10 minutes for their presentation. Following the presentation, there is an opportunity for trustees to ask questions.
Writing to the Board of Education
If you would like to write to the Board of Education regarding an issue, concern or feedback, you can send an email.
Your email will be forwarded to the Board and senior staff immediately. Historically, all correspondence received from the public will be discussed at an Agenda Setting meeting where a decision is made to include it in either the public or in-camera (closed) Board agenda package.
*Please note, if your correspondence includes student or district employee information, it will be added to the in-camera agenda package. Further, your name and correspondence content will be included in the public record verbatim (i.e. made available online), however, we will respect your privacy and will remove your contact information that you included in your original correspondence.
Once received at a Board meeting, the Board of Education determines if the correspondence will:
- Referred to staff for response; Board Chair response;
- Received and filed as information; or
- Referred to the Education or Business Committee for further discussion. The Board will strive to respond or answer your questions once it is determined how it will proceed.
If your correspondence is pertaining to an upcoming event, please keep allow sufficient time for a response.
Families of School Assignments and provincial representation
School trustees are assigned to specific schools across the district. They also sit on various provincial and regional committees.
Meet your school trustees:
Leanne is a mother of 2, one who attends high school in the district, and one who attends university. She has been grateful to call the lands of the Snuneymuxw people her home for the last 9 years.
She spent the last four years serving as the DPAC President for SD68, where she had the opportunity to work with the districts PACs, encouraging parental involvement in the educational system and providing parent education opportunities.
She sat on many SD68 internal committees including Business, ETAG, LRFP, ESACC, Calendar and Safe Schools where she had the opportunity to voice the concerns and wishes of parents in the district. She is grateful for the opportunities her role as President gave her to be able to gain valuable experience on how to affect positive change in the district for parents and students.
She looks forward to working in her new role as trustee to improve the learning outcomes for students.
Committee / Board Membership
Represented Family of Schools
- Qwam Qwum Stuwixwulh
Contact Information
Greg is a Registered Professional Planner with experience leading a range of complex, multi-stakeholder community planning, policy, and engagement projects.
As a public servant working in a local government setting, Greg has worked closely with the public, elected officials, senior levels of government, and community groups from across the region to lead the creation of Official Community Plans and to administer the development approval process.
Greg is starting the first year of his second term as the Board Chair following the last two years of his last term as Chair of the Business Committee. As a Trustee, Greg has participated on a number of committee assignments including the Long Range Facilities Plan Committee, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Committee, and Policy Committee.
Greg also volunteers with the Coast Emergency Communications Association which provides emergency radio communications services during times of need to the City of Nanaimo and the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Greg’s children attend public school and he is a strong defender of the public education system. Greg is honoured to continue to serve the students, families, and caregivers of Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools and strives to ensure success for all.
Committee / Board Membership
Represented Family of Schools
- Wellington Secondary
- Cilaire Elementary
- syuẁén’ct Elementary (Coal Tyee)
- Departure Bay Elementary
- Rock City Elementary
- Uplands Park Elementary
Contact Information
Tania Brzovic is a life-long Nanaimoite who was one of the first special needs students to be fully integrated in School District 68, attending Princess Anne and Rutherford Elementary schools, Wellington Junior Secondary School and Nanaimo District Senior Secondary School.
Tania Brzovic is a life-long Nanaimoite who was one of the first special needs students to be fully integrated in School District 68, attending Princess Anne and Rutherford Elementary schools, Wellington Junior Secondary School and Nanaimo District Senior Secondary School. As someone who was raised in a family of teachers, she learned from an early age that a healthy public system is the cornerstone of a strong community. She has a degree in child and youth care and has many years experience in advocacy, particularly in the areas of anti-poverty work and supporting individuals with special needs and their families.
She has served on multiple non profit boards. Currently, she is part of a team that runs the Harewood Youth Ball Hockey League. Their goal is to provide a low-cost, fun recreational activity for children. They emphasize sportsmanship, fairness, teamwork, providing strong role modelling for children/youth. As well, she has helped with many community school activities, such as Kids 4 Kids, the Summer Reading program, games clubs and other activities. She has also worked with the United Way, the Southside Teen Centre, the Vancouver Island Crisis Society and other agencies.
Tania is always open to hearing from stakeholders.
Committee / Board Membership
Represented Family of Schools
- John Barsby Community
- Learning Alternatives
- Bayview Elementary
- Chase River Elementary
- Georgia Avenue Community
- Park Avenue Elementary
Contact Information
Chantelle was raised in a rural French town in New Brunswick and is a bilingual speaker. She moved to the west coast of British Columbia 24 years ago. After having her first child, she put aside her budding career in Strata Management to focus on raising her children.
She has held various roles on PAC and DPAC in Surrey & Mission, with her most recent being President of the Learning Alternatives PAC here in SD68. Her work and life experience has led her to connect and work with all levels of government including provincial, federal and international organizations in the disability community. She currently works at Vancouver Island University in Assessment Services.
She leads with her heart rooted in human rights and building relationships and will bring these skills and perspectives to enhance student and staff well-being in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school community.
Committee / Board Membership
Represented Family of Schools
- Ladysmith Secondary
- Ladysmith Intermediate
- Ladysmith Primary
- North Oyster Elementary
Contact Information
Leana and her family have made Nanaimo their home for 17 years, moving from New Westminster. She grew up spending a lot of time on the island and always felt a big connection to the lands and waters. She is an avid Salish sea swimmer and seeking nature moments every single day. Her daughter graduated a couple of years ago from this district and her son is currently attending high school.
Leana reads the meters for Fortis and walks around 20 km a day, getting a real sense of each community within our school district. What an incredible gift to live and raise our families in the the Snaw-Naw-As, Snuneymuxw, and Stz’uminus territories.
She believes deeply in public schools and has been advocating for those with less for many years. Serving on the board for NYSA for 10 years has given her a lot of insight into the needs and successes of our local youth. Leana has served on DPAC, getting a real sense of what’s happening in each school. She has also served on SOGI and is all about inclusion. Leana proudly has been a member of the Syeyutsus family in our district representing the parent voice. (Formerly knows as Truth and Reconciliation).
Committee / Board Membership
Represented Family of Schools
- Dover Bay Secondary
- International Student Ed.
- Frank J. Ney Elementary
- McGirr Elementary
- Pleasant Valley Elementary
- Randerson Ridge Elementary
- Rutherford Elementary
- Seaview Elementary
Contact Information
Mark Robinson (He/Him) is honoured to live, work and play on the traditional and historic lands of the Snuneymuxw, Snaw-Naw-As and Stz’uminus First Nations people. As a multilingual single parent of three daughters, it is here that he actively raises his two young children who attend school here in Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, while his eldest daughter is a recent graduate from our district.
Having been raised in Nanaimo, Mark is a former Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools student and brings with him an ample supply of historical context and experience to the school board.
A long-time community volunteer, Mark began as a student setting up the Malaspina College (Now Vancouver Island University) Foundation’s annual fundraiser Festival of Trees and never looked back. He continued to contribute his time as a young adult volunteering for Canada Day every year, eventually finding himself first as a member of the City of Nanaimo’s working Canada Day Committee, and later as a director on the Canada Day Society. One of his most enjoyable volunteer roles was with the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society in such roles as a peer mentor and guest speaker.
Mark has been enthusiastically active in our school district for the better part of a decade as a member of his children’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC), president/chair of the PAC, served on Nanaimo-Ladysmith’s District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC), and now continues to serve the district as a school trustee on Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools Board of Education as well as the Business Committee, Education Committee, Joint Professional Development Committee, and the Long Range Facilities Plan Committee.
Mark has also previously held roles on the board of directors for Volunteer Nanaimo, the Nanaimo Family Court committee, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools now defunct Race Relations Committee as vice-chair, and the City of Nanaimo’s Culture and Heritage Commission.
In his spare time, Mark enjoys creating new dishes to share with friends and family. When the weather is cooperative, he can sometimes be found with his daughters enjoying the magnificent outdoors in and around central Vancouver Island. His other interests include playing Lego and board games with his children, myrmecology, chess, learning new languages, Wordle, watching movies in their full theatrical experience, and is a supporter of Liverpool Football Club.
Professionally, Mark taught ESL for over 10 years before finding his career calling as an essential worker with NACL (Nanaimo Association for Community Living) as a front-line community support worker.
Committee / Board Membership
Represented Family of Schools
- Nanaimo District Secondary
- Fairview Community
- Mountain View Elementary
- Pauline Haarer Elementary
- Quarterway Elementary
Contact Information
Tom Rokeby moved to Nanaimo as a teenager with his retiring parents Noel and Shirley Rokeby. Tom grew up watching his parents immerse themselves in projects such as Loaves and Fishes, Global Village and Woodgrove Seniors Housing from idea to reality. The responsibility to help our community grow with dignity and equity was an early lesson.
A member of Nanaimo District Secondary School’s last mass-grad in 1989, Tom continued his education first at Vancouver Island University (then Malaspina), and in time transfered to the University of Victoria to complete his undergraduate degrees and teacher certification.
Tom returned home to teach French Immersion at NDSS, and soon after to John Barsby, where he established and ran Bulldog Theatre for the next 18 years. His passion drove him beyond the school day, hosting regional festivals, mounting 2 student productions each year, taking students to Japan, and running Student Vote each election cycle.
Raising a family in Nanaimo with his wife Lisa, Tom continues to build community, the way his parents taught him. Reconciliation is an action item in the Rokeby household. Tom teaches literacy to residential and day school survivors, and sits on the board of The Literacy Circle Society. His creative energy is currently being channelled into his role as Artistic Director of Reconcilation Theatre. The entire family is grateful for the Hulquiminum courses taken with S’nuneymuxw Elder Gary Manson his son and Adam Manson through the Nanaimo Art Gallery.
Tom lives an active lifestyle, developing the property that he and Lisa bought 12 years ago into the South Wellington Art Farm, an outdoor performing arts center and home to our hens, goats and kune kune pigs. Tom has also been an active parent-volunteer, sharing his limited skill and tireless enthusiasm with Island Swish Basketball and Nanaimo Minor Hockey Association.
Tom’s first attempt at community organizing was an inline hockey league, the CPHL. He grew old enjoying the sport with new friends, and is proud the league outlasted him. Most recently, Tom has been appointed to the steering committee for the South Wellington Community Centre, and is excited to have the opportunity to design a facility to meet the growing needs of the region.
Committee / Board Membership
Represented Family of Schools
- Nanaimo District Secondary
- Brechin Elementary
- Forest Park Elementary
- Gabriola Elementary
- Hammond Bay Elementary
Contact Information
My name is Xaniimastan and my English name is Tim Harris.
I am a Stz’uminus First Nations band member. I have a B.Ed. and an M.Ed. I was a classroom teacher for 7 years. I was a First Nations school principal for 8.5 years. I’m currently a Team Lead/Program Manager of a program called Step Up with Kwumut Lelum in Nanaimo BC. We offer supports to youth in-care with Independence and Life Skills. I was on council for my nation for 17 years. Lastly, I have sat on many boards over the years. I’m currently on the Lookout Housing and Health Society Board and the PacificSport Board.
My passion is seeing our youth become successful in life. I strongly feel our youth need us to support them on their education journey. Many youth come with many social/emotional needs and physical/spiritual needs. I strongly feel it is up to us to support them. With my current job, it’s been a treat to support youth with life skills with the goal of having our youth become independent. I will continue to be a strong advocate for all youth and young adults.
Huy’ch’qa
Committee / Board Membership
Represented Family of Schools
- Cedar Secondary
- Career Technical Centre (CTC)
- Cedar Elementary
- Cinnabar Valley Elementary
- Island ConnectED K-12
Contact Information
Contacting the Board of Education
Please note: Due to privacy legislation, if your letter contains names, addresses or any personal information of a student, district employee or a member of the general public, the letter will only be available in the closed Board meeting packages.
Governance Corner
The Secretary-Treasurer often provides governance, compliance and regulatory advice to the Board of Education.
Below you will find copies of these documents received by the Board. Please note that the information provided is not intended to be legal advice and some information may not be up to date.
- Authority of School Board and the Minister
- Robert’s Rules vs Policy
- Family Law
- Parents and Volunteers, Liability
Policies and Administrative Procedures
The Board of Education for Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools creates policies and procedures that reflect the Board’s vision and values.
District staff use these policies to guide how they carry out their work via administrative procedures.
Financial information and annual budget
The Board of Education approves an annual budget for the school district in June each year.
Long Range Facilities Plan
The Board of Education approved the Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP) on May 26, 2021.
The LRFP was presented to community partners and the Board in February 2021 for initial feedback, in addition to meeting with local partners including the City of Nanaimo, District of Lantzville, Regional District of Nanaimo and Town of Ladysmith.
Upon Board approval of the draft Plan, NLPS moved to consultation via electronic open houses in March of 2021, with changes shared with the Board for consideration in the Spring of 2021.
Environmental Stewardship Action Plan (ESAP)
This plan operationalizes the Board’s strategic goal of being a leader in environmental stewardship and sustainability and will impact all areas of the district from teaching and learning to Reconciliation to infrastructure.