Richmond Board of Education

The Richmond Board of Education acknowledges and thanks the First Peoples of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language group on whose traditional and unceded territories we teach, learn and live.
There are seven trustees on the Richmond Board of Education. The Board is responsible for the functioning of the Richmond School District. The major decisions of the Board are for the approval and shaping of the district budget, the hiring of senior staff and the oversight and approval of the writing of policies by which the District operates.

What Does The Richmond Board of Education Do?

The Board makes decisions by voting at meetings of the Board. A motion is a proposal for the Board to consider. A resolution is the result of the Board voting in favour of a motion. The resolutions of the Board are binding on the District. Individual trustees have no authority in this respect. Generally, the Board holds both public meetings and in-camera meetings twice a month. In-camera meetings are for discussing topics that would otherwise compromise the proper functioning of the Board, if the topic were to be discussed publicly e.g. strategy for negotiating a land sale.

The Board is a member of the British Columbia School Trustees Association (BCSTA), whose purpose is to help school boards in BC to do their jobs.  The BCSTA is also the natural path for advocating on issues that are provincial in scope, such as resolving the current labour dispute.  Although Boards of Education are the employers in this dispute, they are represented at the bargaining table by the BC Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), which is an arm of the BC government.

Richmond Board of Education Committees

There are four standing committees of the Board: Education, Personal & Finance (P&F), Policy, and Audit, which meet on schedules ranging from once a month to once every two months.  As well, trustees sit on District committees, such as the Communications Committee, a couple of whose responsibilities are organizing Education Week and publishing the District annual.  Finally, there are committees and commitments external to the District which trustees attend to, for example with BCSTA and BCPSEA.