Oct 15 2025

Guest: Naomi Bailey, Nanaimo-Ladysmith school board chair, professor at Vancouver Island University, former K-12 teacher.

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This summary was generated by AI. It may contain errors. Listen to the audio version for the most accurate information.

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Listen to the audio of this session:

school-board.mp3

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District snapshot

• Students: ~15,650.
• Schools: 28 elementary schools (K–7) and 6 secondary schools (8–12).
• Alternative options:
  • Island ConnectEd, a district online school.
  • Learning Alternatives programs for students who struggle with regular attendance or need a different setting.
• Career and trades:
  • Career Technical Centre with dual-credit trades and academic options.
  • Students can start in grade 11 and in grade 12 attend VIU for welding, mechanics, hairdressing, electrical, and more.
  • Tuition for approved dual-credit is fully covered.
  • Separate dual-credit stream allows up to four first-year university courses in grade 12, also tuition-free.
• Size and scope: ~2,200 employees, largest local employer, operating budget about 220 million dollars.
• Community: Nanaimo plus Ladysmith. Population about 132,000. Ladysmith ~8,000.

Special education and student support

• Every school has an Inclusion Support Teacher (IST) who oversees Individual Education Plans.
• Education Assistants (EAs) are trained through district and university programs. Push-in support is common, with targeted pull-outs as needed.
• Typical IST caseload reported as roughly 20 to 22 students.
• Additional services in the district:
  • Speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, English Language Learning teachers.
  • Child and Youth Family Support Workers in every secondary school, with child-and-youth-care degrees, who help with emotional and practical needs.
• Occupational therapists are not embedded in the district, but partnerships with health authorities are growing for complex cases.
• Programming follows Universal Design for Learning. Instruction adapts to a student’s level rather than forcing grade-level content when foundational skills are missing.