BYLAW 9360
GENERAL MEETING OF THE BOARD
1. The Board of Education will regularly meet on the fourth Monday of each month except where the fourth Monday is a statutory holiday, in which case the meeting will take place on the next working day, except for the months of July and August, when no meeting will be held and for the month of December, when the meeting will be on the second Monday of the month.
2. The Official Trustee or the Secretary-Treasurer may call a special meeting of the Board, in addition to the regularly scheduled general meetings of the Board.
3. A special meeting will be called upon less than the normal forty-eight hours’ notice, in writing or by telephone, with such meeting being deemed to have been properly convened if the Official Trustee agrees to waive the normal forty-eight hours of written notice.
4. The following procedural matters will be implemented:
- Meetings will be conducted in two major sections:
The first section will encompass the agenda, minutes, correspondence, and acceptance of presentations from the public and employee groups.
The second section will be for the consideration of Board Committee Reports and Special Reports to the Board. - The meetings should be conducted in a timely manner and time guidelines and limits adhered to with respect to:
o Commencing general meetings of the Board of Education at 6:30 p.m. and adjourning no later than 10:30 p.m., save as may be extended by the Official Trustee.
o Starting the meeting on time.
o Limiting Community Presentations to a maximum of 6 speakers, each speaking a maximum of 5 minutes, and to a maximum of 3 speakers per issue (numbers and time may be extended at the discretion of the Official Trustee).
o Advising individuals or delegations wishing to make a presentation of their placement on an upcoming agenda on the Wednesday before the Regular meeting, and identifying on the agenda the spokesperson(s) presenting on behalf of groups.
o Refraining from debate with community presenters; only information will be received.
o Limiting Question Period to 15 minutes.
5. The Official Trustee will ask partner groups including the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association (GVTA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE Locals 947 and 382), the Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (VCPAC), Esquimalt and Songhees Nations, Student Representatives, and the Victoria Principals and Vice-Principals Association (VPVPA), whether they would like to provide comment on motions prior to them being considered by the Board. Each stakeholder representative will have up to two minutes to provide comment through the Official Trustee.
6. In the event that the Board may fail to conclude the business of the agenda by the time of adjournment, the Official Trustee may ask administration to prioritize the remaining agenda items. Agenda items not concluded at the meeting, will be placed on the next month’s agenda, and given priority before any new business, if a Special meeting is not called to address unfinished business.
7. All agendas will be prepared by the Secretary-Treasurer on behalf of the Official Trustee. Proposed agenda items will be provided to the Secretary-Treasurer no later than the Tuesday before the meeting.
8. The agenda will be adopted by ordinary motion as the first item of business at each meeting.
9. The Agenda will contain the following:
A. Commencement of Meeting
A.1. Acknowledgement of Traditional Territories
A.2. Approval of the Agenda
A.3. Approval of the Minutes
A.4. Business Arising from the Minutes
A.5. District Celebrations
A.6. Community Presentations
B. Correspondence
C. Official Trustee Report
D. Board Committee Reports
E. District Leadership Team Reports
F. Question Period
G. Public Disclosure of In-Camera Items
H. New Business/Notice of Motions
I. Adjournment
The order of the Agenda will be as above, unless varied at the meeting by the Official Trustee.
10. All motions and outcomes will be recorded in the Regular board meeting minutes.
11. An electronic copy of the General Meeting Agenda will be made available to the media, partner groups and the public (website) through the Secretary-Treasurer’s Office three days before the meeting.
12. The Official Trustee may reschedule any regularly scheduled general meeting of the Board to a different time and date in order to meet the business requirements of the Board. The Board may, by ordinary resolution, cancel a regular general meeting of the Board.
13. In accordance with Section 67 of the School Act, the Official Trustee may participate in or attend a meeting of the Board by telephone or other means of communication if all other persons participating in or attending the meeting are able to communicate with each other. Such attendance shall only be permitted where Official Trustee participation is prevented by extraordinary circumstances and can be accommodated by staff.
14. With the exception of poll votes pursuant to Bylaw 9011, and electronic meetings called by the Official Trustee, the Board will not conduct meetings electronically. This Bylaw does not prohibit the electronic provision of information pertaining to a matter before the Board.
Greater Victoria School District
Adopted: April 27, 1981
Various Revisions
Revised: November 25, 1991
Revised: June 23, 1997
Revised: January 16, 2006
Revised January 19, 2009 (corrected)
Revised: November 17, 2014
Revised: December 14, 2015
Revised: June 20, 2016
Revised: April 24, 2017
Revised: April 23, 2018
Revised: April 26, 2021
Revised: March 31, 2025
Modification to this document is not permitted without prior written consent from the Greater Victoria School Board
Bylaw 9360