BCSTA and Role of Trustees

The British Columbia School Trustees Association (BCSTA) serves and supports their members, BC’s boards of education (trustees), in their work of improving student achievement. At the local level, BCSTA provides professional development, legal counsel and communications. Provincially, their non-profit association acts as boards’ strong, unified voice in advocating to government, other education partners and the public on matters affecting public education.

Read about the Role of Boards of Education and Trustees

Their members set the directions for advocacy and all other aspects of BCSTA’s work on their behalf. Members do this via resolutions at their annual general meeting in the spring, and at smaller Provincial Council governance meetings over the year. Members enact bylaws to govern BCSTA’s internal procedures and policies to guide our advocacy.

British Columbia is a large province with many communities, each having different priorities, needs and unique educational requirements. British Columbians elect their boards of education (trustees) to improve student achievement according to the diverse needs of these communities. As locally elected representatives, the trustees on these boards best understand their respective communities’ particular strengths, challenges and demands. Trustees engage their communities in building and maintaining a school system that reflects local priorities, values and expectations. School trustees listen to their communities, guide the work of their school district and set plans, policies and the annual budget. Reflecting the strength of local representation, boards report back to their communities on how students are doing. Boards are directly accountable to the people they serve.