At 13470 Cedar Road, on the rural stretch between Cedar and Ladysmith, École North Oyster Elementary runs two schools under one roof. Its 2025-26 school plan counts 14 divisions, seven taught in French Immersion and seven in English, for families from Ladysmith, Nanaimo and Cedar. The plan places the school on the unceded traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw and Stz'uminus First Nations and lists the fire department, the RCMP and the Stz'uminus community among its partners. Bells ring at 8:30 a.m. and the day ends at 2:09 p.m.

North Oyster is one of the 28 elementary schools that School District 68 now runs, and its name is older than the district that holds it. When the province merged the rural school boards around Nanaimo in 1942, North Oyster was one of 19 small districts folded into the new one. How that rural patchwork became Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, what it costs, and who now governs it is mostly a story of mergers, closures and rebuilding.

From 1870 to the 1942 orders-in-council

The Nanaimo School district was formed on July 30, 1870, according to the district's Wikipedia entry; the town it served had been shipping coal since 1852. For the next seven decades the countryside around it was divided among small rural boards of its own.

The change came on July 28, 1942. A shortage of teachers in British Columbia, among other factors, led to two orders-in-council that produced one of the largest school district amalgamations undertaken by the Ministry of Education. The result stretched from Saltair to Red Gap but left out the municipal areas of Ladysmith and Nanaimo, which kept their own districts. It was called the Nanaimo-Ladysmith United Rural School District, and it united Brechin, the three Cedar districts, Chase River, Departure Bay, Extension, Diamond Crossing, Harewood, Lantzville, Mountain, Nanaimo Bay, Northfield, Oyster, North Oyster, Red Gap, Waterloo, Wellington and South Wellington.

The Cameron Report of 1945 then led to the Public Schools Act Amendment Act of 1946, which cut the number of school districts in the province to 74. The last piece fell into place on April 25, 1972, when the board of Ladysmith School District 67, after years of discussion and financial trouble, voted to merge its territory with School District 68 to the north and School District 65 to the south.

What School District 68 runs today

The district's own summary, last updated in September 2025, describes more than 15,650 students in 28 elementary schools, six secondary schools, a distributed learning school called Island ConnectED, a secondary alternatives school and a Career Technical Centre for dual credit. It employs about 2,200 people, serves a population of 132,623 at the 2021 census and lists a consolidated budget of $216.7 million. It describes itself as residing within the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw, Snaw-naw-as and Stz'uminus First Nations, with the Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre and the Mid Island Métis Nation as community partners.

The board that oversees all of this is small. Trustees are elected for four-year terms, and the board's own page sets out a single primary mandate, to improve learning for all students, along with the duties that follow from it: a strategic plan, balanced budgets, operational plans and policy. Some of that policy is new ground: for artificial intelligence, districts build their procedures on the province's AI guidance for K-12 schools, which treats AI as a supplement to human teaching and leaves the final call to teachers. It meets three times a month. Regular meetings, open to the public, are typically held on the fourth Wednesday from September to June; a Strategic Directions Committee meets online and is also open; and a third session is called the Professional Working and Learning Group.

Island ConnectED has a longer history than its name suggests. The program for Grades 8 to 12 has run since 2006 as one of the distributed learning schools made possible by provincial Bill 33, mixing online courses with face-to-face work, and it operates from 4355 Jingle Pot Road.

The lists of schools do not always agree. Wikipedia's table still marks Rutherford Elementary as closed, while the board's own page assigns a trustee to Rutherford as an open school. The board page is the current one, since Rutherford, closed in 2018, reopened for 2025-26 as the north end filled up.

Who argued over the buildings

Many of the sharpest arguments in School District 68 have been about which schools to keep. Under the 2013 facilities plan, the secondary school at Cedar closed in June 2014, and a later board vote reopened it in September 2016.

Those fights shaped the people who later ran the district. Stephanie Higginson was elected a trustee in 2014 and again in 2018, according to her Wikipedia biography, and spent three years as president of the B.C. School Trustees' Association. In 2024 she was elected MLA for Ladysmith-Oceanside, and in that role she led the provincial announcement for Ladysmith's schools in April 2026.

Space has been the other argument. In February 2023 the district held a virtual open house on a consultation it titled Ensuring Capacity and Safety at NDSS, about crowding at Nanaimo District Secondary School. Each February the district also runs a budget consultation; the 2026 round asked students, staff, caregivers and partners about spending for August 2026 to July 2027.

Ladysmith's $52-million rebuild

The biggest building decision in years came for the south end of the district. On Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at Ladysmith Intermediate, Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma announced two projects. Ladysmith Intermediate will be replaced by a new, fully prefabricated, seismically safe school, and Ladysmith Primary will get a two-storey expansion with 10 classrooms and an elevator. Together they add about 390 student spaces. Ma put the cost at $52 million, $37 million for the new building and $15 million for the expansion.

The new school goes on the site of the former École Davis Road Elementary, and it will teach Kindergarten to Grade 7 in both English and French Immersion. Ma called it "the first entirely prefabricated permanent school built in B.C." and added: "These are not portables." The district said the plan followed a 2022 consultation in which the community preferred one new dual-track Kindergarten to Grade 7 school, with Ladysmith Primary growing into a Kindergarten to Grade 7 school as well.

Higginson, who lives in Cedar, described the day as "a full-circle moment." Board chair Naomi Bailey called it "a significant, generational investment in our schools' future." Higginson was less formal. "I'm just vibrating with excitement," she said.

The groundwork is visible now. In August 2026 the district posted notice that deconstruction had begun on the old Davis Road building at 444 Parkhill Terrace, expected to finish in the fall, with the new school projected to open in 2029; the April announcement said late 2029. Construction of the Ladysmith Primary expansion was expected to start in the fall of 2026.

The board table from 2024 to 2026

The board that made those decisions changed more than once in its term. A byelection on Sept. 14, 2024, filled a vacant seat: Tim Harris won with 594 votes to Joan Brown's 224, from 818 valid ballots. Three days later the board announced Robyn Gray as superintendent, effective Nov. 18, 2024. She had led the Cowichan Valley School District since 2019 and before that spent 25 years in Nanaimo-Ladysmith as a vice-principal, principal, district principal for Aboriginal education, director of instruction and assistant superintendent. "I am grateful for the opportunity to return to Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools," she said when the appointment was announced.

At the annual general meeting on Dec. 4, 2024, trustees chose Bailey as chair and Greg Keller as vice-chair, with Tom Rokeby and Mark Robinson chairing the education and business committees. In April 2026 Bailey announced her resignation, effective April 30, because she expected to move into a job as a district employee. Vice-chair Leanne Lee took over as chair on May 1 and served out the term.

The board elected on Oct. 17, 2026

All seven incumbents who ran again in the Oct. 17, 2026 election kept their seats, according to preliminary results the district released on Oct. 18 and the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle reported the next day: Tania Brzovic, Tim Harris, Leanne Lee, Chantelle Morvay, Leana Pellegrin, Mark Robinson and Tom Rokeby. They are joined by newcomer Adrianne Cafariello and former trustee Zeni Maartman, who fill the seats of Bailey and Keller. Neither of those two sought re-election.

Each trustee is assigned a family of schools. On the board page in place before the election, Morvay's family was Ladysmith Secondary, Ladysmith Intermediate, Ladysmith Primary and North Oyster Elementary. If you want to raise something about your child's school, that page is the place to find the trustee and the phone number. The school calendar lists the new board's inaugural meeting for Nov. 2, 2026, at 6 p.m. in the Dufferin gym.

The school has also written up its own experiments. In a report for the Networks of Inquiry and Indigenous Education, a North Oyster team described a year spent on restorative practices, chosen because challenging behaviour was affecting learning. Classes in both languages met in circles for Monday check-ins and Friday check-outs, compliment circles and problem-solving sessions, and some circles were used to practise new French verb tenses. By the team's own account, students were sent to the office far less often once the model was in place; the report gives no figures and no date.

North Oyster's own priorities for the year are set out in its plan: stronger literacy in both languages, more Indigenous-authored texts and outdoor, place-based learning. Whether the dual-track school opening in Ladysmith in 2029 changes how many families make the drive out Cedar Road is a question the district has not yet answered.

Questions

What is School District 68?

It is the public school district for Nanaimo and Ladysmith, officially School District No. 68 (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) and known to families as Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools. The district lists more than 15,650 students, 28 elementary schools, six secondary schools and an online school called Island ConnectED.

Where is North Oyster school?

École North Oyster Elementary is at 13470 Cedar Road, with a Ladysmith mailing address. Its 2025-26 school plan says it serves families from the Ladysmith, Nanaimo and Cedar areas.

Does North Oyster Elementary offer French Immersion?

Yes. The school describes itself as dual-track, with 14 divisions in 2025-26: seven in French Immersion and seven in English. It teaches Kindergarten to Grade 7.

Who is the principal of École North Oyster?

The school's 2025-26 plan and the province's school report pages name Callum Lynch as principal. Staff lists change from year to year, so the school office on 250-245-3330 is the reliable check.

How do I find out which Nanaimo-Ladysmith school serves my address?

The district runs an online School Locator, linked from each school's website, that returns the catchment school for a given address. Each school website links to it under its Getting Started section.

Who was elected to the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school board in 2026?

Preliminary results released on Oct. 18, 2026, returned seven incumbents: Tania Brzovic, Tim Harris, Leanne Lee, Chantelle Morvay, Leana Pellegrin, Mark Robinson and Tom Rokeby. They are joined by newcomer Adrianne Cafariello and former trustee Zeni Maartman for the 2026-2030 term.

When does the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school board meet?

Regular public board meetings are typically held on the fourth Wednesday of each month from September to June. The board also holds an online Strategic Directions Committee meeting that the public can watch.

Who is the superintendent of Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools?

Robyn Gray became superintendent on Nov. 18, 2024. She had been superintendent of the Cowichan Valley School District since 2019 and before that spent 25 years in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith district.

What is being built at the old Davis Road school in Ladysmith?

A prefabricated, seismically safe replacement for Ladysmith Intermediate, which will be a dual-track English and French Immersion school for Kindergarten to Grade 7. Deconstruction of the former École Davis Road Elementary building began in summer 2026, and the new school is projected to open in late 2029.

How much does the Ladysmith school project cost?

The province put the total at $52 million: $37 million for the new school on the Davis Road site and $15 million for a 10-classroom expansion at Ladysmith Primary. Together they add about 390 student spaces.

When was the Nanaimo school district created?

The Nanaimo School district was formed on July 30, 1870. The present boundaries came later: rural districts were merged in 1942, and the Ladysmith district voted in 1972 to merge into its neighbours.

Sources

  1. 2025-26 School Framework for Enhancing Student Learning: Ecole North Oyster, École North Oyster Elementary, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2026-01-13
  2. Ecole North Oyster: Our School, École North Oyster Elementary
  3. North Oyster Elementary School Reports, B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care
  4. North Oyster Elementary SD#68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Networks of Inquiry and Indigenous Education (NOIIE)
  5. School District 68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Wikipedia
  6. District, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2025-09-02
  7. Board of Education, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2026-08-11
  8. Province supports growing Ladysmith community with expansion and new building, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2026-04
  9. Notice: Ecole Davis Road Elementary deconstruction, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2026-08-11
  10. Byelection results for SD68 school trustee, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2024-09-14
  11. Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools Board of Education announces new superintendent, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2024-09-17
  12. NLPS Board of Education elects new Board Chair, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2024-12-05
  13. Board Chair Naomi Bailey submits resignation, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2026-04-17
  14. NDSS Capacity: Virtual Open House, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2023-02-21
  15. NLPS 2026-2027 budget consultation, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, 2026-02-04
  16. 7 incumbents re-elected to Nanaimo-Ladysmith school board, Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle, 2026-10-19
  17. Stephanie Higginson, Wikipedia