WHEREAS it is the goal of a democratic society to ensure that all its members receive an education that enables them to become personally fulfilled and publicly useful, thereby increasing the strength and contributions to the health and stability of that society;
AND WHEREAS the purpose of the British Columbia school system is to enable all learners to develop their individual potential and to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and sustainable economy;
THEREFORE HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
"administrative officer" means a person who is employed by a board as a director of instruction, a principal or a vice principal;
"annual capital allowance" means that portion of a board's preliminary allocation or final allocation that has been designated by the minister to be used for projects that are not included in a board's capital plan bylaw;
"annual capital expense" means a capital expense with respect to a project that is
(a) financed from a board's annual capital reserve, or
(b) financed from the board's annual capital allowance and included in the annual budget of a board;
"annual capital project" means an undertaking that is budgeted for as an annual capital expense;
"assessment" , in Part 8, means assessment as defined in the Assessment Act;
"board" means a board of school trustees constituted under this Act or a former Act;
"capital expenses" means
(a) expenses incurred by a board under this Act or a former Act for and incidental to the acquisition of assets of a permanent or semi-permanent nature,
(b) expenses incurred in acquiring and developing sites for school purposes or for use in connection with them,
(c) expenses incurred in purchasing, constructing, reconstructing, making major alterations to, furnishing and equipping buildings for school purposes or for use in connection with them,
(d) expenses incurred in acquiring buses and their accessories, and
(e) contingent and other expenses incurred that are of a capital nature;
"capital plan expense" means a capital expense with respect to a project that is included in a board's capital plan bylaw, and includes a capital expense that was an eligible capital expense under this Act as it read immediately before this definition was enacted and was included in a capital plan;
"capital plan project" means a project that is budgeted for as a capital plan expense;
"capital project" means an undertaking that requires capital expenses to be incurred;
"certificate of qualification" means a certificate of qualification or a letter of permission issued under the Teaching Profession Act;
"college" means the College of Teachers continued under the Teaching Profession Act;
"community plan" means,
(a) in respect of a municipality other than the City of Vancouver, an official community plan as defined in section 872 of the Municipal Act, or
(b) in respect of the City of Vancouver, an official development plan as defined in section 559 of the Vancouver Charter;
"day of instruction" means, in respect of any school, a school day in which students of the school are in attendance and under supervision for the purpose of receiving instruction in an educational program including work study and work experience programs, examinations or other learning activities provided by the board;
"distance education school" means a school that offers instruction to students solely through one or more of the following:
(a) correspondence courses;
(b) telecommunications mediums;
(c) other electronic mediums of communication;
"educational program" means an organized set of learning activities that, in the opinion of
(a) the board, in the case of learning activities provided by the board,
(b) the minister, in the case of learning activities in a Provincial school, or
(c) the parent, in the case of learning activities provided to a child registered under section 13,
is designed to enable learners to develop their individual potential and to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and sustainable economy;
"elector" means a resident elector or non-resident property elector;
"final allocation" means an allocation to a board under section 108 (2);
"final Provincial funds" means the total amount of Provincial funding established for a fiscal year under section 107 (3);
"fiscal year", in relation to a board , means the period beginning on July 1 and ending on the following June 30;
"former Act" means the School Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 375, the Education (Interim) Finance Act, S.B.C. 1982, c. 2, or the School District Housing Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 377, or a predecessor to any of those Acts;
"general school election" means the elections referred to in section 35;
"guardian of the person" , when used in reference to a student or child, means guardian of the person of the student or child within the meaning of the Family Relations Act;
"improvements" means improvements as defined in the Assessment Act;
"independent school" means an independent school as defined in the Independent School Act;
"Indian" means an Indian as defined in the Indian Act (Canada);
"land" means land as defined in the Assessment Act;
"local capital expense" means a capital expense with respect to a project that is
(a) financed from the board's local capital reserve, or
(b) included in the annual budget of a board and financed from
(i) local revenue,
(ii) school referendum taxes, or
(iii) the board's preliminary allocation or final allocation other than its annual capital allowance or other allowances designated by the minister,
and includes a capital expense that was an ineligible capital expense under this Act as it read immediately before this definition was enacted;
"local capital project" means an undertaking that is budgeted for as a local capital expense;
"local government" means
(a) in relation to a regional district, the board of the regional district, or
(b) in relation to a municipality, the council of the municipality;
"local revenue" means all classes of revenue determined by the minister to be local revenue but does not include revenue from the preliminary allocation or the final allocation or from school referendum taxes;
"local trust area" means a local trust area as defined in the Islands Trust Act;
"local trust committee" means a local trust committee as defined in the Islands Trust Act;
"municipal school district" means a school district in which a municipality or portion of a municipality is located;
"municipality" means a city, town, district or village incorporated by or under an Act, but does not include a regional district or improvement district;
"newspaper" means, in relation to a matter for which publication in a newspaper is required by or under this Act, a publication or local periodical that
(a) contains items of news and advertising, and
(b) is distributed at least weekly in the area that is affected by the matter;
"non-resident property elector" means, in relation to a trustee electoral area, a person who at the relevant time meets the qualifications under section 41 in relation to the trustee electoral area;
"occupier" means an occupier as defined in the Assessment Act;
"operating expenses" means all expenses incurred by a board under this Act or a former Act that are not capital expenses and includes
(a) expenses incurred in the operation, repair, maintenance and minor alteration of buildings used for or in connection with school purposes,
(b) expenses incurred in the maintenance of furniture and equipment and the replacement of furniture and equipment,
(c) expenses incurred in conducting feasibility studies and in securing options for sites or buildings required for school purposes or for use in connection with them,
(d) principal repayments and interest payments on debt incurred by the board under this Act or a former Act, and
(e) expenses associated with the holding of a referendum under section 112;
(a) with respect to real property in a municipality, an owner as defined in the Municipal Act, and
(b) with respect to real property in a rural area, an owner as defined in the Assessment Act;
"parent" means, in respect of a student or of a child registered under section 13,
(a) the guardian of the person of the student or child,
(b) the person legally entitled to custody of the student or child, or
(c) the person who usually has the care and control of the student or child;
"preliminary allocation" means an allocation to a board under section 108 (1);
"preliminary Provincial funds" means the total amount of Provincial funding established for a fiscal year under section 107 (2);
"Provincial resource program" means a program established by order of the minister and operated by a board;
"Provincial school" means
(a) a body of students organized as a unit for educational purposes at an educational institution that is
(i) directly operated and maintained by the minister, and
(ii) under the supervision of a principal,
(b) the staff members associated with the unit, and
(c) the facilities associated with the unit;
"resident elector" means, in relation to a trustee electoral area, a person who, at the relevant time, meets the qualifications under section 40 in relation to the trustee electoral area;
"residential" , with respect to land and improvements, means residential within the meaning of the regulations under the Assessment Act;
"rural area" means that part of a school district not within the boundaries of a municipality;
"rural school district" means a school district no part of which is in a municipality;
(a) a body of students that is organized as a unit for educational purposes under the supervision of an administrative officer,
(b) the teachers and other staff members associated with the unit, and
(c) the facilities associated with the unit,
and includes a Provincial resource program and a distance education school;
"school age" means the age between the date on which a person is permitted under section 3 (1) to enroll in an educational program provided by a board and the end of the school year in which the person reaches the age of 19 years;
"school district" means an area created or constituted as a school district by or under this Act or a former Act;
"school referendum tax" means a tax to raise money approved by a referendum under section 112;
"school tax" means a tax under this Act other than a school referendum tax;
"school year" means the period beginning on July 1 and ending on the following June 30;
"student" means a person enrolled in an educational program provided by a board and, if a section or subsection refers to a Provincial school, includes a person enrolled in the Provincial school for the purposes of that section or subsection;
"student record" means a record of information in written or electronic form pertaining to
(b) a child registered under section 13 with a school,
but does not include a record prepared by a person if that person is the only person who will have access to the record;
"teacher" means a person holding a certificate of qualification who is employed by a board to provide an educational program to students in a school, but does not include a person appointed by a board as superintendent of schools, assistant superintendent of schools or administrative officer;
"teachers' union" means a teachers' union or the Provincial union as defined in the Public Education Labour Relations Act;
"trustee" means a member of a board;
"trustee election" means an election for one or more trustees for a trustee electoral area;
"trustee electoral area" means the area from which one or more trustees are to be elected, as established under this or a former Act.
(2) A child who is registered under section 13 is deemed not to be enrolled in an educational program provided by a board.