Sooke School District superintendent Scott Stinson is retiring at the end of the year.
Stinson, 59, was principal of David Cameron Elementary School before becoming the Sooke district’s associate superintendent, and succeeded Jim Cambridge as superintendent in 2018.
He began his teaching career in Burns Lake in 1986 and taught at the elementary, middle and secondary levels, as well as serving as a vice-principal, principal and district curriculum co-ordinator.
Ravi Parmar — the lone Sooke School Board member remaining from the group that hired Stinson — said the board couldn’t have asked for a better leader to steer the district during a period that including the pandemic, extreme growth and high inflation.
Interim board chair Amanda Dowhy said Stinson has led with “integrity and kindness.”
Stinson said dealing with COVID-19 in the district was a group effort. “Coming into it, no one ever saw three years of pandemic-related health orders and changes to school structures and remote learning and all of that,” he said. “That was a pretty intense period of time.”
“It was just amazing how quickly we were able to adjust.”
At the same time, the growth of the district’s student population has been “incredible,” Stinson said.
That included a record jump of over 800 students in 2021, followed by about 600 more in 2022. The district now has a total of about 12,000 students and is expected to grow by approximately 300 students annually over the next 15 years.
PEXSISEN Elementary School and Centre Mountain Lellum Middle school opened in 2022 with a combined capacity for 1,200 students. “Even in the time it took to build those schools, we grew by more than the number of students that they could take,” Stinson said.
Stinson said he looks forward to more family time in his retirement, as well as getting back to activities like tennis, golf and surfing.
“It has been an honour to spend the last several years of my career serving the students, staff and families of the Sooke School District,” he said. “I am extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish together, and I will spend the next months ensuring that the district continues on a positive trajectory toward a path of equity, inclusion and progress for everyone.”
