School District No. 57 (SD57) has finally hired a new superintendent.
Jameel N. Azizwill start the position on March 25.
Aziz joins the school district from Yellowknife Education District No. 1 in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, where he was Superintendent of Schools and CEO.
Prior to that, he held several roles in education, including more recently, Assistant Superintendent of Schools for School District 58 in Nicola Similkameen, B.C., Principal of Ecole South Sa-Hali Elementary School in Kamloops, and Principal of Kamloops Open Online Learning.
“We are delighted to welcome Mr. Aziz to the school district, and we know that he will have a positive and long-lasting impact on our education system,” said Craig Brennan, Board of Education chair of SD57.
Aziz graduated from the University of Victoria in 2002 with a Masters of Education, and completed the Instructional Rounds Program at Harvard University in 2013.
He graduated from the University of Winnipeg in 1989 with a Bachelor of Education, majoring in Physical Education and English, following his Bachelor of Arts in 1986.
An active member of the community, he is a board member of United Way BC and former regional chairperson, past president and board chair of United Way Thompson Nicola Cariboo among his many voluntary roles over the past nearly two decades.
In September the board hired a Vancouver company called Boyden Executive Search firm to support the recruitment search for a new Superintendent.
Aziz will be the eighth superintendent that SD57 has hired in 8 years.
Since Brian Pepper resigned in 2015, six others have held the position: Sharon Cairns interim from 2015-2016, Marilyn Marquis-Forster from 2016-2019, Rod Allen interim in 2019, Anita Richardson from 2019-20, Cindy Heitman from 2021-23, and Pam Spooner interim in 2023.
Spooner served as Acting Superintendent following the removal of former superintendent Cindy Heitmen in March, which triggered the resignations of former trustees Gillian Burnett and Betty Bekkering.
In July Heitman was named the new president of CNC and began the position in November.
