Home » School district-specific complaint processes »
School District 39 Vancouver
Click here to see which schools are in this district
Vancouver School Board Adult Education, King George Secondary, Magee Secondary, Britannia Community Secondary, Kitsilano Secondary, John Oliver Secondary, Lord Byng Secondary, Templeton Secondary, Vancouver Technical Secondary, Point Grey Secondary, Gladstone Secondary, Sir Winston Churchill Secondary, Killarney Secondary, Sir Charles Tupper Secondary, David Thompson Secondary, Prince Of Wales Secondary, Windermere Community Secondary, Eric Hamber Secondary, University Hill Secondary, Lord Strathcona Community Elementary, Sir Guy Carleton Community Elementary, Lord Roberts Elementary, Admiral Seymour Elementary, χpey̓ Elementary, David Lloyd George Elementary, General Brock Elementary, Kerrisdale Elementary, Lord Selkirk Elementary, Queen Alexandra Elementary, Queen Mary Elementary, Simon Fraser Elementary, L’Ecole Bilingue Elementary, Emily Carr Elementary, General Wolfe Elementary, Lord Nelson Elementary, Lord Tennyson Elementary, Sir Richard McBride Elementary, Sir Wilfred Grenfell Community, Tecumseh Elementary, Florence Nightingale Elementary, General Gordon Elementary, Henry Hudson Elementary, Laura Secord Elementary, Walter Moberly Elementary, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary, Sir Wm Van Horne Elementary, Charles Dickens Elementary, David Livingstone Elementary, Hastings Community Elementary, John Norquay Elementary, J.W. Sexsmith Community Elementary, Sir James Douglas Elementary, Sir John Franklin Community, Sir Sandford Fleming Elementary, Bayview Community Elementary, Lord Beaconsfield Elementary, Lord Kitchener Elementary, Edith Cavell Elementary, Shaughnessy Elementary, wək̓ʷan̓əs tə syaqʷəm Elementary School, Maple Grove Elementary, Quilchena Elementary, Grandview ¿uuqinak’uuh Elementary, Renfrew Community Elementary, Sir Alexander Mackenzie Elementary, Queen Elizabeth Elementary, Thunderbird šxʷəxʷaʔəs Elementary, Trafalgar Elementary, Sir Wilfrid Laurier Elementary, Sir William Osler Elementary, Southlands Elementary, Captain James Cook Elementary, Chief Maquinna Elementary, David Oppenheimer Elementary, Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Carnarvon Community Elementary, Dr A R Lord Elementary, Dr R E McKechnie Elementary, Waverley Elementary, G T Cunningham Elementary, Nootka Community Elementary, Tecumseh Annex, Dr Annie B Jamieson Elementary, Dr George M Weir Elementary, John Henderson Elementary, Queen Victoria Annex, Sir Richard McBride Annex, Graham Bruce Community Elementary, Queen Elizabeth Annex, Tillicum Community Annex, Kerrisdale Annex, Lord Selkirk Annex, Dr H N Maccorkindale Elementary, Tyee Elementary, Sir James Douglas Annex, Garibaldi Annex, University Hill Elementary, Charles Dickens Annex, Mount Pleasant Elementary, Champlain Heights Community Elementary, Lord Roberts Annex, Britannia Community Elementary, Ecole Jules Quesnel Elementary, False Creek Elementary, Champlain Heights Annex, Collingwood Neighbourhood School, Elsie Roy Elementary, šxʷwəq̓ʷəθət Crosstown Elementary, Norma Rose Point Elementary Junior, BCCH – Sunny Hill School Program, GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre School, BC Children’s Hospital School Program, BCHP Adolescent Psychiatric Unit Program, Peak House School Program, Canuck Place School Program, Transition Program for Gifted Students, BCCH Eating Disorders In-Patient, BCCH Child Psychiatry Unit School Prgm, Vancouver Learning Network, SD 39 DL Elementary, Vancouver Alternate School
Complaints process overview
Note: Policies and procedures may change over time. This review reflects the information available as of March 2026 and was compiled to the best of my understanding. Readers should consult the original district policies and bylaws for the authoritative and most up-to-date procedures. If you notice errors, please provide feedback via the form below.
VSB requires families to exhaust a multi-step conflict resolution hierarchy before filing formal appeals. The Superintendent retains authority to reject your appeal before the board ever reviews it by determining your issue lacks sufficient significance or that you failed to complete the mandatory conflict resolution sequence.
What you can appeal
You can appeal decisions made by VSB employees that significantly affect your child’s education, health, or safety.
VSB states the determination of significance occurs case by case. The following typically qualify as significant:
- Expulsion from an educational program
- Suspension exceeding five school days
- Suspension where the district provides no alternative educational program
- Transfer to another school for disciplinary reasons
- Distributed learning imposed as discipline
- A decision denying a student an IEP
- Grade promotion or graduation determinations
- Consultation about placement of a student with special needs and the provision of an IEP
- Bullying behaviours including intimidation, harassment or threats of violence by a student against another student
- Exclusion due to a medical condition that endangers others
Before you can appeal
VSB’s Appeal Policy and Procedures Bylaw mandates you complete a specific conflict resolution hierarchy before filing an appeal.
The mandatory sequence:
- Employee – Begin with the staff member who made the decision
- Supervisor – Escalate to the principal, vice principal, or district principal (for students with disabilities)
- Director of instruction – Request review at this level
- Associate superintendent – Pursue resolution at this level
- Section 11 appeal – Only after completing steps 1–4 can you file a formal appeal to the board
Important
Document every conversation, email, and meeting at each level. VSB reserves the right to reject your appeal if administrators determine you failed to adequately pursue conflict resolution through all four prerequisite steps before filing.
How to file
Appeals must commence within fifteen days of completing the conflict resolution process unless you demonstrate compelling reasons the timeline should be extended.
What happens after you file
Step 1: Appeal review
Your notice of appeal undergoes review to confirm the issue relates to a specific decision made by an employee that significantly affects the health, education or safety of a student.
Your notice of appeal moves to the superintendent for assessment.
Step 2: Superintendent determines next steps
Following superintendent review, your appeal may advance directly to the board of education and the secretary treasurer will contact you regarding process. The board of education must render a decision within forty-five days of receiving the appeal and the board decision stands as final.
Alternatively, if the superintendent concludes the matter fails to significantly affect your child’s health, education or safety, or if you bypassed any step in the conflict resolution hierarchy before filing, the appeal will not proceed and you will receive written notification about possible alternatives for pursuing your concern.
If the superintendent blocks your appeal
You retain the right to contest the superintendent’s determination and may request to pursue your appeal through the secretary treasurer. The secretary treasurer may convene a quorum of the board to first decide whether the issue warrants appeal. The board’s determination on this preliminary question stands as final.
Step 3: Board hearing (if your appeal advances)
The board must render a decision within forty-five days of receiving the appeal.
At the hearing:
- You can present your case
- You can bring an advocate or support person
- Hearings occur in closed sessions
- The person who made the original decision should not participate in appeal deliberations
- You will receive the board decision promptly (within one or two working days of the decision) with clear reasons explaining how and why the decision was made
What if the board decides against you
The board’s decision stands as final at VSB.
Ministry guidelines require districts to inform families of further review options available at the conclusion of the board appeal process. These options include any further appeal that may be available through the Superintendent of Appeals or seeking legal advice about other possible options. In certain circumstances and depending on the nature of the issues and persons involved, you may also be able to file a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal, the Teacher Regulation Branch or the Office of the BC Ombudsperson. Learn more
Language support
VSB offers multicultural liaison workers for interpretation and translation. Your principal can support your request for language assistance through a VSB multicultural liaison worker in your native language.
Official VSB resources
%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#fbfaf3', 'primaryBorderColor': '#e69632', 'lineColor': '#000000'}}}%%
%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#fbfaf3', 'primaryBorderColor': '#e69632', 'lineColor': '#000000'}}}%%
flowchart TD
A([Concern or decision arises]) --> B[Step 1: Discuss with the employee who made the decision]
B --> C{Resolved?}
C -- Yes --> Z([Matter resolved])
C -- No --> D[Step 2: Escalate to the supervisor<br/>principal, vice principal, or district principal]
D --> E{Resolved?}
E -- Yes --> Z
E -- No --> F[Step 3: Request review by the Director of Instruction]
F --> G{Resolved?}
G -- Yes --> Z
G -- No --> H[Step 4: Escalate to the Associate Superintendent]
H --> I{Resolved?}
I -- Yes --> Z
I -- No --> J[Step 5: File Section 11 Notice of Appeal]
J --> K[Appeal must normally be filed within 15 days of completing the conflict resolution process]
K --> L[Secretary-Treasurer receives the appeal]
L --> M[Superintendent reviews whether the appeal concerns a specific employee decision that significantly affects the student's education, health, or safety]
M --> N{Appeal allowed to proceed?}
N -- No --> O[Written notice that appeal will not proceed<br/>with possible alternative options]
O --> P{Challenge the superintendent's decision?}
P -- No --> Q([Appeal ends])
P -- Yes --> R[Request review through the Secretary-Treasurer]
R --> S[Board quorum decides whether the issue warrants an appeal]
S --> T{Board allows appeal?}
T -- No --> Q
T -- Yes --> U[Appeal proceeds to Board hearing]
N -- Yes --> U
U --> V[Board hearing in closed session]
V --> W[Appellant may present their case and bring an advocate or support person]
W --> X[Board deliberates without the original decision-maker participating]
X --> Y[Board issues decision within 45 days of receiving the appeal<br/>and provides reasons promptly]
Y --> AA{Satisfied with Board decision?}
AA -- Yes --> Z
AA -- No --> AB[Board decision is final within VSB<br/>other external review options may exist]
Feedback
If you would like to share feedback or make a correction on this page, please fill the form below.
Related posts
-
What parents expect when they file a complaint
When a parent files a complaint about harm to their child, the system looks reassuring. There are policies.There are timelines.There are appeal levels.There are forms to fill out. On paper, it promises fairness and due process. But many parents quickly discover something else:the process isn’t designed to fix harm.It’s designed to manage the parent who