(Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

Alison Sidow

Retiring superintendent reflects on her time leading Kamloops-Thompson School District

May 26, 2020 | 5:29 PM

KAMLOOPS — Alison Sidow has been at the helm of School District 73 since 2016, and her retirement comes after four years of working to improve student success in the region.

Reflecting on her administrative accomplishments, Sidow tells CFJC Today the challenges over the last year in particular have required a lot of hard work, and she’s glad the district was able to step up to the plate.

“We’ve made lots of great progress, and I’m excited to see where the next superintendent takes SD73.”

Sidow finishes her more than 30 years in public education having accomplished many of the goals she set when taking on the superintendent role — in particular, boosting the graduation rates for all students.

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“We’re really proud of that work; we now have a 92 per cent completion rate. And when I first came, it was in the low 80s,” she explains. “So feeling really proud of the work that the staff has done.”

As the district worked to keep up with the city’s population growth, Sidow notes the pride and relief that was felt when a multi-million dollar expansion for Valleyview Secondary was finally announced.

“We fought really hard for that. It was a lot of advocacy work, and it was an extensive year-long process to get that announcement.”

Board Chair Kathleen Karpuk says she and the rest of the board will miss Sidow’s dedication to making sure all students can succeed. Over the last four years, Indigenous student graduation rates in the district have climbed to near parity with non-Indigenous graduation rates.

“She got us involved in the equity project right from the get-go,” says Karpuk. “We systematically looked at every single structure that we had in place — every policy, every procedure — to look to see if there was unconscious or conscious bias that might be getting in the way of a student’s success, and then rewriting everything.”

As it turns out, rewriting procedures came in handy when the district had to enact crisis measures this school year, first with Parkcrest Elementary burning down, then when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.

“[Sidow] rewrote that with the help of all of our [administrative] staff, and from the input from our partner groups. It’s really given us a playbook on how to respond when something goes sideways,” said Karpuk.

An heir has not been narrowed down yet, but Sidow says she’ll be ready to guide her successor into the role ahead of September.

“It’s midterm for the board and I have seen them through the development and implementation of our first five-year strategic plan, and it’ll be time for somebody else to pick up the challenge.”