“I am honored to have served as a School Trustee for the past 11 years in the Central Okanagan Public School District. I understand the vast responsibilities of a School Trustee and with this valuable experience, it is my desire to continue as a steward and an advocate for public education.”
On November 19, 2011, Julia Fraser was locally elected as a School Trustee on the Board of Education for School District No. 23 (Central Okanagan). The past 11 years that she has been a School Trustee, she has served:
- 11 years School Trustee for the Central Okanagan Public School District
- 3 years as Chair of the Education & Student Services Committee,
- 5 years as Chair of the Planning and Facilities Committee,
- Current Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee; 8 years as a voting Member
- Current BC Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) Rep on behalf of the Board of Education
- Current Vice-President of the Thompson-Okanagan BC School Trustees Association Branch
- Chaired Policy Committee, Executive Staff Management Committee and General Affairs Committee,
- Vice-Chair for the Central Okanagan Board of Education in 2012/13, 2015/16, 2018/19
- 7 years as the Board’s Representative to the BC School Trustees Association at Provincial Council Meetings (BCSTA)
- 7 years Indigenous Education Council Representative on behalf of the Board of Education
- 7 years as Vice-President and Director on the Thompson-Okanagan BCSTA Branch Executive
- 8 years Health Promoting Schools Committee Board Representative
- 3 years District Human Rights Committee Board Representative
- Past President of the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC)
- Past School Planning Council Member
- 6 years on the Executive of West Kelowna Minor Hockey Association as Director of Hockey Divisions
Proven Advocate, Collaborator & Approachable
The reason why Julia is running again for School Trustee is because she wants to ensure that every child in our care has the supports necessary to reach their full potential. Through her involvement as a School Trustee on the Central Okanagan Board of Education these past 11 years, Julia has shown that she is committed to improving the education system for all children in our school district.
Julia is motivated to ensure that all stakeholders in the education system have an opportunity to express their opinions. As a parent of a student in Kelowna, she is a strong advocate for all schools in the Central Okanagan Public School District.
Julia is committed more than ever to ensure that education is a priority for the Government of BC and to advocate for more funding to operate schools and to implement important educational programing for our students.
Julia is happy to have been part of the School Board Trustee team entrusted with making decisions that effect all our students. She is a firm believer in the Framework for Enhancing Student Learning so we will keep delivering results so that all students can get the quality education they deserve in a safe, healthy and welcoming schools. These goals set in Graduation, Literacy and Numeracy will help prepare the students to develop skills and attributes to succeed. As an incumbent School Board Trustee she will keep working to continue the progress towards achieving results. The future of our economy and the quality of our retirement is dependent upon the mental, physical and emotional well-being of our youth today. After 11 years as a School Trustee, she still believes that her perspective on the education system is grassroots and serves both ends of the spectrum from elementary age to high school age students. She has a unique viewpoint on education in our school district as she can see it from many angles.
EXPERIENCE AND VISION:
Julia has been a businesswoman for 30 years and for 15 years had been the Regional Sales Manager for Accent Inns. With her vast experience in business to business type sales, she has earned the ability to negotiate and be persuasive which enables her to lobby the government for increased funding for education on behalf of students, parents and teachers. She also has experience in the classroom as a Substitute Teacher in School District #57 – Bulkley Valley which provided her with insights into the 
challenges that the school system faces. Prior to becoming a School Trustee eleven years ago, she has experience as the President of the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) of her daughter’s elementary which is the legislated parent voice at the school level. The P.A.C. represents the collective view of parents of children in the school. According to the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, parental involvement in education results in greater success for students, better attitudes toward school and higher graduation rates. This is why she believes that she, as a current parent in the school system, is an excellent choice for School Trustee. She also has experience on the School Planning Council, she, as part of a team, helped develop, monitor and review school plans for student achievement in consultation with the school community. The School Plan that she helped put together is part of a provincial accountability framework to improve students results. She took part in a collaborative plan which consists of parents, 
students, teachers and support staff. She helped collect information, analyze, developed the plan for improvement, implemented and made a review on behalf of the SPC. As a member of the School Planning Council she presented their results to the School District. Her role was to examine how well the school was performing and developed an annual growth plan that included goals and outcomes for improvement which link to the School District goal and objectives. She feels this experience is invaluable and directly relates to the position of School Trustee.
She believes the most pressing problems in our school district are:
- the need for new capital funding as the district is growing at the rate of a large elementary school/small middle school every year;
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The Annual Facility Grant (AFG) is extremely underfunded. The district has deferred maintenance work of 9.8 M and can’t keep up with the capital maintenance of our buildings. Next year, the AFG will continue to add to the amount being deferred and it grows year after year. There is never enough AFG to keep up the maintenance of our buildings;
- Portable costs are not funded within the capital budget so we end up having to convert funding that should be going to support students…and convert it to local capital to cover the cost of the portables, which is about $3 Million. $3Million that should be going directly to student supports;
- 6% Inflation, along with other cost pressures, and no change in the per pupil amount for the 2022/23 school year, has forced our school district to find cost savings of $3.3 million from the 2022/23 annual budget. This puts extreme pressure in our ability to provide services to our 25,000 students to the same level as the previous year;
- resources and class size. In order for School District #23 to continue towards achieving success, schools will require more resources. There should be reduced class sizes in the vulnerable schools.
Student Capstone Presentations
She has four years post secondary education from the University of British Columbia, Bachelor of Arts with a major in Economics. She successfully passed the Real Estate Licensee Course and is a firm believer in Continuous Professional Development.
She believes that her business background, her experiences in the public school system and experience on the Board of Education, enables her to be a very effective School Trustee in Kelowna.
It is an honor for her to be a voice representing your needs and part of a team making decisions towards the future education in the Central Okanagan.
Re-Elect Julia Fraser for School Trustee 