Stock photo of Armstrong Elementary courtesy of SD83

By Liam Verster

Call for Transparency & Student Supports

Armstrong Elementary parents pushing back on principal reassignment

May 28, 2025 | 12:10 PM

Disgruntled parents in Armstrong wants the elementary school to operate with more transparency following the decision to move the principal out of the school.

Vernon Matters obtained an open letter from the Armstrong Elementary School Parent Advisory Committee (AES PAC) to Kwsaltktnews Ne Secwepemcul’ecw School District 83 (SD83) and its Board of Education, calling for actions to be taken to “address growing concerns” following a decision to move principal Val Edgell to another school.

The letter calls for the Board and the School Superintendent to:

• Make additional counselling and support services available to students who are struggling with the adjustment of a recent principal reassignment announcement
• Engage in meaningful consultation and revisit the recent principal assignment decision with meaningful consultation
• Create a policy of meaningful consultation to be used for these sorts of administrative changes prior to making decisions in the future
• Provide financial information that either provides, or allows for, calculation of the spending per student at AES compared to other schools in SD83
• Provide information as to how the Unique Geographic Factor funds are dispersed throughout SD83
• Provide available information on the allocation of resources such as school counselling and additional support programs between schools and areas within SD83

The letter stated that additional supports were necessary as “many children are sad and angry,” and “some are struggling to cope” with decision to move Edgell out of the school, as she “has connected with our children and created a school community that carried us through a number of difficult experiences.”

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The letter goes on to express a feeling of “inequitable treatment of Armstrong Schools and AES in particular” within SD83 as the PAC felt the education and wellbeing of the children in Armstrong was treated as less important than of those in Salmon Arm.

Additionally, a petition has been started at Change.org to keep Edgell at AES as the principal. As of noon Wednesday, May 28, 133 people had signed the petition.