Vancouver School Board has appointed John Lewis as Acting Superintendent and Guy Bonnefoy as Interim Secretary-Treasurer, effective immediately.

Lewis (pictured top) is an experienced administrator who was Superintendent of North Vancouver School District for a decade until his retirement in 2016. He will serve as Acting Superintendent in Vancouver until Superintendent Scott Robinson returns from medical leave.

Raised in East Vancouver, where he attended Gladstone Secondary, Lewis graduated from Simon Fraser University with the BCTF Maxwell A. Cameron Medal as the outstanding student in a graduating class in an elementary teacher education program in B.C. He began his teaching career at Capilano Elementary in 1979 and returned there in 1987 as principal. He became North Vancouver's Director of Facilities in 1998, Assistant Superintendent in 2001 and Superintendent from 2006 to 2016.

Bonnefoy returns to the role of Interim Secretary-Treasurer that he held from November 2015 to January 2016 while the district conducts a thorough search for a permanent appointment. Between 1990 and 2009, he served as Secretary-Treasurer for Agassiz-Harrison and Mission school districts and Conseil Scolaire Francophone de la C.B. His work since 2010 has included being an Interim Secretary-Treasurer in Coquitlam and Vancouver. He has also had assignments with other school districts in B.C. and with the Yukon Government's Department of Education.

The appointments were made by VSB Official Trustee Dianne Turner.

"John and Guy together bring decades of education leadership experience that will be invaluable to Vancouver as the district navigates through these unusual times," said Turner. "Both John and Guy know Vancouver and understand the unique challenges VSB faces as it moves forward."

The board meeting scheduled for November 7 has been cancelled to give the Acting Superintendent and Interim Secretary-Treasurer time to become acquainted with current issues facing the school district. The board meeting on November 21 will go ahead as scheduled.