Sunday, February 26, 2012

Trustee Report – February 8, 2012


1. AP 370 Board Awards - Grade 6, 9, 12 awards - will stay the same this year and come back for review next year - in order to fit into current assessment practices (ie. outcomes based report cards - especially for Grade 6). Will be on agenda at May Principals meeting.

2. Remembrance Day - AP 370 - find balance between respecting Remembrance Day Act (ie. the 11:00 a.m. stipulation) and addressing local scheduling concerns.

3. Transportation Survey Draft - Board passed a motion to move forward with the survey for students and parents. It will be distributed shortly.

4. Policy Review – Board Polices 2, 5,8,9,10,18 were approved as amended and Policy 19 was tabled for further review. Policy 12 – Role of Superintendent and Policy 13 – Student Appeals and Hearings were reviewed with recommendations to be followed up by the Policy Committee. Policy 14 – Hearings on Teacher Transfers and Policy 15 – Program Reduction and School Closure are up for review in March.

5. Two Hills Mennonite School – out-of-province field trip request was approved.

6. Calendar - recommendation to accept Draft 4 with one amendment - November 9 in-lieu-day moved to November 12 in order to accommodate school Remembrance Day Ceremonies prior to the weekend.

7. Wind Power proposal - SPERD spends $490,000 on power each year. It is also part of a consortium with 40 school boards who purchase power and natural gas together. In order to keep costs reasonable in these times of escalating utility costs, SPERD passed a motion on a letter of intent to enter into an investigative process of a proposed wind power project.

8. Two Hills School playground – a parent group has raised concerns regarding possible unsanitary issues with the sand in playground. Most playgrounds in the division have similar ground cover, but as with all school playground projects, the provincial government does not currently provide funds for playgrounds. Community fundraising has been the common practice for playground upgrades.

9. Superintendent's report (provided by Assistant Superintendents Patricia Gervais and Dalane Imeson):purchase of a new Division student information system in compliance with provincial requirements for management of student information; a Division administrative procedure on assessment under development; the possibility of a digital library resource for use with e-books, IPads and other technologies; planning for the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) Cycle 5 project which will focus on assessment; plans to acknowledge substitute teachers' week and ensure that substitute teachers have access to information about professional development opportunities; a grant received from the Alberta Healthy School Community Wellness Fund to take an in-depth look at the Division Administrative Procedure on Comprehensive School Health.

10. Financial report - provincial budget being announced February 9 - will have information on how it affects local division - budget process for the division will begin after provincial announcement.
  • Financial Reporting Profile - since 2006/07 expenditures increased from $40 million to $50 million - SPERD reserves have decreased from $5.8 million to $2.9 million (due mainly to construction of new administration building and Board's directive to use reserve funding to supplement shortfalls in instructional funding) - SPERD's reserves now sit below average in comparison to other divisions our size.
  • nominal roll for First Nation, Métis, Inuit students - 25 students were approved during the appeal.


11. Capital Report
  • Racette demolition well underway
  • FG Miller - design almost complete - gone to cost consultant
  • TH Mennonite - issued a preliminary design - staff has had a chance to review and has been sent back to architects.

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