Trustee Report - March 14, 2012

1. Transportation Boundary Survey - Trustees reviewed a request for a boundary change in the northern portion of the Elk Point transportation attendance area. A survey of local residents was completed and the Board determined that the boundary will not be altered.

2. Capital Plan and IMR - The Board listed its priorities for future capital projects, including those that are funded by the Province (Capital Plan) and those funded by the Division (IMR).

3. Policy Review - Policies 14 and 15 - the two policies regarding teacher transfers and program reduction/school closure were reviewed briefly, but because they rely heavily on the School Act legislation, the Board decided to review them more thoroughly after the new Education Act is passed. Policies for review in April include: Policy 16 – Recruitment and Selection of Personnel and Policy 17- Student Transportation Services.

4. Education Day – the Board has decided to work with the local Alberta Teachers Association to host a political event to promote education issues in light of the upcoming provincial election. Local provincial candidates will be available to discuss education on Wednesday, April 4, in St. Paul. More details will be available shortly.

5. Capital projects:

Racette renovations underway

FG Miller  - gone to architects for tender

Two Hills Mennonite - design process - moving onto schematic design

6. Community Engagement meeting update – the director of the division film project will interview candidates on April 2 and 3 - schools also have access to video cameras to record school events – the Community Engagement event will tentatively take place at the end of May.

7. MOU information meeting – Local trustees, Chiefs, educators and students took part in an information meeting regarding the Memorandum of Understanding of First Nations Education in Alberta (MOU). The event on March 12 at Blue Quills College was one of two sessions held by the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations. The MOU is currently in year two of 10-year process and the eight sub-tables were given the deadline of March 31, 2012 to have their recommendations presented to the MOU Working Group. A long-term strategic plan is due June 30, 2012. The eight sub-tables have been hard at work on the following issues: Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre (IKWC), funding analysis, data sharing protocol, tuition agreements, special education, children in care/not in school, community engagement, and teachers recruitment and retention.

8. Catholic Education Award - Shirley Pruden is this year’s recipient of the Excellence in Catholic Education Award.

9. Modular Classroom request for Ashmont denied – Alberta Education recently received over 300 requests for portable classrooms and were only able to fund 47 units.

10. Assistant Superintendents Imeson and Gervais gave the Superintendent’s report:   (1) a date for the August administrators’ meeting which is attended by trustees; (2) information provided to Division principals by the Learning Network which is the consortium providing professional development supports to school divisions in our area; (3)  the Division Communications Showcase which is scheduled for April 12 at Two Hills School; (4)  plans for the transfer of data and training support for the new Division student information system which will be compliant with provincial requirements; (5) an update from the Northern Tier, specifically, the opportunity to participate in a leadership group and provincial findings from the Tell Them From Me survey which is administered to all students enrolled in pilot schools; (6)  progress with the transportation survey which is a follow-up to the 2011 Division Satisfaction Survey that asked about safety on the bus; (7) feedback from the Instructional Assistants’ Conference which was held on February 17; (8) a teacher-initiated collaborative project looking at writing standards for high school Social Studies; (9) a recommendation by principals to continue with Student Support Teams for 2012-2013; (10) an overview of the proposed project on assessment for the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) Cycle 5 which must be submitted by April 30.   The proposed project will be shared through School Councils, the Local ATA, the Division and school websites, and school administrative teams and teachers.  Trustees also provided input on the project.  Additional feedback is requested by all stakeholders by mid-April.