Trustee Report - December 2012

• Bishop Installation: the Board of Trustees welcomes Bishop Paul Terrio to the Diocese of St. Paul.  The ordination and installation of Bishop Terrio took place on December 12 in St. Paul.
• Policy Review: the Board of Trustees reviewed two policies as per schedule.  Policies 18 and 19 (Community Engagement and School Councils) were reviewed by the Board and have been referred to the Policy Committee.
• Tripartite: tripartite talks for a new provincial teacher collective agreement collapsed between the ATA, ASBA, and the Provincial government.  Local bargaining will commence in the new year.
• Facebook: administration received positive feedback surrounding the piloting of Facebook.  All schools except for Two Hills Mennonite, the Hutterite schools and Racette School are currently on Facebook.
• HPV vaccination: the Board of Trustees made a motion to allow the offering of HPV vaccine in the division’s Catholic schools (Mallaig, Racette, and SPECS) after new data became available. HPV vaccine is only available with parent/guardian consent.
• Hutterite Colony: a new school, that may be required by the recently established colony in the Mallaig area, will be constructed in the Northern Lights school division.
• Year End Audit & Budget update: 2011-12 ended with a very modest $208,928 surplus on nearly $54 million in expenses.  The original 2012-2013 budget forecast saw a deficit of $419,771, but has since been improved to a deficit of $127,963.
• Additional SBB allocation: the Board approved one-time additional funds to school-based budgets. The Board is asking that schools involve their school councils in the discussions surrounding the allocation of these additional resources. 
• Racette Incident update: after thoroughly consulting with the Racette community and advice from trauma and mental health experts, Racette 2 reopened for staff and students who wished to return on January 7, 2013.  A second Racette campus will remain at the Regional High School for those that prefer to remain until the move back to the modernized school.  Both sites will be staffed.  The Board of Trustees has requested additional support from the Minister of Education.
• Goodfish update: a meeting was held with the transportation directors from Aspen View, SPERD, and Goodfish to discuss transportation issues.  The meeting went well and the data collected will be shared back with the larger committee group in the New Year.
• Capital Projects update:

1. Two Hills Mennonite: due to a discrepancy in tender documents the THMS has been retendered and the new close date is January 17, 2013.
2. Racette: projected date of completion still for Spring 2013.
3. Elk Point: progression as scheduled.

• ASBA & ACSTA conference: the Board of Trustees attended the annual Fall General meeting for ASBA and ACSTA from November 16-20.  Several resolutions were passed by Alberta trustees.