Meeting Preliminaries:
- The Board welcomed Abinash Mishra, Education Manager from Alberta Education, who visited Two Hills Mennonite School in the morning and visited with the board for lunch and sat in at the beginning of the meeting.
- Board Chair Heather Starosielski also thanked Ashmont Elementary Principal Christine Ostapiw for her 35 years of service, as she is retiring at the end of the school year.
- Chair Starosielski also mentioned that schools lowered their flags half-mast on March 12 as a request from the Education Minister to recognize the sacrifice of the fallen and celebrate the mission end as well as thank all of those that served in Afghanistan.
Downtown Revitalization
Request (St. Paul) - Trustee Looy reported that the Racette School Council
was in support of the proposed statue of the “Four Legged Spirit” statue of a
bear to be placed on the southwest corner of the school’s grounds. Chair
Starosielski also spoke with committee member Amil Shapka and confirmed that a
meeting will be held with SPERD to share final drawings of the project prior to
commencing the project. The Town of St. Paul is assisting with costs of the
project as part of a three-year commitment to public art. The board approved
the request with the caveat that any set-up and future maintenance costs would
be incurred by the Downtown Revitalization Committee.
ASCA conference - The
Board is still looking for local school council registrations for the April
25-27 Alberta School Council Conference. The division is sponsoring two parents
to attend on a first come, first served basis.
ASBA Bargaining
Consultations - local trustees will be participating in labour bargaining
consultations coordinated by the Alberta School Boards Association. These sessions
will assist school boards in considering an alternate model for collective
bargaining with teachers.
Graduation Tokens –
The Board will continue with the USB drives as gifts for our grads.
Capital Plan Priorities
- The Board approved its annual Capital Plan Priorities report which will be
submitted to the Province. In order of priority: #1 Ashmont Schools
modernization; #2 Two Hills Mennonite School (new school will be at capacity
when it is complete; Board had addressed this with the Province, but no changes
were made at that time); #3 New Myrnam School modernization; #4 Heinsburg
School modernization. Ashmont, Myrnam and Heinsburg schools were originally
constructed in the 1950s.
Infrastructure Maintenance
Renewal (IMR) Plan - The Board approved its annual IMR Plan of $550,000 for
this school year, which includes regular maintenance, such as painting,
flooring and re-roofing.
Operations and Maintenance
Reserves - in an effort to draw down some reserves in this area,
administration also presented a draft list of other projects such as gym floors
and parking lot expansions for the board to potentially consider and approve
for this year.
Policy Review -
Trustees reviewed Policy 12 - Role of the Superintendent and Policy 13 -
Reviews, Appeals and Hearings Regarding Student Matters. No changes were made
at this time.
Superintendent Report:
- Local principals will participate in a two-day meeting on March 17-18 to develop a proposal to the Board on using surplus funds in this year’s budget to assist in student achievement. In its attempt to use some of its reserve funding, the Board has directed the Superintendent to come up with a sustainable and results-driven plan for spending $1 million this year.
- Excellence in Catholic Education Award - Nicole Hebert, Vice Principal of St. Paul Elementary Community School, has been selected as this year’s recipient of the award.
- Kevin Cameron from the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response will be training approximately 60 division staff and other partnering agencies on March 13-14. The training is in conjunction with the division’s Risk/Threat Protocol.
- F.G. Miller Jr./Sr. High School will be hosting this year’s Math Olympics on March 26.
- Superintendent Brodziak acknowledged and thanked our valuable substitute teachers across the division for Substitute Teachers Appreciation Week, March 10-14.
Financial Report
The recently announced provincial budget means status quo for
education funding. Most of the increases for education address student enrollment
growth. Local schools are currently working on enrollment projections for the
2014-15 school year. The SPERD fact-sheet on the provincial website does not
include federal funding which constitutes 25% of our revenue.
Capital Projects - The
project manager, Alberta Infrastructure, is still reviewing site conditions and
slab design for the new Two Hills Mennonite School. The original slab design is
being adjusted due to unusual site conditions such as an artesian well, a
buried foundation from an old building and high water levels. New plans are
expected for mid-March.
AB Rural Education
Symposium - Administrators, teachers and trustees attended the conference
in Canmore, March 2-4. Trustees reported on the various sessions they attended.
Three of our schools were represented as session presenters.
Catholic Education
Symposium Feb. 21-22 - SPECS principal and two staff attended as well as
Assistant Superintendent Patricia Gervais and Trustee Lafrance.
