Trustee Report – Oct. 15, 2014

DIPs and PATs – The Board is generally pleased with the results of this past year’s diploma exams and provincial achievement tests. No Grade 3 students wrote the PATs, opting instead to complete the new Student Learning Assessments at the beginning of this year. Improvements in overall diploma acceptable standards (from 78.77% to 85.43%). Also improvements in diploma standard of excellence (from 11.90% – 18.63%). Also improvements in Citizenship from “Good” to “Excellent” and Parental Involvement from “Acceptable” to “Good.” Areas that stayed the same are School Improvement (Excellent), Safe & Caring (Good), Work Preparation (Good), Drop Out Rate (Good), High School Completion (Acceptable). Grade 6 PATs – Science, Social Students and French Language Arts showed a decline, but Language Arts was up. Grade 9 PATs showed general improvement. Rutherford Scholarship eligibility rate dropped 10% - could be due to rotation of some subjects at some schools  - requires further investigation. Results will be reviewed on a school basis and will be reported at School Councils.

Enrolment update – Schools hired more teachers in addition to the ones made earlier in September. The additional hires include Two Hills Mennonite 0.5, St. Paul Elementary 1.0 and Elk Point Elementary 0.5 to accommodate the addition of 107 students at the Sept. 30 final count. A total of 4.5 FTE instructional assistants were also hired across the division.

Anti-bullying advertising campaign – The Board received further information on the proposal to join a radio advertising campaign for the year. Advertising spots would take place before and after-school hours on the local SPUR radio station. The Board supported a maximum of $3,200 expenditure.

Strategic Planning – The Board approved hiring Alberta School Boards Association to complete the vision/mission review. A maximum budget of $10,000 was set at budget time in the spring for this process. This comprehensive review will include stakeholder surveys and general information gathering.

APAC Recommendation (Aboriginal Parent Advisory Committee) – The division’s First Nation Metis and Inuit committee made a recommendation to set two APAC meetings per year to start. A trustee will be in attendance.

Modular applications – once a year, Infrastructure asks boards to submit requests for portable classrooms. There is a high demand across the province due to intense population growth in some areas. Two of the division’s schools are considered “full” according to the 85% utilization rate set by the Province. The Board agreed to set Two Hills Mennonite (141%) as a priority and Glen Avon (88%) as second.

Mallaig Gym Naming Request – a community group received approval from the school and school council to rename the Mallaig gym in honour of Mr. Ian McGillivray – a 30-year teacher at the school. The Board approved the request.

Policy Review – the Board reviewed Policy 3 Role of the Trustee and Policy 5 Role of the Chair, with no changes.

Superintendent Report:

• Administration is preparing an Anaphylactic/Severe Allergy Administrative Procedure.
• Twitter – a committee was created to review possible use at school and classroom level – admin council decided it should be optional with different levels of use.
• New this year, a principal will be bringing forth an admin procedure at each monthly meeting for review in order to keep apprised of current policies and procedures. Changes were reviewed by the Board.
• Technology improvements over the summer are appreciated at school level.
• Mental Health Capacity Grant – 0.5 hiring of Success Coach at each school – presentations and other group work.
• ECS entrance age – has been discussed for the past year and a half. Current policy is that a child must be 5 by end of February – looked at moving it to December 31. Principals decided needs more discussion and investigation since it has a large impact on families. Won’t be a sudden change within the next calendar if a final decision is made.
• Student Learning Assessments - replacing PATS - were written during a range of time Sept. 29 – Oct. 24. Currently Grade 3, but will be moving into Grade 6 and 9. Focus is on numeracy and literacy skills.

Financial Report:

• Since enrolment is up, it affects our budget – 107 students generally means about $670,000 in revenue. Staffing increases offset up to $200,000. Budget update will be reported in November.
• Auditor’s letter received by the Board to complete the annual audit for Nov. 26.
• Staff have been paid through electronic fund transfers for a while - now able to receive personal expense reimbursements as well. All appropriate approvals are in place.

Capital Projects – Ashmont Elementary and Secondary Schools have been approved for modernizations in the announcement by Premier Prentice last week. Two Hills Mennonite School – government has recommendation on the school, but due to change in leadership and cabinet, there was a delay in the announcement. Have been told will hear by October 22. Board did send a letter on Sept. 30 to Premier Prentice expressing their concerns with the delay of construction.