Oct. 18, 2010 SD61 Board of Education Meeting

By Linda Travers

The Good:

· Heartwarming presentations by principals & students from Strawberry Vale Elementary, Oak Bay High and Reynolds Secondary about the activities to raise monies for Cops for Cancer.

· Excellent information from 3 teachers on why all 9 trustees, not just Trustee Alpha should not have voted to approve Superintendent John Gaiptman’s report to meet the Bill 33 Legislation. These teachers felt their classes were not appropriate for student learning.

· Excellent additional information from the President of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association (GVTA) as to why the Superintendent’s report should not have been approved. SD61 ranks third in the province, behind the much larger districts of Surrey and Vancouver, for teachers on stress related disability insurance. Proportionately this means SD61 ranks 1st which means 1 in 10 teachers in Victoria goes on this stress related disability insurance.

· Trustee Pitre reported the joint planning sessions with the public and Oak Bay council for the new Oak Bay Sr. Secondary school are going well.

The Sad:

· The presentation by a Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Council (VCPAC) member re implicit discrimination. I disagree. Bill 33 provides funding, not discrimination, to enable children with Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) to stay with their age peers and receive help from an education assistant to reach their learning goals.

Other:

· Superintendent Gaiptman presented his report showing SD61’s enrollment in 2008 was 18,875 and in 2009 is 18,808.

· A motion was passed to accept the agreement with the Lakehill Little League to pay all costs to remove the grass from the infield of the existing Lakehill Elementary school’s baseball diamond.

· Trustee McEvoy moved a motion, which was passed, to approve the writing of a letter to Oak Bay Council to accept their $1Million donation to enhance the Theatre Arts program at Oak Bay.

Oct 12/10 SD 61 Meeting Musings - Joint Ed Policy & Operations Meeting

By Linda Travers 

The Good:

• the public could access the Boardroom upon arrival.  Often the door is locked while the 9 trustees are meeting in camera with 7 administrators and rarely is there a reporting out from that meeting.
• the speaker’s podium was pushed aside so eye contact was possible between the public, staff and trustees.
• dialogue and answers to questions occurred between trustees, staff and the public.
• a SD61 teacher made an excellent presentation on the escalating frustrations of teaching staff caused by the BCeSIS program to report on attendance & prepare report cards over the last 6 years.

The Sad:

• that even with remarks from teachers and the public about experience with inappropriate class compositions, Trustee Alpha’s vote was the only one against the Motion to accept the Oct. 1, 2010 Superintendent’s Class Size and Composition report.  The motion was that organizations of classes and class sizes were appropriate for student learning. There are 30 Elementary classes, 51 Middle School divisions & 248 Secondary classes with more than the Bill 33 recommended 3 students with Individual Education Plans.

The Hope:

• that changes to the 2011/2012 Proposed Budget Planning Cycle will reflect SD61’s Regulation 3501 that plans will show costs for all goals.
• monitoring of the need for additional support for the full day K/1 classes.

The Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday, October 18.  The Agenda will be posted on Oct. 15 on the SD61 website - www.sd61.bc.ca.

Members of the public are allotted 5 minutes to make a presentation.  Anyone wanting to make a presentation needs to call ahead – 250-475-4106 (preferably the Wed. before the Mon. meeting).

Attend a free Victoria Public Education Coalition panel discussion on Saturday, Oct. 16 1:30-3:30 at the Oaklands Community Centre #1 – 2827 Belmont Ave. Special guest is Patti Bacchus, Chair of the Vancouver School Board.    

September 20, 2010 SD61Board of Education Meeting Linda Travers and Deborah Nohr

September 20, 2010 SD61Board of Education Meeting

Linda Travers and Deborah Nohr

 

1) It was unfortunate that the 2009/'10 Audited Financial Statements were not presented at the Sept. 13 combined Education Policy and the Operations, Policy & Planning Committee meetings.  The public are only allowed to dialogue with Trustees and staff at these Committee meetings.  I would like to know why at the June 21,2010 meeting we learned there was no surplus to carry into the 2010-2011 year and thus no way to help alleviate the educationally unsound combination of split full day K & Gr. 1 classes.  However, at the Sept. 20 meeting, the recommended motion, "That the June 30, 2010 unrestricted operating surplus of $572,138 be carried forward to be applied towards the 2011/2012 projected deficit" was approved.

 

* We strongly encourage the Trustees to use the surplus for our students this school year in our classes that have significant need.

 

2) The trustees approved a motion to change and combine meeting dates in 2010-2011.  October 12 will be a combined Education Policy & Operations, Policy and Planning Committee meeting.  The December 6 combined meeting will only be held if "there's extraordinary circumstances requiring action."  The January 10 & March 7, 2011 Committee meetings will also be combined.  While trustees Alpha, Horsman, and Orcherton expressed concern about providing the public with sufficient time to dialogue with the trustees, the motion passed.

 

* We are very concerned that there will be less time to address the many and varied educational issues we are facing in School District #61 because of underfunding.

 

 

** The next Board of Trustees meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 12,2010 @ 7:30 at the Tolmie Building in the Board Room.

 

Panel Discussion - Achieving Full Funding for Public Education

Public Education
Fully Funded and Free is a Right for Everyone

All are welcome to this public panel including Patti Bacchus, Chair of the Vancouver School Board

• How can we achieve more resources, not less?
• How can we achieve more opportunity, not less?
• How can we achieve more inclusion, not less?
• Why have school closures and cuts to service and programs intensified the fiscal dilemmas in our schools districts?
• Will privatization solve our funding problems?
• How can we organize to end the funding crisis and achieve community direction for public education?