SD52 sets Budget Decision criteria; reviews Aboriginal Education Partnership Agreement as part of February Board meeting

With budget planning at the top of the to do list, an outline of the details towards consideration of the SD52 Budget was one of a number of themes that members of the Board of Education addressed at their February 11th Board meeting last week.

The Budget process which began earlier this month with consultations with stakeholders, will make use of a revised criteria as the participating stakeholders work their way towards adopting the new financial plan for 2019-20.

Among the criteria factors that the  School District officials will follow are:

Impact on Student Learning
Alignment with Strategic Plan
Quality of Programs and Student Outcomes
One time or Short term vs Ongoing or Long Term impact (sustainability)
Equity of program and across schools
Amount of Savings or Investment
Ability to attract outside funding or partnerships

As we outlined on the blog in January, the three month public engagement process got underway on Febrruary 5th with a public information meeting at CHSS, tonight SD52 officials will hold individual meetings with partner groups at the School Board office.

The Financial review will deliver a report for the public in March with the meeting planned for March 11th at Charles Secondary.

On the theme of budgets, the School District approved their amended Annual Budget for the current school year, featuring an increase of 2.4 percent from the original budget bylaw amount. The new bylaw amount is $31,314,288, up from the previously approved total of $30,592,635.

The increase was attributed to changes in expenditures in the operating, special purpose and capital funds.

You can review all of the School District Financial notes here.

School Board members also heard a report on the 017-18 Aboriginal Education Partnership Agreement. The document was presented by Ms. Roberta Edzerza the District Principal of Aboriginal Education, along with Aboriginal Curriculum Specialist Teacher Lori Burger.

The focus for the report was on the results that are being achieved by Aboriginal students in the district and work of the Aboriginal Education Department to support improvements towards those results. Among the highlights was a look of the increase in the number of students completing the Sm'algyax curriculum and improvements that have been found in student transitions, those results came following the delivery of the transition inquiry project at Charles Hays Secondary.

Board Chair Jame Horne observed how the work of the Aboriginal Education Department is living up to the School District's vision statement:

“The district vision is for education to be inclusive, engaging and real,” said Board Chair James Horne. “The pictures in the report show that our Aboriginal Education Department is bringing this vision to life for our students.”

The sport of rugby received some prime time exposure at last weeks Board meeting, as School District members heard some background on an Elementary Rugby program that has been introduced at Conrad Street Elementary School.

Conrad School teacher Lindsy Friendship and Prince Rupert Seamen Rugby club member Jason Scheer outlined the scope of the program for the board, while Conrad's Vice-Principal Paramjit Khaira presented a video that explored some of the benefits that students and staff have found from the program.

“It was great to see the engagement of the students as they learned a sport that was new to them, This is another example of how our students benefit when we partner with other organizations, and the Board expresses their thanks to the local rugby club and BC Rugby.” -- SD 52 Board Chair James Horne

The Board also noted that the next meeting of the School District 52 Equity Scan process will teak place in March, with the session of March 8th to be focused on parents and community members.

More details on the gathering will be announced as the Board gets closer to the March meeting.

The February meeting also addressed a number of policy proposals, with 4 polices updated.

One policy, the School Plans Policy is set to be deleted following consultation with partner groups.

You can review the SD52 information release from their February 11th meeting here.

For more items of note on education on the North Coast see our archive page here.

We also have a wider look at education across the Northwest available here.


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