For the Mental Health Literacy program, trustees received some background on the work at the middle school and secondary school level in the city. The program is led in the community by Pam Groves who is the district Mental Health Specialist Teacher, a half time position that is focused on promoting mental health wellness, as part of the program, support towards the school mental health teams will be provided by Dr. Linda O'Neil from UNBC who will travel to Prince Rupert a number of times per school year offer her support.
Board Chair James Horne, outlined how the School District is hopeful that the funding for the program will continue on beyond this current school year.
“The Board was pleased to hear that students, staff and parents will all benefit from this mental health initiative. We are hopeful that these programs will continue in subsequent years with the additional funding announced by the Minister of Education.”
The other initiative that captured the attention of the Board for October was the local project hosted by Complete Streets for Prince Rupert, which received some background from Mr. Chris Lightfoot, who has launched a move to get local support towards improving transit, walking and cycling infrastructure.
As part of their support for the program Mr. Horne noted that the Board of Eduction would be adding their name to the Declaration.
“Improvements to infrastructure for walking and cycling will have a direct benefit in allowing students to come to school more safely. The Board of Education is pleased to add our name to the Communities on the Move Declaration.”
The Board also heard a request from the District Parent Advisory Council, which requested a non-voting seat on the Board of Education. After considering the request, as well as the needs of other District partner groups, the SD52 Council passed a motion asking District Staff to investigate forming a quarterly committee meeting with all partner groups in attendance.
Superintendent Irene LaPierre outlined some notes on plans towards a par of professional training options in the community, the first an update on the upcoming Professional Linking Program for Teacher Training through Simon Fraser University, which will start in in Prince Rupert in January 2020, with the deadline for applications Tuesday, October 15th
An update was also provided over the potential for an Education Assistant Certificate program, with the District having received a significant number of expressions of interest in that program. It was noted that conversations are continuing towards offering the training in Prince Rupert.
The process of creating the 2020-2021 SD52 Annual Budget will soon get underway, with the District preparing to contact stakeholders who may be seeking input on the program ahead through the fall and into Spring.
The October meeting wrapped up with a housekeeping note, as the District changed the date of their November meeting, moving forward from its scheduled date with the next session to take place on Monday, November 4th, The agenda will include the election of Board Chair and other positions for the 2019-20 Board year.
You can review the complete notes on the Board meeting here.
For more items of note related to Education in the Northwest see our archive page here.
To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.
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