The Prince Rupert School Board hosted two public meetings in September posting the video from both sessions earlier this week, highlighting some of the work ahead for the elected board of education.
With Andrew Samoil off on medical leave, Sandra Pond continues to serve as the Acting Superintendent of Education for the District.
From the twin sessions it would also appear that Mr. Gerry Slykhuis, a familiar name from the budget period of the Spring 2023 will be making a return with the Board of Education; his work appears to be related to more consulting duties this fall.
Though the Board did not expand much in the public session as to what will make for his work.
His return made for much of theme for the first September Board meeting, that one on September 5th a short event mostly to set a revised calendar for the fall related to the Board audit process, as well as to fit better into the schedule for Mr. Slykhuis.
Also announced at the opening session was word that Brittney Verissimo had accepted the Acting Secretary-Treasure position for the next six months.
Another area of note from the opening session, while he has taken on new employment in Terrace, Board member Michael Pucci remains on the Board of Education, he participated by Zoom for both September sessions.
The new schedule for 2023-24 can be reviewed here.
Somewhat surprisingly, none of the Board members made comment or observation of the news from earlier that day of the funding in place for a new Prince Rupert Middle School.
The Regular School Board Meeting took place on September 25th the first of business coming with two additions to their Agenda, one from Board Member Michael Pucci asking for a discussion in consideration of the renaming of the Gym at Charles Hays in recognition of Mel Bishop.
The item however, did not receive approval for discussions on the night.
The second was to add the Audited Financial Statement to the night's agenda.
The night began with a presentation related to plans for a field trip/exchange program with a school from the Ottawa area from Anna Marie Prohaska. The presentation was well received by the Board, with members asking a number of questions related to the plans for the trip which would take place in the Spring of 2024.
It was noted by the Acting Superintedent, that the majority of the funding for the trip would be through a nation program called Experience Canada.
The Board moved on to a range of reports from their Agenda for the night,
As part of the list, the Board worked its way through a lengthy number of correspondences, moving through them quickly with only a few comments for some of them. A number of the correspondences were related to BCSTA efforts and motions that were voted on at an Annual General Meeting.
Of note from them were elements related to the teaching shortage and the difficulties that the Board has in attracting teachers to the District, with the Board thinning the BCSTA for their efforts to that work.
Ms. Pond provided an opening note on the start of the school and enrolment, noting how the enrolment is not set yet it being September. She provided some background on the work in the schools to come up with the proper Toal of students attending in the District.
She estimated that the potential student population could be close to 1,811, with hopes that it could be higher owing to larger kindergarten classes this year.
The agenda included a chart of enrolment over the past five years
The Acting Superintendent also outlined some of the upcoming events of the month ahead as well as to observe how September is a month for settling into the new environment for many of the students and staff.
Ms. Pond also observed of the challenges in finding daycare in the community and how that impacts on families in the Prince Rupert area and how the School District could help to address some of that.
Trustee Horne offered up some thoughts from a School District session for new teachers in the community.
The School District's Audited Financial Statement was introduced for consideration and approval. No copy of the document was included as part of the Agenda.
The Board also reviewed its Minor Capital projects list, Mr. Gerry Slykhuis, who participated by Zoom, provided some background towards the two documents up for review.
Trustee Horne outlined some of the frustration that the Board has with how the province wants green initiatives for the schools, but doesn't offer full funding for the work required.
"They expect us as a School District to upgrade all of our schools, yet they won't fund them fully ...
I would thank our staff and Gerry for putting this in a way so we can get our best bang for the buck out of it"
The Board also moved forward on policy issues related to Staff Recruitment, Privacy Policies, Whistleblower protection and French Immersion, though with little in the way of discussion towards them.
When it came to public participation for the meeting, there was no contribution from the public on the night.
On themes that could have been explored but weren't, there was no mention as to how many teachers are currently on staff with the District and how many positions may still be open, as well as to what kind of success they may have had with their summer hiring program, which featured a financial incentive element.
The next Board of Education meeting will take place on October 16th at the public space at the Booth Building behind Lax Kxeen School.
No comments:
Post a Comment