MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC MEETING OF THE GREATER ESSEX COUNTY DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD HELD ON TUESDAY, 2012-05-15 IN THE BOARD ROOM, 451 PARK STREET WEST, WINDSOR, ONTARIO. PRESENT: TRUSTEES:
H. Bailey (Chairperson) J. Burgess L. Gretzky S. Harding-Smith C. Howe-Buckler C. Lovell K McKinley Simko-Hatfield REGRETS: T. Kilpatrick C. Adams, Student Trustee STUDENT TRUSTEES: J. ADMINISTRATION: W. Kennedy (Director of Education) P. Antaya C. Howitt J. Howitt D. Petryshyn RECORDER: M. LeBoeuf CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.
Chairperson Bailey welcomed the incoming Student Trustees Karren Wang and Shane Chappus.
B. ATTENDANCE
Chairperson Bailey noted that Trustee Kilpatrick and Student Trustee Adams sent regrets.
C. APPROVAL Moved by Trustee Lovell Seconded by Trustee Simko-Hatfield THAT THE AGENDA BE APPROVED AS PRESENTED. The vote was called and it CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of conflict of interest.
E. APPROVAL
E.1 Approval of Minutes of Public Board Meeting of 2012-04-17
Moved by Trustee Howe-Buckler Seconded by Trustee Gretzky
K.4 – should reflect that the change to Robert’s Rules of Order is effective September 2012.
THAT THE MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC BOARD MEETING OF 2012-04-17 BE APPROVED AS AMENDED. The vote was called and it CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
MINUTES of the Public Board Meeting Tuesday, May 15, 2012
BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
There was no business arising from the minutes.
G. PRESENTATIONS G.1 Student of the Month Student Trustee Houston noted that the student of the month for May was Yasmin Kawsara from Forster. Yasmin is a hard-working, dedicated, ambitious student. She is a very bright girl, with her marks reaching high 80's and lower 90's. This is her first year being in a highschool since she was previously home schooled. Yasmin is well known by staff and her peers and will generously lend a hand without questioning. Recently Yasmin won an award for being the best individual entrepreneur out of Windsor Essex County. Overall Yasmin is an all-around achiever who has big goals for herself and for everyone around her.
G.2 Champions For Education
Director Kennedy noted that the “Champions for Education Awards Program” is a component of the Board’s recognition program that acknowledges the outstanding contributions in support of our schools, students and programs.
Our schools and this Board enjoy the support and partnership with a number of individuals and organizations in our community. These partners are deeply valued by the Board and its administration. The contributions they make strengthen our school system and enhance the services to our students.
Scott Scantlebury, Public Relations Officer, introduced the recipients, providing a brief background on their achievements. The recipients for 2012 are:
Anil Dhar and Larry Koscielski, Sandwich Secondary School
Janet Mooney, Harrow Junior Public School
Marsha Tterlikkis, Victoria Public School
H. DELEGATIONS
H.1 Martha Hradowy, President, OSSTF, Educational Support Staff re: Budget (see attached)
¾ It was questioned if Ms. Hradowy shared her presentation with the Ministry. Ms. Hradowy
noted that yes she was in Queen’s Park last week.
¾ It was questioned if she had discussed her concerns with parents. Ms. Hradowy noted
I. SPEAKER’S
Mario Spagnuolo, Vice-President, ETFO (see attached)
ACTIONS OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE PRIVATE SESSION Moved by Trustee Taves Seconded by Trustee Simko-Hatfield THAT ITEM H.1 PERSONNEL MATTER FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – PRIVATE SESSION, MAY 15th, 2012 BE APPROVED. The vote was taken and it CARRIED. ABSTAINED: Trustee Burgess, Harding-Smith and Howe-Buckler
MINUTES of the Public Board Meeting Tuesday, May 15, 2012
BUSINESS There was no new business. REPORTS (TO BE RECEIVED)
Report of the Director of Education The Director noted that he attended an Emergency Response Drill at Leamington District Secondary School on Saturday, May 5th. It involved Board staff, police, fire and emergency rescue units. T. Lauzon did a great job. This is FitWeek. There is lots of excitement. The Director thanked the members of the committee: Vickie Komar, Kim Kakkavas, Sharon Seslija, Jodi Sekulic, Sandy Pouget and Catia Carreira. The Director noted that the board is partnering with the City in a project called “In Sport We are One”. The current generation of Canadian children is the first generation in the history of the country which may not out live its parents. “In Sport we are One” is a one of a kind program that will leave a legacy for generations to come. There are five activations: Healthy Living Pledge; Playground to Podium; Child Health Passport Program; ICG Leadership Junior Ambassador Program; and the ICG Games Day Recognition/Activity Event. Trustee Simko-Hatfield noted that we are fortunate to have our Director take a lead role in this initiative.
Trustee Lovell spoke to the attached report.
Trustee Burgess questioned if we had full compliance with the PRO grants. The Director noted that each school automatically receives $500 and they also have the opportunity to apply for up to $1000. Trustee Burgess requested clarification around the Ministry’s announcement with respect to potential amalgamations. The Director noted that George Zegarac spoke to PCODE regarding potential amalgamations. Russ Riddell has been hired by the Ministry to conduct a study regarding potential amalgamations. This will be done during the summer. It is expected that his report will be released toward the end of September.
Student Trustee Houston noted that OSTA/ECO AGM is next week. As part of Student Senate’s initiatives this year it was hoped that every student would donate a dollar to We Care for Kids. In the past month Walkerville raised $7500 and the Harrow Iron Hawk raised $27,000. All proceeds will be donated to ‘We Care for Kids’.
L.4 Facility Partnerships – Report on Potential Spaces Available
Superintendent Allen noted that a number of our schools are involved in a PARC as well as implementing FDK. This left very few of our schools available.
Superintendent Lyons noted that all three committees have their draft recommendations. The Forster Committee presented the following draft recommendations at the May 9th community meeting:
1. New construction for a dual track K-12 school on the Marlborough campus (Giles Campus
students, Marlborough and Forster) Giles Campus boundary remains as is. Close Century: AB students relocate to Western and diploma students relocate to home schools.
MINUTES of the Public Board Meeting Tuesday, May 15, 2012
2. Marlborough and French Immersion (Giles Campus) students to Century (730 students);
Forster and Century students at new building on Marlborough site (849 students); close Foster and Marlborough.
3. Close Forster – 9 -12 at Century (remove ESL from Forster). Close Marlborough – new
K-8 dual track on this site. Giles Campus closes.
The Herman Committee presented the following draft recommendations at the May 14th community meeting:
1. Close Maxwell and Coronation. Adjust McCallum’s western boundary to Walker Road.
All current McCallum students living west of Walker Road would attend Giles Campus. All grade 7 and 8 English students would attend Herman. Maxwell closes. JK-6 Maxwell students transition to McGregor. Coronation closes. JK-6 Coronation students transition to Roseville and Davis.
2. Close McGregor. McCallum students transition to Herman (JK-12). McGregor closes
and students transition to the new McCallum. Maxwell’s eastern boundary adjusted to Polonia Park. Current Maxwell students living east of Polonia Park would transition to Coronation.
3. Close McGregor and Maxwell. McCallum students transition to Herman (JK-12).
McGregor students living North of Tecumseh Road transition to new McCallum.
Students living south of Tecumseh Road would transition to Davis. Maxwell students living east of Pillette transition to Coronation. All other students transition to the new McCallum.
4. Close McGregor and Maxwell. Maxwell students east of Pillette move to Coronation.
Herman absorbs the remainder of the JK-8 English students from McGregor and Maxwell. McCallum remains French Immersion with new western Walker Road boundary. All current McCallum students living west of Walker Road would attend Giles Campus.
The Kingsville Committee will present the following draft recommendations at the May 16th community meeting:
1. Build a JK-12 dual track school for all students within the Kingsville family. 2. All grade 7 and 8 students transition to Kingsville DHS; Kingsville PS remains dual track
for JK-6 with demolition of “old section”; close Ruthven and transition JK-6 students to Jack Miner.
3. All grade 7 and 8 students transition to Kingsville DHS; all JK-6 students transition to Jack
Miner with an addition built; close Ruthven and Kingsville Public Schools.
Superintendent Lyons noted that after the third community meeting the committee will review the input from the community and bring back recommendations to the fourth community meeting for input. The committees will present their recommendations to Trustees toward the end of June. The report will sit for 60 days on the board website for further input. The Director will present his report to trustees. Trustees will review the recommendations and make a decision sometime in November.
TRUSTEE QUESTION PERIOD Trustee Burgess questioned if Trustees would be able to view the video tapes from the PARC community meetings. Several trustees are attending the OPSBA AGM in June. Superintendent Lyons noted that only the third and fourth community meetings are taped. Trustee Burgess questioned if SEAC has had input into the recommendations around the potential cuts in special education. The Director noted that SEAC is very much involved. The Education Act requires that they give recommendations around the budget.
MINUTES of the Public Board Meeting Tuesday, May 15, 2012
NOTICES OF MOTION O. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Trustee McKinley reminded everyone that Oakwood is hosting an open house and closing ceremonies on May 17th from 1:00 – 4:00. Trustee Howe-Buckler noted that she attended both days of the Special Olympics. She commended the organizing committee for a job well done.
P. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the Board, Chairperson Bailey adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m.
H. BAILEY CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD W. KENNEDY DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION OPSBA Report
• 2012 – 2013 Parent Reaching Out Grants
¾ Application deadline June 8, 2012 ¾ Parent Reaching Out (PRO) grants provide funding to help increase
parent engagement at the local, regional and provincial levels in support of student achievement and well-being. PRO grants are designed to support parents identify barriers to parent involvement in their own community and to find local solutions to involve more parents in support of student achievement and well-being.
i. School councils of publicly funded schools in Ontario (only) can
apply for Parents Reaching Out Grants for Schools.
ii. Parent organizations, Parent Involvement Committees (PICs),
publicly funded school boards, non-profit organizations and
postsecondary institutions operating in Ontario can apply for
Parents Reaching Out Grants for Regional / Provincial Projects.
¾ Details are available on the MOE website at
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/reaching.html
• Finance Issue
¾ Regarding the Provincial Budget , at last week’s work team meetings
Policy Development Work Team , had a preliminary conversation with the Education Program Work Team to talk about these 3 cost savings measures:
ii. A Four-year High School Program (Credit Cap)
After the meeting OPSBA received an email from Russ Riddell Director, Strategic Transformation at the Ministry of Education. He is the executive contact for school board restructuring and amalgamation. He indicated that consultation plans would be coming out over the next few weeks. OPSBA will be sending him a summary of the comments discussed at the meeting last Friday.
• Legislative Updates.
¾ OPSBA continues to monitor the numerous bills as reported in last
month’s report.
¾ Bill 13, Accepting Schools Act 2012 and Bill 14, Anti-Bulling Act, 2012.
The Standing Committee on Social Policy will meet to consider Bill 13
and Bill 14. The Committee intends to hold public hearings in Toronto on May 15, 2012; and in Ottawa on May 22, 2012
¾ Bill C-300 Suicide Prevention Frameworks began third reading May 14
but it didn’t finish. It has may come back on June 21st. Once it passes
in the House of Commons, it then goes to the Senate.
¾ Bill 55 budget Measures is an omnibus bill amending over 60 various
Acts. It includes changes under the Broader Public Sector
¾ The Legislative Assembly of Ontario rises for the summer on Thursday
• Expanded Teacher Education Program
¾ Consultations have been held to seek input into the possibility of an
expanded Teacher Education Program. This is the first review of the program in 40 years. Under consideration is expansion of the program beyond the current two semesters. The Ministry has indicated that the expansion must be cost neutral. OPSBA has provided a written submission. There will be one further day will of discussions taking place.
• Children and Youth Mental Health
¾ TVO Parents Website has launched a series of collected stories in the
form of short video clips, to help parents and teachers know more about how and why kids are suffering. The latest clips deal with the most common childhood mental illness – Anxiety and Depression. In one video Dr. Korenblum (leading Psychiatrist-In-Ghief) explains why and provides a primer on how to spot depression in a child and what to do about it.
¾ Reminder: The Summit for Children and Youth Mental Health will be
held in Toronto on the evening of October 25, 2012 and all day on October 26, 2012.
• Western Regional Meeting
¾ Slide presentations and materials shared at the April 13 tour of the two
Thames Valley schools about Arbeit Schule and FNMI secondary programming have now been made available to all trustees.
¾ Information about the upcoming June 11 Mennonite Networking Conference
in Aylmer can be found on the web at: http://mcco.ca/ongoing-journey-15th-annual-networking-conference-service-providers-low-german-families
¾ Plans are tentatively underway to organize a joint Central and Western
Regional Meeting to be held in Waterloo (location to be determined) with a networking dinner the evening of Friday, October 13, and a PD module to be held on Saturday. Funding is provided by the Ministry of Education to deliver the PD modules.
The two modules currently under consideration (subject to availability of presenters) are:
1. Module 7 : Exercising Authentic Governance: The School Board’s Role as Policymaker
2. Module 8 : Conflict – Managing it Creatively
¾ The two Regional VPs and OPSBA staff would like to confirm the details
before the summer, so they would like to know if these modules would be of interest at a joint meeting.
Action Item 1. Do the GECDSB trustees support the continued planning for a joint meeting of the Western and Central Regions to include the delivery of a PD module? 2. Preferred a. Module b. Module
¾ Further information will be provided as plans move forward.
Dates to Remember:
1. 24th AGM & PROGRAM 2012 - HOSTED BY The NORTERN REGION Thursday, June 7 — Saturday, June 9, 2012 Valhalla Inn,Thunder Bay
2. CSBA Congress 2012
• Canadian School Boards Association (CSBA) Congress 2012
• Hosted by the Québec English School Boards Association
• Keynote speaker The Right Honourable Paul Martin will participate
in a plenary dialogue with legendary folk singer and Aboriginal leader, Buffy Ste-Marie.
MEN'S HEALTH MEN'S HEALTH TACKLING THE TACKLING THE INEQUALITIES INEQUALITIES MEN'S HEALTH TACKLING THE INEQUALITIES Report of a one-day multidisciplinary conference held on Tuesday 11 December 2001 at the Royal College of Physicians, Regent’s Park, London by kind permission of the treasurer Tackling men’s health inequalities: what can the government do
UNCLASSIFIED RDT&E BUDGET ITEM JUSTIFICATION SHEET (R-2 Exhibit) APPROPRIATION/BUDGET ACTIVITY R-1 ITEM NOMENCLATURE In-House Laboratory Independent Research (ILIR) PE 0601101D8Z (U) A. Mission Description and Budget Item Justification (U) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ELEMENT (U)This program element supports basic medical research at the Uniformed Services University of the Health