~ Highlights of the October 21, 2020 School District No. 83 Board Meeting ~ |
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Enrolment and reorganization: School District No. 83 (North Okanagan-Shuswap) enrolment as of September 30 is 6,427 full time equivalent (FTE), which is down six students from September 2019 and 90 from budget projections, reported Superintendent of Schools/CEO Peter Jory to the Board on Wednesday. There are 350 students currently on "soft start" or temporarily at the Educational Outreach Program.
As discussed at the September meeting, this drop has amounted to a just over $2.4 million decline in funding. To respond to the shortfall, senior leadership tightened staffing at five schools to bring the number of students in the school closer to the class size contract language and to more sustainable budget levels.
However, Jory reported, even with the reorganization, class sizes are lower than last year.
A few years ago district class sizes were typically at 20 for kindergarten, 22 for primary, 26 at intermediate and 24 at secondary. In 2019-20, with the contract language restored, the district's numbers were 18.6 at kindergarten, 20.2 at primary, 24.3 at intermediate and 22.4 at secondary. This school year, including holding empty seats for the students not yet transitioned back to school, there is an average of 18.1 at kindergarten, 19.7 at primary, 22.5 at intermediate and 22.3 at secondary. He noted the Ministry has allowed them to include the 350 students in "soft start" and temporarily at EOP to be counted at their normal school, even though they are not attending their school at this time.
In response to some questions received, he also noted the district is using a good chunk of the $2 million federal funding grant to support staffing. "We used $600,000 for staffing at the Educational Outreach Program (EOP) and an additional $400,000 was set aside to cover additional replacement staff we may need to cover absences." He added the district needs to budget carefully at this time, as there are additional costs dealing with COVID 19. For example, the cleaning supplies and extra custodial time is costing the district an additional $40,000 a week from what is typically spent. "We need to be very cautious with our spending." Jory commented that he knows the reorganization in some schools has raised anxiety and has been uncomfortable. "We are sorry about that, but we really didn't feel like we had a choice."
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Grad Rates Up: Jory also reported to trustees that school district's have now received last year's graduation rates for their own district and SD83 has received some good news. "We have had an uptick in our graduation rates." In 2018-19 SD83's overall six year graduation rate was 84 per cent and in 2019-20 it went up to 88 per cent. The six year grad rate for Indigenous students was 76 per cent in the previous school year and last year it jumped all the way to 85 per cent. And, the six year graduation for students identified with special needs was 73 per cent for 2018-19 and went up to 79 per cent for last year!
"This is a tribute to better systems, improved alignment and a heck of a lot of work by our staff. Well done everyone, especially to our students and their families," said Jory. He mentioned at this point the provincial rates are not available so he doesn't know if the improvement is province-wide. "I will be very interested to see that data when it is released."
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Financial Impact of student enrolment and draft spending plan of COVID-19 Special Purpose Grants: Secretary-Treasurer Alanna Cameron walked the Board through the financial impacts to the district with the impact of reduced enrolment and COVID-19. "As you know we don't get grant confirmation until mid-December. This is really a heads up to trustees and the public that this is what we anticipate, based on what we know at this time." With the decrease in student enrolment from projections, fewer students with funded diverse needs in attendance and the district no longer qualifying for additional funding through the Classroom Enhancement Fund the district's revenue is $2,437,528 short of projections. To date, in order to mitigate the budget shortfall, the district has reduced 5.85 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) classroom teachers in five different schools, not fill the positions for the instructional leadership team, and used $50,000 in federal funds to cover some of custodial cleaning supplies and $25,100 of provincial funding for the autoscrubbers to decrease costs by $800,100. This leaves an operating shortfall of $1,082,444.
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Superintendent's Report: At the end of the school year, Superintendent Peter Jory completes a report for the Board on how he feels the school district is progressing specific to the goals set in the District Strategic Plan and ongoing related projects, as well as some recommendations for possible adjustments or changes in strategic plan direction. For example, Jory noted in his report that the recent McCreary study confirms a number of concerns around student mental health. "Of particular interest is the possible relationship between technology, sleep, and student wellness, all mentioned in the SD83 Technology Plan more than a year ago as an area of concern and future focus. I think it is time we design and initiate a cohesive district response to this issue."
He also discussed that each Spring, SD83 surveys stakeholders about how they perceive the district to be doing on its strategic goals. He noted that, somewhat ironically, what was a very challenging year has appeared to improve the stakeholders view of SD83 in some key areas.
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Diverse Abilities Advocacy Committee: SD83 District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) Vice President Christy Wright presented some information to trustees around concerns raised by SD83 parents around support for students with diverse learning needs.
Wright explained this came to DPAC's attention last Spring and in response they formed the Diverse Abilities Advocacy Subcommittee (DAAC). This committee has surveyed parents of students with diverse learning needs (December to March 2020 and again from July to October 2020) and said the top concerns were the availability of learning resource teachers and certified education assistants, access to SD83 specialists, availability of resources in middle and high schools, and access to school psych ed assessments.
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Inclusive Education Update: Director of Instruction (Inclusive Education) Carol-Ann Leidloff walked trustees through data from the province and in SD83 showing trends over time of students with diverse learning abilities. She explained in August UBC released the Lloyd/Baumbusch Report, which included historical statistics. "I've been wondering how our district compares to provincial data so took our data and compared." Leidloff put together a series of charts showing both provincial and local numbers of students in Ministry categories and explained how some categories fluctuated as assessment practices were improved. She also provided a chart of how many categorized students (both funded and unfunded) are attending SD83 schools, information on why there is a $746,000 decrease from budget projections, and how support is distributed in the schools. She noted that in July they were projecting the district would have 1,237 students with diverse learning needs, however in September there were 1,170 who actually attended. "The biggest drop was students in the chronic health designation, which is not highly surprising as these students have underlying health conditions."
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Draft spending plan of COVID-19 Special Purpose Grants: Cameron also outlined to the Board the draft spending plan for the COVID-19 Special Purpose Grants.
The Provincial Safe Return to School Grant of $90,823 is earmarked for reusable masks/shields/sneeze guards, computers and assistive technology, cleaning supplies, cleaning frequency, and improved hand hygiene/water fill stations.
The Federal Safe Return to Class Fund of $2,283,080 is slated for EOP teaching staff, increased clerical time for EOP, an Education Outreach Worker, Chrome Books for Indigenous and on-reserve support, increased cleaning frequency and product, increased lunch hour supervisors, crossing guards and bus driver time.
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Possible partnership with District of Sicamous: The Board sent a letter of full support for the District of Sicamous' application to the Community, Culture and Recreation Program grant intended to subsidize the construction of a multi-use and multi-age sports court in Sicamous. There was no commitment of any financial support at this time.
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Long Range Facilities Plan: After 20 months of work, the SD83 Board adopted the 2020-29 Long Range Facilities Plan as presented. "It's a pretty exciting moment," commented Cameron. However, the work is not yet complete. Additional public consultation for the Salmon Arm area and feeder schools will be taking place on Thursday, November 12 at 6 p.m. This will be a virtual meeting with staff and trustees at the DESC and the public asking questions via livestream. Cameron noted that Boards are expected to have a LRFP on file with the Ministry. She added as this is a 10 year plan on a regular basis the Board should review it and determine if changes are needed.
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Equity Scan: SD83 is one of 46 school districts to take part in a Ministry of Education Equity Scan since it was implemented in 2017/18. At Wednesday's Board meeting, District Principal of Indigenous Education Anne Tenning updated trustees on the implementation of this plan, including the re-introduction of the Secwepemc language for many elementary students, an Indigenous literacy intervention pilot program at Len Wood Middle, re-allocation of staffing to ensure there are not inequities throughout district schools, a partnership with the Shuswap Food Action Society to provide food boxes to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous families in need, and the purchase of Chromebooks for Indigenous students learning from home. "We also wanted to ensure that the focus of our work is the same focus as everyone's work - student achievement and success in a culturally respectful way."
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Truth and Reconciliation: Tenning also updated trustees on the Truth and Reconciliation Ally program, which is quite unique to the district and was formed about five years ago. In 2016 the Board of the time unanimously voted in favour of adopting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations and to the implementation of a plan to bring reconciliation into SD83. The formation of the TRC teacher Allies came from this Education for Reconciliation Action Plan. The TRC Allies learn about the residential school system, Canadian history and the impacts of colonization on Indigenous people. In addition, the Allies worked to identify ways to implement Indigenous ways of knowing, draw connections and suggest resources for the curriculum and participate/assist /support various events during the year such as Orange Shirt Day.
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Education Directions Committee: Committee Chair Marianne VanBuskirk reported that at the meeting Numeracy District Principal Val Edgell shared the latest numeracy results and District Principal Jen Findlay presented EdPlan Insight, a tool used for the collection and analysis of student assessment data. The tool can be used by educators to inform and plan instruction. She suggested both of these presentations would be valuable information for the Board.
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Risk Assessment: Cameron updated the trustees on the final six items on the SD83 Risk Register, which was part of 24 risks identified in the KPMG Enterprise Risk Management Summary Report and Risk Register for SD83 which was undertaken in 2017. Cameron noted that district staff have reviewed each of the 24 identified risks and provided summaries of the mitigation and compensation controls that are currently in place. Departments will commit to ongoing monitoring of these risks as well as others that may arise. All mitigation strategies have been reviewed, documented and discussed at the audit committee. A report of all 24 risks and mitigation strategies will be compiled for the Board.
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Labour Relations Committee: Committee Chairperson Quentin Bruns reported ideas to support employee health and wellness were discussed at the meeting. He said the group will be costing some of the ideas and will hopefully be able to get started on this.
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Partner Group: Committee chairperson Marty Gibbons reported the group had a very interesting presentation from SOGI (Sexual Orientation Gender Identity)/Sexual Health Support teacher Amy Witt. He said one of the things presented by Witt was a poster she has been working on, which he hoped the Board would endorse for use in SD83 schools and facilities.
This was passed by the Board and it was also suggested that Witt present at a Committee of the Whole or Board meeting.
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Procedural Bylaws: After an amendment to update some wording, The Board gave third and final reading to changes to its procedural bylaws. These changes updated the bylaws to align with current practices and policies of the Board.
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It also sent a policy initiation request on Nalaxone to policy committee for discussion. It was noted the Interior Health, and Occupational Health and Safety Committee also be looked to for more guidance around this possible policy. It was also suggested the Wellness Committee be involved.
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Climate Action Belief Statement: To move forward the development of a Climate Action Belief Statement the Board passed two motions. The first was that The Board request that Policy 3020 and Regulation 3020.01R be forwarded to the Policy Committee for review. The Board also requested that Superintendent of Schools/CEO Peter Jory initiate an Ad Hoc Working Advisory Committee on Climate Action be formed as soon as possible.
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Internal Communication: The Board passed a motion to formalize communication between trustees and the Superintendent during the time between meetings. It was decided that the Superintendent of Schools/CEO would communicate weekly with the trustees with a summary of that week. Jory added this would not preclude him from getting in touch immediately if there were an urgent matter or something of importance.
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Boxing & Grant: In his announcements, Jory told trustees that thanks to an Indigenous Wellness Grant a group of students at Parkview are learning about self-discipline and the mental and physical strength developed through boxing. Organized by Indigenous Education Worker Nicole Krull, three national level boxing coaches from Bulldog Boxing in Salmon Arm – two of them graduates from Salmon Arm Secondary – are working with 17 Grade 6 students for an hour-a-week for five weeks. He added all health and safety protocols are being followed and that students are enjoying the experience so much, that they are helping volunteer with the sanitizing of the equipment and are bringing a donation for the Sicamous Food Bank to show their appreciation. The school is hopeful to do another session in the spring.
Food Grant: M.V. Beattie also has some good news to share. In June, The administration team at MV Beattie found out that their school was the recipient of a $5,000 grant from Good Food Access Fund. Those funds were used to support MVB families during the difficult times COVID 19 has presented. In August the MV Beattie admin team received word that the school was also the successful applicant of a further $20,000 grant from Good Food Access. These funds are being used to purchase gift cards to support MVB families and meet the increased need within the school’s breakfast and lunch programs. Still with food, other people are also chipping in to support those struggling during this time. This week the Anions family donated many boxes of apples and eggs to the M.V. Beattie’s lunch program.
Congratulations: Trustees congratulated Tennile Lachmuth who was recently elected a member at large for the Thompson Okanagan Branch of the BC School Trustees' Association (BCSTA).
Activities: Trustee Marianne VanBuskirk updated trustees on some of the activities she has taken part in since the last meeting. This included attending an online session by Phyllis Jack Webstad, who's experiences with Orange Shirt Day are based on, attending the Active Transportation Task Force meeting and the Shuswap Pride Action's Pride Week activities in Salmon Arm.
Thanks: Trustee Quentin Bruns said at Thanksgiving last weekend he was reflecting on how truly thankful he was for all the support he received from the Board, the District, and schools after his accident. "I received some really touching visits and care packages. I really want to express my appreciation and thanks and I'm sure it helped my recovery."
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Friday, Oct. 23 - Non-instructional Day (Provincial Day)
Friday, Oct. 23 - Committee of the Whole Meeting at the DESC at 10:30 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24 - BCSTA Provincial Council Meeting (online)
Wednesday, Nov. 18* - Regular meeting of the Board at 6 p.m. at the DESC
*please note change in date
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