91 News - January 2013 Board Meeting

91 NEWS – from our most recent Board Meeting...
On Monday, January 14, 2013, the Board of Education of School District No. 91 (Nechako

Lakes) held its Board Meeting via video broadcast.

Education Items

Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent of Schools, Ms. Charlene Seguin, expressed appreciation to district staff for their handling of school district business in her recent absence. She reported to the Board that each December the Superintendent of Schools must present a report to the Board of Education that reports on student achievement for the previous year. Ms. Seguin was pleased to report that we continue to see improvement in our graduation rate. She also informed the Board that “while we still have room for continued improvement, we have noted improvement in literacy results.” The report will now be submitted to the Minister of Education and be made public via the school district webpage.

Education Week

Education Week has been set for March 11 – 15, 2013.

Ministry of Education to Consult on International Education

The Board of Education has learned that the Ministry of Education is undertaking a consultation process regarding international education. In a letter to the Board, the Minister of Education, Don McRae, indicated that “government recognizes international education as a vital sector that delivers significant social, cultural and economic benefits to the province.”

He went on to add that “consultation will focus on developing an action plan to improve and better support onshore international education activities and international distributed learning. To this end, the Ministry of Education will convene a series of round tables in spring 2013.”

Operations Items

Policy and Regulation – 702.4 Severe Weather/Unsafe Road Conditions – Adopted
The Board gave second and third reading, and adopted the updated Severe Weather/Unsafe Road Conditions policy which will now be placed in the policy manual, and on the School District website, as adopted.

Vanderhoof Area Schools Consultation

Ms. Seguin informed the Board that we have now had a structural engineer look specifically at the condition of Prairiedale Elementary School. We have also been working with a consultant to look at a variety of issues regarding Vanderhoof schools. While still awaiting his formal written report, we have a good idea about some of what to expect in that report. First, there are no immediate health and safety concerns with any of the Vanderhoof schools. Second, there has been declining enrollment in Vanderhoof for several years and this is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Third, as a result of enrollment decline, there is excess capacity in schools in the Vanderhoof area. Fourth, while the process of reviewing the Vanderhoof schools was not undertaken as a specific cost cutting measure, there are always cost implications with any decision. Specifically, each school in Vanderhoof is in need of some level of maintenance and/or upgrading. Ms. Seguin also noted that there are also additional financial pressures that have come to light this fall.

Ms. Seguin reported to the Board that, pending the receipt of the formal report, “we are still anticipating holding the first public consultation meeting on February 4, 2013, in the NVSS Small Auditorium at 7:00 pm.”

Babine Elementary-Secondary School Facilities Update

Mrs. Darlene Turner, Secretary-Treasurer, reported that the Babine Elementary-Secondary School project proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Education and we anticipate a response by the end of January.

School Calendar for 2013 – 2014
Director of Instruction, Mr. Manu Madhok, and Ms. Seguin reviewed the new calendar regulations with the Board. In the February Board Meeting, the Board will present a proposed calendar and will then seek public input.