Board News: January 25, 2022
January 24, 2022
Agenda
Announcement
The Board Chair introduced the meeting with an announcement regarding the news of the discovery of 93 potential human burial sites at the Williams Lake First Nation.
Superintendent’s Reports
COVID-19 Update
Superintendent Mal Gill began his presentation by introducing himself and explaining his background in education; a career which spans 30 years. He has taken on roles as a teacher, administrator in schools and leadership positions in the District. He shared his family background and his role as a father of three children.
Mr. Gill transitioned to reflecting on the news of the discovery of possible burial sites at Williams Lake First Nation. He reiterated the importance of the ongoing work that the District is continuing to do to ensure every child matters. In addition to learning about the tragedies at Residential Schools, the community faced other challenges over the last two years. Some of these difficult situations included inclement weather and the ongoing pandemic.
He updated the Board on the enhanced health and safety guidelines which came into place in January 2022. These recent protocols included changes to space arrangements, staff spacing, school gatherings and events, visitor access, and sports. He commented on the District’s work in gathering and monitoring attendance data which is important for decision making around school closures. He provided some data noting that there has been in an increase in absence rates over time when comparing, prior to Christmas Break with the return to school in January.
The notification process has changed with no exposure notification being sent. The District is continuing to work closely with Fraser Health on exchanging information. He explained the types of closures which include the potential for health closures or functional closures and explained their meaning to the Board. He provided an overview of the District’s functional closure internal and external processes. He shared his appreciation to everyone in the District during this difficult time: students, parents, administrators, teachers, and all staff.
Recommendation: That the Board of Education receives the update on COVID-19 for information, as presented.
The Board approves the report as presented. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Anti-Racism in the Langley School District
Magdy Ghobrial gave an update on the anti-racism work completed and continuing on in the District. The Administrative Procedure 170: Anti-Harassment and Anti-Discrimination has now been updated to include language around anti-racism. He explained the District has updated resources in libraries and implemented and shared the SORA App which contains a curated set of diverse resources. Cultural celebrations are being recognized across the District. Schools are also taking on many initiatives related to anti-racism which will be mentioned by the following presenters. The District will be working with a consultant to assist the District on anti-racism and the ongoing work with University of Winnipeg educator Kevin Lamoureux.
District Principal of Aboriginal Education Mike Pue continued the presentation and noted how “Reconciliation is intertwined with anti-racism.” He talked about the 9th teaching standard followed by educators which involves work on understanding your own biases. He explained the impact of the discovery of the 215 children buried in Residential School in Kamloops had on the Aboriginal community. He said it is important for education, language learning, lessons, and activities including the reflections on Truth and Reconciliation Day. He closed his portion with sharing details about the upcoming Professional Development conference for staff, its focus on Truth and Reconciliation, and keynote speakers.
Vice-Principal of Langley Secondary School Brittany Reid shared the work being done at the school and the development of a committee. The committee started its work by determining the “why,” understanding racism and biases from a personal perspective. The committee organized an anti-racism literacy cycle and developed a mission statement which was shared with colleagues. Teacher, Gurpreet Mahil discussed the work in getting staff on board, having staff understand the problem, knowing the causes of racism, educating and training our staff. This includes anti-racism education and training, allocated time in staff meetings, and professional development opportunities. The next step in the process was getting students involved, by using school-wide REP/lessons on anti-racism topics, anti-racism and diversity club, and an anti-racism student survey. The school also provided many learning opportunities through announcements, visual displays on monitors, social media, lessons, guest speakers, and cultural celebrations. He touched on some upcoming learning opportunities including Black History Month and activities put on by the anti-racism and diversity club in February, Anti-Racism Survey in March, and Ramadan in April.
Superintendent Mal Gill closed the presentation with an invite to trustees to take part in the speakers’ sessions at the upcoming Odyssey Professional Development conference.
Recommendation: That the Board of Education receives the update on COVID-19 for information, as presented.
The Board approves the report as presented. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Amended District Calendars 2022-2023 and 2023-2024
Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Barry Bunyan presented a calendar update regarding the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR). He explained how school districts have been instructed by the province to mark September 30th in both calendars as NDTR. He noted he will update the Board later, once there is direction outlining whether staff work that day or not.
Recommendation: That the Board of Education approves the amended District Calendars for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, as presented.
The Board approved the above motion. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Secretary-Treasurer’s Reports
Capital Projects Update
Secretary-Treasurer Brian Iseli provided the Board an overview on Capital Projects for 2021/2022 which have been approved by the Ministry. The projects include Donna Gabriel Robins Elementary (DGRE), Shortreed Community Elementary seismic upgrades, and Vanguard Secondary School seismic upgrades. He has mentioned there were some delays in the substantial completion of DGRE due to COVID-19. He explained a grand opening has not happened yet to celebrate and show the school to the community. However, he shared photos of the exterior and interior of the school so the public could have a sense of the look of the new school. Mr. Iseli moved on to the work at Shortreed and explained the purpose of the project to replace the roof and walls and provide structure to make it seismically safe. He shared photos of this ongoing work which he noted was experiencing delays currently, but he is confident the time will be made up. Mr. Iseli closed the presentation with the seismic work approved for Vanguard Secondary School which includes safety upgrades and new learning spaces.
Recommendation: That the Board of Education receives the report on Capital Projects 2021/2022 for information, as presented.
The Board approves the report as presented. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Annual Review of Trustee Remuneration
Secretary-Treasurer Brian Iseli provided some background for the Board regarding the annual review of trustee remuneration.
Recommendation: That the Board of Education approves the increase of 4.8% effective January 1, 2022 based on the 12 month change in Canada Consumer Price Index (CPI) in accordance with board Policy #7, section 11 and to update the salaries in Policy #7, section 11.1 with the new salaries.
The Board approved the above motion. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Financial Update
Secretary-Treasurer Brian Iseli provided a financial update and included data outlining the District’s revenue, expenses, surplus/deficit. He listed the following costs: benefits, salaries of all staff, administrators, teachers, and supplies. He noted budget impacts related to COVID-19.
Recommendation: That the Board of Education receives the report on the Financial Update for information, as presented.
The Board approves the report as presented. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Policy Committee
Recommendation: That the Board of Education approves Policy 17: Accumulated Operating Surplus, as presented.
The Board approved the above motion. The video above will begin on this agenda item.