Board News: October 19, 2021
October 18, 2021
Agenda
Superintendent’s Reports
COVID-19 Update
Superintendent Gord Stewart provided the Board an update on COVID-19 in schools and provincial guidelines. He gave an overview of common questions from parents and the community regarding mask wearing, vaccine mandate, COVID-19 notifications, and the topic of parents in schools. He touched on the updated provincial mask mandate for K-12 students and shared some of the concerns parents have raised. He emphasized the guideline which states students are not prevented from attending school if they are not wearing a mask. The District is waiting for the province’s advisory committee to share guidelines regarding implementing a vaccine mandate and will be reviewing the document along with its potential implications on operations. Stewart commented on COVID-19 notifications, making note of parent concerns regarding delays in notifications being distributed. The District maintains the notification process is led by Fraser Health. He gave remarks regarding parent teacher interviews and how some schools will be offering online or in-person events. Stewart presented an update on the number of COVID-19 cases in school. The District has seen 55 cases at 24 sites in September and approximately 100 notifications at 33 sites in October. Five sites in the District have not had any cases. In closing, he says the District continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation and make decisions to adapt operations such as parent teacher meetings as an example.
The Board approves the report as presented. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Intensive Support Model at Douglas Park and Nicomekl Elementary Schools
Deputy Superintendent Mal Gill and Assistant Superintendent Woody Bradford gave a presentation on the District’s intensive support model which is in place at both Nicomekl Elementary and Douglas Park Community Elementary. Gill opened the presentation with an overview of the District’s Continuous Improvement Plan. He explained the District’s goal is to create compassionate learning communities with inclusive instructional practice allowing access to grade level curriculum for all students through the Ensouling our Schools Initiative. As part of this model, he outlined some of the District’s actions which includes trauma informed practice training, anti-racism education, pro-D initiatives in Ensouling our Schools, and focusing on children and youth in care.
Assistant Superintendent Woody Bradford talked about the importance of action plans in schools which focus on social emotional learning, commitments on Truth and Reconciliation, anti-racism, and inclusion, among other things. Bradford summarized the various structures and systems for student success which are broken down into professional learning, measurement, and student learning. In relation to professional learning, staff were introduced to managing complex change, a model which will continue to be reviewed throughout the year. As part of this model, staff were given three days of intensive training and two days with learning support services teams to help set-up the classrooms to ensure these classes were set-up to support students. Bradford highlighted three educational priorities including: literacy, numeracy, social emotional learning/classroom management. He talked about critical steps for effective and sustainable professional development and explained the professional learning cycle. He closed the presentation with an example of a successful project at Nicomekl and noted how this intensive support model will continue for the rest of the year at the two schools.
The Board approves the report as presented. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Secretary-Treasurer Reports
Enrolment Report Update
Secretary-Treasurer Brian Iseli gave an update on enrolment which was first presented in the September Regular Board Meeting. As he explained, the District is continuing to review duplicate registrants but current numbers show record breaking enrolment in the District. Iseli said the District is up 753 FTE from last spring which is a net increase from the budget of $5,944,304. He outlined updates for certain categories of students, such as an increase in special needs students and ELL students.
The Board approves the report as presented. The video above will begin on this agenda item.
Policy Committee
Policy 5 and 6 (Role of the chair and role of the vice-chair)