I have great expectations of this school district. Many of the motions have increased transparency and advocate for more collaboration with partner groups when decisions are made. When I have voted no I ask to have my ‘No’ vote recorded so that I am accountable for how I vote.
There are annual documents that we review and vote on and I keep on trying to improve the editing and communication process regarding this. I have not voted in favour of the Superintendents Reports on Achievement or the District Achievement Contracts for a few reasons:
Here are most of the motions I've put forward:
Oct 28 2014
Motion: That the Board of Education direct district staff to hold and not destroy any Mac computers recently removed from the network until the board has had a chance to review this decision in terms of our disposal of surplus equipment policy. Carried unanimously.
May 27 2014
BCSTA Advocation Motion: That the Board, in writing, request that the BCSTA call on the government to reconsider their Lockout tactics and actively seek a negotiated teacher contract or failing that, appointment of a mutually agreed upon mediator. Carried unanimously.
June 2014
Motion: That the Board of Trustees write a letter to the Minister of Education to express concerns that the Ministry of Education has removed written sections from English 10 and Social Studies 11 graduation program exams. This action is not in keeping with the designation of provincial exams as an essential service and compromises the valid assessment of our students. Carried Unanimously.
May 13, 2014: 2014/2015 Budget proposal
Motion: That the budget increase to C&I of $248,000 for the implementation of the “Essential Eight” be reduced to $124,000 in order to mitigate cuts to other departments and allow the hiring of a Speech Language Pathologist. (amended to put all the $248,000 back in the schools - Defeated)
Feb 17, 2014
Motion: that the Board of Education in SD57 write a joint letter with the PGDTA asking the Ministry to respect the BC Supreme Court ruling, fully fund restored services and to bargain with respectful and collaborative intentions. Carried unanimously.
Jan 28, 2014
Motion: That the OpenStudent organization be invited to make a demonstration/presentation in our district in the next two months for a similar audience as the Aspen SIS presentation in December 2013. The purpose is to allow staff to compare the two systems that will be used in BC to replace BCESIS. (amended to “at their expense”, then carried)
Nov 26 2013
Motion: That the board receive information on registration transfers between schools in the district by month from March to Sept 2013. Carried 4:2 (Against - Bella, Bekkering)
All these motions were moved to committee, Carried 5:1(Kate against). I agrued to keep the conversation at the Board table for a transparent conversation.
Motion: Moved to committee
That district staff be directed to draft a new technology vision and policy in conjunction with our partner groups to reflect our immediate and future technology needs, including strategies for meeting the BC Education Plan goal of “learning empowered by technology”. (Board believes this will be drafted in response to the strategic plan, Carried: 6:0)
Motion: Moved to commitee
That the school district conduct an anonymous employee survey every three years to understand the technology needs in our school district to help set technology goals and identify challenges. The survey questions should be formed in collaboration with partner groups and the results of the survey made public. (recommendation from committee of the whole starting 3 years after the Strategic Plan starts, Carried 4:3 Sharel, Betty, Sharon against)
Motion: Moved to commitee
That the school district allow district schools to purchase media tablets and mobile technology of their choosing in accordance with their own technology planning process and the Acceptable Use of Networks Policy. (moved to an adhoc committee, still meeting, Carried 5:1, Bekkering against)
Motion: Moved to commitee
That senior administration bring together a working group made to examine and assess AspenEsis and OpenStudent student information systems. The working group shall be made up of two (or more) of each: administrator, tech analyst, SASO or secretary doing student data entry, counsellor, and teacher. (Sent to Education services committee and defeated by trustees in committee, Trustee’s Bella and Bekkering)
June 25, 2013
Motion to postpone accepting the District Achievement Contract in order to review the input that the senior administration asked for on trustees’ behalf. The final edits and input had not been offered to trustees prior to acceptance. Defeated - motion not seconded. (This was in reference to the District Achievement Contact).
May 14, 2013
motion: That the Senior Administration prioritize the hiring of two Occupational therapists and on Speech Language Pathologist for the 2013/2014 school year without loss to current staffing levels, using current unappropriated surplus for the first year and securing sustainable funding for subsequent years.
additional motion May 14: That this motion be postponed to the regular Board meeting following the approval of the 2013/2014 budget. Carried. 4:3
postponed motion May 28: Defeated. 5:2
April 2013
Motion: That the Superintendent or designate release the current kindergarten registration numbers to the board. Carried 5:1 (Bekkering against)
Nov 5, 2012
motion: that the Superintendent or designate report twice a year, October and March, on class size and composition in the district. After much debate and amendments, the motion was passed as “that the Superintendent or designate present a report twice a year, November and March, on class size and composition in the district to the Management and Finance committee”. Carried
June 26, 2012
motion: that the Policy and Governance committee examine practices and consider updating or drafting a new policy for hiring, review, evaluation and support of administration. Carried 4:3. (Bella, Bekkering, Bennit against).
- Statistics: this school district has enough data to publish more than 5yrs of stats which could define a more accurate picture of if the school district is meeting its goals and what is working. Follow cohorts would give an even greater correlation.
- Leading statements: Many statements are leading and give no examples for the reader to understand what is being said. We are left to assume many things.
- There are many statements referring to things improving, but again, I think the goals are unrealistic and leading when statistical significance is lacking and full explanation is not provided.
- Input not shared with Board: Feedback was asked for the board's very own achievement contract band yet we were not allowed to see this input. My motion to release this feedback to the board was blocked. I definitely voted no for that achievement contract attached to that feedback.
- Lack of collaboration: The "Essential 8" were placed into the document without collaboration with the district or consultation with trustees. I feel that is important that a significant district wide initiative should not be implemented without at least talking with all groups involved. I also feared approval of this would end of costing the district money, although at that meeting I was assured it was not going to happen. Ten months later it was put into the budget, costing the district approximately $450,000 and most of that money was to be taken out of the schools ($20 per student), the rest from surplus or other parts of the budget.
Here are most of the motions I've put forward:
Oct 28 2014
Motion: That the Board of Education direct district staff to hold and not destroy any Mac computers recently removed from the network until the board has had a chance to review this decision in terms of our disposal of surplus equipment policy. Carried unanimously.
May 27 2014
BCSTA Advocation Motion: That the Board, in writing, request that the BCSTA call on the government to reconsider their Lockout tactics and actively seek a negotiated teacher contract or failing that, appointment of a mutually agreed upon mediator. Carried unanimously.
June 2014
Motion: That the Board of Trustees write a letter to the Minister of Education to express concerns that the Ministry of Education has removed written sections from English 10 and Social Studies 11 graduation program exams. This action is not in keeping with the designation of provincial exams as an essential service and compromises the valid assessment of our students. Carried Unanimously.
May 13, 2014: 2014/2015 Budget proposal
Motion: That the budget increase to C&I of $248,000 for the implementation of the “Essential Eight” be reduced to $124,000 in order to mitigate cuts to other departments and allow the hiring of a Speech Language Pathologist. (amended to put all the $248,000 back in the schools - Defeated)
Feb 17, 2014
Motion: that the Board of Education in SD57 write a joint letter with the PGDTA asking the Ministry to respect the BC Supreme Court ruling, fully fund restored services and to bargain with respectful and collaborative intentions. Carried unanimously.
Jan 28, 2014
Motion: That the OpenStudent organization be invited to make a demonstration/presentation in our district in the next two months for a similar audience as the Aspen SIS presentation in December 2013. The purpose is to allow staff to compare the two systems that will be used in BC to replace BCESIS. (amended to “at their expense”, then carried)
Nov 26 2013
Motion: That the board receive information on registration transfers between schools in the district by month from March to Sept 2013. Carried 4:2 (Against - Bella, Bekkering)
All these motions were moved to committee, Carried 5:1(Kate against). I agrued to keep the conversation at the Board table for a transparent conversation.
Motion: Moved to committee
That district staff be directed to draft a new technology vision and policy in conjunction with our partner groups to reflect our immediate and future technology needs, including strategies for meeting the BC Education Plan goal of “learning empowered by technology”. (Board believes this will be drafted in response to the strategic plan, Carried: 6:0)
Motion: Moved to commitee
That the school district conduct an anonymous employee survey every three years to understand the technology needs in our school district to help set technology goals and identify challenges. The survey questions should be formed in collaboration with partner groups and the results of the survey made public. (recommendation from committee of the whole starting 3 years after the Strategic Plan starts, Carried 4:3 Sharel, Betty, Sharon against)
Motion: Moved to commitee
That the school district allow district schools to purchase media tablets and mobile technology of their choosing in accordance with their own technology planning process and the Acceptable Use of Networks Policy. (moved to an adhoc committee, still meeting, Carried 5:1, Bekkering against)
Motion: Moved to commitee
That senior administration bring together a working group made to examine and assess AspenEsis and OpenStudent student information systems. The working group shall be made up of two (or more) of each: administrator, tech analyst, SASO or secretary doing student data entry, counsellor, and teacher. (Sent to Education services committee and defeated by trustees in committee, Trustee’s Bella and Bekkering)
June 25, 2013
Motion to postpone accepting the District Achievement Contract in order to review the input that the senior administration asked for on trustees’ behalf. The final edits and input had not been offered to trustees prior to acceptance. Defeated - motion not seconded. (This was in reference to the District Achievement Contact).
May 14, 2013
motion: That the Senior Administration prioritize the hiring of two Occupational therapists and on Speech Language Pathologist for the 2013/2014 school year without loss to current staffing levels, using current unappropriated surplus for the first year and securing sustainable funding for subsequent years.
additional motion May 14: That this motion be postponed to the regular Board meeting following the approval of the 2013/2014 budget. Carried. 4:3
postponed motion May 28: Defeated. 5:2
April 2013
Motion: That the Superintendent or designate release the current kindergarten registration numbers to the board. Carried 5:1 (Bekkering against)
Nov 5, 2012
motion: that the Superintendent or designate report twice a year, October and March, on class size and composition in the district. After much debate and amendments, the motion was passed as “that the Superintendent or designate present a report twice a year, November and March, on class size and composition in the district to the Management and Finance committee”. Carried
June 26, 2012
motion: that the Policy and Governance committee examine practices and consider updating or drafting a new policy for hiring, review, evaluation and support of administration. Carried 4:3. (Bella, Bekkering, Bennit against).
1 comment:
I'm very proud of the work you do. Remember for election day... Win = cool & challenging work ahead. Lose = less stress & more freedom. The people that matter to you understand your work and what you've done for our schools. Just ignore the ignorant and oblivious voices who don't seem to get it. They are blinded by narcissism. Who knows what he general public thinks... either way I'm looking forward to finding out.
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