Author Archives: admin

When do BCCPAC proxies need to be in?

May 16, 2012 12:52 PM Leave a Comment

In order to allow for the efficient operation of the Annual General Meeting, members are encouraged to mail, fax, or scan and email completed proxy forms to the BCCPAC office in advance. Proxy forms received in this manner no later than May 18, 2012 at 4:30 pm, will be verified and registered by BCCPAC in advance of the AGM. Voting cards for these proxies may be picked up by the authorized delegate at the Proxy Room with proof of identity. Confirmation of proxy forms that are submitted in advance will be sent within three days of receipt and registration to the Executive officers who signed the form. If you do not receive confirmation please contact the office.

Proxy forms not received by May 18, 2012 are required to be delivered to the Proxy Room at the venue (which will be open during the Spring Conference) in order to receive a voting card to participate at the AGM. Please note that as proxy forms need to be validated and processed before they can be exchanged for voting cards, BCCPAC cannot guarantee that proxy forms received after 5:00 pm on May 25, 2012 will be processed and exchanged for voting cards in time for the start of the AGM.

Note: the DPAC delegates would need to have a copy of the proxy in order to deliver it after May 18th.

Please either scan/email the form to info@bccpac.bc.ca and info@sd57dpac.ca, or fax it to 604-687-4488 and 250-614-1316 (attention Sarah Holland).

At this point, we have received 8 valid proxy forms for the BCCPAC AGM, and one proxy form for a school that is not listed as being a BCCPAC member (we have let this school PAC know, and they are following up).

PACs listed as BCCPAC members who we have not received proxies for are:

  • Aboriginal Choice School
  • Buckhorn Elementary
  • College Heights Secondary
  • D P Todd Secondary
  • Edgewood Elementary
  • Giscome Elementary School
  • Heritage Elementary
  • Highglen Montessori Elementary
  • Spruceland Traditional Elementary
  • Valemount Elementary
  • Van Bien Elementary
  • Vanway Elementary School

How to submit your proxy form in order to refund half of your BCCPAC membership fee: http://sd57dpac.ca/2012/04/proxy-votes-requested-bccpac-members/

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Curriculum and Assessment Framework – Regional Working Session

May 11, 2012 3:11 PM Leave a Comment
The following presentation was given at the Regional Working Session for the Curriculum and Assessment Framework, and represents a DRAFT discussion document from the Ministry of Education.
Filed Under: Uncategorized

DPAC in the News

May 11, 2012 3:06 PM Leave a Comment

Back by popular demand for his fourth term as chair of the School District 57 District Parent Advisory Council, Don Sabo knows he won’t serve in that position for a fifth year.

“It’s in our constitution and bylaws that our chairperson is only a chairperson for four consecutive years,” said Sabo, who was re-elected on Monday. “I’ve put in four years and we’ve got a good vice-chairperson [Sarah Holland] and I will be mentoring her for the coming year.”

Holland served as DPAC’s district associate last year and in Monday’s election she replaced Michelle Rolfes, who stepped down as vice-chair. In other DPAC election results, Gillian Burnett is the new treasurer, replacing Chris Finke. Darlene Campbell is the new district association and Steve Shannon was re-elected to as a director-at-large.

The DPAC serves on the school board working with trustees and school administrators to serve as a liaison with each individual school’s parent advisory councils. It represents parent interests at public school board meetings held each month throughout the school year. The next public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 29.

“It’s going to be another interesting year,” said Sabo.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120510/PRINCEGEORGE0101/305109969/-1/princegeorge/sabo-elected-dpac-chair-for-fourth-term

Filed Under: Uncategorized

BCCPAC Proxy Forms

May 10, 2012 10:58 AM Leave a Comment

We have received 7 valid proxy forms for the BCCPAC AGM, and one proxy form for a school that is not listed as being a BCCPAC member.

PACs listed as BCCPAC members who we have not received proxies for are:

  • Aboriginal Choice School
  • Buckhorn Elementary
  • College Heights Secondary
  • D P Todd Secondary
  • Edgewood Elementary
  • Giscome Elementary School
  • Heather Park Elementary
  • Heritage Elementary
  • Highglen Montessori Elementary
  • Spruceland Traditional Elementary
  • Valemount Elementary
  • Van Bien Elementary
  • Vanway Elementary School

How to submit your proxy form in order to refund half of your BCCPAC membership fee: http://sd57dpac.ca/2012/04/proxy-votes-requested-bccpac-members/

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Election Results

May 10, 2012 10:35 AM Leave a Comment

Please be advised of the following results of your DPAC Executive Elections from the May 7, 2012 AGM:

Chair: Don Sabo
Vice-Chair: Sarah Holland
District Associate: Darlene Campbell
Treasurer: Gillian Burnett
Secretary: vacant
Director at Large: Steve Shannon

Filed Under: Uncategorized

More information on BCPSEA application to LRB

May 10, 2012 10:33 AM Leave a Comment

Those activities include many that are described as extracurricular — coaching, leading school clubs and supervising camping trips. But the protest has also seen teachers refuse tasks such as filing reports, talking to principals, meeting parents, tutoring students and performing administrative duties, said Hugh Finlayson, chief executive officer of the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association.

The BCTF insists teachers have the right to quit all voluntary work, which it describes as anything that occurs outside of school bells. The employers say they’re not trying to force individual teachers to continue with work that is truly voluntary, but they insist the union has described extracurricular activities too broadly, in a way that encompasses work that is expected of teachers.

They say the purpose of their application is not to compel teachers to volunteer, but to stop the B.C. Teachers’ Federation from directing its members to withdraw a broad range of duties performed outside classroom hours.

Here is a description of the tasks in dispute (the B.C. Teachers’ Federation describes them as extracurricular; the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association says they are regular duties):

1. Completion of certain reports as requested by administrators, such as ESL reports, ELL reports, resource teacher reports, school based team submissions, interim reports, ‘I’ reports for failing students, district based student assessments, student articulation reports, IB essays, scholarship selection information, and awards nominations;

2. Completion of certain reports or provision of certain information requested by students and/or parents, such as scholarship or award references or recommendations and private school references;

3. Completion of administrative duties related to report cards, such as putting report cards into envelopes, photocopying report cards for placement into student files, and distributing report cards to students;

4. Attendance at and/or participation in certain meetings, including, but not limited to school based team meetings, safety meetings, student services meetings, and some staff meetings;

5. Attendance at parent-teacher interviews and meet the teacher activities;

6. Attendance at certain field trips and student performances, including some field trips and performances with curricular components and student marks attached;

7. Attendance at certain student activities that are scheduled over recess and/or lunch;

8. Participation in meetings with administrative officers;

9. Communication with administrative officers;

10. Participation in school district and school committees;

11. Performance of department head, teacher-in-charge, or head teacher duties;

12. Performance of after-hours training sessions that teachers are paid to conduct;

13. Collection of money from students or participation in fund-raising;

14. Attendance at or participation in certain student award and/or graduation ceremonies;

15. Attendance at or participation in certain student artistic, dramatic, or musical performances;

16. Participation in the coaching, instruction, or supervision of student teams, clubs, groups, or organizations;

17. Participation in student tutorials, homework clubs, and individual help sessions;

18. Participation in student transition activities, kindergarten orientation, Ready, Set,Learn, and other orientation activities; and

19. Participation in department, school, and district planning activities for the next school year.

Filed Under: job action

BCPSEA going to Labour Relations Board over BCTF activity

May 9, 2012 3:56 PM Leave a Comment

http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/documents/Publications-@Issue/No%202012-12-KJ-LRB%20Illegal%20Strike%20Application.pdf

From the FAQ in the document:

1. What activities are being withdrawn from schools now?
The BCTF and its members are refusing to perform a number of duties and activities on the basis that those duties and activities fall within a definition of “extracurricular/voluntary” that has been adopted by the BCTF Executive. This is a unique definition. The BCTF includes within that category “all activities that occur and/or are organized by teachers outside of instructional hours.” The duties and activities that are being withdrawn are duties/activities regularly and ordinarily performed by teachers as part of their normal work day.
2. Are the activities being withdrawn activities that teachers individually volunteer to do at lunch or after school?
Most teachers’ duties are required to be performed by boards of education, the collective agreement, and/or legislation, regardless of when they are performed (e.g., meetings with principals, parent–teacher conferences, school-based team meetings, student tutorials). Some teachers also perform duties at their individual option, typically outside of the instructional day (e.g., some team coaching or club activities). The BCTF’s direction to withdraw services captures both duties that are clearly and expressly required of all teachers and duties that are performed by some teachers at those teachers’ option.

See also:

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/05/09/teacher-withdrawal-from-extracurriculars-is-illegal-employers-say/

http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/documents/Publications-@Issue/No%202012-12-Attachment-Application%20letter%20to%20LRB.pdf

http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/documents/Publications-@Issue/No%202012-12-Application%20Attachments.pdf

 

Filed Under: job action

Article in Vancouver Province regarding Fraser Institute Secondary Report card

May 3, 2012 10:05 AM Leave a Comment

…

Poor kids, the argument goes, clearly can’t keep up, so stop talking about their failure…

In Better Schools for B.C.: A Plan for Quality Public Education, the BCTF states that “a child’s performance in school is strongly related to socio-economic status and that a good education is often the only means of breaking the cycle of poverty for poor children.” …

The reality is, no matter who forms government, eliminating poverty and low income levels is a long-term goal that won’t happen overnight. Asking these teens to wait isn’t fair. And, it’s self-defeating to push the problem outside of the schools.

For these teens, their future inability to support a family, build savings, and retire will be largely a legacy of an education system that failed them. With a decline in the number of jobs available in B.C.’s forestry and fishing sectors — where past generations of non-academic kids could earn a good living — preparing students for “knowledge jobs” is now an essential, basic responsibility of public education.

According to Statistics Canada, 35 per cent of B.C.’s 25- to 34-year-olds hold no post-secondary certification at all. No one wins if that’s replicated for another generation.

What we’re most interested in is to spark discourse about the class divide in B.C.’s public education. Are B.C. educators, parents, employers and politicians satisfied that so many teens from lower-income schools are dropping out and failing? Who, locally, can demonstrate a successful strategy for change? And, most importantly, for those students who have left school before graduation, what would have made the difference?

Even within East Van, one school does surprisingly well: Vancouver Technical. With a parental income of just $39,700, it’s one of the poorest in the province. Yet, the students’ provincial exam marks exceed the provincial average (69.3 per cent, up six points over five years ago), the delayed advancement rate is relatively low for the area (23.1 per cent) and the provincial exam failure rate is also low (nine per cent, compared to 19 per cent five years ago). What is Van Tech doing right? And are teachers and administrators at other schools willing to learn from Van Tech?

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Message from BC Coalition of Parent Advisory Councils

May 2, 2012 4:28 PM Leave a Comment

Dear PAC and DPAC chairs and parents,

As we enter the final chapter of this school year, it is a time when the excitement of students and families grows, as preparation for celebrations of student accomplishments take shape and provide opportunity to reflect and share achievements and successes for the school year.

While plans for most of these celebrations and events have been made long ago, I am sad to share that recent discussions in an alarming number of our schools in this province are not positive ones. Members are reporting that the response to parent offers to volunteer to support their students and school community have been very discouraging, negative and multifaceted. Many events are being cancelled even when parents are stepping forward with time, skills and resources to successfully host the activity. Events (many deep in tradition) planned months in advance are being cancelled and deposits paid being lost due to these cancellations – citing policies, liability, special certifications etc.  as reasons why parents cannot volunteer in the absence of teachers.

As parents, the safety of our child is paramount, and we can all agree that activities must ensure the safety of our students.  BCCPAC has and continues to receive input from parents that indicates many barriers to parent engagement continue to exist in our schools both culturally and through restrictive policies and practises which are not guided by concern for student safety or a children first approach.

While the education system has the time and opportunity to recover from failure, individual students and parents do not have this opportunity. Parents have but one opportunity to raise their child and have an expectation that our school system will support each student fully by providing and allowing  access to all resources available to ensure the best possible opportunities for every student during their educational experience.

The failure to embrace and welcome parent volunteers in our school communities during the ongoing dispute between the BCTF and BCPSEA highlights the lack of progress our system has made in creating a welcoming and inclusive environment and culture where parents feel valued for their ability to contribute to our school communities to support student success and healthy communities.

BCCPAC encourages parent leaders to engage their school communities and create opportunities to participate in informed dialogue on parent volunteerism in your school and district. By asking genuine questions on the issues that matter to your community, by identifying barriers which impede parent involvement while also identifying opportunities for increased parent and community engagement, together, we will create the conditions and learning environment that we desire for our children, for our employees, for our families and for our future society.

We encourage you to keep BCCPAC informed of your discussions as we continue our commitment to advocating for parent involvement in our BC education system.

 

Please forward your comments to memberviews@bccpac.bc.ca

In Partnership,

Ann Whiteaker

BCCPAC President

 

Supporting student success through parent involvement

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Fraser Institute release secondary school report

April 30, 2012 10:54 AM Leave a Comment

The Fraser Institute released its controversial rankings Monday of B.C. and Yukon secondary schools…

The ratings are based on seven indicators, according to the report: the average exam mark in grade 10-12 courses that include a mandatory provincial exam; percentage of grade 10-12 mandatory provincial examinations failed; the average difference by which the school mark exceeds the exam mark in the above-mentioned courses; differences between male and female students in their exam marks in English 10 and Math 10; graduation rate and delayed advancement rate.

Background information for parents on Foundation Skills Assessment and the Fraser Institute:
Note: the Fraser Institute reports are controversial. This information is being provided for solely for parent information, so that parents may be informed.
Filed Under: Uncategorized
1 2 3 4 … 30