September 12, 2011
District Parent Advisory Council
Superintendent’s Speaking Notes
- Welcome and Thank You
We really appreciate your interest, donation of time and expertise in the service of students and school. You are a valued partner!
- Strike or “Job Action”
I have attached the British Columbia Labour Relations Board decision of July 26, 2011. It is the most complete summary of the situation and guides action of both parties.
http://www.lrb.bc.ca/decisions/B132$2011.pdf
As a district: “We respect the right of the union to engage in labour relations activities. We expect the union will respect our responsibility for student learning and safety and our right to run the organization.”
We have a well defined concern/dispute resolution process and the union president and superintendent have established a direct communication protocol.
- School Organization
Population estimate for the district is 12 800 students (7 200 elem + 5 600 sec).
School start-up has gone very well. It is usual to see some enrolment fluctuations in individual schools and as a result, class re-organization.
This is also the time of year where we are heavily involved in monitoring class size and composition.
| K | 1-3 | 4-7 | 8-12 | |
| Class Size Max. | 22 | 24 | 30 | 30 |
| District Class Size Avg. | 19 | 21 | 28 | 30 |
There are many secondary school challenges at this time of year as a result of new registrations and transfers: ie. Course schedule building and student support programming.
- District Website
Our website will be updated later this fall. Improved communication is our goal!
Back to School information regarding strike action, healthy relations, safety, bus safety and nutrition is available on the front page of the district site as well as on each school website.
Superintendent’s blog coming soon!
- Government Education Direction
Five areas of focus:
Teacher Excellence
New Teacher Regulation.
New Collective Agreement
Flexibility and Choice
Calendar.
Class composition and allocation of resources.
Learning: Curriculum and Assessment
More flexible reporting.
Building competences into curriculum.
New performance standards.
New approach to assessment.
Learning: Technology
Anywhere, anytime access for teachers.
Infrastructure expansion.
Economies of scale.
Accountability and Open Government
New approach to access to data.
New accountability framework.
Greater transparency on our part – post meetings, minutes, and track to enhance awareness for all partners.
** many actions begin immediately – part of a three year programme
** optional provincial exams – now eliminated
The challenge for education today is to educate many more students to much higher levels of accomplishment, in a broad variety of areas, than ever before. (Ben Levin, 2011)
Leave a Reply