Board Meeting Update #162: January 31, 2019

Posted on 01/31/2019

This update provides a summary of the public meeting of Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board held Thursday, January 31, 2019 at the Education Centre. It is an unofficial summary of the meeting; official minutes will be approved at the next meeting in February 2019.

Shannon Binder, Chair of the Board, acknowledged that the meeting is taking place on the land of the Haudenosaunee people.

Character Moment of Reflection

Each Board meeting opens with a Character Moment of Reflection. At Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, Growing with Character is our intentional focus on creating safe, caring, respectful and inclusive learning environments where students develop the foundation for good character. Growing with Character is the foundation of the school board strategic plan. Through Growing with Character, we model, teach and expect demonstrations of our eight character traits which are: caring, cooperation, honesty, humour, integrity, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness.

This evening Shannon Binder, Chair of the Board and trustee for Southeast Hastings, asked all to reflect on Honesty: We choose to live truthfully. We communicate and act in a sincere and respectful way.

Growing with Character Col Web

Presentation

Student Google Summit at Harmony Public School

The first Student Google Summit took place in mid-October 2018 at Harmony Public School and involved approximately 360 students in Grades 4-8. It was an interactive, fun two-day event that focused on digital fluency, collaborating, creative thinking, critical thinking and well-being.

Students participated in four of the following sessions:

Maps, Snaps and Chats: Be Safe, Savvy and Smart on those Apps
Who Am I? Developing Your Digital Portfolio
Get Slides Savvy!
Organization is a Thing!
Tech'n it to the Natural Environment
Bots, Bricks and Bits
Old School Technology: Building Our Future Through Play
CTRL, ALT, READ and WRITE

Board Meeting Harmony Student Google Summit
Thank you to students and staff from Harmony Public School who presented about the Student Google Summit held in October 2018.

Thank you to guest presenters:

Students Kiera Brown, Grade 6; and Evan Russet, Grade 8
School staff Andrea Bird, Teacher; Andrew Brown, Teacher; and Kim Myderwyk, Principal

Report from Committee of the Whole Board

Three items were discussed at the Committee of the Whole Board meeting:

Agreement of Purchase and Sale of River Valley School
Acceptance of resignation of the director of education for the purpose of retirement and process for selecting a new director of education
K-12 Principal and Vice-principal Pool

These meetings are closed to the public as provided by s. 207 (2) of the Education Act.

Recommendations

Policy Review, Part B

Board members approved the review and updating of the following policies:

Policy 1: Board Vision, Mission and Priorities
Policy 2: Governance By-Laws and Standing Rules
Policy 3-D: Board Communications and Media
Policy 11-D: Executive Committee
Policy 11-F: Student Enrolment/School Capacity Committee
Policy 15 Student Enrolment/School Capacity Pupil Accommodation Review (will update when the Revised Pupil Accommodation Review Guidelines are received from the Ministry of Education)

Recommendation to relocate Grade 7 and 8 students from Bayside Public School to Bayside Secondary School, creating a Grade 7-12 school effective September 2019

Board members approved the relocation of Grade 7-8 students from Bayside Public School to Bayside Secondary School, creating a Grade 7-12 school, effective September 2019.

All Bayside Public School students in Grade 7-8 are currently located at Bayside Secondary School due to lack of space at Bayside Public School. There are currently 195 Grade 7 and 8 students at the school. Bayside Public School is comprised of three sites: the Bayside Public School main building, the Bayside Public School Annex, and the portion of Bayside Secondary School that contains the Grade 7-8 students. All three sites are on the same campus.

All students in Grades 9-12 in the Bayside School Group attend Bayside Secondary School. There are currently 831 Grade 9-12 students attending the school. The enrolment at Bayside Secondary School is projected to continue to increase through the next five years.

Relocating the Grade 7-8 students from Bayside Public School would allow the Bayside Secondary School administrator to have responsibility for the Grade 7-12 students in the building. This relocation would offer improved programs opportunities for the Grade 7-8 students. Bayside Public School would remain a K-6 elementary school on two sites.

The 7-12 model that is proposed for Bayside Secondary School is consistent with similar 7-12 models that are successfully in place at Centennial Secondary School and Trenton High School.

No changes to the classrooms or building would be required at Bayside Secondary School as the Grade 7-8 students are already located at the school. As well, no changes would be required to bus routes or student transportation.

Public communication of this proposal occurred in November 2018 and extended until early January 2019.

Recommendation to Board to relocate grade 7 and 8 students from York River Public School to North Hastings High School, creating a Grade 7-12 school effective September 2019

Board members approved relocating Grade 7-8 students from York River Public School to North Hastings High School, creating a Grade 7-12 school effective September 2019.

All students in Grade 7-8 in the North Hastings School Group currently attend York River Public School, located in Bancroft. There are currently 150 Grade 7-8 students at the school. York River Public School had an addition added in 2011, but is again completely full, with increased enrolment projected for 2019-2020 and beyond.

All students in Grades 9-12 in the North Hastings School Group attend North Hastings High School, located in Bancroft. There are currently 425 Grade 9-12 students attending the school. The enrolment at North Hastings High School is projected to continue to decrease through the next five years.

Relocating the Grade 7-8 students from York River Public School will provide needed space at York River Public School, required to accommodate the increasing enrolment as well as to accommodate program needs at the school. It will also offer improved programming opportunities for the Grade 7-8 students at the secondary school. The Grade 7-12 model that is proposed for North Hastings High School is consistent with similar Grade 7-12 models that are successfully in place at Centennial Secondary School and Trenton High School.

Only minor changes to the classrooms would be required at North Hastings High School to accommodate the Grade 7-8 students and there is ample time to implement those changes prior to September, 2019. As well, it is anticipated that little change to student transportation would be required, as all Grade 7-8 students are already bussed to Bancroft, where North Hastings High School is located.

Public communication of this proposal occurred in November 2018 and extended until early January 2019.

Use of additional Special Education funding

Board members approved a recommendation that the additional funding resulting from increase in the 2018-2019 Special Education per Pupil allocation benchmark for Junior Kindergarten to Grade 3 students be used to hire additional education assistants for elementary schools that currently have high Special Education needs.

On August 24, 2018, the Ministry of Education released memo 2018: B14 Update: Education Funding for 2018-2019 which included a number of updates to the previously announced education funding for the 2018-2019 school year, including an increase of $18.26 in the Special Education per Pupil Amount (SEPPA) allocation for JK to Grade 3 students from $988.82 to $1,007.08.

As at October 31, 2018, there were 4,958 Junior Kindergarten to Grade 3 students, resulting in $90,533 of increased SEPPA funding for this group of students. As part of ongoing monitoring of system needs, management is placing an additional six education assistants in elementary schools which currently have high Special Education needs. These education assistants will serve Primary students at four schools and Primary/Intermediate students
at two schools.

Information

Calendar of events

A number of district and school events (Pdf) are scheduled for the remainder of January and February 2019.

Upcoming events include the following:

Kindergarten Registration throughout January/February at all elementary schools
February 1: Student Senate Retreat at the William R. Kirk Building

Report from the Chair