Setting a new direction for the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board is the goal of Sean Monteith, the new Director of Education.
Since being offered and accepting the role, a required "on-boarding" exercise has occurred, beginning virtually immediately upon the appointment date of July 15, 2019.
In a presentation to the Board of Trustees last evening, Monteith said it is critically important in the role of the director of education/CEO, as part of the transition into a new role, to also consider two key perspectives:
- the openness and transparency of listening, observing, without bias or prior judgement; and
- the lived professional and personal experiences as a director of education coming from one district school board to another.
"Whenever there is a transition of a senior leader of an organization, it should initiate a conversation around a review of things. The trustees have asked me to do this as their employee and it's a natural time to do it. We're going to try to be responsive and nimble, and react to things around us in an efficient, effective way and pragmatic way," said Monteith.
Monteith presented elements about a system re-organization, revised senior administration responsibilities, priority areas and a review of Board processes and operating policies, as per direction from the Board of Trustees.
Monteith highlighted the following 10 themes that will be his focus during the 2019-2020 school year:
- Tone and Building Culture
- Staff Engagement
- Board of Trustee Empowerment
- Recognition and Acceptance of Challenges, Opportunities
- Empowerment of Principals and Vice-Principals to be Leaders of Student Achievement
- Autonomy
- Reconciliation with Indigenous Partners/Advocates for Social Justice
- Community Engagement
- Mentorship
- Public Confidence
"The themes are meant to make us better, re-engage in some areas and build on the engagement in others. The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board has a lot of really good things going on and my job is to capitalize and build on the good things, and build on the areas where we need improvement, which is common to every organization," added Monteith.
For more information, please contact:
Kerry Donnell, Communications Manager, 613-966-1170 or 1 800 267-4350, extension 62354, [email protected]