THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICT 68

MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEETING

Wednesday, December 01, 2021

6:00 P.m. - 9:00 P.m.

ONLINE MICROSOFT TEAMS MEETING

Trustees

• T. Brzovic, Vice Chair
• S. Higginson
• G. Keller
• C. O'Neill
• B. Robinson
• J. Stanley
• E. Wilkinson

Absent

• C. McKay

Staff

• S. Saywell, Superintendent/CEO
• M. Walsh, Secretary-Treasurer
• T. Davie, Deputy Superintendent
• D. Burgos, Ex. Dir. of Communications
• K. Matthews, Manager Admin. Services

Representatives

• CUPE Representative: Laurie Jenks
  DPAC Representative: Jessica Krog-Irving
  NDTA Representative: Megan Simmer
  NSAA Representative: Shannon Apland 
  
  

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1.

CALL TO ORDER

The Chair will call the meeting to order. With great respect and humility, we acknowledge and honour the lands of the Snuneymuxw people. The Snuneymuxw people maintain their profound, unique and spiritual connection to the land through ageless traditions, teachings, stewardship and expressions of reciprocity.

The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:01 pm.

2.

ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

There were no additions.

3.

DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA

There were no deletions.

4.

CHANGE IN ORDER

There was no change in order. 

5.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

• E21/12/01-01
  IT WAS MOVED BY Trustee Stanley
  IT WAS SECONDED BY Trustee Higginson

  That the Agenda be approved.

  CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

6.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

• E21/12/01-02
  IT WAS MOVED BY Trustee O'Neill
  IT WAS SECONDED BY Trustee Keller

  That the minutes from the Education Committee meeting held on November 3, 2021, be approved.

  CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

7.

PRESENTATIONS

8.

SENIOR STAFF REPORTS

8.1

Department of Learning Services

Re:  Innovation Grants Introduction & Overview

School Presentations:

• Coal Tyee Elementary - Diane Charles, Principal; Chris Paugh, Vice Principal; Kristin Singbeil, Teacher-Librarian
• Ladysmith Secondary School - Dave Travers, Principal and William Taylor, Teacher

Tim Davie, Deputy Superintendent and Pete Sabo, Executive Director of Facilities and Planning, provided and update on how surplus funds for Syeyutsus Support and Outdoor Learning are being utilized.  An Information Sheet is attached to the Agenda.  Administrative teams from Coal Tyee Elementary School and Ladysmith Secondary School shared what staff have been working on with respect to the Board Goal's of Truth and Reconciliation and Being a Leader in Environment Stewardship and Sustainability. 

8.2

Tim Davie, Deputy Superintendent

Re: Administrative Procedure - Partial Day Programs for Students (New) 

Tim Davie and Kerri Steel presented a new Administrative Procedure on partial day programs for students.  After discussion and feedback from the committee, it was determined that this AP be brought back to the Department of Learning Services for revisions and will be brought forward to a future Education Committee meeting.  An Information Sheet, together the the draft AP is attached to the Agenda.  

9.

CORRESPONDENCE REFERRED FROM THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING

There was none.

10.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

There was no Unfinished Business. 

11.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no New Business. 

12.

QUESTION PERIOD

Question Period is intended to enable the public to obtain clarifying information regarding a current agenda item.

Individuals wishing to ask questions of the Board upon completion of Committee and Board sessions shall do so in writing on the form provided which includes their name, street address and email address.  The individual will be asked to verify his/her self and be afforded the opportunity to read out their own question.  Each individual shall be limited to one follow-up question upon receiving a response. Forms are available in the information rack near the entrance of the Board Room.

If the meeting is being held online, individuals wishing to ask questions of the Board shall type their question in the Q&A compose box on the right side of the screen and then select send. Your question will be read by the Board or Committee Chair.

Questions and responses will be included in the video of the meeting and the meeting minutes and will be part of the public record.

There were six questions this evening:

1. (Katrina Gamlin) What is the consultation process for the development of this policy and who will ensure that this policy isn't used by School District 68 to simply exclude special needs children who lack the necessary supports in order to be successful in a full-time program? Answer: We have collected extensive feedback and information from families over a period of time and that doesn't mean we won't continue to engage in ongoing conversation. The goal of this AP, as the goal of all of our procedures that we develop in the system, is to better meet and support the diverse needs of all of the children in our system and that is the goal of this document.
2. (Ruby Pacini) What alternative environments are offered by School District 68 for students who may find the traditional classroom overwhelming? Answer:  There are alternatives to a traditional classroom setting within the school. Throughout the district we have a distributive learning program and Island ConnectED, that offers programs.  We have learning alternative programs that offer an alternative setting to the traditional classroom.  There are opportunities for students and families often choose programs that best meet the needs of their students and sometimes it doesn't look like a traditional bricks and mortar classroom.
3. What is the population/percentage of students on a partial program who are in special needs/neurodiverse? Answer:  We don't have that data here this evening.
4. (Ruby Pacini) Trustee Higginson identified this should be a last resort. What alternative environments and programs in School District 68 are made available and implemented for students prior to considering a partial day program?  Answer:  Everything that has been mentioned previously.
5. (Shannon Boisvert) I am not okay with the school district directing are deciding they can exclude a child from attending full-time. What is a parent supposed to do when they need to work full-time as an example as a child with part special needs?  I was not included in these discussions around creating these policies.  Answer:  Placing a child on a part-time program is certainly not a frontline strategy for us and it’s a very difficult decision.  We have an exhaustive list of other alternatives and strategies that we attempt first.  We work with families as much as we can but there are times where the health and well-being of that child and others in the environment need to be considered and we are compelled to make the decision.
6. (Chantal Ma) What happens if this AP is not followed where do parents go?  Answer:  Transparency is another reason for this AP is so people do understand and if we are not following out in the system.  It's a guidance to our system as well and so of course if the district it makes a decision that a parent disagrees with that we do have a complaint process that allows for an appeal in very specific circumstances and in the case where we don't follow our a our own administrative procedures that would be certainly a place that we would expect a parent would raise it and hopefully we would solve that issue.

13.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 8:13 pm.

• E21/12/01-03
  IT WAS MOVED BY Trustee O'Neill
  IT WAS SECONDED BY Trustee Keller

  That the meeting be adjourned.

  CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY