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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04a Report 06-019 Preliminary Strategy for Implementation of Trustee PrioritiesOTTAWA - CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD January 25, 2006 Report No. 06 -019 to Chairs' Committee Re: Preliminary Strategy for Implementation of Trustee Priorities ORIGINATORS: Lorne M. Rachlis, Director of Education/Secretary of the Board Michele Giroux, Executive Officer (Administration) PURPOSE: To develop a preliminary strategy for implementation by trustees of trustee priorities. BACKGROUND: 2. At the November 30, 2005 Chairs' Committee meeting, trustees discussed developing a common understanding of the priorities that might be pursued by them for the balance of this term of office. At the December 21, 2005 Chairs' Committee meeting, trustees established a list of three internal and three external priorities. The priorities were amended at a meeting of the Board on January 19, 2006. 4. The motion adopting the priorities reads as follows: A. That the Board adopt the following as its top two priorities for° the upcoming ti,ear for political action relative to the provincial government and other external bodies: immediate action to bring to the attention of the provincial government the urgencly of the budgetary situation faced bly the OCDSB and to propose that student funding for 2006 -2007 and future Years reflect: implementation of the Rozanski recommendations revisions to the transportation funding formula to ensure equity among all boards and especially between public and Catholic co- terminous boards standards and associated funding to meet the needs of special education students 2. the enhancement of board governance including authority and autonomy. B. That for the purposes described in A 1, staff develop a succinct paper on the Board's budgetar -, situation for 2006 -2007 and the following four° years based on status quo furnding projections; C. That the Chair write to the Premier and Minister of Education on priority A 1, making specific proposals based on previously adopted OCDSB positions, taking into account OPSBA's position papers. D. That the OCDSB authorize trustees, the director and the chief financial officer to move forward on this agenda through various means including: • holding discussions with other boards in similar circumstances; • presentations to area MPPs; • approaching CODE and OPSOA; • involving OCDSB stakeholders; subject to all board naenabers, the director, and the chief financial officer being kept frrlly informed. E. That, as a first step to addressing priority A 2, the Chair respond to Minister Kennedv's letter to all Ontario trustees thanking hina for his update on the issue of trustee remuneration, and affirming the need for local flexibility and autonomy in order to meet the needs of students. F. That the Board adopt the following as its top four priorities for the upcoming year, for local action: • trades and technology initiatives; • district wide capital plan; • secondar -, school program review; and • setting the stage for strategic planning ky the next board STATUS: 5. It was agreed that once the priorities were established, staff would develop an implementation strategy for trustees' consideration. At the Board meeting, trustees developed an implementation plan for the external priorities and recognized the need for further discussion on these issues at the Chairs' Committee meeting in January. 6. Given the differing nature of the provincial and local priorities established, it is generally recognized that two implementation strategies are to be developed: one for the internal priorities and one for the external priorities. 7. The internal priorities are actually part of the on -going work plan of the district. The prioritization of these four issues is recognition of their importance in terms of defining how the OCDSB will deliver education programming in the future. In the February report to Chairs' Committee, the implementation strategy for the internal priorities should include: a) the current status of each of these four initiatives b) a recommended vision on each of the initiatives c) a work plan for each of the four initiatives d) the identification of goals that could be realized on these initiatives by the end of the current term of office (November 30, 2006) 9. The external priorities require a slightly different approach. While there are aspects of these issues that are part of the current work plans of the district (for example, the development of a transportation consortium), there is a sense on the part of trustees that more direct political action is required in these areas. At the same time, trustees have expressed frustration with traditional efforts to advance political issues, such as writing letters to the Minister, and are looking for more effective solutions. It might, therefore, be useful to consider any proposed action from the recipient's point of view. 10. At the Board meeting on January 19, 2006, trustees identified four key components to the implementation strategy for the external priorities. These were: a) the development of a short position paper on funding issues, particularly the budgetary situation of this Board for the five year period beginning with the 2006 — 2007 academic school year, b) a letter to the Premier and Minister of Education making specific proposals relating to our concerns about the budgetary situation and referencing previous policy positions adopted by this Board, c) the advancement of issues relating to our budgetary concerns through meetings, presentations, forums and other opportunities involving other school boards, Members of Provincial Parliament, education associations and our stakeholders, d) a letter to the Minister regarding our concerns about Board governance, remuneration and local authority and autonomy. 11. As trustees further develop the implementation strategy for the external priorities, it will be necessary to balance a number of competing issues and the following points are provided as guidelines. a) we must be respectful of the additional funding this government has provided to the education sector, b) our strategy should be presented as a cohesive package with approximately five key messages and should not be viewed as a "shot gun attack" on the government, c) we must identify potential partnerships that might help us to advance these issues, d) we should identify both existing and new forums /opportunities that will help to bring these issues to the Minister's attention (e.g., scheduled conferences) e) we must recognize the "political nature" of the issues and the need for trustees themselves to manage the advancement of these issues with staff providing resource support (i.e., the staff role would be to develop a position paper and to identify possible opportunities for advancing the issues), f) the external priority strategy should not consume a large amount of staff time or resources so that it does not take away from the Board's other priorities (can't take on a life of its own), 12. In order to develop an implementation strategy on these issues, the following steps must be undertaken: a) identify current position papers from OPSBA, other associations and school boards on these issues that could be used as background documentation b) identify the key messages for the position paper c) identify possible alliances /strategic partners to assist in moving our message forward, d) identify opportunities and forums for distributing the message, e) assign responsibility for action. 13. Before the implementation strategies can be fully developed, trustees will need to consider their goals on each of these priorities for the balance of this term of office. For example, is the goal of the internal priorities to develop a framework or vision on these issues over the coming months or is the goal to affect some type of policy or program change'? Similarly, on the external priorities is the goal to raise awareness about these issues or is the goal to affect funding or legislative change and if so, what level or measure of change'? 14. To assist trustees in establishing goals and advancing the implementation plans, staff has outlined discussion points on these issues in Appendix A, which might be used as a framework for the discussion at the Chairs' Committee meeting on January 25, 2006. SUBMITTED FOR DISCUSSION Lorne M. Rachlis Director of Education/ Secretary of the Board Appendix A Discussion Points on Trustee Priority Issues Identify Goals /Impact of Establishing Priorities • What goals do we expect to realize on these four internal priorities by November 30, 2006'? • What change do we hope to effect from establishing these external priorities'? • How we will measure success on these initiatives'? Identify Resource Issues • What resources exist to support us in these initiatives'? (e.g. Rozanski Report, OPSBA November 28, 2005 Report on Funding, Dufferin -Peel Catholic School Board Funding Campaign) • What are the resource implications (staff, time, expenses) of this initiative'? • What is the timetable for these initiatives'? Identify Key Messages • What are the key messages for the position paper? • How do we prioritize the issues within the position paper? • When and where do we expect to distribute the paper? Identify potential partners • Who are our potential partners in advancing these issues'? • How can we encourage potential partners to join us'? • How can those partners assist us in these efforts'? Identify Forums /Opportunities for Discussion /Advancement of these issues • What forums exist to advance these issues (e.g. letter to Minister, letter /resolution to OPSBA, meeting with area school boards, meeting with the Minister, CEO Conference, Toronto, January 25 -27, 2006, OPSBA Conference, Toronto, February 2 -4, 2006, meeting with area Members of Provincial Parliament and /or with Eastern Ontario Caucus) • What is the best time to access these forums /opportunities for advancement'? Note: This document is intended for discussion only and is in no way intended to be a definitive inventor, of questions/fi °aniework for discussion.