Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard 14 January 2002 Minutes Public• mc OTTAWA-GRLECON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES 14 JANUARY 2002 14 January 2002 A meeting of the Ottawa - Carleton District School Board was held this evening in the Board Room, 133 Greenbank Road, Ottawa, Ontario, commencing at 7:00 p.m. with Trustee Jim Libbey in the Chair and the following in attendance: Trustees Lynn Graham; Russ Jackson (by phone); Margaret Lange; Myrna Laurenceson; Norm MacDonald; David Moen; Pam Morse; Lynn Scott and Joan Spice. STAFF: Director of Education and Secretary of the Board, James Grieve; Superintendents Rose Marie Batley; Judith Hoye; Nancy MacLeod; Dan Mason; Katharine Saunders; and, Judy Turriff; Manager, Facilities and Physical Planning, Michael Carson; Assistant Secretary of the Board, Joan Melancon; Manager, Communications & Information Services, Maggie Melenhorst; Management, Policy and Planning Advisor, Janice Sargent; A/V Technician, Robert Giekes; Committee Coordinators Bruce Fraser (in camera session), and Kim Young (public session). ALSO PRESENT: Student Trustees Emma Cohen, and Trevor Robinson On a motion by Trustee Laurenceson, seconded by Trustee Morse, the Board resolved into Committee of the Whole to consider the items on the in camera agenda. Trustee Lynn Graham assumed the chair in Committee and the Committee later rose and presented Report No. 2 (Board minute 42 -02 refers): 42. Report No. 2, Committee of the Whole (In Camera) Trustee Graham presented Report No. 2, Committee of the Whole (in camera), and seconded the recommendations therein, viz: a) Disposition of Property (Motion by Trustee Morse, seconded by Trustee Graham) THAT staff proceed with a property disposition issue as directed in Committee of the Whole (in camera). b). Property Issue (Motion by Trustee Scott, seconded by Trustee Graham) THAT staff proceed with a property issue as directed in Committee of the Whole (in camera) With respect to the property issues, Trustee Graham noted that once purchase agreements are finalized, the details of the transaction, including the price, will be reported in public. C) Negotiations Issue (Motion by Trustee Libbey, seconded by Trustee Graham) THAT the Chair proceed with a negotiations issue as directed in Committee of the Whole (in camera). 28 • OTTAWA-CkUEiON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES 14 JANUARY 2002 At Trustee Scott's request, a recorded vote was held on each part of the in camera motion. Part A and Part B of the motion were carried on the following division: Part A FOR: Trustees Graham, Lange, Laurenceson, Libbey, Moen, Morse, 7 and Scott; AGAINST: Trustees Jackson, and Norm MacDonald 2 ABSTENTION: Trustee Spice I Part B FOR: Trustees Graham, Lange, Laurenceson, Libbey, Moen, and Morse 6 AGAINST: Trustee Jackson, Norm MacDonald, and Scott 3 ABSTENTION: Trustee Spice 1 43. Approval of Agenda On a motion by Trustee Morse, seconded by Trustee Norm MacDonald, the agenda was approved with the addition of a delegation from the Southpointe Education Committee on the supplementary agenda. 44. Confirmation of Minutes 17 December 2001 (re ug lar) On a motion by Trustee Morse, seconded by Trustee Norm MacDonald, the minutes of the 17 December 2001 Board meeting were confirmed as written. 45. Confirmation of Minutes, 18 December 2001 (special) 06-a motion by Trustee Morse, seconded by Trustee Graham, the minutes of the 18 December 2001 special Board meeting were confirmed as written. 46. Business Arising from the Minutes. 17 December 2001 With respect to the third point of the revisions to the 26 November 2001 Board meeting minutes on page 9, Trustee Scott recalled that Trustee Gifford was not in attendance at the 19 September 2001 Audit Committee meeting, and she requested that staff confirm her recollection. Note: Staff later confirmed that Trustee Gifford had not been in attendance at the 19 September 2001 meeting of the Audit Committee when the issue of the Board's financial statements was discussed. In response to Trustee Graham's query regarding the status of her request on page 14 for a statistical report on suspensions in beacon schools, Director Grieve noted that the report would be provided to trustees shortly. Trustee Graham noted the important correlation between suspensions and critical incidents, and requested that the report also include information about critical incidents in beacon schools. W 29 • MIJ OTTAWA- CARLETON DISTRICr SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES 14 JANUARY 2002 In response to Trustee Norm MacDonald's query about the name for the new school in Longfields/Davidson Heights, Superintendent Turriff noted that staff are awaiting a response from Governor General Adrienne Clarkson's office. With respect to the reference on page 10 to the ad hoc multi - stakeholder committee established to develop site improvement guidelines, Trustee Moen noted that the committee has met once, but that unfortunately, the Biodiversity Institute did not receive materials prior to the meeting, and that there was no representation by SEAC at the meeting. In response to Trustee Moen's query, Superintendent Turriff confirmed that a multi - stakeholder committee meeting was held on 10 January 2002 and the next meeting is scheduled for 24 January 2002 at Confederation High School. She noted that she would follow -up on the issue of notification of representatives on the committee, and trustees would be notified as soon as possible if the committee is unable to present a report in the approved timelines. 47. Business Arising from the Minutes. 18 December 2001 There was no business arising from the minutes of the 18 December 2001 Board meeting. 48. Chair's Report Chair Libbey thanked the trustees, staff and the public for their participation in the 10 January 2002 Budget Forums, and noted that the public input received will be useful in upcoming deliberations of the Committee of the Whole (Budget). Chair Libbey noted that a recent survey conducted by Decima Research indicated that there is citywide support for increased public school funding. Eighty -five percent of parents with children enrolled in local public schools, and 72% of local residents with no children in public schools endorsed increased provincial funding to maintain current programs and schools. Chair Libbey announced that Richard Blais, a teacher at Greenbank MS, was invited to Nunavik to present workshops at the Kativik School Board on the Apple Panasonic Digital Video Research project, which integrates digital video technology with classroom learning. The research project is a first in Canada and is being pioneered in the OCDSB. Chair Libbey commended Amanda Fleming, an 18 -year old A.Y. Jackson student for being awarded a second place prize in the Korean Challenge 2001 Essay Contest for her entry entitled, " A Korean Path of Tradition ". 49. Director's Report Director Grieve expressed pleasure in announcing that the OCDSB has achieved an approval rating of 97% in the first round of the Intensive Support Amount (ISA) review. Representing an almost 50% increase over last year, the Director expressed appreciation to the Student Services team who are working hard in this area, including Superintendent Mason, Principal Davidson, Ronald Lynch, as well as, Judy Makin and the team of psychologists. He noted that with the useful feedback received from the Ministry's ISA Review team, the OCDSB will revise the unapproved applications and resubmit them, in order to achieve a 100% approval rate. 30 • _J OTCAWA-CARLECON DISfRICr SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES 14 JANUARY 2002 Director Grieve commended Broadview Public School for donating $1,518 to the Red Cross U.S. Appeal on 9 January 2002. OCDSB staff and students have donated nearly $30,000 to the Red Cross since 11 September 2001. The Director noted that The Red Cross will be attending the 28 January Board meeting to publicly thank OCDSB students for their efforts. Director Grieve announced that Brookfield High School student Vijay Narasimhan is one of 70 finalists eligible for a TD /Canada Trust Scholarship in the amount of $50,000, for Outstanding Community Leadership. The Director noted that one of Vijay's community projects resulted in the distribution of 500 school bags of school supplies to needy students. The Director expressed pleasure in announcing that Mary Lee, a site administrator for Continuing Education, is a recipient of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Leadership Mentoring Award. Ms. Lee was chosen from a worldwide list of candidates for her positive involvement in the field of language teaching, both in English as a Second Language (ESL) and in International Languages, as well as for her contributions to the field of TESOL. 50. Public Question Period There were no questions from the public. 51. Delegations a) Ridgemont H.S. School Council, Karen Humphries re: Implementation of French Immersion Prog am Karen Humphries, Co -Chair of the Ridgemont HS School Council, provided an overview of the Council's concerns with respect to their recent application for a French Immersion (FI) program at Ridgemont High School, and requested that the Board provide clarification on a number of issues, including: The rationale for staffs non - acceptance of the FI application, and an explanation as to why the staff decision was reached before the timelines indicated in Board procedures related to program changes, and prior to Ridgemont HS conducting its scheduled feeder school presentations, and: A clarification about the discrepant information received from feeder schools about the impact of the establishment of an FI program at Ridgemont HS on their schools. Ms. Humphries noted that the Ridgemont HS School Council is requesting trustees' assistance in establishing an FI program at the school, effective September 2002. She pointed out that Ridgemont HS is one of the few OCDSB schools that does not offer FI to its students. Ms. Humphries indicated that the establishment of the program would not represent any additional cost to the Board, given that the school presently has the teaching staff required to implement the program at the Grade 9 level in the fall of 2002. In order to offer school choice in the Ridgemont HS catchment area, and to address issues related to the school's current capacity of 78 %, the school requires an FI program to be established as soon as possible. In response to a query, Ms. Humphries noted that there are approximately 160 Grade 8 students at Alta Vista PS, Roberta Bondar PS, and Featherston PS, Ridgemont HS's feeder schools. 31 Ot OTTAWA-CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD REVISED MINUTES 14 JANUARY 2002 Trustee Morse noted the need to address the issue of implementation of an FI program at Ridgemont HS as soon as possible, given that students will soon be making their decisions about secondary school options, and she gave notice of motion, viz: Whereas the Board has received an application from Ridgemont High School with respect to the implementation of a French Immersion program at the school; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board implement a French Immersion program at Ridgemont High School, commencing in September 2002. It was agreed that a special Board meeting would be held on 17 January 2002 to address this issue immediately following the special Board meeting on boundary issues already scheduled for that date. * revision b) Beacon Hill Learning Centre, Peggy Dean re: Possible Termination of Busing to the Centre from L.D. Billings P.S. Peggy Dean, Executive Director of the Beacon Hill Learning Centre, explained that the Centre is a licensed, before school and after school , non - profit child care facility which offers a number of subsidized spaces, and whose students include those bused from Lamira Dow Billings Elementary School to the Centre on a daily basis. She noted that the Centre offers an important service to the 17 sets of parents of L.D. Billings ES students, and that the busing represents no additional costs to the Board, as the drop off at the Centre is accommodated on the existing route. Ms. Dean asked that the Board approve a motion to establish permanent busing status to and from the Beacon Learning Centre and L.D. Billings ES. In response to a query, Ms. Dean explained that the Principal of L.D. Billings ES received a letter from the Board last June indicating that the busing to the Centre may be terminated as the arrangement was set -up by the former OBE fifteen years ago, and is an anomaly given the Board's current transportation policy. In response to a query, Ms. Dean confirmed that if the Centre loses a third of its students, those who are currently being bused from L.D. Billings ES, it may not be feasible to remain in operation, and the community would be without a centrally located, licensed child care facility. Trustee Graham requested that staff provide a list of any other anomalies related to transportation that may exist across the OCDSB system. Michael Carson agreed to provide the list of anomalies, noting that in all other areas of the Board where child care centres operate outside the transportation routes, the predecessor Boards had approved motions addressing the anomalies. With respect to the Beacon Hill Learning Centre, it appears that a Board motion was never approved addressing this situation. C) Southpointe Education Committee, Wayne Yee re: Meeting the Needs of South Nepean Students Wayne Yee provided an overview of the Southpointe Education Committee, including its focus on ensuring that South Nepean students have the opportunity to attend schools in their own 32 • i1j] OTTAWA- CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES 14 JANUARY 2002 community, by supporting the development of school facilities in South Nepean to address the current inequities in supply and demand. Mr. Yee noted that South Nepean is an area experiencing an 18% annual growth rate, and a predicted demographic growth from 40, 000 in 2002 to 90,000 in 2010. He noted that the OCDSB is not building enough schools to keep up with the demographic growth in South Nepean, and he asked that the Board provide the South Nepean community with the opportunity to sustain a sense of community by having their children attend schools in their own neighbourhoods. During a brief discussion of the new Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School, scheduled to open on 22 January 2002, Mr. Yee referred to the current traffic congestion at Woodroffe Avenue and Fallowfield Road, and suggested that the busing of South Nepean students to the new school would likely add to it. 52. Receipt of Report No. 1, Business Services Committee, 12 December 2001 On a motion by Trustee Moen, seconded by Trustee Spice, the Board received Report No. 1, Business Services Committee, dated 12 December 2001. Trustee Moen noted that the recommendation in the report regarding Policy P.077.PLG: Designated Schools /Student Transfers, was approved by the Board at its 17 December 2001 meeting. 53. Receipt of Report No. 1, Human Resources Committee 7 January 2002 On a motion by Trustee Scott, seconded by Trustee Morse, the Board received Report No. 1, Human Resources Committee, dated 7 January 2002. Trustee Laurenceson asked that the report be revised to indicate that Trustee Norm MacDonald is not a member of the committee, and that Trustee Pam Morse is a member of the committee. There were no recommendations in the report. 54. Receipt of Report No. 1, Property Disposition Committee 8 January 2002 On a motion by Trustee Spice, seconded by Trustee Graham, the Board received Report No. 1, Property Disposition Committee, dated 8 January 2002. There were no recommendations in the report. 55. Boundary Adjustment Between D. Roy Kennedy PS and Knoxdale PS for Middle French Immersion Students, Trustee Lange Notice having been given, Trustee Lange, seconded by Trustee Laurenceson moved that: Whereas it is the intention of the OCDSB to facilitate access to the French Immersion programs it offers; Whereas some students are travelling unnecessarily long distances to reach their designated MFI program, ie. the present boundary between the two programs, the Queensway, requires students 33 1 * revision Ot OTTAWA- CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD REVISED MINUTES 14 JANUARY 2002 living within a block of D. Roy Kennedy P.S. (DRK) to travel up to 8 km to Knoxdale for their program; Whereas the MFI program at Knoxdale, established in 1999, is a vibrant program now attracting more students than DRK; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the southern boundary for the D. Roy Kennedy MFI attendance area be changed from the Queensway to Baseline Road between Woodroffe and the CPR Rail Line, for new registrants in the MFI program, starting in September 2002. In introducing the motion, Trustee Lange noted that the MFI program at Knoxdale Public School is now larger than the MFI program at D. Roy Kennedy Public School. The intent of the motion is to repatriate the students in the D. Roy Kennedy Public School catchment area back to that school, so that they no longer have to be bused up to eight kilometres to access the MFI program at Knoxdale Public School. Trustee Lange drew the members' attention to the MFI enrolment information distributed at the meeting, which included JK to 8 Student Distribution Maps by Program for south west plotting area 1, and near west plotting area 6. In response to a query, staff confirmed that the number of students who would be impacted by the change in the southern boundary for D. Roy Kennedy PS, would likely be too few to affect the viability of the MFI program at Knoxdale PS. With respect to transportation, staff noted that additional, significant costs are unlikely given that buses are already transporting Grades 4, 5 and 6 students in the area. It may also be possible to revert to a smaller bus to transport students to Knoxdale PS. Trustees speaking in support of the motion noted that the boundary change would result in a small number of students being able to walk to school rather than being bused for up to eight kilometres to and from Knoxdale PS each day. As a result of a question by Trustee Morse, considerable discussion ensued about whether the eastern boundary line being used for D. Roy Kennedy PS was the CPR Rail Line, or the Rideau River. Trustee Graham expressed concern about the MFI program boundary for D. Roy Kennedy PS overlapping with other MFI program boundaries. She expressed the view that confusion would be created in the system if staff use the CPR Rail Line as the eastern boundary for D. Roy Kennedy PS. Staff confirmed that their interpretation of the boundary coincides with Trustee Lange's for the purpose of the motion under discussion. They confirmed that staff would ensure that the boundary lines are drawn so that any overlap of MFI program boundaries is avoided. Michael Carson clarified that what was previously the eastern boundary for Knoxdale PS would now become the eastern boundary for D. Roy Kennedy PS. In wrap -up, Trustee Lange noted that there was no consultation a number of years ago when D. Roy Kennedy PS students were redirected to Knoxdale PS to access the MFI program. In order to better serve the students of both programs, it would be appropriate to change the D. Roy Kennedy PS boundary. The motion was carried. 34 • ML OTTAWA- CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD 56. OCASC Representation on Special Education Advisory Committee MINUTES 14 JANUARY 2002 The Board had before it for consideration report No. 02 -013 seeking approval of a change in representation for the Ottawa - Carleton Assembly of School Councils ( OCASC) on the Special Education Advisory Committee. Trustee Scott, seconded by Trustee Moen, moved: THAT the Board confirm Pam Fitzgerald as the alternate representative for OCASC on the Special Education Advisory Committee for the term ending 30 November 2003. The motion was carried. 57. OPSBA Report There was no OPSBA report. 58. New Business Trustee Morse noted that if the Board decides not to establish new Middle French Immersion (MFI) programs in the southern region of the Board, it should at least expand some of the current southern MFI boundaries to include her zone and parts of Trustee Scott's zone, to allow students to access the nearest MFI program to them. She noted that the Board should provide an MFI option to the students who may be willing to travel a relatively long distance to access the program. Trustee Moen expressed a similar concern about a lack of access to MFI sites for students in the eastern part of the Board, and he requested that staff provide information to trustees about this issue, including the possibility of extending current MFI boundaries. Trustees requested that as much information as possible regarding MFI sites in the southern and eastern parts of the Board be provided at the 17 January 2002 special Board meeting. The Board resumed its in camera meeting at 9:50 p.m. and later adjourned at 11:30 p.m. Jim Libbey, James P. Grieve, Director of Education/ Chair of the Board Secretary of the Board ky/bdminsl4jan02.doc 35 P]