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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06a Board 10 May 2011 Minutes Public MINUTES 10 May 2011 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 Jennifer McKenzie in the chair and the following also in attendance: Trustees Donna Blackburn, Rob Campbell, Cathy Curry, Pam FitzGerald, Mark Fisher, Bronwyn Funiciello, Katie Holtzhauer, Theresa Kavanagh, Lynn Scott and Shirley Seward. STUDENT TRUSTEE: Elizabeth Blight and Eric Chen. STAFF: Director of Education and Secretary of the Board, Barrie Hammond; Executive Superintendent, Jennifer Adams; Executive Officer, Corporate Services, Michèle Giroux; Manager of Board Services, Monica Ceschia; and Senior Board Coordinator, Maureen Strittmatter. On a motion by Trustee Scott, seconded by Trustee Blackburn, the Board resolved into Committee of the Whole (in camera). Trustee Funiciello assumed the Chair in Committee and later lic session. (Board Minutes 11-171 and 11-181 refers) 170. Call to Order Chair McKenzie called the public meeting to order at 8:05 p.m. 171. Report from Committee of the Whole (In Camera) Trustee Funiciello reported that Committee of the Whole met in camera this evening and reports and recommends as follows: Moved by Trustee Scott, seconded by Trustee Funiciello, THAT staff proceed, as directed in Committee of the Whole in camera, with respect to an employment issue. - Carried A recorded vote was held and the motion was carried on the following division: FOR: Trustees Blackburn, Campbell, Curry, FitzGerald, Funiciello, Holtzhauer, Kavanagh, McKenzie, Scott, and Seward (10) AGAINST: Nil (0) ABSTENSIONS: Nil (0) Moved by Trustee FitzGerald, seconded by Trustee Funiciello, THAT staff proceed, as directed in Committee of the Whole in camera, with respect to an employment issue. - Carried _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 144 - MINUTES 10 May 2011 A recorded vote was held and the motion was carried on the following division: FOR: Trustees Blackburn, Campbell, Curry, FitzGerald, Funiciello, Holtzhauer, Kavanagh, McKenzie, Scott, and Seward (10) AGAINST: Nil (0) ABSTENSIONS: Nil (0) Trustee Funiciello advised that the Committee of the Whole, in camera had not completed its business so there had been a motion to rise and report and return to an in camera session at the end of the public action items. 172. Approval of Agenda Moved by Trustee Seward, seconded by Trustee Scott, THAT the agenda be approved. - Carried An amendment moved by Trustee Scott, seconded by Trustee Blackburn, THAT agenda item 14. Student Trustee Report be moved up to follow agenda item 11. Non Consent Item(s). - Carried, friendly - Moved by Trustee Seward, seconded by Trustee Scott, THAT the agenda be approved, as amended. - Carried 173. Confirmation of Minutes a. 26 April 2011 Moved by Trustee Seward, seconded by Trustee Kavanagh, THAT the minutes of the 26 April 2011 Board meeting be confirmed. Trustee Curry noted that on folio 14, item 167 b Receipt of the Special Education Policy Ad Hoc Committee report, she had expressed concern regarding the direction to staff for this committee and list and trustees would not be directing the staff work, and asked that this be added. Moved by Trustee Seward, seconded by Trustee Kavanagh, THAT the minutes of the 26 April 2011 Board meeting be confirmed, as amended. - Carried - _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 145 - MINUTES 10 May 2011 174. Business Arising from Minutes a. 26 April 2011 There was no business arising from the minutes of 26 April 2011. 175. Director Hammond announced that in 2010 OCDSB schools had raised $174,614 for the Terry Fox Foundation, with 97 school sites participating in the Terry Fox Run and other related fundraising events. Director Hammond invited all to attend the first OCDSB Environmental Stewardship Day at Confederation Education Centre on Wednesday, May 25 from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Over 20 schools will be receiving their Eco-Schools certification and there will be a variety of interactive displays. On Thursday, May 12, special awards will be presented to staff that have been chosen as outstanding leaders and role models. The awards to be presented include Mentoring; Ronald K. Lynch Memorial; and Technology Excellence. Director Hammond invited everyone to attend the award ceremony to honour the contributions of staff. In partnership with the Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club, the OCDSB will be hosting a grand th opening for a new soccer field at Hillcrest High School on Friday, May 13. The ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. on the new field, followed by an inaugural scrimmage between Hillcrest Hawk players and members of the Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club. The District will be participatin August 28. Director Hammond congratulated Kevin Bush, principal of Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School, 176. Chair Chair McKenzie highlighted the upcoming Budget Schedule, noting that the next meeting will be on Monday, May 16 for delegations, and then Thursday, May 26 and Tuesday, May 31 for debate with the recommended budget being presented on Monday, June 06 to a Special Board meeting to ratify the budget. She added that updated information will be posted on the OCDSB website. The second annual Give Back to School Day is being held this year in conjunction with the OttawaReads program. On Friday, May 13th members of the corporate teams, who usually read at the schools, will be working on projects to beautify the schools involved. The schools involved include: Cambridge, Charles H. Hulse, Centennial, Hawthorne, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary Street, Riverview Alternative, Robert E. Wilson, W.E. Gowling, and York Street elementary schools. Chair McKenzie thanked the many volunteers, whose kindness and generosity are making a difference in the lives of OCDSB students. _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 146 - MINUTES 10 May 2011 Chair McKenzie announced that Steve MacLean Public School students had presented over Auction. Chair McKenzie congratulated the students for their excellent work. Chair McKenzie informed board members that a Skype call had been held with the Edmonton School Board, initiated by Trustee Curry with Dave Colborn, the Chair of the Edmonton School Board. The Director of the Edmonton School Board, Director Hammond, Chair of the OCDSB and Superintendent Gamwell participated in the Skype call and a proposal was put forth by the Chair of the Edmonton School Board given that our board meetings overlap, there could be a public discussion between the two school boards for approximately one hour. The Edmonton School Board is interested in our creativity initiative and is proposing that the first 20 minutes focus on this topic, the next 20 minutes on questions from the creativity presentation and then the final 20 minutes on dialogue between the two school boards. The possible timeline for this meeting is September 2011, with possibly a second overlap meeting scheduled to follow, during which the Edmonton School Board would describe one of their initiatives. Chair McKenzie requested approval from the Board to proceed and noted that the Edmonton School Board is proposing that the meeting be televised as all of their meetings are televised. Board members, by a show of hands, expressed their approval to proceed. Chair McKenzie advised that she had made an initial investigation into the possibility of the OCDSB hosting a gathering for informal discussion at the upcoming Canadian School Board Association conference in July. She added that, she is also discussing with staff the possibility of having registration costs of this conference covered for all trustees under a central training budget and encouraged attendance. 177. Public Question Period There were no public questions. 178. Report 5, Education Committee, 19 April 2011 Moved by Trustee Seward, seconded by Trustee Scott, THAT Report 5, Education Committee, dated 19 April 2011, be received. rd Trustee Scott noted that on folio 22, first paragraph after the bulleted section, 3 sentence, strings Trustee Seward noted that on folio 20, middle of the page, when the partial report had been received she had indicated that clarification would be made in the final report whether the schools would be Brookfield or West Carleton. Trustee Scott confirmed that the school that had the compelted the review was West Carleton Secondary School. Trustee Seward questioned whether the last paragraph on folio 25 was accurate. Trustee Curry confirmed that the minutes were an accurate account of the meeting; however, there had been some _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 147 - MINUTES 10 May 2011 confusion in the discussion. In response to a query from Trustee Seward regarding the Improvements to Arts Education motion, Chair McKenzie advised that the motion indicates how the process will proceed and that she would be advised, as Chair of the Education Committee, if information or a recommendation was required to come back to the Committee. Trustee Curry noted that on folio 27, Secondary School Review update, she had questioned the meaning of the third guiding principal, i.e., that it is not necessary to state all students, including other groups, and there had been more discussion on the guiding principles that should be included in the report. Moved by Trustee Seward, seconded by Trustee Scott, THAT Report 5, Education Committee, dated 19 April 2011, be received, as amended. - Carried Trustee Seward noted that the recommendations from the report had been dealt with at the 26 April 2011 Board meeting. 179. Report 6, Strategic Planning & Priorities Committee, 04 May 2011 Moved by Trustee Funiciello, seconded by Trustee Blackburn, THAT Report 6, Strategic Planning & Priorities Committee, dated 04 May 2011, be received. Trustee Blackburn advised that she was not present at the meeting. Moved by Trustee Funiciello, seconded by Trustee Blackburn, THAT Report 6, Strategic Planning & Priorities Committee, dated 04 May 2011, be received, as amended. - Carried - a. Approval of the Consultation Plan re 2011-2015 OCDSB Strategic Plan Moved by Trustee Campbell, seconded by Trustee Funiciello That the consultation plan to communicate the key elements of the 2011- 2015 strategic plan contained in the Strategy Map, as amended, attached as Appendix A to Report 11-080, be approved. - Carried _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 148 - MINUTES 10 May 2011 A recorded vote was held and the motion was carried on the following division: FOR: Trustees Blackburn, Campbell, Curry, FitzGerald, Funiciello, Holtzhauer, Kavanagh, McKenzie, Scott, and Seward (10) AGAINST: Nil (0) ABSTENSIONS: Nil (0) 180. Student Trustee Report Eric Chen provided the following highlights of the Student Trustee Report: Last week Eric Chen was provided with the opportunity am on (OSTA-AECO) has been supporting; As a follow-up on the first ever Ontario Student Survey, OSTA-AECO will be launching another similar survey; OSTA-AECO will also be releasing a student council handbook, both online and in hard copy. The handbooks can be purchased by school boards or individual schools; and Elections have been held and the two new student trustees for the 2011-2012 school year are Bill Lin from A.Y. Jackson Secondary School and Kareem Ibrahim from Earl of March Secondary School. Trustee Scott advised that at the Canadian Association for Law in Education conference the participation of the OSTA and Lady Evelyn Public School been noted. Trustee Scott added that, at that conference, she was provided with the opportunity to have dinner with the woman who had made the film documentary about the event, and she had been very excited about the OCDSB students supporting this initiative. Trustee Campbell noted that approximately two years ago OSTA/AECO had launched a survey on what was the worst / most disliked course in the Ontario curriculum. The survey indicated that the Grade 10 Civic Course was the most disliked and, at that time, OSTA/AECO were discussing this with the Ministry of Education. Trustee Campbell requested that, if possible, student trustees provide an update on the outcome of the discussions on the Civics curriculum. Eric Chen agreed to respond electronically. In response to a trustee query regarding how students will know to participate in the upcoming survey, Eric Chen noted that at the OSTA-AECO annual general meeting the survey will be promoted, and all student trustees will take back the information to their school boards and student councils. There will also be media coverage and through word of mouth. Elizabeth Blight added that the last survey also had a draw for $1,000 to encourage participation and it is expected that there will be another draw with the new survey. _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 149 - MINUTES 10 May 2011 Moved by Trustee Scott, seconded by Trustee Seward, THAT the Board resolve into Committee of the Whole, in camera. - Carried - The meeting resolved into Committee of the Whole, in camera at 8:42 p.m. * * * * * * * * * * Chair McKenzie called the Board meeting back to order at 10:12 p.m. 181. Report from Committee of the Whole (In Camera) Trustee Funiciello reported that Committee of the Whole met in camera this evening and reports that there were no recommendations. 182. Staff Report 11-090, Funding Advocacy Strategy Working Group Update Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Clarke noted that at the 08 February 2011 Board meeting the Board decided to be more systematic and have consistent messaging for MPPs and the Ministry. An advocacy Work Group was established with Trustees Campbell, FitzGerald, McKenzie and Scott. A number of areas had been reviewed and discussed with the final three areas agreed upon as the teacher salary grid issue, transportation funding and diversity of capital needs in the OCDSB. CFO Clarke noted that if the Board was in agreement with moving forward with these items, then staff can complete additional analysis and prepare the information. There is urgency to this as some trustees have identified that ongoing funding is required for future budget decisions. Chair McKenzie pointed out that the motion spoke to timelines of March to June 2011, and it was her opinion that if the Board wished to commence the advocacy between now and the end of June, the Board needs to agree to whom and on what basis the advocacy should be done. She requested views on whether the information provided was sufficient to commence the advocacy, and whether they were prepared to support the messaging. Trustee Scott expressed the view that all three issues could be pursued with MPP Yasir Naqvi, and in particular the transportation issue. In response to a question from Trustee Scott regarding whether any other school districts had been approached regarding their possible interest in joining the advocacy campaign, Chair McKenzie advised that no contacts had been made. She added that provided is a list of comparable schools boards and she would contact them once a common message and theme has been agreed to by board members. In response to a trustee query regarding what the Chair would be proposing in the way of a joint campaign with other school boards, Chair McKenzie noted that she would contact the other school boards to enquire if they have any issues with the funding gap or their other financial priorities with a view to seek commonalities and if so, then discuss possible ways to advocate together. _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 150 - MINUTES 10 May 2011 In response to a trustee statement that the motion did not identify any particular areas of focus, Chair McKenzie advised that the previous report identified the areas. Trustee Campbell expressed his uncertainty as to whether the Board had reached an agreement on the areas of focus. He expressed the opinion that this should have come to Board in the form of a recommendation. He noted that time is running out if the Board would like to influence parties during the upcoming election. Trustee Campbell advised that OPSBA is planning on holding local debates and making education and funding issues a local issue in the media, and may provide a debate template for school boards to consider using. Trustee Campbell expressed disappointment that confirmed figures were not available at the present time and suggested that once the budget process was complete, possibly staff would be able to provide additional financial information. Trustee Campbell expressed support in moving forward at the present time, but noted concern about the possible risk of a negative outcome from the advocacy campaign. Trustee Fisher, speaking in agreement with Trustee Campbell, expressed the view that the advocacy campaign should not proceed without the financial information. He noted that it was also paramount that the Board agree on the issues. Chair McKenzie advised that the motion directs her to complete certain tasks in a time frame; however, it is important for the Board to support and uphold the decision for the advocacy campaign. If not, then she suggested that a reconsideration motion be put forward. She added that the committee has requested further financial information; however, she could at this time have a reasonable discussion with the other school boards and MPP Yasir Naqvi with the information provided to date. Trustee Fisher expressed the view that all of the issues, other than transportation, had counter arguments that could be made to undercut the amount. He added that the Province can provide arguments indicating that they have been investing in the school system. He expressed the view that the Board should agree to two to three issues to be addressed when moving forward. The 10:30 p.m. vote did not receive the two-thirds majority to continue the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Barrie Hammond Jennifer McKenzie Director of Education and Chair of the Board Secretary of the Board _____________________________________________________________________________________ - 151 -