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First Priority Always……. Advocacy for the Children

A New Trustee’s Point of View April 16, 2012

Greater Victoria School District 61 Report #5

Important Motions………. April 16, 2012 Board Meeting Repeal Bill 22 Why? This motion had been tabled and therefore it was brought forward to the April Board meeting. 1) Motion- Repeal of Bill 22 That the Board of Education SD 61 write a letter to the Minister of Education calling on the government to repeal Bill 22 and instead, have an independent mediator appointed through the Labour Relations Board. (no net zero mandate….. why? As I told you last month, we just received our 2012-2013 budget-$171,000,000. With this net zero mandate and not even a CPI adjustment (2-3%), we are looking at a starting deficit of approx. $3.4M for our students. The motion was defeated 5-4. ( Trustees Orcherton, Horsman, Leonard, McEvoy and Ferris voted against the motion; Trustees Nohr, Loring-Kuhanga, McNally and Alpha voted for the motion. )

Here’s how our teachers feel. Remember, teachers are advocating for full restoration of funding for our most vulnerable learners, those students with special education designations. As well, teachers want their salaries to stay commensurate with the cost of living index. Please read the letter from our teachers.

Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association

Dear Trustees, RE: Bill 22 We are writing to express our disappointment that the Greater Victoria Board of Education has not taken a position opposed to Bill 22. This Bill is an infringement on the right of teachers to free collective bargaining. This is an affront to our rights as citizens in a democracy. This Bill imposes a mediation process that guarantees an outcome that favours the employer representative – BCPSEA. This again is contrary to the basic democratic principles of free and fair collective bargaining. We cannot imagine how the Board could not oppose a piece of legislation that denies teachers such basic democratic rights. This Bill removes class size averages and class composition limits. We believe this will result in larger and more complex classrooms, as funding continues to deteriorate. Class size and composition restrictions were the single best mechanism to ensuring long term stable funding for teaching staff, as the years prior to 2001 demonstrate. We anticipate a significant deterioration of classroom conditions resulting from this Bill. Finally we need you to know that your decision will impact the relationships between teachers and the District at both the school and District level. Never have teachers felt more demoralized and less respected.

Yours truly, Tara Ehrcke President, GVTA

• This letter reflects the position of most if not all teachers in our district. The union speaks for the teachers reflecting their position.

I’d like to thank the three teachers ( Tara Erhcke, Keely Roden ( Esquimalt) and Barbara Macaulay ( Northridge ) who spoke at the Board meeting about their concerns with Bill 22. All three gave a very personal and compelling perspective about what our students may face in the coming years.

2) Motion-Needs Budget Proposal – Trustee McNally brought this motion forward and it was an especially important motion given the fact that trustees had just received an estimate of $48M as the current GAP in funding for our students!

That the Board of Education of SD 61 ( Greater Victoria ) submit only a needs budget reflecting remedies for the on-going structural deficit and reflecting costs for restoration of all services to the levels of service that existed in 2001.

The motion was defeated 5-4. ( Trustees Orcherton, Horsman, Leonard, McEvoy and Ferris voted against the motion; Trustees Nohr, Loring-Kuhanga, McNally and Alpha voted for the motion. )

3) We had a small surplus that we reviewed carefully in light of the input from our partner groups. There was some good debate at the Board table as we pointed out that students need teachers in many cases for instruction rather than educational assistants for support. The following motion was passed unanimously.

That the Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria apply the $349,541 projected surplus in the following manner, for the 2012-2013 budget year, upon passing of the budget bylaw. $95,563 to add 1 FTE psychologist to help deal with the backlog of psychometric assessments for students in grades K-3 in School District No. 61. $50,000 to be added for support services to psychologists and speech and language pathologists so that more time is made available for therapy with special needs students. $203,978 will be used for the hiring of Educational assistants or teachers for support for classrooms, students and students that are hearing impaired. Motion Carried Unanimously

3) Motion- Annual Budget Bylaw That the Board of Education of SD 61 ( Greater Victoria ) 2012/2013 Annual Budget Bylaw in the amount of $194,366,227 be: read for the first, second and third time, passed and adopted on April 16, 2012.

The motion was passed 5-4. ( Trustees Orcherton, Horsman, Leonard, McEvoy and Ferris voted for the motion; Trustees Nohr, Loring-Kuhanga, McNally and Alpha voted against the motion. )

*I could not vote for this budget when I know that many, many of our students are being seriously neglected and they are not receiving an educational experience appropriate for their needs. This situation affects everyone else in the class as well. Also, with respect to the principle of equity, this unacceptable situation is most pervasive in our schools located in lower socio-economic areas thus contributing to the perpetuation of more students in this demographic not graduating from high school.

PACs please consider making a letter writing initiative on behalf of public education one of your activities in the month of May.

You could write to your MLA, Minister of Education and/or the Premier and express your expectation that schools in SD 61 should be fully funded, at least back to the 2001-2002 levels thus adding approximately $ 48M.

• premier@gov.bc.ca

• *minister.educ@gov.bc.ca

• MLA Finder- drop down menu / easy to use

• robin.austin.mla@leg.bc.ca education critic

Thank you for taking the time to read this April report. I apologize for its tardiness. I would also ask you to please send this on to al

Your advocate for public education and trustee,

Deborah Nohr

MARCH TRUSTEE REPORT- 2012

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First Priority Always……. Advocacy for the Children

A New Trustee’s Point of View               MARCH, 2012

Greater Victoria School District 61

 Report #4

Important Motions….from the March 26, 2012 Board Meeting

Repeal Bill 22    Why?

1)    That the Board of Education SD 61 write a letter to the Minister of Education calling on the government to repeal Bill 22 and instead, have an independent mediator appointed through the Labour Relations Board. (no net zero mandate….. why? We just received our 2012-2013 budget-$171,000,000. With this net zero mandate and not even a CPI adjustment (2-3%), we are looking at a starting deficit of approx. $3.4M for our students.

Rationale:

Bill 22 is in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It parallels the same law that this BC government put in place for health care workers  (2001) and the Supreme Court of Canada ruled as unconstitutional (2007).

Bill 22 is undemocratic as it eliminates workers rights to bargain collectively for their working conditions. Free collective bargaining is a fundamental principle for all  Canadian workers within a union.* Remember teachers’ working conditions almost always reflect student learning conditions. Teachers know what makes a classroom work,

Bill 22 is invalid because it is in contravention of the BC Supreme Court decision (April, 2011) that ruled Bill 28 prohibited teachers’ right to bargain working conditions.

It is also unconstitutional because it imposes conditions on the mediator rather than allowing the mediator to be truly independent and ‘serve as a trusted neutral influence on the two parties. A mediator who represents the government…… would be perverse’. ( SD 46)

Motion-Tabled until April ( gather more information ) We don’t need more information to see that it is unconstitutional and not in the best interests of children.

Good faith bargaining is not possible when one side sets in place pre-conditions.

Please consider this commentary.

Joel Bakan  Vancouver Sun    March 16, 2012

The B.C. Liberal government is poised, once again, to violate the legal rights of workers, this time with Bill 22, which, if it becomes law, will prohibit teachers from striking and limit their collective bargaining rights.

In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the government had violated the Canadian Charter by imposing legislative restrictions on the rights of health workers to bargain collectively. In April 2011, the British Columbia Supreme Court followed that decision to rule that legislation concerning teachers was unconstitutional, and thereby invalid, because it prohibited bargaining on class size, class composition and the ratios of teachers to students.

It is those very same restrictions that the government now seeks to reinstate with Bill 22, a disturbing disregard for such a recent judicial declaration that they are constitutionally invalid.

Bill 22 also flies in the face of Canada’s international treaty obligations. On no fewer than 10 occasions — half of which concerned teachers — the Freedom of Association Committee of the United Nations International Labour Organization has found the B.C. Liberal government to be in breach of labour treaties. In a recent report, concerning legislation similar to Bill 22, the committee noted as particularly problematic the tendency of this government to legislatively prohibit strikes, impose rates and working conditions, circumscribe the scope of collective bargaining, and restructure the bargaining process.

The proposed Bill 22 does all of those things and more. As such, it almost certainly violates international law as well as constitutional law.

Governments are obliged to govern according to law. That is what distinguishes democracies from tyrannies. As a fundamental democratic principle, the rule of law is seriously jeopardized when governments play fast and loose with constitutional and international laws, as this government is now doing with Bill 22.

If Bill 22 becomes law, the government will demand that teachers respect its provisions (including those making strikes illegal). It will condemn those who defy the act as lawbreakers and punish them with severe fines ($475 per day for a teacher; $2,500 per day for a union officer; $1.3 million per day for the BCTF).

In short, the government will demand that the rule of its law be respected, while, at the same time, its actions dangerously encroach upon the rule of law.

Joel Bakan teaches in the faculty of law at the University of British Columbia.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

The Learning Improvement Fund, a response to the BC Supreme Court decision-April, 2011, has been set at $30M. This would look like .6 educational aide or .2 speech and language specialist/teacher  at each Victoria school. In the BC Supreme Court decision, April, 2011, the judge referenced the removal of $275M back in 2001/2002 and that would be at least $300M in 2012. Basic math calculations indicate that the LIF should provide ten times the funds. Our public education system is being STARVED…and that translates into unacceptable neglect of our children. At our March Board meeting Trustee Horsman brought forward the following motion.

Trustee Horsman - Class Organization and Behaviour Management Fund

That the Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) write to the Minister of Education asking that the government double the amount of money offered for the Learning Improvement Fund (in the first, second and third years).

If…and that is a big if, the government responded, the fund would be 2X30M-60M in the first year, 2X$65M-$130M in the second year and 2X$75M-$150M in the third year. It may sound like a lot, but it isn’t. I argued that we must not become inured  to a ‘scarcity’ paradigm  for our children’s education…..we must not let this happen. I recommended that we ask for the full $300M. The motion passed without an amendment to ask for the full amount taken out and that is why you see Trustee Loring-Kuhanga and Trustee Nohr opposing the motion.

FYI…We have received the budget for 2012-2013 and the LIF is $30M.That means Victoria will receive $961,762 or .6 EA per school.

Motion-Carried

Voting Record- 7 in favour (Alpha, Orcherton, Horsman, Ferris, Leonard, McEvoy, McNally), 2 opposed (Nohr, Loring- Kuhanga) Motion carried

 Trustee Nohr – Additional Budget Input

That the Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) schedule working meetings with the Superintendent and Secretary-Treasurer including all interested trustees to develop the 2012-2013 budget based on meeting District goals and input from parents, school staff and any other affected partner group.

I wanted to know how, when and who would be reviewing the SPC input, the public input at the round table budget meetings and other partner group ideas/issues. There was NO interest by the majority of trustees to establish a series of meetings for this purpose. At this time I still have not received any specific information about meetings, participants and date times to consider this information and make small but important changes considering  ‘partner input’ to the budget for 2012-2013. I am meeting with the Superintendent to review much of the partner groups’ input for consideration.

2 in favour ( Loring-Kuhanga, Nohr) and 7 against (Alpha, McNally, Orcherton, Horsman, Ferris, Leonard, McEvoy)

Motion Defeated

C. Trustee McNally – Budget Advisory Committee

That the Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) instruct Budget Advisory (Ad Hoc) Committee Chair immediately restructure the Budget Advisory Committee (presently made up of Trustees Orcherton, Horsman, Ferris and Alpha) to include all Trustees on an ex-officio basis, and members of the public and partner groups who wish to attend on a non-voting, observer basis. (motion withdrawn)

This was a great motion because it would have included all trustees in the discussions about the budget. Unfortunately, Trustee McNally withdrew the motion. We need to have all trustees involved. At this time there is not the open governance model I would want to see.

On April 16th, the Board will be voting on a budget that seriously and significantly underfunds public education for our children. Sadly, the greatest impact of underfunding falls on the already weakened shoulders of our poorest students.Let us watch out for our most vulnerable students. Let us all work toward equity in the system.

Please read the following very thoughtful perspective on this issue.

I take exception with Geoff Johnson’s March 21st perspective regarding the response of some school boards to what they determine to be inadequate education funding allocations.  Further I am offended by Mr. Johnson’s implication that the ethically bankrupt behaviour of the corporate elite is somehow equivalent to the principled decisions that some boards arrive at in their efforts to meet the needs of their student body.  It seems hardly legitimate to compare the self-serving greed and disdain for others exemplified by the executives of Enron, Wall Street investment banks and, for a Canadian example, Nortel, with reasoned, researched and public debate in response to what is generally conceded to be a broken funding formula.

Mr. Johnson appears to equate ethical behaviour with unquestioning obedience.  We all know how well “I was only following orders” stands up to scrutiny.  The very essence of ethical behaviour is to look beyond laws and regulations and consider one’s own moral compass.  While I can agree that taking an oath one has no intention of upholding raises questions of ethical behaviour, I must also question the morality of a situation in which the institution that allocates budgets simultaneously writes the legislation to bar deficit financing and extract commitments of acquiescence as a condition of public office.

If legislation was entirely consistent with morality, then there may be no need for such discussion at all; one could simply follow directions and rest easily at night.  Life is not so clear cut however and the issue of trustee adherence to the School Act provides a perfect example.  While Section 111 does require boards to submit a budget in which expenditures do not exceed revenue; the School Act is not without ambiguity.  Consider Section 65 (1): A board is responsible for the improvement of student achievement in the school district.

At a time when budget allocations for school boards will only support a portion of the services needed by special needs students, when per student allocations don’t keep pace with inflation, when the $30 million identified for Year 1 of the much heralded Learning Improvement Fund equates to slightly more than one half of one percent of the annual operating grant allocation (or slightly less than 8% of annual special needs funding), one might wonder whether submissive acceptance of provincial budget allocations is truly the mark of ethical conduct.

This past year Saanich School Board was successful in its quest for additional provincial funding beyond their original budget allocation.  Their presentations on the issue amply demonstrate that their decision to take this stand was not only well researched, it was critical to their efforts to achieve their fundamental purpose of improving student achievement (http://alturl.com/jrzsp).

Ultimately the Province also holds the power to dismiss School Boards that choose not to submit balanced budgets.  Trustees make their decisions knowledge in full knowledge of this possible outcome.  To risk one’s position in an effort to better provide for our children is, in my mind, the very measure of ethical behaviour.

Rob Paynter is a parent of children in School District 61 and a past candidate for school board trustee. He previously served ethically as an officer in the Canadian Forces in Canada and overseas on peacekeeping operations.

Sincerely,

Deborah Nohn

trustee SD 61

 

 

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Rally to support teachers!

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There is a mass rally tomorrow, March 6th, in support of BC teachers. It starts at 11am at Centennial Square in Victoria (beside City Hall). A very large group will then march to the lawn of the Legislature. Please see this web site for the latest details.

Rally to support teachers!

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There is a mass rally tomorrow, March 6th, in support of BC teachers. It starts at 11am at Centennial Square in Victoria (beside City Hall). A very large group will then march to the lawn of the Legislature. Please see this web site for the latest details.

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First Priority Always……. Advocacy for the Children

A New Trustee’s Point of View               FEBRUARY, 2012

Greater Victoria School District 61

 Report #3

 And the Good News is……

The school year is going along very well with teachers and students engaged in a grand variety of amazing and engaging learning activities. I am so excited to hear from students who are happy and see their time at school as being educationally and socially relevant. I am also very grateful to hear from parents who have a good connection with their child’s teacher and they are receiving regular information about their child’s experience in the classroom. These days it often means that teachers are communicating through their e-mail to parents on a daily or weekly basis. Remember, that you can get your child’s teacher’s e-mail address at the school office or generally use their first initial and last name @sd61.bc.ca. Remember also that you can write in your child’s planner to inform the teacher about any issue or concern, ask any question that might be on your mind or suggest a meeting date and time. The most successful school experience is when there is a respectful and ongoing relationship between the teacher, the student and the parents. Teachers often appreciate a parent taking the time to come in and start a conversation. I always think of it this way: parents have one, two or three children  (approximately) while teachers have 25 or more students.  Did you know that some exploratory teachers teach 120 students each week (4 classes X 30 students)? Respectful communication and a positive relationship is everything in the school experience.

On the Ground and At the Schools

I had the opportunity to attend the Willows’ PAC meeting with my colleague Michael McEvoy. It was tremendous to see so many parents in attendance. I would like to thank the Willows’ parents for all the time they set aside for discussion with trustees. The focus of our conversation was on the role of the trustees, an update on the new Oak Bay High School  (ground breaking has been delayed and is not specifically set at this time) and funding for public education. As a point of clarification, it is important for parents to understand that when they hear that there is a Learning Improvement Fund of $165 M. That is not the money set aside for the next school year. Instead this money will be distributed over three years. In the school year 2012-2013, starting in September, the Ministry of Education has set aside $30 million. This is considerably less than the calculations of $300M per year based on the BCTF assessments.  Over three years this would amount to $900M. In the second year there will be $60 million and in the third year $75 million, again for a total of  $165 million over three years

Public services can only be funded through a strong and equitable tax base. If the government minimally raised corporate taxes by 2% it would provide  approximately an additional $2 billion per year. If the government reinstated taxes on banks it would provide approximately an additional $200 million per year (Royal Bank 2011- 1st quarter profit $1.8 B…23% increase). So you see if we based our economic policies on fair and equitable taxation we would have sufficient funding for all the public services that we use and rely on every day of our lives, including public education.

Another great event for the month of February was the Valentine’s Day concert performance at Oak Bay High School. The many talented students in grades 9 to 12 performed a series musical numbers featuring many brave soloists. I’d like to thank all of the music teachers, students, music parents and administration for their time and dedication. It was a wonderful event and very well attended by people in the community as well as family members.

At the Board Table

Great news! A new committee, led by VCPAC has been established to work on positive school culture and anti-bullying behaviour. All partner groups will have an opportunity to provide input and that includes school based PACs as well.

Craigflower School is going to be in the midst of new road building starting soon. Part of plans includes a new and much safer lighted crosswalk for the students. There will be more parking and one of the playgrounds will be moved and installed (costs paid for by Saanich). The Board will write a letter to Saanich specifying the preferred mode of transportation for students during the construction…and that means there needs to be a floating bridge of some sort so students may walk home.

Presently, the Amended Budget 2011-12 has a surplus of $350,000! Don’t you think that’s great?  I do! I think it is very important to put this money into our highest need classes. This is what I will be working on over the next two weeks. I hope to work with other trustees who would support this and make it happen quickly.

Budget Time

Finally, the ‘needs budget’ committee is working very hard to develop a specific budget that details the gap between what the government will provide and what we think is needed to have ALL classes ‘appropriate for learning’.

I ran on a platform of ‘fully funded and properly managed’ public education. Right now I am trying to set some meetings to review the budget for next year. Currently, that is not the precedent or process of this Board. However, I feel this is vitally important and I do think that the public would expect this of the SD 61 trustees.

We are still hoping to have a parent email campaign to contact the Premier and Minister of Education about making public education funding the first priority for our kids. As the ‘needs budget’ is completed by our district’s trustees, we will share it with our parents, teachers, other partner groups and the community. Parents are the central force and voice in this issue of funding for our students, your kids!

Respectfully,

Deborah Nohr  SD 61 Trustee

 

School board votes should be recorded

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Mike Eso has a great Letter to the Editor in today’s Times Colonist:

When will our local elected representatives understand that recorded votes are an important cornerstone on our democracy and are vital in making these institutions more transparent and accountable to the public?

Newly elected Greater Victoria School Board trustees Diane McNally and Deborah Nohr should be congratulated for pushing to ensure board minutes reflect the voting records of individual trustees. The trustees who voted against this suggestion should be ashamed of themselves.

Click here to read the full letter.

School board votes should be recorded

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Mike Eso has a great Letter to the Editor in today’s Times Colonist:

When will our local elected representatives understand that recorded votes are an important cornerstone on our democracy and are vital in making these institutions more transparent and accountable to the public?

Newly elected Greater Victoria School Board trustees Diane McNally and Deborah Nohr should be congratulated for pushing to ensure board minutes reflect the voting records of individual trustees. The trustees who voted against this suggestion should be ashamed of themselves.

Click here to read the full letter.

February Report 2012 Trustee Nohr

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Here is an update from Trustee Deborah Nohr:

Just a little more…….

I am providing an addendum to my February Report. As a point of clarification, the $350,000 was not the result of lots of loonies jingling in the pockets of the secretary-treasurer but rather unintended positive cash flow from teachers using less sick days and from less demand for fuel to heat the schools during this milder winter . There were other line items contributing to this but  the trustees did not receive the budget sheet in our Board pack up so I cannot recall the specifics. Let me just finish by saying that our district and every other district in the province has been ‘carved to the bone’.  Here’s two examples, the provincial formula for elementary counsellors is 1:1000 students and that means most elementary schools of 200 ‘ish’ have a counsellor one day a week. There are no educational assistant in our kindergarten classes ( unless there is a student with a special education designation coming from preschool and/ or QA ) even though there are tremendous student needs that do not get assessed until approximately grade 3. Ontario has an EA in every kindergarten classroom. Again, it is my hope to make a motion that will be supported by other trustees to put the $350,000 into our classrooms in early March.

Thank you,
Deborah Nohr

 

 

 

 

First Priority Always……. Advocacy for the Children

A New Trustee’s Point of View               FEBRUARY, 2012

Greater Victoria School District 61

 Report #3

 And the Good News is……

The school year is going along very well with teachers and students engaged in a grand variety of amazing and engaging learning activities. I am so excited to hear from students who are happy and see their time at school as being educationally and socially relevant. I am also very grateful to hear from parents who have a good connection with their child’s teacher and they are receiving regular information about their child’s experience in the classroom. These days it often means that teachers are communicating through their e-mail to parents on a daily or weekly basis. Remember, that you can get your child’s teacher’s e-mail address at the school office or generally use their first initial and last name @sd61.bc.ca. Remember also that you can write in your child’s planner to inform the teacher about any issue or concern, ask any question that might be on your mind or suggest a meeting date and time. The most successful school experience is when there is a respectful and ongoing relationship between the teacher, the student and the parents. Teachers often appreciate a parent taking the time to come in and start a conversation. I always think of it this way: parents have one, two or three children  (approximately) while teachers have 25 or more students.  Did you know that some exploratory teachers teach 120 students each week (4 classes X 30 students)? Respectful communication and a positive relationship is everything in the school experience.

 On the Ground and At the Schools

 I had the opportunity to attend the Willows’ PAC meeting with my colleague Michael McEvoy. It was tremendous to see so many parents in attendance. I would like to thank the Willows’ parents for all the time they set aside for discussion with trustees. The focus of our conversation was on the role of the trustees, an update on the new Oak Bay High School  (ground breaking has been delayed and is not specifically set at this time) and funding for public education. As a point of clarification, it is important for parents to understand that when they hear that there is a Learning Improvement Fund of $165 M. That is not the money set aside for the next school year. Instead this money will be distributed over three years. In the school year 2012-2013, starting in September, the Ministry of Education has set aside $30 million. This is considerably less than the calculations of $300M per year based on the BCTF assessments.  Over three years this would amount to $900M. In the second year there will be $60 million and in the third year $75 million, again for a total of  $165 million over three years

Public services can only be funded through a strong and equitable tax base. If the government minimally raised corporate taxes by 2% it would provide  approximately an additional $2 billion per year. If the government reinstated taxes on banks it would provide approximately an additional $200 million per year (Royal Bank 2011- 1st quarter profit $1.8 B…23% increase). So you see if we based our economic policies on fair and equitable taxation we would have sufficient funding for all the public services that we use and rely on every day of our lives, including public education.

Another great event for the month of February was the Valentine’s Day concert performance at Oak Bay High School. The many talented students in grades 9 to 12 performed a series musical numbers featuring many brave soloists. I’d like to thank all of the music teachers, students, music parents and administration for their time and dedication. It was a wonderful event and very well attended by people in the community as well as family members.

At the Board Table

 Great news! A new committee, led by VCPAC has been established to work on positive school culture and anti-bullying behaviour. All partner groups will have an opportunity to provide input and that includes school based PACs as well.

Craigflower School is going to be in the midst of new road building starting soon. Part of plans includes a new and much safer lighted crosswalk for the students. There will be more parking and one of the playgrounds will be moved and installed (costs paid for by Saanich). The Board will write a letter to Saanich specifying the preferred mode of transportation for students during the construction…and that means there needs to be a floating bridge of some sort so students may walk home.

Presently, the Amended Budget 2011-12 has a surplus of $350,000! Don’t you think that’s great?  I do! I think it is very important to put this money into our highest need classes. This is what I will be working on over the next two weeks. I hope to work with other trustees who would support this and make it happen quickly

 Budget Time

Finally, the ‘needs budget’ committee is working very hard to develop a specific budget that details the gap between what the government will provide and what we think is needed to have ALL classes ‘appropriate for learning’.

I ran on a platform of ‘fully funded and properly managed’ public education. Right now I am trying to set some meetings to review the budget for next year. Currently, that is not the precedent or process of this Board. However, I feel this is vitally important and I do think that the public would expect this of the SD 61 trustees.

We are still hoping to have a parent email campaign to contact the Premier and Minister of Education about making public education funding the first priority for our kids. As the ‘needs budget’ is completed by our district’s trustees, we will share it with our parents, teachers, other partner groups and the community. Parents are the central force and voice in this issue of funding for our students, your kids!

Respectfully,

Deborah Nohr  SD 61 Trustee

 Please send your e-mails to:

premier@gov.bc.ca

 minister.educ@gov.bc.ca

January report from Trustee Nohr

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Here is an update from Trustee Deborah Nohr:


First Priority Always……. Advocacy for the Children
A New Trustee’s Point of View               January, 2012
Greater Victoria School District 61
Report #2

This month I have had a wonderful opportunity to meet many parents at their children’s schools, at Board meetings, at VCPAC meetings and in the community. I have also corresponded with several parents through e-mails. I appreciate your time, your insights and your desire to have the most positive and successful experience for your children and all other children in our district. I look forward to working with you. Together, we may  acknowledge and enjoy our many successes, strive to improve our children’s school experience and address issues through our joint efforts. 

And the good news is…… 

On the Ground and at the Schools
 I had been assigned to the Mount Doug family of schools and that means that I will be more closely connected to the students, parents, teachers, administration and community in this area of our school district.  I have been warmly received and provided with excellent information about each of the four schools: Mount Douglas High School, Arbutus Middle School, Frank Hobbs Elementary School and Campus View Elementary School.  I am pleased to say that the teachers are doing a wonderful job of providing a meaningful and engaging curricula and learning experience for their students. This could not be done of course without the support of the educational assistants, specialty teachers, administration and parents. I am so pleased to consistently observe kind and respectful relationships between teachers and students. This type of relationship has far reaching benefits for our children. I have also attended the PAC meetings at Eagle View Elementary and Sir James Douglas Elementary. There is no better way to stay connected with parents, appreciate all their work and effort and understand their goals than by attending these meetings at the school level. Thank you for your generous invitations. I may see you at your PAC meeting; Frank Hobbs and Willows are scheduled for February.

At the Board Table
The Chairman of the Board, Peg Orcherton, arranged with our senior administration to provide two full days of in-service covering funding details and the roles and responsibilities of each department. The experience was very helpful and it provided a tremendous overview and update for all trustees.

At the January Educational Policy Meeting, students from every high school along with their principals shared their personal experiences about having greater choice, flexibility and personalized learning to meet their needs and be successful both personally and academically. If you want more detail go to sd61.bc.ca and look under Board for the January, 2012 Board minutes. There you will see the names of the schools and all the students and their specific programmes. Each student had a different story to tell. The good news is these student were feeling a sense of engagement and success. We want this for all students.

1) I presented a motion to re-establish dialogue and local bargaining with our teachers. The motion was carried. It is so important that we have an on-going and respectful dialogue with our teachers.

2) Catherine Alpha presented a motion to initiate a more in-depth community consultation process to develop the 2012-2013 budget. The motion was carried.

3) Bev Horsman presented a motion to refuse any raise in the basic trustee remuneration rate for the 2011- 2012 school year. The motion carried unanimously.

At Our Schools
All of the high schools had Open Houses during the month of January. I was able to attend the Open House at Mount Doug and Oak Bay and I was pleased to see so many student leaders guiding prospective students and their parents through the building and informing them about the many programs. 

Budget Time 
Our first public input meeting for building the budget will be held at SJ Willis in the auditorium on February 1 at 7pm. We are encouraging parents, teachers, CUPE workers, community members and administration to come and provide us with their experiences where adequate funding is supporting learning and where underfunding is the basis for their concern.

Stay tuned from more information…… parent advocacy is vitally important! 
A Quick History Lesson
“Despite provincial claims to the contrary, there has been virtually no actual increase to public education funding between 1992 and the current year. In fact, the 1990 operating grant( in 2006 dollars) was over $200 more per pupil than we now receive  under current funding levels.

While funding per student ( taking the total funding amount and dividing it by the number of full-time enrolments ) may have increased marginally any rise disappears once inflation ( consumer price index ) is factored in. Apart from our salary costs negotiated and passed on by Victoria but not fully funded- inflation on fuel, supplies and services place vast pressures on school district budgets.

Between 2001-02 and 2009-10 public education funding has increased by 19% while inflation has increased by about 25%. Costs of new initiatives downloaded to the school boards have a devastating impact on funding students in the classroom.

In addition, the services to children triggered by special-needs designations are not fully funded and must be subsidized from our operating grant. All costs related to these additional components of our responsibilities have to be met by reducing services and programs for our children.”  * Eden Haythornthwaite, chairperson of the Cowichan Board of Education. 
And so we are going to work very hard to develop a ‘needs budget’ reflecting the  funding necessary to provide a successful learning experience for all our children. This is the work we will be doing through February, March and April with your help.
Respectfully, 
Deborah Nohr  SD 61 Trustee