Budget:

1. Total student enrolment of 2,290 FTE, a decrease of 52.375 FTE from 2014/15 with enrolment expected to continue to decline to at least 2019 with a projection of 2,038 FTE.

2. Total budget bylaw of $28.5 million, increase from 2014/15 of $650,000.

3. Total operating revenue of $23.9 million, increase from 2014/15 of $500,000.This is an increase because of the reduction in revenue due to the teacher strike.

4. Total operating expense of $24.2 million, increase from 2014/15 of $560,000.

5. Projected deficit from 2015/16 operating revenue vs. expenses is $360,000. With additional required capital expenditures, the surplus required to fund 2015/16 is $700,000 (structural deficit).

Trustees requested feedback from the public on the budget and advised that the Board will continue to deliberate on budget decisions until their June 24th Board meeting.

The Board heard concerns from the YouLearn community with regards to their consideration of moving the Osoyoos YouLearn from the current downtown location to Osoyoos Secondary School. The downtown location is leased and there will be a cost saving of approximately $30,000 by moving YouLearn to a facility that the Board owns. We are considering all the concerns as well as the fact that having YouLearn within Osoyoos Secondary will provide our high school students with more readily accessible course options. We have also consulted with the Town of Osoyoos to look into other possible downtown locations. We would like to let the public know that we are listening to your concerns and that we will by no means make a hasty decision.

We also hosted our PAC representatives in the district to a dinner at the Fairview Golf Course. This was to thank all of our parent partners for their hard work for our students. It was also an opportunity for PAC’s to share ideas with other PAC’s as well as to hear from the district on highlights from the year. The function was very well attended and we hope to make this a yearly tradition as this time provides all of us with an important opportunity to connect.

This is our second year of administering the Middle Years Development Indicator (MDI) assessment for grade 4 and the first year for grade 7 students. The final report has not yet been published; however, we had a great opportunity to have teachers, administrators, trustees and senior staff meet with representatives from the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) out of UBC to share the results, link them to our EDI results and most importantly, to engage in discussions about moving to action and sharing the information with staff, parents and community. As a follow up, Superintendent Young will work with HELP to develop slide decks to help schools have local conversations about their results and actions. These will be ready by the fall. The MDI provides valuable information to the district, schools and community about the social and emotional lives of students in and out of school. An added value of the MDI is that it fits within a strong research agenda as part of HELP’s program of research which contributes to the understanding of how family, community and school environments influence children’s well-being from the early years to school entry to graduation. It supports program development in our district and in the province.

We received a letter from the Career Education Society (CES) indicating that they received the results of the adjudication from the Secondary School Apprentice (SSA) Support Selection Committee and are pleased to advise that our district’s application was approved for funding, meaning we will once again receive a grant of $20,000 for the 2015-2016 school year. These funds support strategies to enhance the SSA Career Program and the secondary school apprentices including the collaboration of Career Prep teachers, overall coordination of the program, increased student registrations, the hosting of two events inviting businesses and trades people who sponsor and /or wish to hear about the program, and the engagement employers.

Maureen Dockendorf, Superintendent of Reading for the Ministry, and Jan Irwin, Superintendent of Graduation and Student Transitions, were in the district on May 20th to review K-12 curriculum work to date and provide an update on the Graduation Program. Teachers, administrators, trustees and senior staff were in attendance. Final curriculum documents for K-9 will be out this summer but not mandated until September 2016 when they will be in legislation. This will give teachers and schools a chance to review and try out parts they are comfortable with before full implementation. The graduation program for grades 10 to 12 aligns with the K-9 curriculum. A first draft of this curriculum will be out by September.

We are reminding all parents of Kindergarten aged children to please register their children at their local school so that we can plan our staffing needs. At the moment we have the following numbers of students registered for Kindergarten: CPS -29, OKF – 11, OES – 33, OSES – 32, TEN- 15 for a total of 120.

Ten educators from SD 53 including Superintendent Bev Young attended the Network of Inquiry and Innovation symposium in Richmond on May 8th and 9th. The theme was ‘Passion and Purpose: Making it Real’ and the keynotes, discussions and break outs were inspiring and practical recognizing the work being done in schools and classrooms across the province. Lisa McCall led a session sharing the school community approach to Social and Emotional Learning. The second day of the symposium offered an opportunity to hear from international speakers about global perspectives on transformation, innovative processes, inquiry and teacher professional learning.

As of April 30, 2015, student enrolment is 2,274.875 which is an overall decrease from October 17, 2014 of 15.375 FTE. Compared to October 2014, elementary has decreased by 7.5 FTE, secondary has decreased by 62.625 FTE and YouLearn has increased by 54.75 FTE.

The Board of Education also approved the Osoyoos Elementary and Osoyoos Secondary schools’ hockey academies for 2015/16 as well as the Osoyoos Secondary School golf academy. These specialty academies require annual approval of fees and submissions. The hockey academy fees are $300 for elementary school students and $350 for high school students and $500 for the golf academy.

Trustees reviewed the board authorized course outlines for Musical Futures (grade 10 students) and for Sport Performance (grade 11 students) at Southern Okanagan Secondary School at the May Education Committee meeting and these courses were approved at the regular Board of Education meeting.

The Board of Education is very pleased that the district will run three summer reading programs this year. Read ‘n Rec, Rhyme ‘n Rec and Read ‘n Tec will be offered – this is a wonderful opportunity for students to get additional support and reduce the loss of momentum over the summer.

We wish Linda Thiel all the best for a happy and healthy retirement and would like to congratulate Shannon Miller on her new position as principal of Cawston Primary School.

Should you have any questions, please contact me at 250-498-1333.

Submitted by Marieze Tarr, Chairperson

School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen)