The Board of Education wishes all of our students a year of kindness and lots of learning adventures! All schools are reporting a positive school start to the 2016-17 school year. Some schools have had to reconfigure classes based on changes in enrolment which is often typical of yearly start-up. While enrolment is still very preliminary until after the September 30th snapshot day, we are seeing an overall increase in enrolment district-wide. The biggest increase is in the Oliver schools compared to 2015(approximately 97 students), with a slight increase in Osoyoos, and a decrease in Cawston, Keremeos and Okanagan Falls. We will have final numbers in early October.
We are grateful for the advocacy of our communities and also from trustees from across the province that ensured the government had another look at rural education and the unique challenges rural districts face. We are hopeful that the Rural Education Enhancement Funds (REEF) will lead to long term, sustainable funding and that the Ministry of Education will look at a different funding model for small rural districts such as SD53. Our Board of Education has advocated for a different funding model for rural districts at every opportunity we have had through meetings with the Ministry, through advocacy letters, and through advocacy work of the BCSTA. Before applying for the Rural Education Enhancement Fund we received confirmation from the Ministry of Education that schools are not required to be at 95% capacity (as was previously required) to receive mechanical and structural upgrades.
This was again
publicly confirmed by Minister Bernier in mid-September. On August 31st, the Ministry of Education
announced an additional $20 million in School Enhancement Program funds. Eligible projects must be
more than $100,000 and less than $3 million. We will be applying for the necessary upgrades needed to
Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) and hopefully, we will be successful in obtaining some funds
desperately needed for mechanical upgrades as well as upgrades to change rooms at OSS. We will also
be applying for funding for a sprinkler system in the secondary wing of Similkameen Elementary
Secondary School (SESS) to complete phase 2 upgrades and also for funding for a mechanical upgrade of
the elementary wing at SESS to complete the mechanical upgrade. Upgrades to the boys’ change room
at SESS as well as sawdust collection units for Southern Okanagan Secondary School and OSS are also
included in the application to the Ministry under the School Enhancement Program.
We have received an additional $209,099 in transportation funding from the Ministry of Education. This
is in recognition of the fact that many districts are now charging ridership fees and the expectation is
that school districts eliminate transportation fees for the 2016/17 school year. This district has always
tried to provide equitable access to all students and therefore has not introduced ridership fees. We are
using some of the funding to address some of the challenging, long bus routes in the Hedley- Keremeos
area. We are going to apply to use some of the remainder of the funding to reorganize the Osoyoos bus
runs so that there will be a bus service for students who live on Anarchist mountain as well as in the
Kilpoola area. The addition of these runs will also cut transportation time for other students in the
Osoyoos area. We will also apply for funding for transportation of students and parents to early learning
programs in the form of taxi vouchers and also some additional budget dollars for extra-curricular and
co-curricular student activities. We are required to provide the Ministry with a plan of how we are
planning to use the transportation funding by September 30th.
The Minister of Education issued a Ministerial Order at the end of August regarding revised anti-bullying
policies. The expectation from the Ministry is that all anti-bullying policies are enhanced to support and respect diversity. Policies must reference the LGBTQ community and clearly state that discrimination,
intimidation and harassment of a person based on sexual orientation is prohibited. The language of the
policy should also be clear that our schools are welcoming to all people no matter race, colour or sexual
orientation. We have Student Code of Conduct (F-3) and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (F-14)
policies already in place and we will ensure that these policies are updated to meet the Order by
December 2016.
As announced in June 2016, the government has provided the system with $6M to support coding
curriculum implementation, including a new mandatory coding requirement. This is beginning to roll out
this year with funds to districts to support a train-the-trainer model for teachers in grades 6-9. The
district will receive funds to support the training of lead teachers, the training of teachers and resources.
School District No. 53’s allocation would be $39,815 which must be applied for by September 30th with
the identification of lead teachers who will commit to the training and follow up. Alternatively, districts can provide evidence that they will be fully prepared to implement a mandatory coding experience for students in grades 6-9 beginning in 2018.
We are proud and excited to be signing our third Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement. The
Enhancement Agreement recognizes and honors our shared responsibilities for the success of all
Aboriginal students in School District No. 53. Further, it signifies our collective intent to work together in a relationship of mutual respect and strength of purpose that will result in positive outcomes for all Aboriginal learners in our district. We invite everyone to the signing ceremony which takes place Wednesday, October 5th at 4:00 pm at the Lower Similkameen Indian Band gymnasium with dinner to follow.
This spring we updated our strategic plan. Our strategic plan outlines our mission, vision, values, goals and objectives from 2016-2023. We met in collaborative working groups of school district and
community representatives to review and refresh our previous work. Our strategic plan over the next 7
years include the following goals and objectives:
1. Create A Positive Culture
a. Sense of belonging
b. Relationships with students
c. Safety
2. Provide Diverse Opportunities and Experiences for Students
a. Increase co-curricular and/or extra-curricular opportunities and programs
b. Early learners – increase participation pre-kindergarten
c. Increase successful transitions
d. Maintain or increase participation in non-traditional learning modes
3. Provide Diverse Opportunities and Experiences for Professionals
a. Increase participation of all staff in professional learning opportunities
4. Enhance Positive Educational Experiences for Aboriginal Students
a. Increase engagement and attendance
b. Increase course success rates
Our graphic is being updated with the changes and schools are asked to share and discuss this plan with
parents and community partners. Our district website will be updated with all documents of our
strategic plan soon. District staff will also be sharing at future learning forums and education meetings.
Further discussion with partners are planned to assist with ideas to make our commitment and progress
visible. All input is welcome. All documents will be on our website once the graphic is updated.
On October 12th as part of our Education Committee meeting, schools will be presenting their school
plans for the 2016/2017 school year. The public is invited to attend and the presentations will start at
4.30 pm at the School Board Office annex.
The Network Leader initiative has been restructured and we now have only three Network Leaders.
Natasha Schroeter – engaging Aboriginal students, Melia Dirk – Early Learning and Julie Anna Martin –
Using Technology to Engage Learners. Bev Young has taken over Engaging Students Through
Instructional Practices. So overall a decrease of two positions and a decrease on all budgets for their
work.
A Health Promoting School Coordinator (HPSC) will be supporting students, teachers and schools in the
2016-2017 school year. In response to a $27,000 grant from Interior Health, primary teacher, Sam
Dunlop has been hired for 0.1 of each week to fulfill this new role. The priority area will be mental
health and healthy relationship skills for our early learners. Early learners include those students in
kindergarten through grade one. The HPSC will work in collaboration with primary teachers to support
the mental health of early learners as well as provide healthy relationship skills for early learners so that they may be successfully included into a school community. These efforts would be directed towards
the transitional kindergarten year. At times kindergarten students enter into the school system with no
prior social emotional assessment or identification. In addition, the HPSC will network through
provincial and regional meetings coordinated by Interior Health.
Congratulations to Les Louis! Les, Aboriginal education support worker at SESS, was successful in his
proposal to create an art piece to commemorate UBC’s Centennial. Les was awarded the commission
this spring and spent the summer creating the sculpture. The installation is prominently featured in the
Central Courtyard. This is pretty exciting for Les to have his work recognized this way, especially since he attended his first two years for Fine Arts at this campus. We are proud of Les and his accomplishments.
To have his work now be a permanent piece at the UBCO campus is an honour. As an added bonus, the
installation ceremony took place on Tuesday, September 27th with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!
At the Finance and Facilities Committee meeting Mr. Chris Newton, Omland Heal, reported on the audit
of the financial statements for the year ended June 30th 2016. He reported that the financial statements
fairly represented the financial position of the board. As of June 30, 2016 the Board has an operating
surplus of $980,951 (accumulated), a decrease of $450,312 (used to cover structural deficit). The Board
passed a motion to internally restrict this surplus as follow: $119,948 to balance the 2016/17 budget,
school budget surpluses $105,685, technology upgrades $100,000 and transfer to local capital for school
upgrades as required $386,905. Trustees were advised that the district’s audits will be performed by the
Auditor General’s office for a five year period effective June 30, 2017.
We have an exciting year ahead with initiatives to support student learning and a redesigned curriculum
for K to 9. The revised curriculum is governed by two Ministerial Orders: The Required Area of Study in
an Educational Program Order and The Educational Program Guide Order. We will host a learning forum
on November 9th at 7 pm in the Osoyoos Secondary library on what the changes look like in classrooms.
Meanwhile, parents can talk to their child’s teacher who will have specifics on the grade level. Staff from
schools will be speaking to their perspective at the learning forum and there will also be a discussion
around social emotional learning. Trustees will invite PAC chairs to meet prior to the learning forum as
has occurred in the past.
Finally, we would like to thank June Harrington for her many years of dedication and service to students
of SD53. June has been a strong advocate for public education and she will be sadly missed at the Board
of Education table. The nomination period for the by-election ended on September 30th and voting day is
on November 5th, 2016. The elected trustee will serve on the Board of Education until the 2018 general
trustee election. Please refer to our district website for additional information.
Should you have any questions, please contact me at 250-498-1333.
Submitted by Marieze Tarr, Chairperson
School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen)