School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen)
BOARD REPORT

Board of Education Report March 8, 2017

It is with great regret that the Board of Education accepts the resignation of Secretary Treasurer Lynda Minnabarriet effective July 31, 2017. We thank Lynda for her strong leadership as well as her fiscal guidance and valuable knowledge of governance. Lynda’s passion for public education and student success has guided her work in our district and she will be missed. We wish Lynda every success as she expands her work in School District No. 74. The Board was pleased to appoint the assistant secretary-treasurer, Subra Paliappa, to the position of secretary treasurer. The Board will not be replacing his position but instead has created a new position of Director of Instruction – Student Learning and Inquiry to join the senior management team.

Trustees attended a branch meeting in Merritt at the end of February. A key discussion amongst trustees was to ensure that public education remains the number one issue in the upcoming election. Trustees believe that public education is the great equalizer in our society. Our Board will be engaging our communities to keep public education as the number one issue in the election by submitting questions to our MLA candidates for their All-Candidates meetings, and we will be inviting our municipalities and bands to meet in April to discuss public education. We believe that issues to be addressed that are key to all parties in our district are economic growth which will result in job creation and therefore stabilize enrolment in our district, aging infrastructure in the district and the support of 21st Century Learning. It is of utmost importance that our buildings be maintained and upgraded to support the current transformation in education.

The Board of Education would like to thank our dedicated staff at both OSS and SOSS for the tireless hours that they spent working with our students to produce two magnificent musicals: Beauty and the Beast (OSS) and Grease (SOSS). We were so impressed by what the students accomplished in these productions – well done everyone and congratulations on an excellent job – we are looking forward to next year’s productions!

We would like to thank the many businesses in all our communities in SD53 for providing valuable work experience to our students. This semester, seventy-three of our students have been placed and these business owners and/or employees are spending many hours providing mentorship to them.
This year’s learning pow wow will take place on April 21st and 22nd at SOSS. Saturday night will be a tribute to Nelson Leon. Nelson has been our MC for the past 8 of the 9 years we have been hosting pow wows. Nelson passed away this fall.

Oliver Elementary School proudly hosted the Okanagan-Similkameen Days this year. On this day, grade 4 students from around the district joined OES students to learn about and celebrate the Okanagan and Similkameen cultures. It was very successful. Students participated in different activities including drumming, story-telling, dancing, hides, stick games, salmon cycle, hunting and gathering, history and traditions of the Okanagan and Similkameen people, as well as a food station to name a few. Helen Gallagher and our Aboriginal support workers did an amazing job organizing and running the day and the presenters, which also included the Aboriginal support workers, were remarkable with the kids. The positive tone and excitement that was generated by this event has lasted weeks beyond with many parents, staff members and students still talking about it; not just about how much fun it was, but about how much they learned.

On March 3, School District No. 53 students participated in the Skills Canada Regional Competition at Okanagan College in Kelowna. We had 52 competitors competing in automotive, carpentry, cabinetry, culinary arts, drafting, electronics, welding, junior gravity cars, and junior sumo bots. SD 53 brought home 14 medals taking gold, silver and bronze in a number of competitions. We have nine entries competing at the provincial competition at Trade X in Abbotsford on April 5. Gold medalists from the provincial competition will have the opportunity to compete at National Skills May 31 to June 3 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. We will plan to highlight student projects and results at the April Education Committee.
The Ministry of Education has confirmed that districts will receive the 2017/18 preliminary revenue on March 15, 2017. The draft budget will be developed based on preliminary enrolment projections and anticipated staffing allocations and will be reviewed by the Finance and Facilities Committee on April 12 and at the public Board meeting on April 26. There is a further opportunity for public feedback and input on the budget at the budget learning forum on May 10, 2017 at 7:00 PM. The Board has until June 30 to approve the 2017/18 budget.

We wish everyone a very happy and safe spring break. Should you have any questions, please contact me at 250-498-1333.
Submitted by Marieze Tarr, Chairperson
School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen)