Minutes of Regular Board Meeting

April 17th, 2007 7:00 PM

 

 

Location:          District Office, Gander

 

Present:

 

Mr. Thomas Kendell (Chair)                                         Ms. Cynthia Fleet, Director

Mr. Clar Brown                                                            Mr. Charlie McCormack

Mr. John George                                                          Ms. Marina Hewlett

Mr. Hubert Langdon                                                     Mr. Shawn Brace (Recorder)

Mr. Peter Budgell

Ms. Ann Sparkes

Mr. Scott Pritchett

Mr. Kerry Noble

Mr. Newman Harris

Ms. Kim Cheeks

Ms. Audrey Whiteway

 

Regrets:

 

Mr. Peter Gibbons

 

Absent:

 

Dr. Greg Woolfrey

Mr. Robert Hannaford

 

1.         Welcome

 

The Chair welcomed the Board Members and staff.  The Chair also acknowledged Brian Scott from the Gander Beacon as an observer.

 

2.         Approval of Agenda

 

Motion:           to approve the agenda as circulated.  (Brown/George).  Carried.

 

 

 

3.         Minutes of Meetings

 

            3.1       Regular Meeting March 20th, 2007

 

Motion:           to accept the minutes of the March 20th, 2007 meeting as circulated.  (Langdon/Harris).  Carried.

           

Reference was made to the closed session meeting and whether there were any minutes of the meeting.  There weren’t any minutes as the closed session meeting dealt with minutes of previous meeting.

 

4.         Reports:

 

4.1       Communications Committee

 

·        A communications report and draft minutes were included in trustee folders.

·        This information was presented for information purposes.

·        A final report which includes a draft plan for external communications is due in June.

 

4.2       Restructuring Committee

 

·        No written report at this time as the committee work is ongoing.

·        Mr. Pritchett advised a final report which includes a draft revised restructuring plan will be forthcoming.

 

4.3       Executive Committee

 

The Minutes were included in the trustee packages for information.

 

Mr. Brown made reference to the No Smoking Policy.  He would like to see a report as to whether all schools are following this policy.

 

The Director advised that the SEO’s for each zone will be following up on this matter.

 

The Chair discussed the information for the Performance Appraisal for the Director.

 

Performance Appraisal binders have been circulated to the evaluation committee members.

 

A “Draft” preamble to the CEO/Director of Education – Performance Appraisal and one of the three criteria documents are also included in all trustee packages.

 

The Chair provided additional comments on this document and made reference to certain topics in this document.

 

Mr. Brown raised a concern under #3 of the Terms of Reference and Procedure relating to the written summative reporting.

 

Concerns were also raised about the quarterly meetings regarding the evaluation.  Specifically, is four times a year too many meetings.

 

Trustees were asked to review this document and provide any comments to the Chair.  If necessary, the comments will be incorporated into the document at the next executive meeting.

 

It was also noted that the Board needs to develop a board policy on the Performance Appraisal of the CEO/Director.

 

5.         Teacher Allocations 2007-2008

 

·        The Department has announced that it will retain 137 teaching units in the province.

·        Senior staff are working through the staffing allocations for this district.  It is anticipated that schools will be informed of their staffing allocations by Friday, April 22nd.

·        The Glenwood/Gander area and Carmanville has seen an increase in student enrolments.  Also Grand Falls-Windsor and Badger has also seen an increase.

·        The Sparkes/Williams formula is gone.  As a result of the additional staff retained in the province, the Director is recommending that senior high students remain at Valmont Academy and Holy Cross School Complex for the next school year.

·        There was much discussion as to whether the board should make a decision on the above schools beyond next year rather than making a decision for just one year and coming back again next year to make another decision.

 

Motion:           to retain the senior high program at both Valmont Academy and Holy Cross School for next year, the following years will depend upon the new teacher allocation formula.  (Pritchett/Brown).  Carried.

 

The Director then made reference to the Director’s Report

 

Specifically, the Director made reference to the fuel clean up at Fogo Island Central High School and the roofing assessments.

 

 

 

 

6.         Valmont – Public Meeting

 

·        March 27th – public meeting was held with invitations to the Director, the Chair and the local trustees.

·        The meeting was conducted by the students.

·        Mr. George attended on behalf of Mr. Kendell.

·        Issues that were raised at the meeting include:

-     Road conditions to Harry’s Harbour

-     Programming

-     Extra curricular activities

 

7.         NLSBA Proposed Budget 2007-2008

 

Motion:           to accept the 2007-2008 NLSBA Budget.  (Budgell/George).  Carried.

 

8.         NLSBA Provincial AGM (Rocky Harbour)

 

            All trustees in attendance expressed an interest in attending the Provincial AGM.

 

Motion:           to send all trustees that are interested to the AGM in Rocky Harbour to be held on June 8, 9 and 10th.  (Brown/Pritchett).  Carried.

 

The Chair requested that the registration form be sent out electronically to all trustees.

 

9.         Airials Gymnastics Club

 

The motion on this matter was made at a February 20th, 2007 closed session and was reaffirmed at tonight’s meeting.

 

Motion:           the Airials Gymnastic Club be contacted and advised that the Nova Central School District would not be interested in entering any agreement with them.  (Pritchett/George).  Carried.

 

10.       Botwood Collegiate (availability of surrounding property)

 

The Director has confirmed there is a fair bit of property surrounding Botwood Collegiate that is available for future expansion of Botwood Collegiate if required.

 

 

 

 

11.       Woodland Primary School (correspondence from Minister)

 

The Chair has received a copy of a number of emails from the Minister of Education to parents concerning Woodland Primary School.

 

The message advised that the Department will be appointing a consultant to review the board’s request to expand Woodland Primary.

 

The Director also provided additional information on Woodland Primary in the Director’s Report.

 

There was a consensus that the consultant to be appointed by the Department of Education should recommend to the Board an appropriate restructuring plan for the K-6 system, specifically the best option for utilizing Woodland Primary and Sprucewood Academy.

 

Additional Information – at end of meeting:

 

·        The Chair has a request from Mr. Crisby at Eastport to make a presentation to the board.

·        It was suggested that the Chair write Mr. Crisby and advise him of tonight’s decision and ask if a presentation to the board is still necessary.

·        Mr. George noted that there was a petition from the parents of Valmont Academy.  A copy of the petition is included in the trustee package.  This item should have been acknowledged under item #6.

·        The Chair also acknowledged the following reports:

-     AIMS Report

-     Department of Education – Annual Report

-     Special Incentives – Letter from Minister.

 

12.       Date of Next Meeting

 

The next regular board meeting will be held on May 15th, 2007, 7:00 PM at Regional Office, Grand Falls-Windsor.

 

13.       Adjournment

 

Motion:           to adjourn the meeting 9:55 PM (Pritchett/Budgell).  Carried

 

 

 

_____________________________                          ____________________________

Thomas Kendell                                                           Shawn Brace

Chair                                                                            Recorder

 

SB/fg