Board Meeting May 17, 2005

Minutes of Regular School Board Meeting

May 17, 2005

7:00 PM

Location: District Office, Gander

Present:

Mr. Bill Sceviour (Chair) Mr. Charlie McCormack

Mr. Terry Brown Ms. Claudine Wells

Mr. Scott Pritchett Ms. Bonnie Lane-McCarthy

Mr. Gerald Hounsell Ms. Marina Hewlett

Mr. Randy Edison Mr. Shawn Brace

Ms. Linda Cutler

Mr. Clar Brown

Ms. Carolyn Andrews

Regrets:

Ms. Lisa Wheeler Mr. Randell Mercer, Director

1. Approval of Agenda

Motion: to approve the agenda as circulated with the following addition:

Update on Director. (C. Brown/Hounsell). Carried.

The Director has been off work due to back problems. Charlie will communicate with the schools tomorrow, Wednesday, May 18, 2005 that Randell will be off work for the next while.

Motion: to go into a closed session. (T. Brown/Andrews). Carried.

After the Board came out of the closed session, Mr. Sceviour announced that Mr. Charlie McCormack would assume the role of Acting Director until the Director returned to work.

2. Minutes of Meetings

2.1 Regular Meeting – April 19, 2005

Motion: to accept the minutes of the April 19, 2005 Meeting as circulated. (Cutler/Andrews). Carried

Mr. Clar Brown questioned the capital request for an elevator lift for Baie Verte High. Initially it was $50,000, but this amount would not cover the necessary renovations. Mr. Brown questioned if it were possible to move the elevator lift from Baie Verte Middle to Baie Verte High. Shawn Brace will investigate this possibility.

3. Business Arising

3.1 Triton Meetings

Mr. Edison, Mr. T. Brown, Mr. Sceviour, Mr. McCormack and Ms. Hewlett attended meetings in the Triton area.

There was an issue re the present bussing in the area. This issue is presently being investigated. The meetings were well attended and the people of the area had opportunity to share their concerns.

3.2 Carmanville/Eastport Construction

The two schools under construction will not be ready in September.

It is anticipated that the school in Eastport will not be ready until January 2006. The Anglican Minister has been contacted in Eastport and they are willing to have the school housed in their building until the new school is ready for occupancy.

The contract for the Carmanville School Complex was awarded about two weeks ago. There is some concern about when this school will be available for occupancy. It was hoped the school would be ready by January 2006 but the contractor is raising concern about this date. Parents have been notified that the date of opening for this school will not be September.

There is a commitment from the Deputy Minister for extra teaching staff for Gill Memorial because the students from the Ladle Cove area will have to attend Gill Memorial for the 2005-2006 school year because the school in Carmanville is behind schedule.

3.3 Reaction to 5-year Restructuring Plan

Mr. McCormack reviewed the reaction to the Restructuring Plan.

Bishop’s Falls

There is a parent group formed in Bishop’s Falls. This group is well organized and will be protesting in front of the Regional Office in Grand Falls-Windsor each Friday at 1:00 PM. There was a meeting in Bishop’s Falls last week. Mr. McCormack spoke with Jody Fancy about this meeting and expressed to her the concern of the conduct of some people there.

There will be a public meeting in Bishop’s Falls. The tentative date for this meeting is May 25 or 26. This will be an important meeting for the town. The mayor has communicated his concerns to Mr. Mercer. At this meeting it will be important to communicate what the system will look like if the K-12 students remain in Bishop’s Falls.

Ms. Andrews had a call from parents who supported the restructuring. These parents are questioning when they will get an opportunity to express their views.

Mr. T. Brown was requested to go to the demonstration at the Regional Office on May 6, 2005. He went and spoke to the group. At this demonstration he was presented with a petition. Mr. Brown presented the petition to Mr. Sceviour.

There was a letter received today from the parent group. This letter was circulated.

Charlottetown

There has been a petition presented against the closure of the school in Charlottetown. Mr. McCormack attended a meeting in Charlottetown. Some parents were in favor of the restructuring. The concern presented was having only one teacher in the building with the children and if there should be an emergency what would happen. This concern has been expressed by other schools with only one teacher in the building as well.

Greenspond

Mr. McCormack attended a meeting in Greenspond. There was a concern about closing down the school completely. Mr. McCormack reassured the people of Greenspond that for the next 5 years they have a school.

Bullying on the school bus was a concern expressed to him. He spoke to Mr. Don Sturge, Principal of Lester Pearson Memorial High, and he has agreed to attend a public meeting in Greenspond to address the bullying issue. Mr. McCormack is in the process of having this bullying concern investigated.

Grand Falls-Windsor

Mr. T. Brown and Mr. Mercer attended a meeting in April at Grenfell Intermediate. At this meeting concern was expressed about the number of transitions for the present grade 7, 8 and 9 students.

The mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor has contacted the Board to discuss the restructuring plan. The Town would like to coordinate its work around the schools where possible with the school board.

Leading Tickles

The parents in Leading Tickles have requested a meeting with the School Board to discuss the restructuring planned for their school. This meeting will be held at a later date.

Eastport

The parents in Eastport have written letters requesting a meeting with the School Board. A meeting with these parents will be held at a later date. Eastport’s restructuring is not planned for September 2005.

Lewisporte

Mr. Sceviour has attended meetings in Lewisporte. The plan for Lewisporte is progressing as outlined in the Restructuring Plan.

Twillingate

Mr. McCormack has had a call from Mr. Derrick Dalley, Principal of J. M. Olds Collegiate in Twillingate with a request to have the restructuring planned for Twillingate progress at a faster rate if possible.

Musgrave Harbour

There have been concerns expressed about moving the high school students from Musgrave Harbour to Carmanville.

Burlington

The School Board has received a letter requesting that there be a meeting in Burlington to discuss the restructuring planned for M. W. Jeans Academy in Burlington.

Baie Verte

In Baie Verte everything is proceeding for September. There has been some concern expressed about the teacher loss to the Baie Verte System. The people of the Baie Verte area are anxious to secure a new school for the area.

Botwood

Ms. Andrews attended a meeting in Botwood. A major concern expressed to her was the loss of 3.25 teaching units. The feeling expressed to Ms. Andrews was that this loss will have a negative impact on learning in the Botwood School System. Another concern expressed to her at the meeting was the amount of secretarial support that the schools would have in September 2005. Ms. Andrews also relayed the concern expressed to her of the number of letters that had been sent to Mr. Mercer and they were still awaiting replies.

There is a meeting planned for Thursday May 10, 2005 with the three school councils in Botwood. Mr. McCormack, Ms. Hewlett and Ms. Andrews will attend this meeting. Mr. McCormack requested that this meeting begin at 6:30 PM.

Springdale

Mr. Edison expressed concern over the information that he was requesting and was not able to obtain. A Chair of a School Council in Springdale approached Mr. Edison for information regarding schools in Springdale. Mr. Edison e-mailed Mr. Sceviour requesting this information approximately two weeks prior to the Board meeting. Mr. Edison was awaiting a reply from Mr. Sceviour. Mr. Sceviour informed Mr. Edison that he wanted to discuss with the trustees what type of information should be released to school councils especially since some reports are often of a technical nature and would need interpretation by a professional.

Mr. McCormack informed the trustees that there is no problem with sending out information. However, sometimes the information requested is not readily available and we don’t have the human resources to respond to some requests in a timely fashion. There may be times when we can’t provide the information requested. Should that be the case, this should be communicated to those requesting the information.

3.4 NLSBA Update

Mr. Sceviour attended a meeting at Lakewood Academy, Glenwood where Prime Minister Martin announced a new funding program.

Mr. Sceviour also attended the Enterprise Fair in Lewisporte.

The NLSBA AGM will be held in Gander at the Albatross on June 3 and 4. The constitution is in the process of being developed. There will be 5 voting members per Board. The Chair of the new NLSBA does not have to be the chair of their respective Board. All Boards have paid Association fees to date. There was a meeting on May 4^th but Mr. Sceviour was not able to attend.

Any trustee who would like to attend is eligible. The information re the AGM was circulated. Terry Brown, Clar Brown, Carolyn Andrews, Linda Cutler and Gerald Hounsell indicated they would be attending and would be the voting members representing Nova Central. Other trustees indicated that they would possibly be attending as well.

4. Reports

4.1 Finance-Property Committee Update

The Finance/Property Committee has not met since the last board meeting, however, there are two issues that require attention.

(i) As a result of purchasing 39 school buses this year, we require Ministerial approval to borrow an amount of $3,105,080.47.

Motion: to request from the Minister, borrowing approval in the amount of $3,105,080.47 for the purposes of purchasing 39 school buses. (Pritchett/Hounsell). Carried.

(ii) The Exploits Valley Integrated School Board sold a parcel of land to Mr. Darren Piercy in Buchans in 1993. The deed for this land was not confirmed by the predecessor school board. It will be necessary to have this deed duly executed by the Chair and Treasurer of the current school board.

Mr. Brace informed the Board that for safety reasons we are exploring the option of using 2-way radios on our busses. These radios can be used in areas where cell phone service is not available.

The process of reviewing the needs for summer maintenance is progressing.

Mr. Brace informed the Board that he is currently working on developing a budget for the next school year.

4.2 Programs Update

Ms. Andrews requested a meeting on Tuesday, June 7, 2005 of the Program/Personnel Committee at 5:30 PM in Gander.

There was an Enterprise Showcase held in Lewisporte. The business community in Lewisporte has requested that this showcase be held in Lewisporte again next year. The community was very supportive of this venture.

There have been two drama festivals. The winners of the eastern drama festival were Gander Collegiate and the winner of the western event was Leo Burke Academy. Both schools represented the District at the Provincial Drams Festival held in Rocky Harbour.

Throughout the District and Regional offices student artwork is being displayed. From this artwork a number of pieces will be selected to be framed and displayed in the District and Regional offices. For these pieces the artist will received $50.00.

On April 8, 2005 the District Science Fair was held at the Regional office in Grand Falls-Windsor. The top two projects will represent the District at the Canada Wide Science Fair to be held in Vancouver later in May.

The District’s Heritage Fair was held in Gander at St. Paul’s Intermediate School on May 6. There will be 2 students selected to attend the National Heritage Fair in July.

Mr. McCormack informed the Board that next year it is hoped to have a showcase of the talent of students in the District.

4.3 Personnel Update

(i) Due to restructuring the following school staffs were declared redundant and reassigned:

Lewisporte Academy

Lewisporte Middle School (5–9)

Baie Verte Primary (K–4)

Baie Verte Middle (5-9)

Baie Verte High (8-12)

Indian River Primary (K-3)

Indian River Middle (4-8)

Indian River High (9-12)

L. P. Purchase (7-8)

Botwood Collegiate (9-12)

Grenfell Intermediate (7-8)

Exploits Valley High – Greenwood (9-10)

Exploits Valley High – Maple (11-12)

(ii) There have been 112 jobs advertised to date with more to be advertised in the coming weeks.

(iii) Application process is on-line for our new hires. Written applications are also accepted.

(iv) HR staff recently attended the recruitment fair at MUN. Between 200-250 education students visited our booth.

The Human Resource group was commended for the work that was recently completed with respect to staffing of the teacher personnel. Mr. Pritchett asked that this be duly noted in the Minutes.

There was a moment of quiet reflection for the student from Gander Collegiate who died tragically on Thursday, May 5, 2005.

Motion: to extend the meeting to 10:15 PM. (C. Brown/Andrews). Carried.

4.4 Student Support Services Update

Deferred to next meeting.

5. Correspondence

The Chair asked the trustees to check with Florence Granville on any upcoming graduations that they would be able to attend.

The remainder of the correspondence deferred to next meeting.

6. New Business

6.1 Staff Allocation Feedback

A number of principals have appealed the teacher allocation to their schools. Generally, these appeals will be reviewed in September when the enrolments are confirmed. The only appeals that will be considered will be those received from the administration of the school.

There have been a number of calls from various MHA’s offices concerning teacher loss. These calls are being dealt with.

6.2 Retirement Dinner

The retirement dinner will be held on June 10, 2005 at the Kin Centre in Lewisporte. More details to follow.

Motion: each retiree would receive a watch valued at approximately $100. (Hounsell/T. Brown). Carried.

6.3 Election Zones

Deferred to next meeting.

7. Date of Next Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Board will be held on, June 21, 2005 at the Regional Office, Grand Falls/Windsor. There will be a continuation of this meeting at 6:00 PM on June 3, 2005 in Gander at the Albatross.

8. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 10:20 PM. (Hounsell/Pritchett). Carried

_________________________ ________________________

William Sceviour Bonnie Lane-McCarthy

Chair Recorder

BLMcC/fg