Minutes of Annual General Meeting
October 16th, 2007
Location: District Office,
Attending
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Ms.
Mr.
Mr.
Ms. Ann Sparkes
Absent with Regrets:
Ms.
1. Meeting Called to Order
The Board Chair called the meeting to order at 7:00pm and welcomed those in attendance.
2. Approval of Agenda
The proposed agenda was reviewed and two additional items were added under correspondence:
5.1 Letter from Mr. David Moore, Director of Policy, Planning and Accountability – Department of Education
5.2 Letter from Mr. Rick Moore, Assistant Deputy Minister of Corporate Services – Department of Education.
Motion: to approve
the agenda as revised. (Pritchett, Budgell)
CARRIED
3. Election of Officers
The Annual Election of Officers of the Board was called. The Chair declared all positions of the Board vacant and asked the Director to assume the Chair for the Election of Officers.
The Board has five table officers. They include the Chair, 1st Vice Chair, 2nd Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.
It was agreed that for any executive positions requiring a vote, only the name of the winner and not the vote count would be announced. A tie would result in a second round of voting.
Mr. Shawn Brace,
Assistant Director of Finance and Ms. Heather Hillier, Senior Administrative
Officer – Corporate Services were requested to serve as scrutineers.
The following nominations were submitted prior to the meeting:
CHAIR NOMINATED BY
Mr.
2nd VICE CHAIR
Mr.
SECRETARY
Mr.
TREASURER
Mr.
Director Cindy Fleet then proceeded to carry out the election. She called for nominations three times from the floor for each position, commencing with the Chair.
Nominations
from the Floor
CHAIR
No nominations from the floor.
Mr.
1st VICE CHAIR
Mr.
Mr.
2nd VICE CHAIR
No nominations from the floor.
Mr.
SECRETARY
No nominations from the floor.
Mr.
TREASURER
Mr.
An election was
conducted for the position of Treasurer.
Mr.
Motion: to destroy the ballots from the election for Treasurer (Brown/Woolfrey) CARRIED.
At the end of the election, the five positions were declared filled and Ms. Fleet then handed the Chair back to Mr. Kendell.
4. Approval of the Minutes
Motion: to accept the
minutes of the Regular Board Meeting, September 18th, 2007 as revised:
Add
under Absent with Regrets: Shawn Brace,
Assistant Director of Finance
Insert change in #7 to read: “It was agreed that the memorandum should not
limit use to minor soccer but for recreational purposes, as deemed appropriate
by the Town.” (George/Harris) CARRIED
BUSINESS ARISING
4.1 Mr. Clar Brown inquired
if there were any further updates regarding the purchase of the Baie Verte
property. Ms. Fleet reported NCSD is
waiting for a response from the Department of Education regarding this matter.
4.2 Mr.
5. Correspondence
5.1 A letter dated October 10th, 2007 was received by the Chair from Mr. David Moore, Director of Policy, Planning and Accountability with the Department of Education. Mr. Moore thanked the Chair and members of the Executive Committee for meeting with him on October 4th, 2007 to discuss performance contracts required under the Transparency and Accountability Act. Mr. Moore also congratulated Nova Central School Board on its hard work with respect to the finalization of its strategic plan.
5.2 A letter dated September 14th, 2007 was received by the Chair from Mr. Rick Hayward, Assistant Deputy Minister for Corporate Services with the Department of Education. The letter advised that the Minister of Education had tabled Nova Central School Board’s Strategic Plan 2006-2008 with the Speaker of the House of Assembly on September 12th, 2007.
6. Reports
6.1 Finance
and Property Committee
Mr. Pritchett, Committee Chair, reported for the Finance and Property Committee.
6.2 Revised Restructuring Plan
The Committee had been requested by the Board to provide additional information at this meeting on how priorities are established for the Restructuring Plan. Mr. Pritchett reported that priorities identified for the Restructuring Plan take into account the following:
- Capacity
- Age of the building
- Layout design
- Program space requirements
- Overall condition of the building.
Capacity issues are the number one priority and Grand Falls-Windsor is the top priority in the Plan.
Mr. Pritchett clarified that consultants’ reports are needed on the remaining properties to help determine priority rankings. The engineering consultants provide information on the physical structures. The Board makes the final decision regarding restructuring priorities, taking into account all aspects of the school building including the engineering reports and recommendations.
It was agreed that Category F would be called ‘educational program consultations’.
Ms. Fleet indicated that school enrollment may result in some changes, once the official Annual General Returns (AGRs) are confirmed by the Department of Education.
It was agreed that the Restructuring Plan would not identify specific buildings for closure under consolidation, unless confirmed by a consultant’s report and approved by the Board.
Ms Fleet reported that funding to hire consultants is needed to help us identify and address long-term priorities under the Restructuring Plan.
6.3 Other
·
Ms. Fleet reported that there have been issues
identified with the parking lots of Woodland Primary in Grand Falls-Windsor and
Action:
Ms. Fleet will discuss the matter with
·
Mr. Pritchett also reported that the User
Agreement received from the Town of
Action: Mr. Shawn Brace, Assistant
Director of Finance has been requested to arrange a meeting with
representatives of the Town of
·
The Design Management Group Ltd. (DMG) has
submitted a request to
The Trustees
agreed that future planning for
Motion: that NCSD not entertain the selling of the land behind
7. Quarterly Financial Report
Mr. Pritchett reported that there would not be a Quarterly Financial Report at this meeting as the Finance and Property Committee has not yet had a chance to meet and review the report.
Action: Quarterly Financial Report tabled for the next NCSD regular board meeting.
8.
Mr. George
inquired about progress in addressing some issues identified by the King
Academy School Council and Principal.
Ms. Fleet and Mr. Brace responded that items on the school list which
could be addressed were completed. The
roof is currently being replaced and a facilities assessment for
9. Strategic Planning
There was consensus that consultations with school councils for strategic planning purposes will again proceed in nine areas throughout the District. Any recommendations for change to the process should be sent to the Director as soon as possible. Ms. Fleet noted that most principals will be more familiar with the process this time, and were given notice at the September Principals’ Conference that consultations would take place again this year. This should allow for more notice so that school councils can seek public input, and identify and refer two or three priority issues for Board consideration. Ms. Fleet will send out letters to schools in December and begin scheduling sessions for January.
Chairman Tom
Kendell confirmed that a professional development session with Brenda
Kelleher-Flight has been scheduled for the Board Trustees for November 2nd-3rd,
2007 in
Motion: to move into a closed session. (Langdon/Gibbons) CARRIED
Motion: to come out of
the closed session. (George/Sparkes) CARRIED
COMMITTEES
Chairman Kendell identified that the Board needs to confirm Chairs and members for each of its four Committees:
It was also clarified that a fifth committee for Student Support Services would only need to meet if the Board requested it to do so.
Mr. Langdon recommended that the status quo with respect to committee membership continue for this year if existing members agree.
Action: Mr. Kendell will
email all existing committee members before the next board meeting to confirm
their committee preferences.
10. Date of Next Meeting
The next regular meeting of the Board will be held on November 20th, 2007 at 7pm at the Regional Office in Grand Falls-Windsor.
11. Adjournment
Motion: to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 pm. (Budgell)
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