At the April 14 regular School District No. 46 (SD46) board meeting, secretary treasurer Nicholas Weswick gave trustees an update on the budget process to date.
He showed that SD46 has held more than a dozen budget consultation meet ings with various stakeholders since October 2014 and that many priorities have been flagged through the consultation process.
Those priorities include technology improvements, more support for special needs students, better transportation options and enhancement of the trades and apprenticeships programs.
“Of course the ground has shifted under us to a certain extent as a result of the most recent budget announcement from the Ministry and the requirement to find administrative savings. So there’s definitely a benefit to having lots of budget discussions early in the year to have that great input, but the perspective changes slightly when we find out that information from the Ministry,” Weswick said.
The 2015/16 school year budget must be submitted at the end of June to the Ministry of Education however, Weswick said the board should have a final draft before them to vote on at the May board meeting.
“We have some early thoughts in terms of how we plan to balance our budgets for the coming year, but there is lots of work to be done,” Weswick noted.
More discussion on the budget and some preliminary numbers are expected at the April 23 operations committee meeting.
Wellness conference
Elphinstone Secondary School teacher Kate Kerr told the board about a recent grade 8/9 Health and Wellness Conference that was well received by students and educators.
The conference looked at many different aspects of social emotional learning and brought in community partners to help teach students about things like proper hygiene, connecting with others, respectful relationships, ways to handle stress and anxiety, nutrition, various learning styles and sexual health.
Kerr had students complete a survey after the conference to assess the new initiative’s impact and she noted that 80 per cent found the conference excellent or good. Most also wanted to see the conference expanded to offer more time with presenters.
Kerr is keen to offer the conference again, possibly including Grade 7 students. She also would like to explore providing a conference for older students.
“Our hope is that this becomes part of the fabric of what we create for our students,” Kerr said.
Trustees were impressed with the initiative and supportive of its expansion.
“Let me say on behalf of the board, thank you. There is lots of discussion around this table about mental health and we’re moving more and more into conversations about social emotional learning so we’re looking for more of this,” school board chair Betty Baxter said. “Thanks for being on the cutting edge yet again. We’re so proud.”
DSLT
In the board report trustees noted a productive meeting with the District Student Leadership Team via a student forum held April 14, which was meant to help inform the school board’s new strategic plan.
“I believe it was somewhere around the neighbourhood of 30 students from grades 8 to 12 who were highly engaged,” Baxter said. “It was really powerful and I hope it’s something that we do over and over again each year.”
NEST fame
Davis Bay Elementary School principal Glen Smith and the teachers of the Nature Education for Sustainable Todays and Tomorrows (NEST) program will travel to Saskatchewan in July to present the innovative program to other school boards at the National Trustees Association Conference.
“They will spread the word about this amazing opportunity for kids,” superintendent of schools Patrick Bocking said noting, “we’re really proud of them and of the work they’ve done.”
