Vaccination concerns
During the Jan. 12 School District No. 46 (SD46) board meeting, parent Megan Mansbridge raised concern over the proposed change to the SD46 student health regulation that would allow “mature minors” to consent to immunizations at school, without consent of parents being required.
While the term mature minor has not been defined in the regulation, SD46 has noted health nurses generally consider students in Grades 9 and above as mature minors.
“I have concerns and represent quite a large number of parents in the school district who have concerns,” Mansbridge said.
She asked if there would be a public discussion with the board before a decision is made.
“I do think it’s a topic that should be addressed as a school community because I know there are quite a number of families out there that have concerns,” she said.
The draft regulation is being circulated for feedback by SD46 until Feb. 8 and board chair Betty Baxter said filling out the SD46 online feedback form and talking with staff was the process to hear from the public.
“Certainly the 60-day period is the period for that dialogue to happen and I encourage you to talk to the superintendent, talk to our director of student support so you know the kinds of reasons it’s been brought forward,” Baxter said, noting a recommendation on what to do with the new regulation will come from staff.
Mansbridge said she felt the lack of public discussion would “create a lot of uncertainty in the community.”
“It’s a topic that I think is wide ranging and far reaching and I think just the mixture of administration of vaccines in the school setting is problematic to start with,” she said.
Baxter thanked Mansbridge for her input.
Positive parenting
The school district is looking to launch a new positive discipline parenting course, but first they need to train leaders.
The training will take place on Feb. 1 and 2 and, once trainers are ready, Parenting the Positive Discipline Way classes will be offered through SD46.
Parenting the Positive Discipline Way was developed by Lynn Lott and Jane Nelsen and is a researched-based parent education program that provides a step-by-step approach to positive parenting beyond the preschool years.
Currently SD46 offers parenting programs for parents of preschool children, but that training stops once kids enter school.
“At one of our committee meetings we were talking about needing a comprehensive strategy for parents past preschool,” said Vanessa White, director of instruction, student support services, who noted the new course offers such a strategy.
“The first step is to get people on the Coast trained to train other parents.”
Aboriginal youth leadership
The school district is embarking on an Aboriginal youth leadership program through Capilano University. While the program is still in the development stage, its aim is to empower Aboriginal students to become leaders in their communities.
“Part of the idea is that it’s rooted in community development and it’s working along the lines of what are your personal goals toward your leadership plans – really considering from the Sechelt Indian Band perspective the idea of capacity building and succession planning for the future, which is very important to them,” said Paul Bishop, director of instruction, human resources and secondary programs.
“We’re looking at something that’s maybe based in Sechelt but it will be open to Aboriginal students from around the district as well.”
Bishop said program staff are now going into schools and talking with counsellors and administrators about who might be a good fit for the program.
“The best part of it is it places those students in a privileged position in terms of applying for a program that [Capilano University is] going to be implementing the year after next, which is going to be a certification program in community capacity building,” Bishop said.
“High school students who have done this program would be at the front lines for getting into a program like that.”
Teachers’ pension plan
The teachers’ pension plan is fully funded for the upcoming school year, which will save SD46 quite a bit of money. The school district was recently told of the state of its pension plan contributions by way of a Teachers’ Pension Plan Actuarial Report.
“The teachers’ pension plan is fully funded – meaning that they’re reducing the employer contributions, which is going to likely save us about $270,000 in the 2016/2017 year,” said secretary treasurer Nicholas Weswick.
“So really good news not just for our district but for a number of districts in terms of making some room in budgets to be able to provide services and support to students.”
He noted the report was actually generated in December 2014 but not forwarded to the board until December 2015, which could mean more savings are on the way.
“So [the report is] a year behind and we’ve been making contributions over that time as well between Dec. 31, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2015, so it’s possible that we might see further reduction in contributions in the following year. However, given the state of the financial markets, I wouldn’t place any bets just yet,” Weswick said.
