School District No. 46 (SD46) saw its first student trustee sworn in on Nov. 12.
Maya Treuheit took her oath of office and her seat at the school board table after being welcomed by all the trustees at Tuesday night's regular board meeting.
"From now on the voice of students will be heard at each public meeting and students in return will hear from one of their own about what is happening at the policy level of their school district," said superintendent of schools Patrick Bocking, noting Treuheit will be supported by a district leadership team comprised of students from each of the high schools on the Coast.
Treuheit didn't have much to say at her first meeting, but she found the discussion of other trustees informative.
Student count
The number of students in SD46 is up this year, with 3,054 full-time students counted as of Sept. 30. That's about 10 more students than were expected, which will translate into more money for SD46.
Secretary treasurer Nicholas Weswick presented a new projected budget that suggests SD46 will see almost $784,000 more due to the extra students, some of which have special education designations.
Environmental education
Discussions about providing an environmental education program in SD46 are still ongoing, much to the disappointment of trustee Betty Baxter.
"So the node of learning for me in this is that it's a 24-month lead time for us to get a course off the ground," Baxter said. "We passed our motion on environmental education in October of 2012, so I understand, but that's disappointing that it's going to take us two years to get a course actually offered."
SD46 hopes to have some kind of environmental education course available for students in the 2014/15 school year.
LIF money
SD46 received a total of $431,118 in Learning Improvement Fund (LIF) money this year. The LIF funds are meant to help support classroom learning with things like additional teaching staff and support staff.
The largest portion of the money, $94,000, will go to support a behaviour program for students at Kinnikinnick Elementary School. The program will be open to students from Sechelt to Pender Harbour as a similar program is already running at Cedar Grove Elementary to support students from Roberts Creek to Langdale.
The second biggest expenditure, $65,800, will go to support more school counsellor hours at Cedar Grove, Gibsons, Halfmoon Bay, Kinnikinnick and West Sechelt elementary schools.
Other expenditures include $55,350 for special education teaching assistants, $52,400 for literacy support and $11,600 for numeracy support. SD46 has also saved $80,759 for use in the future if other needs arise.
Boundary changes
SD46 is looking at changing catchment areas for students in Kinnikinnick and West Sechelt elementary schools as a way to deal with overcrowding at West Sechelt.
Some new catchment areas have been proposed and SD46 is looking for feedback from the public on the plan. A public presentation and discussion will take place on Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. at West Sechelt Elementary School.
All are invited to the catchment area consultation meeting.
Budget discussion
In an effort to have more public engagement in the budget planning process for SD46, a public meeting will be held on Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at Chatelech Secondary School. All are invited to come, view the working budget for next year and give their input.
DPAC
There have been two co-chairs named for the District Parent Advisory Committee this year. Allyson Fawcus and Erin Brooks-Wilson will share the duty.
