The York Region Board of Education Board Meeting Minutes - Public Session June 26, 1997
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THE YORK REGION BOARD OF EDUCATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION JUNE 26, 1997 The Board Meeting - Public Session of The York Region Board of Education was held in the Board Room of The Education Centre, Aurora at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 26, 1997 with Vice-Chair K. Barker presiding and the following members present; Trustees Barkey, Bennett, Bowes, Caine, Dunlop, Dunn, Forfar, Hackson, Hunter, Irish, Jonsson, Middleton and Nightingale. Regrets: Chair B. Crothers, Trustees P. Gunn, L. Pengelly, R. Stevenson and J. West. Also in attendance: Student Trustee Representative S. Shin and Student Trustee Designate S. Pohani. INVOCATION Trustee H. Nightingale delivered the Invocation. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 1. Moved by D. Caine, seconded by D. Middleton: That the agenda be approved with the changes announced by the Board Chair. - Carried - SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Presentations to Trustee Paul Bennett Acting Chair K. Barker introduced John Sabo, Associate Director - Corporate Services of the York Region Roman Catholic Separate School Board. Associate Director Sabo personally thanked the trustees and staff of The York Region Board of Education for the spirit of cooperation currently enjoyed by both boards in the joint initiatives and recognized that the spirit of cooperation is unduplicated in the province. Associate Director John Sabo recounted his association with Dr. P. Bennett, Trustee of The York Region Board of Education through the initiatives undertaken by the Joint Board Consortium. Mr. Sabo thanked Trustee Bennett for his cooperation and expressed his appreciation for his persistence and tenacity in finding the right solution which addressed the needs of all concerned parties. Associate Director Sabo presented a plaque to Trustee Bennett on behalf of the Joint Board Consortium in recognition of his service and leadership. Acting Chair K. Barker introduced Marney Walker from Student Express presenting on behalf of Student Transportation Services and Bus Operators. Ms. Walker recounted the distinguished career of Trustee Bennett, both as an Administrator for Upper Canada College and as a Trustee for The York Region Board of Education. BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 2 JUNE 26, 1997 She also recognized his many accomplishments with respect to the Joint Board Consortium - Transportation Services. Ms. Walker congratulated Trustee Bennett for his considerable accomplishments as well as his dedication. On behalf of Student Transportation Services, Ms. Walker presented a plaque in recognition of Trustee Bennetts service. Trustee J. Jonsson was introduced to make a presentation to Dr. Bennett on behalf of the Board. Trustee Jonsson provided a retrospective of Trustee Bennetts tenure with The York Region Board of Education. As Budget Committee Chair, Dr. Bennett established a consultation procedure to seek input from system partners during the budget process. Dr. Bennetts focus on providing the best educational experience for our students was always the basis for his decision making. Trustee Jonsson congratulated Dr. Bennett on his style of bringing to the table many new initiatives with respect to the Joint Board Consortium, establishing a provincial communication network for trustees and chairing the Task Force for Alcohol and Drug Education. Congratulations on his new position as Head Master of Lower Canada College were offered by Trustee Jonsson. Trustee Jonsson, on behalf of The York Region Board of Education, presented Trustee Bennett with a framed copper embossed print of the Board logo created by Visual Arts Consultant, Wayne Rose. Acting Chair K. Barker recognized Director of Education B. Hogarth, who offered his congratulations to Trustee Bennett on his new position. The Director identified one of Trustee Bennetts key contributions as his unwavering belief in student success. He has challenged the Board and staff for specifics on both the direction and definition of student success. Student success is everyones goal, Trustee Bennett defined what student success means and has constantly kept that focus. On behalf of the staff and students in York Region we offer our thanks for your contributions to student success throughout the years. Ontario Local Government Innovative Public Service Delivery Award The Director announced that The York Region Board of Education and the York Region Roman Catholic Separate School Board have received the 1997 Ontario Local Government Innovative Public Service Delivery Award for the Joint Board Consortium which has found new ways of doing business which deliver better services at reduced costs. The annual awards, which recognize innovation, creativity and cost savings, are sponsored by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Ministry of Education and Training, Price Waterhouse on behalf of the Canadian Council for Public Private Partnerships, and professional associations. APPLAUSE! You cant achieve without a dream, without a vision. In Bonavista on Wednesday at the landing of The Matthew, Queen Elizabeth noted, "Many great achievements begin with a dream." BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 3 JUNE 26, 1997 Director of Education B. Hogarth announced that this evening we are celebrating many great achievements that did begin with a dream -- the dream of students to excel, the dream of teachers to inspire learning. "Hold fast to dreams," said poet Langston Hughes, "for when dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly." Director of Education B. Hogarth announced that a number of administrators, teachers and students are unable to join us tonight due to end-of-school activities. We, nevertheless, applaud their dreams, achievements and contributions. • International DECA Competition 97 DECA provides students with the opportunity to participate in real-life activities and thus develop both leadership and competitive skills. At the board, provincial and international levels, students compete in activities such as advertising, fashion and design, financial services, hospitality and tourism. Of the 150 Ontario students selected to compete in the international competition in Anaheim, California, 70 were from York Region! The competition itself is challenging and includes a written test and two simulations. On this international level, there are as many as 10,000 in the early competitions, with 500 entered in the finals of each category. On the final day, 20 contestants are selected to compete in one final simulation, and 10 are awarded prizes. We had six York Region students in the final 10 in their categories! Congratulations to our six finalists: • Brandon Vigon, King City Secondary School, was a finalist in the election for national president of DECA. • Hartley Lefton, Thornlea Secondary School, finished in the top 10 in his category. • Len Kofman and Daniel Chen, Markham District High School. Students of teacher Colleen Sheardown, Len and Daniel finished third overall in their team category. • Of our Thornhill Secondary School students -- Nadia Sapiro, Amy Stork and Ryan Kirshenblatt -- Nadia finished in the top 10, and Amy and Ryan finished in the top 10 in their team category. • Kudos also to Bayview Secondary School teachers Karan McHenry and Claudia Pestrin for their work with the DECA provincial executive, as well as to the proud principals who are here this evening: Ron Gilchrist, Rhynda Bulson, Fred Sadler and Mike Magarrey. As Mike has recently noted in Team York, DECA stands for a real-world commitment to excellence. It stands for competition in a most positive way. It stands for pride in self and community. And we can be very proud of the way in which our students represented these values in international competition. • The Toronto Sun Teacher of the Year The Toronto Sun has once again selected a York Region Board of Education teacher as one of its 10 Teachers of the Year -- Rich Lunney, who teaches at Crosby Heights Public School. A most positive, enthusiastic, patient and understanding teacher, Rich exemplifies commitment and dedication, working tirelessly to provide quality education to his students. Beyond his classroom, he continues to give tirelessly and unselfishly of himself, helping students, coaching teams, and supporting the school in innumerable ways. Rich is truly an BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 4 JUNE 26, 1997 exemplary educator, enriching the lives of his students and colleagues and making a major contribution to staff, student and school success. Principal Linda Arlidge joins us in celebrating his innumerable contributions and achievements. • Ontario Public School Boards Association Awards The Ontario Public School Boards Association has recognized Elizabeth Parry, King City Secondary School, as an outstanding student and has selected her as the recipient of the 1997 Jack A. MacDonald Award of Merit, which we are presenting on behalf of OPSBA tonight. An honours student, she is actively involved in sports, music, the school newspaper, drama productions, the environmental club, peer mentoring and the math tutoring lab and helped plan and organize "King Camp," a three-day off-campus orientation experience for Grade 9 students. In her community, she is a Sunday school teacher, choir member and an organizer of activities for the church Youth Group. Liz is also the youth member for the York Regional Police Chiefs Community Council, chair of York Regions Red Cross Youth Action Council, and participated in the Ontario Task Force on Youth, focusing on youth employment. Our best wishes for your continued success,