YORK REGION DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION MAY 26, 2005
The Board Meeting - Public Session of the York Region District School Board was held in the Board Room of the Education Centre, Aurora at 8:20 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, 2005 with Chair B. Crothers presiding and the following members present; Trustees M. Aldridge, T. Benn-Ireland, L. Carruthers, A. DeBartolo, N. Elgie, D. Giangrande, J. Hertz, S. Korolnek, S. Plamondon, G. Unitas and M. Van Beek.
Also in attendance: Student Trustees A. Tipton and D. Hernandez
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Trustee N. Elgie delivered the moment of reflection.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
(*)1. Moved by J. Hertz, seconded by A. DeBartolo:
That the agenda be approved as written.
- Carried -
RISE AND REPORT – MAY 26, 2005 BOARD MEETING – PRIVATE SESSION
(*)2. Moved by S. Plamondon, seconded by D. Giangrande:
1) That the Board approve the recommendations in the Employee Services staff reports regarding teacher resignations and resignations for retirement purposes.
2) That the Board receive the Suspension Totals report for April 1, 2005 to April 30, 2005.
3) That the Board receive the Expulsion Report for April 2005.
4) That the York Region District School Board approve the School Administrator appointments as outlined in the staff report.
5) That the Board approve the recommendations as outlined in the report from the Negotiations Advisory Committee.
- Carried -
APPLAUSE!
The Director of Education made the following comments.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 2 MAY 26, 2005
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Employer Excellence Award
“The York Region District School Board’s Payroll team has been awarded the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Employer Excellence Award.
Nicky Kalogirou-Valcic, Bernice Blanchard, Sherilyn Smith and Anita Vickery were all featured in this month’s pension newsletter for their commitment to excellence. The article praised the payroll team for its commitment to payroll-based reporting; timely response to requests for information; innovative and creative approaches to solving reporting problems and maintaining high incoming data quality.
Manager, Nicky Kalogirou-Valcic, attributes the team’s success to strong internal communication, a team approach and specific goal setting. The team was also commended for its diligence in maintaining clean and accurate employee records; ongoing support in website development and employer training initiatives; and providing suggestions for enhancements to employer systems and processes.
One of the key criteria for the award was the response time to outstanding requests for information. This year, the Payroll team has dramatically improved its ability to respond to employees’ pension inquiries. The response time has gone from 18 days in 2004 to seven days in the current year – a 62% decrease.
These strategies have helped to establish the York Region District School Board as a leader in pension reporting. We are very happy to have our staff members recognized outside of the Board for their achievements.
Congratulations Nicky, Bernice, Sherilyn and Anita. Showing her support for the team is Linda Dallman, Senior Manager of Finance Services who is also here tonight.
Waterloo Math Contest
Last fall, Thornhill Secondary School students in grades 9 – 11 competed in the annual Waterloo Math Contest.
In the “Cayley” portion of the contest, Johoo Lee and Ricky Ngan both achieved perfect scores. Out of the 29,278 students who registered to write this portion of the contest, Johoo and Ricky ranked among the top five in Canada. As a result, Thornhill tied for first place in Canada in the “Cayley” contest.
Thornhill’s grade nine students competed against 1,282 other schools and finished within the top 5% of schools in Canada. The top Thornhill grade nine students were Steven Xu and Philip Peng. Approximately 37,000 students wrote this part of the contest.
Thornhill’s grade 11 students competed against approximately 24,000 students representing 1,193 schools. Thanks to the impressive scores of Dale Zhang and Jeffrey Sham, Thornhill also finished in the top 5% of Canada. Kelvin Lam, who also competed in this portion, won the coveted title of “Provincial Champion.” BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 3 MAY 26, 2005
That is an amazing accomplishment and I congratulate each of you for your outstanding achievements. Teacher Dave Fraschetti is also here tonight with these students. Excellent work.
Earth Rangers
Mr. Chair, the York Region District School Board’s Eco Camp was started four years ago to promote environmental literacy as well as teacher and student leadership. With the financial and staffing support from the Earth Rangers group, over 32 teachers and 160 junior students from across York Region have enjoyed a three-day, two-night educational experience to build their leadership capacity and overall knowledge of the natural world.
The core of Eco Camp is its ecological programs that are based on the Ontario curriculum. Students who participate in Eco Camp attend workshops and take part in various activities such as nature and night hikes; tree planting; animal protection; drama, art and music activities; and campfires at night. There is a minimal cost to students thanks to the generous subsidization of Earth Rangers.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank the Earth Rangers for their generosity. From Earth Rangers, we have Skid Crease, Peter Kendall and Terry Burgess attending.
I would also like to thank the Executive Director and creator of Eco Camp, Steve Helston and the organizational manager of Eco Camp, Tracey Cox. Well done.
National Science Fair
Not only do our students excel in mathematics, but they have also done well in the sciences. Three of our students were among the winning students who participated in the York Region Sci-Tech Fair held recently at Seneca College.
Of the five students who won a gold at the Fair, three were from our schools. Michael Makarov and Nadia Novikova of Maple High School won for their project on complex theory development; and Alexander Tyutyunnick of Westminster Public School won for his project about a remote controlled mower.
These students represented our Board at a Canada-wide science fair in Vancouver last week. The Canada-wide fair is the largest extra-curricular youth activity related to science and technology in Canada. Out of the roughly 25,000 regional fairs that are held each year, only 450 students are chosen to go on to the national fair. Although our students did not medal at the national fair, they put in a great effort and we are very proud of their accomplishment.
Unfortunately Alexander is not here tonight, but both Michael and Nadia were able to make it. They are joined by Shawn Sullivan and Jackie Glendenning, Head of Science at Maple HS. Jackie chaperoned Michael and Nadia to Vancouver. Maple High School Vice-Principal Isabel Schnapp is also here this evening. BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 4 MAY 26, 2005
Congratulations to all of you on a job well done.
Crosby Heights Public School, Kenya
Mr. Chair, one of our teachers has embarked on her own personal mission to build a school in Africa. Crosby Heights Public School teacher, Freda Egan, has announced that she would like to build a new school in Kenya.
Many of Freda’s friends and colleagues have rallied to support her cause. Together with Freda’s husband, her friends and colleagues have managed to raise $6,000. Six thousand dollars is all that it takes to purchase the materials needed to build a school in Kenya.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Freda’s project has caught the eye of Craig Kielburger, Executive Director of Free the Children. Freda will begin an awareness campaign with Free the Children to involve the students, staff and community in an ongoing partnership. The program will inspire youth to take action as good citizens at home, in their community, in Canada and the world.
Freda will be departing for Africa this summer to build the new school in Kenya. Once built, she plans to name the Kenyan school “Crosby Heights.”
We join Freda’s colleagues Anne Miller; Alleison (Rose) Williams; Kathy Taylor; Lisa Jeremic and Principal Ryan Friedman who have all come out tonight to support her, in wishing Freda all the best in her endeavour.
Good luck Freda.
Bayview Fairways Public School Music Program
In February, the Senior Wind Ensemble of Bayview Fairways Public School participated in a regional concert band music festival which was sponsored by the Ontario Band Association. The ensemble received a “SilverPlus” rating which means that the ensemble performed to “…an exceedingly high standard of musical performance.” The ensemble has been invited to perform at the annual National MusicFest of Canada.
The MusicFest will be held in Ottawa in the spring of 2006. The students in the ensemble are busy planning for the event. In the meantime, the band is competing in other festivals to prepare for the big event, such as the Classic Music Festival held recently in Montreal.
We wanted to have all 32 of students in the ensemble perform for us tonight, but unfortunately our horseshoe was not built to accommodate a 32-piece band.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 5 MAY 26, 2005
We do have with us teacher Susan Baskin. She has brought with her some of the students in the band including Deron Fung; Rubala Jeganathan; Abby Chow and David Hutter.
Principal Lynn Ravesi has also joined her students tonight.
“First Robotics” Competition
The Alexander Mackenzie High School Robotics Team consists of 16 students. These students entered the FIRST ROBOTICS competition held at the Hershey Centre Mississauga in early April. This was a three-day international competition which attracted 66 teams and high-profile sponsors - such as G.M., Chrysler, and Ontario Power Generation. For the second year in a row, Alexander Mackenzie was the only school from York Region to enter this contest.
The students on the Alexander Mackenzie Team were mentored by several teachers, small business owners and community members. These people worked alongside the students to assist them in carrying out many different requirements for the Robotics project, including:
1. developing a website; 2. preparing a business plan to raise $7,500 for the entry fee and another $3,000 for materials to build the robot; 3. making presentations to community organizations and corporations to solicit sponsorship; 4. creating a video; 5. designing the robot; 6. programming of the robot; and 7. building the robot to handle specific tasks according to strict height and weight restrictions.
This competition brought together many areas of the curriculum including science, technology, business, computers, and media arts. The students were also able to develop leadership and team participation skills in a project-based environment.
I believe the Team is going to give us a demonstration of their robot. Take it away team.
Tonight we have from the team of students: Vova Nesterov; David Adams; Jamison Giangrande; and Matthew Zoukowski;
They are joined by their teachers: John Prickaerts; and Frank Heijmans. Principal Carol Diamond is also here tonight.
North Star
Mr. Chair, May’s North Star is Diane Gagnon of Keswick Public School. Diane was nominated by Sheila Pollard. BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 6 MAY 26, 2005
Here is what Sheila told us about Diane.
‘Diane has been an invaluable resource on our staff. I have both observed her as she has helped other colleagues and have directly received assistance from her on several occasions. Diane fills so many roles for us.
First of all, she generously shares the wealth of experience and materials accumulated during her teaching career in several Canadian provinces. Diane is also our Teacher/Librarian. In this role, she routinely helps new teachers to plan and access materials and team-teaches units with homeroom teachers.
Diane is also our computer site administrator. In this field, Diane gave workshops on Professional Activity Days, never being too busy to help. She made several house calls to help staff retrieve lost computer report cards and install and run programmes successfully.
She has personally donated many books to our school professional library and made all of her units available to those teachers still currently teaching them. While I have always remembered to tell Diane how much I appreciate all that she does, I sincerely hoped that she might receive Board recognition. She truly is a “North Star”.’
Congratulations Diane.
STUDENT TRUSTEE REPORT
At this time, Student Trustee D. Hernandez made the following remarks.
“Good evening, Mr. Chair, Mr. Director, Trustees, Staff, Ladies and Gentlemen.
On May 4, at Richmond Hill High School, the York Region Presidents’ Council voted to elect the two Student Trustee representatives who will be serving next year. Tonight it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the two York Region students who will occupy our seats next year as the Board’s 2005/2006 Student Trustees, Abbas Lakha and Hussein Panju.
In Richmond Hill, Abbas has volunteered to help the Yellowbrick House and various food drives. He stays active by playing tennis, badminton, and soccer. In his school, he helped plan and execute the grade eight orientation and open house, as well as a Blood Donor Clinic.
Husein Panju is the President of Richmond Hill High School’s Reach for the Top Club. He is the Secretary for the Debating Club and DECA. This year, he helped run the grade nine orientation program. He is also the manager of the junior boys’ basketball team. Lastly, it is in his position as Minister of Records for the York Region Presidents’ Council that Amy and I have had the opportunity to get to know Husein.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 7 MAY 26, 2005
Both Abbas and Husein are excellent students, strong leaders, and will make great Student Trustees in the upcoming year. Tomorrow morning Abbas, Hussein, and I will be going downtown for the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association Annual General Meeting, where we will try to make the transition as smooth as possible.
With that said, I would now like to speak of exciting news on the student voice front from Vaughan. With the intention of giving young people a voice, Vaughan Regional Councillor Mario Ferri brought forth the proposal for the Vaughan City Council to have a youth councillor. The position, much like that of a student trustee, does not vote on matters before the council and does not attend private sessions. The city already has a youth cabinet, the youth councillor will act as a leader and representative of the cabinet to the council, and vice-versa. The council voted on this proposal on May 16. On May 16, Abbas, Hussein, and I, along with many other youth leaders from Vaughan and all of York Region, attended the Vaughan City Council Meeting. Former Trustee Alan Shefman sends his regards from the city above Toronto.
One of the obstacles this position would face would be missed school hours. For a youth councillor to exist, the York Region District School Board and the York Region Catholic School Board would have to agree to arrange a co-operative education program for the councillor. The Board wasted no time and sent Mario Ferri a letter supporting his proposal and promising to create a co-operative education program for any Board student elected as councillor. Both Boards’ support of the proposal made it even more practical and plausible. I would like to thank the Board for their continuing support of the youth voice in the community.
The council greeted the proposal with much enthusiasm but asked for minor changes, which will be made in working session. Mario Ferri is confident that his revised proposal will be approved before the end of this school year.
Thank you for your time this evening.”
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Trustee L. Carruthers referred to the report of the Parent Voice in Education Project, which had been distributed to trustees. She encouraged trustees to review the document and, in particular, the covering letter provided by Gord Kerr, a member appointed to the project by the Minister of Education, who has also been involved with school councils in York Region.
Trustee Carruthers noted the report has been significantly influenced by practices undertaken at the York Region District School Board over the past 10 years, including the following; o the communications protocol for school councils, o the New Directions Community Building Arena team, o Epstein’s parental involvement framework being used as a resource, o the school council policy which encourages council members to take an active role in developing school, family and community partnerships, BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 8 MAY 26, 2005
o senior level ownership within the board for school council and parental involvement.
Trustees were told the Minister of Education has endorsed the following recommendations: o Ministry support for parental involvement initiatives – to enable parents to better support their children every day through the development of a provincial policy;
o ownership at the board level that mirrors the level of priority given to school councils and parental involvement in York Region by assigning a senior staff member;
o shifting the school council focus to stimulating helpful parental involvement within their school community and to find ways to reach out to hard to reach parents.
It was also suggested that Coordinating Superintendent of Education K. Thurston may be Action able to reference the relevance of this report in his portfolio report on school councils Required scheduled for the July Board Meeting.
(*)3. Moved by L. Carruthers, seconded by N. Elgie:
That the York Region District School Board acknowledge receipt of a copy of the Parent Voice in Education Project.
- Carried -
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
(*)4. Moved by L. Carruthers, seconded by M. Van Beek:
That the Minutes of the April 28, 2005 Board Meeting be approved as written.
- Carried -
ROUTINE RECOMMENDATIONS
(*)5. Moved by N. Elgie, seconded by D. Giangrande:
That the Board adopt the following routine recommendations (*) in accordance with Board Procedure.
CHAIR’S COMMITTEE MINUTES, MAY 12, 2005
1) Construction Projects Review
That the Board receive the staff report Construction Projects Review.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 9 MAY 26, 2005
2) Richmond Hill Trustee Municipal Electoral Boundaries
That possible consideration of moving to a ward system for the election of Richmond Hill Trustees be deferred until the Town completes its own review of municipal electoral boundaries.
SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES, MAY 5, 2005
1) Approval of Agenda
That the agenda be approved as written.
2) Approval of Minutes
That the minutes of the April 7, 2005 SEAC meeting be approved as written.
3) Presentation on Computer and Technology Use
That SEAC receive the presentation on Computer and Technology Use for information.
4) Report from the Board
That SEAC receive the Report from the Board for information.
5) Leadership Preparation in Special Education
That the Special Education Advisory Committee request that the Board consider developing a plan for all administrators to receive leadership preparation in special education.
6) Communications Sub-Committee Report
That SEAC receive the Communications Sub-Committee report for information.
PROPOSED SOUTHEAST SUTTON DEVELOPMENT PLAN, TOWN OF GEORGINA
1. That the York Region District School Board supports the proposed location and configuration of the public school site within the Southeast Sutton Development Plan, Town of Georgina.
2. That the Manager of Planning for the Town of Georgina be advised of this action.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 10 MAY 26, 2005
PROPOSED PLAN OF SUBDIVISION 19T-03G01, TOWN OF GEORGINA
1. That the York Region District School Board will not require a public school site within Proposed Draft Plan of Subdivision 19T-03G01, Town of Georgina.
2. That the Director of Planning and Building for the Town of Georgina be advised of this action.
PROPOSED SITE PLAN APPLICATION SC 05 007112, TOWN OF MARKHAM
1. That the York Region District School Board will not require a public school site within Proposed Site Plan Application SC 05 007112, Town of Markham.
2. That the Director of Planning for the Town of Markham be advised of this action.
PROPOSED PLAN OF SUBDIVISION 19T-05M06 (MONARCH CORPORATION) AND PROPOSED PLAN OF SUBDIVISION 19T-05M09 (CATHEDRALTOWN), TOWN OF MARKHAM
1. That the York Region District School Board will require a total of two public elementary school sites within Proposed Plans of Subdivision 19T-05M06 and 19T-05M09, Town of Markham. One of the elementary school sites will be required within Phase One of the development.
2. That prior to draft plan approval, the Town of Markham provide the Board with development plans in order that the first phase school site can be identified.
3. That the Director of Planning for the Town of Markham be advised of this action.
PROPOSED ZONING BY-LAW AMENDMENT Z-05V14, CITY OF VAUGHAN
1. That the York Region District School Board will not require a public school site within Proposed Zoning By-Law Z-05V14, City of Vaughan.
2. That the Director of Planning for the City of Vaughan be advised of this action.
PROPOSED PLAN OF SUBDIVISION 19T-04V10, CITY OF VAUGHAN
1. That the York Region District School Board will not require a public school site within Proposed Plan of Subdivision 19T-04V10, City of Vaughan.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 11 MAY 26, 2005
2. That the Director of Planning for the City of Vaughan be advised of this action.
FACILITY RENEWAL PROJECT LIST 2004-2005
That the York Region District School Board receive the Facility Renewal Project report for information.
- Carried -
ANNOUNCEMENT
The Board Chair drew attention to the correction to the name “Elder’s Mills Public School”, as outlined in the yellow report provided to trustees.
RESOLUTION RE: DEBENTURE ISSUE 2005
Associate Director B. Richardson explained that Board approval is required to issue debentures in the maximum principal amount of $59,800,000 to finance the Board’s Capital Strategy. He acknowledged that, as part of the new “student focused funding model”, the province introduced a process for grants for new pupil places. This grant is based on a comparison of board-wide capacity to enrolment and provides grants for capital costs. The capital costs are effectively amortized over a 25-year period with an interest rate of 8%. Based on this new model, the Board approved a capital strategy in 1999 and has subsequently updated it annually.
Trustees were told that, prior to this new funding model, the Board issued debentures through the Region of York. This process was economical and yielded competitive rates. This avenue is no longer available because the Board does not have direct access to the property tax and therefore the Region has been advised not to issue debentures for the Board. With this change, the Board must now issue its own debentures. Accordingly RBC Dominion Securities Inc. has been appointed to facilitate the Board’s access to the debt capital markets in respect of its capital requirements.
Associate Director Richardson reviewed the Board’s current debenture status and the long-term implications. He also clarified the rationale behind choosing RBC Dominion Securities Inc. as the lead fiscal agent. He stated that the debenture would not exceed 25 years and that the interest rate will depend on the market conditions, the structure of the issue and the term. Once the details have been determined, the Board will be required to pass a borrowing by-law to approve the terms and conditions of the debenture.
(*)6. Moved by S. Plamondon, seconded by J. Hertz:
1. That the Board approve the Debenture Issue Resolution, as outlined in the staff report.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 12 MAY 26, 2005
2. That the Superintendent of Corporate Planning (R. Benson) and the Associate Director of Education (B. Richardson) be responsible for determining the issue date, the interest rate (not to exceed 7.0%), the term (not to exceed 25 years), and the structure (amortizing, sinking fund, or serial debenture) of this debenture issue.
- Carried -
SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS AND EVENTS
The Board Chair noted the following changes to the Board’s Committee meeting schedule, as follows.
• June 7th Budget Committee meeting - cancelled • June 14th Budget Committee meeting confirmed - 7:30 p.m. • June 21st Budget Committee meeting confirmed - 8:00 p.m. • June 21st Trustee Professional Development Session confirmed 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
SUPERVISORY OFFICER SELECTION COMMITTTEE
Director of Education B. Hogarth informed trustees it was once again time to interview candidates for positions on the supervisory officer short list. He indicated that, due to a number of factors, at times the process is extended to external candidates. He recommended that the Board advertise both internally and externally during this process. He emphasized this in no way reflects negatively on the caliber of internal candidates, saying it is often an affirmation of the success of the Board’s leadership initiative. It is helpful though, to gage other standards and initiatives beyond York Region.
(*)7. Moved by N. Elgie, seconded by S. Korolnek:
That the Board conduct an internal and external search for candidates for the supervisory officer short list and
That the following trustees be appointed to the Supervisory Officer Selection Committee; Board Chair B. Crothers, Trustees T. Benn-Ireland and L. Carruthers (Board Vice-Chair S. Plamondon to act as alternate).
- Carried -
OPSBA INFORMATION
Board Chair B. Crothers indicated Chair’s Committee had agreed to circulate OPSBA information to trustees on a regular basis. Trustee L. Carruthers will highlight any significant matters for trustees’ attention during the Special Announcement section of the Board Meetings. Trustees were encouraged to raise matters for discussion or clarification whenever necessary.
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ADJOURNMENT
(*)8. Moved by L. Carruthers, seconded by J. Hertz:
That the Board Meeting adjourn at 9:30 p.m.
- Carried -
Chair of the Board Director of Education and Secretary-Treasurer