Policy Advisory Committee 2013/10/01

Policy Advisory Committee Tuesday October 1, 2013 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

– Meeting Notes –

Attendance: Trevor Ratcliff - Vice-Principal, Porter Creek Secondary School Gary Morgan - Vice-Principal, Jack Hulland Elementary School Morgan Douglas-Alexander - Principal, Tantalus School Helene Saint-Onge - Principal, Ecole Whitehorse Elementary Carol Coote - Executive Director, AYSCBC Neil Salvin - Porter Creek Secondary School Council Julia Salo - Del Van Gorder School Council [via phone] Yolande Cherepak - Catholic Education Association Yukon Penny Prysnuk - Superintendent, Public Schools Branch Michael McBride - Director, Policy, Planning & Evaluation Heidi Rumscheidt - Policy Analyst, Policy, Planning & Evaluation

Regrets: Trish Smilie - Director, Student Support Services Debbie Janzen - Holy Family School Council Bob Laking - Executive-Chair, AYSCBC Andrew Robulack - Takhini Elementary School Council

[Note – this is a summary of comments not a transcript]

1. Introductions, review of agenda.

2. Review – Progressive Response to Student Behaviour Policy – Draft 2

General comments and review of specific sections:

 Policy is coming together  Title is misleading as the policy is focused on ‘unacceptable’ behaviour not all student behaviour. Can it be changed? E.g. misbehaviour or unacceptable behaviour? A different term is needed to distinguish from good behaviour  General Information: Some school rules are dated or have been in place for some time - does this mean consulting on school rules must occur every year? It was clarified that consultation only occurs when the rules are developed.  The new language in this section supports the way many schools are moving

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 Need to strengthen or include language on inherent respect for students. It is implied but not strong enough. A respectful response to inappropriate student behaviour  Violence Threat Risk Assessment Protocol: The last sentence should be changed from ‘may’ as it is not strong enough – ‘could’ is stronger depending on the specific circumstances  Definitions: o add a definition of ‘school activities’ to include all activities – during school hours, on school grounds, off school grounds, all activities sponsored by or approved by a school o add to ‘safety plan’ – last sentence, “…by the school based team or sooner if another incident has occurred o ‘school community’ – the language is different than in the Safe and Caring Schools policy. It should be consistent.  Principles: add a link to student roles and responsibilities provisions in the Education Act.  School Rules: last sentence on page 3 - change the sentence to ‘these documents must be communicated to students and parents using a variety of methods….’  The policy is good but is a stand-alone document. It must be linked to the broader community, not just the school but other organizations such as Health & Social Services, RCMP, and Justice. There needs to be more regular information sharing and trust. This occurs already in smaller communities but it is an ongoing problem in Whitehorse. Privacy requirements are necessary but are also a barrier to effectively resolving issues in a coordinated manner.  In-School Responses: the policy requires all out-of-school processes to be documented. In- house responses are not always documented. This makes it challenging for school councils to decide on an out-of-school suspension if there is no documentation of what occurred up to the out-of-school response.  In theory all responses should be documented but it is very difficult in practice. For example, a teacher may deal with a situation and it may never be reported to the school administrator.  Add another procedure (#5) – documentation of any repeat patterns of problematic behaviour and in-house responses where possible.  Separate request for Yukon Education officials to request the ability to document incidents on the new YSIS system (only for the active school year). It cannot be done now on the current system.  Out-of-School Suspension: inconsistency between under 10-day suspension and over-10 day suspensions regarding when communications with parents occurs (immediate vs as soon as possible). Suggested wording change to make both procedures consistent.  Appeals: in-house responses and dismissals, reference the School Council Dispute Resolution Procedure Policy (for those schools that may not have a dispute resolution procedure).  Roles and Responsibilities: last sentence, change to ‘…the management of unacceptable student behaviour…’.  Appendix: agreement with suggestion to remove the appendix. Contacts and resources can be included in the policy. 2. Review – Progressive Response to Student Behaviour – Draft Implementation Plan

 Managing Student Behaviour - Draft Overview: a draft diagram was shared outlining the continuum of behaviour and programs/options within Yukon Education. It is not a definitive list and was used for discussion purposes. An updated version will be prepared and shared with Committee members.  Discussion: o percentages on the continuum are even smaller, minimal is 94%, moderate is 5% and most serious 1% o link with the Pyramid of Intervention o schools are doing very well with the ‘’94%” o there are set procedures in place to deal with the “1%” o focus needs to be on the ‘serious to moderate’ area of the continuum, those students on the verge of suspension. o Doing a good job here helps improve the lives of all students o Important tools – changing the culture, social-emotional learning o Have to manage inconsistent philosophies when it comes to behaviour and discipline

General Comments:  School administrators need to see the policy; it needs to be communicated to staff in the schools at varying levels, between schools, and between staff.  Needs to focus forward, where we want to go, and not past practice. It needs to guide where our practices and philosophies are going to go and to help ensure consistency of practice. Set expectations, guide consistency and minimum standards for everyone.  Need the policy to ensure consistency at a higher more philosophical level - how and why regarding restorative practices. Need to have a consistent philosophy and approach department wide.  There is a need for education on progressive responses to behaviour, restorative practices; there will be resistance and backlash.  Resources: o Schools are addressing the ‘infrequent’ group using a number of methods within existing resources, cultures are changing slowly but more support is needed, may have to find more resources internally. o Better for each school to be given resources to implement the policy versus a set ‘program’ from the department  Implementation of policy – needs to focus on the 20% that are at risk, keeping these kids in school. How do we focus on this group – we already do a lot, spend lots of time and resources dealing with this group.  Implementation needs to be tailored as needs will be different from school-to-school, community-to-community. How it is done and the areas of focus will be different.  Need a feedback loop on what does each school and school council need to implement the policy. Not to change the policy or re-write but to implement.

Specific Changes:

 Policy Scope – add First Nations school staff (CELC, Education Support Worker) employed by a First Nation.  Short-term implementation methods – include all school councils  Include First Nations

 The document “A School-Wide Approach – Positive Behaviour Supports” from Newfoundland and Labrador Education was provided as an example of a resource that could be adapted for school administrators and staff. The document link is http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/safeandcaring/teachers/pbs/PositiveBehaviourSupports. pdf

3. Yukon Education – Policy Development Priorities 2013-14

 An updated Policy Development Priorities table was provided and discussed.  Physical Restraint Guidelines. Questions were asked as to why this project was stopped. Committee members clearly communicated the need for a policy, clear guidance. The Student Support Services Procedures (e.g. non-violent training) are not enough.  Clear guidance is needed on the use of physical contact during discipline – an education piece. It needs to get at inappropriate practices, e.g. grabbing a student, etc  Perhaps a teacher code of conduct – YTA?

4. Yukon Education Website – Policy Reorganization Project

 Policy and Planning is initiating a project to reorganize Yukon Education’s policies on its website.  The current structure is not user-friendly  A draft overview of how the policies may be ‘bundled’ according to topic area was provided  Suggestions include: links to other organizations (e.g. RCMP, Justice, Health), subject links and cross-referencing policies if they apply in more than one topic area.  Members will be kept informed of progress as the project proceeds.

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