Minutes of Regular Board Meeting November 22, 2005

Location: Grand Falls-Windsor Regional Office

Present:

Mr. Thomas Kendell (Chair) Mr. Randell Mercer, Director Mr. Clar Brown Ms. Marina Hewlett Mr. Peter Budgell Ms. Bonnie Lane McCarthy (Recorder) Ms. Kim Cheeks Mr. Charlie McCormack Mr. John George Mr. Peter Gibbons Mr. Newman Harris Mr. Bill Sceviour Mr. Hubert Langdon Mr. Kerry Noble Mr. Scott Pritchett Mr. Greg Woolfrey

Regrets:

Ms. Audrey Whiteway Ms. Claudine Wells Mr. Shawn Brace

1. Approval of Agenda

Motion: to approve the agenda as circulated and amended. (Brown/Gibbons). Carried.

2. Minutes of Meetings

2.1 Regular Meeting October 27, 2005

Motion: to accept the minutes of the October 27, 2005 as circulated. (George/Noble).Carried.

Mr. Kendell indicated that there are two ex-officio members for each committee. They are the Director and the Chair. The Director is a non-voting member and the Chair is a voting member.

3. Business Arising:

3.1 Atlantic School Board Conference

Ms. Florence Granville will make the arrangements for trustees who will be attending the Atlantic School Board Conference which will be held in Corner Brook on January 26 to 28, 2006.

3.2 Trustee Vacancies

Correspondence has been sent to Mr. Robert Elliott accepting his resignation as a Board Trustee for Zone 4.

There are presently two vacancies on the Board. These vacancies are in Zone 2 and Zone 4. The Board would like to have a by-election to fill these vacancies.

Correspondence has been sent to the Minister regarding this. This topic will be discussed with the Minister at the NLSBA meeting on Wednesday, November 23, 2005.

4. Committee Reports/Updates

4.1 Executive Committee

Mr. Woolfrey requested that the reports from each committee be posted on the web site prior to the regular board meeting.

Mr. Kendell presented the Executive Committee Report. (Attached).

Motion: with respect to the procedure for approving the acceptance of the Minutes of Closed Session, such minutes be distributed for review and approval at a subsequent appropriate meeting in closed session and at the end of the approval session these minutes will be returned to the Director for shredding. The signed original copy will be maintained as a permanent record. (Kendell/Noble).

After consideration discussion the motion was amended to read as follows:

Motion to Amend:

Motion: with respect to the procedure for approving the acceptance of the Minutes of Closed Session, such minutes be distributed for review and approval at a subsequent appropriate meeting in closed session and at the end of the approval session these minutes will be returned to the Director for safe and secure management. (Budgell/Pritchett).

Amended motion carried. Original motion defeated.

Motion: to accept the report of the Executive Committee (Kendell/Noble). Carried.

4.2 Finance/Property Committee

Mr. Pritchett presented the Finance/Property Committee report. (Attached). A new accounting package has been purchased and will be implemented for use early in the new year.

Motion: to request capital funding from the Minister of Education to proceed with construction of an extension to replace the portable classrooms at Gander Collegiate. (Pritchett/Brown). Carried.

Motion: to request permission from the Minister of Education approval to proceed to arrange borrowing the amount of $3,519,797 to purchase 45 new busses to replace 32 – 1992 units and 13 – 1993 units. (Pritchett/Brown). Carried.

Motion: to request permission from the Minister of Education approval to proceed to arrange for an operating line of credit in the amount of $2,000,000. (Pritchett/Harris). Carried.

Motion: to proceed with the disposal of Coaker Academy – Virgin Arm by way of Public Tender. The tender will be modified to inform prospective bidders of the underground oil tank. (Pritchett/Woolfrey). Carried.

Considerable discussion took place on the liability of the Board associated with the underground oil tanks.

Motion: to accept the report of the Finance/Property Committee. (Kendell/Noble). Carried.

4.3 Personnel Committee

Mr. Noble presented the report of the Personnel Committee. (Attached)

Motion: that all trustees from the Personnel Committee and the Assistant Director, Personnel (or designate) comprise the Board’s membership on the School Board/Teacher Liaison Committee. In the absence of a sitting member of the Personnel Committee, the Chair of the Committee will designate (to a total of three) substitute representatives to this Committee. (Noble/Langdon). Carried.

Motion: to accept the report of the Personnel Committee. (Noble/Langdon). Carried.

4.4 Programs Committee

Mr. Sceviour presented the report of the Programs Committee. (Attached)

There has been a legal opinion received with respect to Intensive Core French. The opinion says that Intensive Core French is an optional program and children are not mandated to take this program.

Mr. Langdon asked about the analysis of the Public Exam results. The Assistant Director, Programs distributed a document entitled “District Distribution of Public Exam Results”.

There has been concern provincially expressed about the results of the CRT’s for Grade 9 Mathematics. The Department and Districts are working together to try and address this concern.

The results of the CRT’s for Grade 3 Mathematics in the District has shown improvement.

Motion: to accept the report of the Programs Committee. (Sceviour/George). Carried.

4.5 Student Support Services Committee

Mr. Gibbons presented the report of the Student Support Services Committee. (Attached).

This committee will exam the allocation of Student Assistant hours to the district in future meetings.

Motion: to accept the report of the Student Support Services Committee. (Gibbons/Woolfrey). Carried.

4.6 NLSBA Update

There will be a meeting of the NLSBA on Wednesday, November 23. Both the Chair and the Director will attend this meeting.

4.7 Director’s Report

The Director reported on two topics. They were capital funding and the school in Leading Tickles.

1. Capital Funding

Operational funding comes through a grant. Capital funding is through application. Each year applications for specific projects are submitted. Government requested a five year capital funding plan. Within the restructuring plan for the District 23 capital projects have been identified. The Department is aware of these 23 projects. Since late August communication with the Department has been ongoing with respect to finalizing the scope of these projects and the assigning of consulting firms to develop design drawings and cost estimates.. A number of schools have been visited by Department officials. They include schools on the Baie Verte Peninsula , Green Bay South, Grand Falls-Windsor, Botwood, Point Leamington, Twillingate, Lewisporte, Gander, Lumsden and NewWesValley.

In order to fully implement the plan it is estimated there would need to be an infusion of 30 to 40 million dollars. The Department is hoping to have their preliminary work regarding the proposed projects completed by January 2006.

2. Air Quality concern in Leading Tickles

There is a small school in Leading Tickles with a student population of 17 (K-3). The building was built many years ago. It is a wooden structure. Mold has been found in the school. Management has received a verbal report on the air quality study. Toxic mold has been identified. Immediate action was taken to close the building for occupancy until a solution to resolve this problem is determined.

The Assistant Director, Finance will meet with the 15 parents of Leading Tickles on Wednesday, November 23. The objective is to find an alternate site for a school in the community. Two options exist. They include space at the Town Council office and at the Anglican Church hall. It will be necessary to look at the remediation required in the school building. It will also be necessary to conduct an engineering assessment to determine the cost effectiveness of the resulting solution.

5. Correspondence

A file containing the correspondence to the Board was circulated.

There was an e-mail from a concerned parent in Eastport with respect to the changes as outlined in the restructuring plan for the Eastport School System. The Chair of the Board has acknowledged receipt of this e-mail.

There were two letters from Bishop’s Falls. These letters require acknowledgement and response.

A letter was received from a resident in Grand Falls-Windsor raising the issue of smoking. The Director will prepare a reply similar to recent communication with TAG.

Correspondence was received from the Minister acknowledging the official Board name.

Correspondence was received from the Minister approving the agreement between the Board and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland for continued use of school properties.

Motion: to extend the Board Meeting to 10:15 PM (Sceviour/Gibbons). Carried.

6. New Business

6.1 Presentations by Guests: Minister of Education & Executive Officer NLSBA

Deferred – date to be determined.

6.2 Standing Committee Changes

Motion: to revise composition of committees as follows:

Clar Brown from Student Support Services Committee to Finance & Property Committee Peter Budget from Personnel Committee to Student Support Services Committee Audrey Whiteway from Finance & Property Committee to Personnel Committee. (Sceviour/Woolfrey). Carried

6.3 Closed Session

Motion: to move into closed session. (Harris/George). Carried.

Motion: to move out of closed session. (Budgell/Sceviour). Carried.

7. Date of Next Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Board will be held on December 20, 2005 in Gander.

9. Adjournment

Motion: to adjourn the meeting at 10:35 PM (Budgell/Sceviour). Carried.

______Thomas Kendell Bonnie Lane-McCarthy Chair Recorder

BLMcC/fg