YORK REGION DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION April 26, 2007 The Board Meeting - Public Session of the York Region District School Board was held in the Board Room of the Education Centre, Aurora at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, 2007 with Chair B. Crothers presiding and the following members present; Trustees L. Carruthers, A. DeBartolo, S. Geller, D. Giangrande, J. Hertz, G. Kerr, E. Richardson, N. Shan, C. Sheppard and M. Van Beek. Also in attendance: Student Trustees K. Hart and J. Ferguson. Regrets: Trustee N. Elgie WELCOME TO SCHOOL COUNCIL MEMBERS The Board Chair welcomed King City Secondary School Council Chair Z. Zandvakili and T. Micone, Principal of King City Secondary School to the meeting. School Council Chair K. Gray and Treasurer S. Chhom from Julliard Public School were also in attendance. MOMENT OF REFLECTION Trustee D. Giangrande delivered the moment of reflection. APPROVAL OF AGENDA (*)1. Moved by L. Carruthers, seconded by M. Van Beek: That the agenda be approved as written. - Carried - RISE AND REPORT – APRIL 26, 2007 BOARD MEETING – PRIVATE SESSION (*)2. Moved by D. Giangrande, seconded by L. Carruthers: 1) That the Board approve the recommendations in the minutes of the April 4, 2007 Joint Board Consortium meeting. 2) That the Board approve the recommendations in the Employee Services staff reports regarding teacher resignations and resignations for retirement purposes. 3) That the Board receive the Suspension Totals Reports for March 1, 2007 to March 30, 2007. 4) That the Board receive the Student Discipline Report for March 2007. BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 2 APRIL 26, 2007 5) That the York Region District School Board approve the School Administrator Appointments and Transfers as outlined in the staff report. 6) That the York Region District School Board terminate for just cause the employment of Gilmore Deans, as a York Region District School Board teacher, effective April 26, 2007, and that the Ontario College of Teachers be so notified. - Carried - LITERACY VIGNETTE At this time, Superintendent of Curriculum and Instructional Services L. Sharratt introduced the seventh of 12 literacy vignettes entitled “Job-Embedded Literacy Professional Development”. She indicated that staff continually strives to make connections between literacy and the teaching process to ensure that literacy achievement for York Region students continues to increase. This evening’s presentation on job-embedded literacy speaks to shared leadership in assessment and instruction through a literacy lens. Trustees and audience members viewed the seventh video clip in the literacy series entitled “Job-Embedded Literacy Professional Development”. The Board Chair thanked Superintendent of Curriculum and Instructional Services L. Sharratt for the informative presentation. APPLAUSE! The Director of Education made the following comments. “Sustainable Future Day contest winners Would Emma Ryman and Jasmine Chung please come forward as well as trustee Elizabeth Richardson. Mr. Chair, as you know, environmental issues have been in the news a lot lately. With our changing weather patterns, rising fuel costs and people like David Suzuki and Al Gore advocating for the environment, it seems that we are more conscientious than ever about how we live and how we treat this earth. These two students from Unionville High School decided to put pen to paper and articulate how they would help to build a sustainable future. They each submitted proposals to the “Build a Sustainable Future Contest” held at Seneca College’s Markham campus. The cement and concrete industries are supporting this initiative to encourage sustainable thinking in youth and sustainable building for our future. BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 3 APRIL 26, 2007 Emma and Jasmine competed with Seneca College and Trent University students for $15,000 worth of education awards and an invitation to a Sustainable Training Day. Emma Ryman took the top prize winning $750 for her essay entitled “The Health Farm – A Sustainable Rehabilitation Centre.” The essay described her vision of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre that treats patients by using gardening, composting, recycling and sustainable cooking and cleaning as part of the healing process. The centre would also make use of environmental features such as solar heating, wind turbines, a green roof and energy-saving devices. Jasmine Chung took second place, and $500, for her essay on a green coffee shop that would eliminate waste, from the design of the building through to its daily operations. Stephanie Carter, who could not be here tonight, won third place, and $400, for her essay on a green yoga studio which would feature a green roof and be made from recycled materials. Congratulations to all three of you for what you have done. Earth Day was only a few days ago and it is quite fitting that you are here during “Earth Week.” Your generation as a whole, is much more conscientious about how you live, and how you consume and conserve resources than any other generation before you. Perhaps one day, your proposals will become a reality and will set an example for all of us to follow. Unionville Vice-Principal, George Voumvakis is also here this evening. Stouffville District Secondary School Hockey Teams Would the representatives for the Stouffville District Secondary School hockey teams please come forward along with trustee Loralea Carruthers. Mr. Chair, the boys’ and girls’ hockey team from Stouffville District Secondary School has made the history books! Both the girls’ and the boys’ hockey teams have won the provincial championships. This is the first time ever that a school has won both provincial titles in the same year! The girls’ team defeated the number seven seeded high school in an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) tournament in Trenton. This is the third straight year that the girls’ team has medalled at OFSAA. The second-seeded boys’ hockey team won the OFSAA tournament in Whitby. Representing the teams tonight are: • Brendon Wise, Captain of the boys’ hockey team; • boys’ team coaches, Jamie Hewitt, Rob Edmundson and Scott Artindale; • girls’ team coach, Dan McConnachie. BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 4 APRIL 26, 2007 Principal Arlene Smith is also here this evening. These players are the talk of the town in Stouffville. In fact, the town is going so far as to close down the main street and hold a parade in honour of the players. Congratulations to all of you. You deserve all the recognition that you get! East Gwillimbury Figure Skaters Would members of the SHIVER team, please come forward as well as trustee Loralea Carruthers. East Gwillimbury Skating Club’s Junior Synchronized Skating Team, “SHIVER,” won a bronze medal at the Canadian National Synchronized Skating Championships in Chicoutimi, Quebec. SHIVER skated to a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ theme in a four- minute, fast-paced program. The program featured difficult choreography aimed at achieving perfect synchronization. The team, consisting of 16 athletes (13 of whom are public school students) placed second at the provincial championships. This gave them the honour of representing Ontario at the national competition which hosted over 70 teams from across Canada. SHIVER has also won a silver medal at the Provincial Synchronized Skating Championships held in North Bay, Ontario. The SHIVER teams consists of: o From Huron Heights Secondary School, Lauren Chubb; o Kristin Malecki; o Kyla Johnstone; o Alex McFayden; o Rebecca Kelly; o Samantha Kelly; o Kristy May; o Janet Devries; o Cheryl Lowe; o Stefany Thompson; o Katie Fisher; o Madeline Moritz; and o from Sharon Public School, Kelly Fisher. Out in the audience tonight, we have some of the SHIVER parents including: o Martha Moritz; o Wendy Chubb; o Robin Kelly; and o team manager Jackie Fisher. BOARD MEETING MINUTES - PUBLIC SESSION PAGE 5 APRIL 26, 2007 Huron Heights Secondary School principal Allan Hoyle has also joined us this evening. North Star April’s North Star, Marilyn Wagman, was not able to be here tonight. She plans to attend May’s Board meeting”. STUDENT TRUSTEE REPORT At this time, Student Trustee K. Hart made the following remarks. “Good evening, Mr. Chair, Mr. Director, Trustees, Staff, Ladies and Gentlemen. The theme of tonight’s report is student leadership. What it is? How it affects schools? and How is it attained? Last month, Jeff and I attended the York Region Presidents’ Council (YRPC) annual leadership conference, START ’07. Delegates from high schools across York Region attended workshops, listened to guest speakers, and participated in various seminars over the four-day span of the conference. When the delegates came home, they were a little short on sleep, but they weren’t short on spirit and inspiration. The York Region Presidents’ Council (YRPC) Executive Elections are held the week after the conference for the very reason that YRPC is a self-sustaining organization where its members motivate others to get involved in the cause for subsequent years. As a Board, many things are modeled on the ideals of self-sustainability; budgets are allocated to provide for many years of funding, administrators are placed to look after the affairs in each individual school and new schools are built so the system can sustain itself as the population grows. I believe the next logical step is to create a self- sustaining student leadership base. By promoting student leadership, self-sustaining organizations are created within schools and good-faith movements are fashioned. Imagine the efficiency created when, instead of trying to create and administer a board-wide recycling program, a group of students in each school independently creates a targeted recycling program suited to their individual needs. Each project would be continually tweaked and maintained, while still staying relevant to students. How can such a system be developed? I had the good fortune of being invited to a Cultural Proficiency seminar this past week, and heard an interesting analysis of cultural integration, and promoting diversity.