Highlights of the May 2012 board meeting

GUELPH, Ontario -- The Regular Monthly meeting of the Upper Grand District School Board was held on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. Here are the highlights of the meeting.

Secondary Vice-principal Eligibility List Appointment

Congratulations to Joe Burns, a teacher at Erin District High School who was appointed to the secondary Vice-principals Eligibility List.

Principal/Vice-principal Transfers and Appointments

Due to a number of resignations to retirement, administrators going on and returning from leaves of absence, and changes in assignments for career growth, the board received the principal and vice-principal transfers and appointments effective September 1, 2012 (unless otherwise noted). The lists are included with this release. Congratulations to all.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Program

Trustees approved a feasibility study to determine if the board should offer the IB Program. The study will establish a Learning Choices Committee which will make site visits or seek presentations from schools in other boards that offer the program, host a parent and student information night, and create a survey to gain feedback. It will develop a comprehensive report that will analyse the benefits and challenges of offering the program, and provide an overview of the costs involved, transportation, equity and student fees, among other details. The committee will be led by an outside consultant. It is expected to complete and present its report by the end of the current year (2012). The study is estimated to cost $17,850.00.

Lee Street Boundary Review

The boundary for the proposed new school to be built on Lee Street in Guelph’s east end was approved. The school will help reduce enrolment pressures at Ken Danby PS. The selected Scenario – Scenario C – is presented (with maps) in the Lee Street Boundary Review Report # 3, posted on the board’s website. Along with boundary changes for Ken Danby PS, there are slight modifications to the boundaries of Ottawa Crescent and Laurine Avenue public schools. Due to overcrowding at Ken Danby and the implementation of Full Day Kindergarten students destined for the new school will be attending the newly-built King George (Holding) school for the 2013-14 school year before moving into Lee Street.

Lee Street Building Project and Building Committee

The new Lee Street school will be constructed to accommodate a JK to Grade 8 program with a target opening date of September 2014. A building committee will be established with three trustee representatives – Jennifer Waterston, Mark Bailey and Susan Moziar. Due to challenges of the site a number of architectural firms will be invited to prepare and submit proposals for the design of the school building.

Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC)

Trustees agreed to endorse a letter being sent to the Minister of Community and Social Services, the Hon. John Milloy, concerning the transition process for students to Developmental Services Ontario (DSO). Concern exists that many students will no longer be eligible for services or programming options after they turn 18 years of age as determined by the access parameters and the cost of testing. In support of SEAC’s letter the board will also send its concerns in a separate letter.

Disposal of Board Property Policy

Trustees approved revisions to the board’s policy # 311 Disposal of Board Property. The revisions provide criteria for situations such as the acquisition or disposal of small parcels of land and easements. After following the criteria outlined in Ontario Regulation 444/98 the board may select alternative competitive processes for disposing of property, such as request of offer (tender), request for proposal, a real estate listing, pubic auction or any combination of processes. The revised policy will be posted on the board’s website.

Interim Financial Report 2011-12

The board receives updates on its financial position three times each year, as of October 31, March 31, and the end of August. The report presented provides a comparison of the percentage of budget spent from year to year at March 31. Enrolment is higher than anticipated, based on statistics sent to the Ministry, providing an increase in funding to the board. At March 31, 2012, 57.6% of the budget had been expended.

Laurine Avenue PS Construction Tender and Final Budget

Based on recommendations from the project architect, Hossack and Associates, the winning tender for the demolition and reconstruction of Laurine Avenue Public School was awarded to Tambro Construction Ltd. The low bidder at $5.475 million, Tambro was one of 11 pre-qualified general contractors. The final budget for the building of the school, including contingencies for the site and demolition was approved at $6.705 million. This is approximately $154,000 less than the projected expenditures budget and under the amount of funding provided by the Ministry.

Custodians’ Green Awards

Ten schools have been awarded $500 each under the Operations Department’s Custodians’ Green Initiative Awards for 2012. The award encourages school environmental clubs and committees to work with their custodial teams and produce plans to reduce energy consumption. All of the applications received this year won awards. The schools are: Aberfoyle, Brisbane, Erin PS, GCVI, John McCrae, Minto-Clifford, Paisley Road, Sir Isaac Brock, Waverley Drive and Westminster Woods. Strategies include ensuring lights and computers are turned off when not in use, windows and shades are closed, along with environmental initiatives such as litterless lunches, recycling and compost programs. Although it is difficult to measure the energy savings, there is some documentation to prove that this is resulting. Funding comes from a variety of sources including rebates and savings and applications for funding from external sources. Spot checks and interviews were performed over the course of the year to ensure that schools demonstrated commitment to their plans. The awards will be presented by the school custodians to the school and the money will be used to support environmental initiatives.

Student Trustees

The Student Senate, led by the student trustees, was complimented for its Environmental Leadership Conference held earlier in the month. All of the planning and organization was done by the students who want to make this an annual event for secondary schools. It was also noted that at the June Business Operations Committee the student trustees will present a motion regarding the use of plastic water bottles at schools.

Trustee Correspondence

In response to correspondence between the Vice Chair and the Chair of the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, the Chair will work with staff to develop a response to the Ottawa Carleton board’s request for consideration of the idea to use Education Development Charges (EDCs) to fund capital projects.

The next monthly meeting of the Board will be held on June 26, 2012, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Board Room at the Guelph Office, 500 Victoria Road North. At this meeting, a recommendation to approve the budget will be considered.

Budget meetings have also been scheduled for the public:

Monday June 4, 7:00 p.m. – Budget Presentation
Monday June 11, 7:00 p.m. – Delegations on the Budget (if any)
Tuesday June 26 – Consideration of the Budget Recommendations

For more information:

Maggie McFadzen, Communications Officer
519-822-4420 ext. 725
maggie.mcfadzen@ugdsb.on.ca

Mark Weidmark, Administrative Officer - Communications
519-822-4420 ext. 544
mark.weidmark@ugdsb.on.ca