Board Meeting Highlights for August 2016
For Immediate Release
August 31, 2016
GUELPH, Ontario – The August meeting of the Upper Grand District School Board was held on August 30, 2016. The following provides highlights from the meeting.
Director’s Objectives 2016-17
Director of Education, Martha Rogers provided the board with her objectives for the coming school year. Based on four strategic directions established by the board – Achieving Excellence, Promoting Well-Being, Ensuring Equity of Access and Opportunity, and Enhancing Public Confidence – there is a variety of action plans to guide the work of the board throughout the year, and all are aligned with the Ministry of Education’s directions.
Action steps for achieving excellence include Board Improvement Planning including the implementation and review of the Board French Action Plan and the development of the UGDSB Renewed Math Strategy in accordance with Ministry guidelines and funding. The Early Years Strategy (JK-3) will be implemented, reviewed and revised to align with Ministry direction. The board will continue to implement the Environmental Sustainability Action Plan and the Learning Choices Policy and Procedures. Staff will be supported and developed through learning opportunities via the board’s leadership development program. In-services and job-embedded opportunities and training will be provided to staff.
In the area of promoting well-being, the board will continue to support the well-being of students by promoting positive mental health, fostering safe and accepting schools, developing healthy schools and supporting equity and inclusive education initiatives. Staff will be provided with programs and services that offer support on a personal and professional level. The board will continue its implementation of a multi-year Health and Safety Plan to ensure a safe working and learning environment.
The board will ensure equity of access and opportunity by providing programs and services that meet the learning needs of students with special education needs. At risk students will be provided with Student Success, Engagement and Re-engagement programs and services. Career and life-planning courses will be provided for all students from JK-12. The board will continue the implementation of the International Baccalaureate program and will continue to provide programs and services for international students and adult learners. The board will also provide equitable access to technology for students and schools to increase learning opportunities.
Public confidence will be highlighted through reviewing and revising the Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan in accordance with regulations under the Ontario Green Energy Act. The board will initiate the design of Ministry-approved Capital Projects and Renovation Projects, and develop and implement the 2016-17 Renewal Plan for school facilities, while ensuring efficiency and accountability in the business operations of the board.
The board will continue to support parent and community engagement in board-level committees including the Special Education Advisory Committee, the Parent Involvement Committee and the Aboriginal Advisory Committee. The board will also establish a Secondary French Review Committee and develop the French Second Language Advisory Committee.
Summer Project Update
Paul Scinocca, Operations Officer, provided trustees with an update of the construction and renewal work done over the summer. Along with building a new school, École Guelph Lake Public School, that will open to students on Sept. 6, numerous other projects took place at schools across the district.
Pictures showing the work that was done in demolition, rebuilding and repair were highlights of the presentation. Work completed this summer ranged from replacing flooring and switching to energy-efficient lighting, to upgrading washrooms, mechanical and electrical work, painting, paving and roofing upgrades.
Special Education Plan and Report
School boards are required by the Ministry of Education to maintain a Special Education Plan, to review it annually, and to amend it from time to time to meet the current needs of its exceptional students. The board’s Special Education Plan is to inform the Ministry and the public about special education programs and services that are provided by the board in accordance with legislation and Ministry policy on special education. The board is also required to prepare and approve a report on the special education programs and special education services provided by the board.
At the August board meeting, Trustees received the Special Education Report 2015-2016 and approved the Special Education Plan 2016-2017. Both documents will be made available on the board website.
School Travel Planning in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph
Trustees were given a presentation by board staff on the results of a pilot project that examined school travel planning in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and in the city of Toronto.
The Ministry-funded study looked at active school travel, which supports the Ministry’s goal of promoting the well-being of children and youth.
School Travel Planning (STP) is a process that brings together stakeholders to identify barriers to active transportation and to develop an action plan to overcome those barriers.
During the study, staff looked at improving infrastructure to address physical barriers to active travel, encouraged active travel through events that promoted walking and cycling to school, managed traffic congestion and pedestrian safety and monitored pilot schools to see if people changed their mode of travel.
Currently, staff is working on developing school maps that highlight popular walking and cycling routes to schools, along with locations of crossing guards and crosswalks, and locations for parents to park their car and walk a few blocks to school when dropping off their children.
North Dufferin Boundary Review
Trustees approved the initiation of a boundary review in North Dufferin. Information on the boundary review is currently available on the board website at www.ugdsb.ca/ndbr and will be posted on individual school websites. Direct communication will be sent home with students on Sept. 6.
The next regular monthly meeting will be held by on Tues. Sept. 27, 2016, at the Guelph Board Office, 500 Victoria Road North. Everyone is welcome to attend. The meeting begins at 7 p.m.
-30-
For more information:
Heather Loney, Communications and Community Engagement Officer
Upper Grand District School Board
519-822-4420 ext.725
[email protected]
Categories: News