A COVID update from Superintendent of Schools/CEO Peter Jory, information on high school athletics during COVID, policy and reports were all part of the Board of Education of School District No. 83 (North Okanagan Shuswap) virtual meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.
COVID Update: Superintendent of Schools Peter Jory reported that after quite a quiet fall, as students have returned to school in January SD83 has faced a steep uptick in COVID activity in our area.
Jory relayed to trustees that in a radio interview last fall he said that he thought a lot of the anxiety being felt locally around COVID was generated around the provincial numbers being up. “I think I said something along the lines of ‘if everyone out there would/could manage this, we here would feel a lot better here. And that would be much appreciated’. Of course, now it’s here in this community and has visited several of our school. It is now up to us as a community to respond.”
Jory reported SD83 has three areas of focus.
“First of all good swift communication with Interior Health (IH) so we can inform our staff and community as quickly as possible when there are exposures. The school system, as everyone is discovering is much, much different than other sectors in that it has typically been our practice to share as much information as possible when things are going on. In regards to personal health however, there are strict protocols around privacy so we’ve had to adjust our practices in regard to reporting of exposures and our stakeholders have had to adjust their expectations. However, we still want to share what we can as soon as we can and we’ve made some improvements in reducing that lag time between information circulating informally and the official confirmation. Full credit to the IH Team and our principals for working over the weekends to get our exposure letters out by Sunday night. It is a good example of people working together and narrowing that time down to be able to post accurate information. I know people appreciate that.”
“Cleaning is another facet of course. We are still spending an additional $25,000 per week on custodial compared to pre-COVID times. This focus is mainly on the touch surfaces and now of course additional work in any area where there has been a possible or confirmed exposure.”
“The third is following safety protocols in schools. Reports received in January have been quite positive. It seems most if not all staff have been on top of the expectations and very much doing their part to enforce them. However, given that “it” is now here, this is a good time to reinforce with everyone the importance of the layers of protection as they are called. We all need to clean our hands with soap or sanitizer, keep our distance, mask up in public and isolate when sick. I’ve reinforced this message with employees through On the Fly, with everyone through the Observer, on the radio interview, and I’m saying it here now in the public board meeting. There has been nine months of rehearsal but now is the time for us to really get serious about this stuff both in our schools and communities. The next few weeks will be critical in getting on top of the pandemic in this region. It’s on people. We are managing it well we think but we just need everyone to pay attention to the layers of protection and be really, really careful, especially in the next few weeks.”
After a suggestion by Trustee Marty Gibbons, further exploration will be done on the possibility of the district exceeding the public health order to increase the requirements for mask wearing for students in Grades 6-12 in SD83 schools. This information will be sought from the Ministry of Education, Health and the BCSTA and brought back to an upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting.
It was also suggested by Trustee Quentin Bruns that it would be very helpful if parents could alert their children’s principals as soon as possible to any possible COVID exposures so that preparations can begin quickly and help keep that lag time for notifications as short as possible.
Transportation Committee Terms of Reference: Secretary-Treasurer Alanna Cameron presented the second draft of the terms of reference for the Board’s new ad hoc Transportation Committee. The committee will be comprised of a trustee, manager of transportation, up to four principals, the director of operations and the secretary-treasurer. Representatives from others groups will be invited as the agenda subject matter warrants including reps from CUPE, the District Parent Advisory Council, First Nations Education Council, and North Okanagan-Shuswap Teachers’ Association. The Board appointed Trustee Quentin Bruns as the chair of this committee and Trustee Amanda Krebs as the alternate.
READ TERMS OF REFERENCE HERE
Superintendent’s Announcements: Jory announced that SD83’sfirst ever Mountain Bike Academy will kick off at Jackson Secondary on February 1. Students in this new academy, which was approved by the Board of Education a little bit more than a year ago, will be instructed by teacher Chris Stromgren, who has led Salmon Arm Secondary to five provincial mountain bike championships over the past number of years. “However, it won’t all be riding. Students will also do safety, first aid training, bike maintenance and fitness training. There will be a component of community planning where students will collaborate with user groups, identify needs and provide quality development of sustainable resources. Students will have the opportunity to design and actually build trails around the community, which will be much appreciated.”
Jory also mentioned the “relaunch” of the Shuswap Youth Launch. Originally scheduled for last April and postponed because of COVID, Shuswap Youth Launch has been re-designed and will now be a 3.5 hour zoom event on February 25. This event has been created by local youth to inspire and empower their peers. Event speakers include Canadian speaker, poet, musician and philanthropist Wali Shah, retired NHL goaltender Corey Hirsch, expert in abuse prevention Ashley Bendiksen, and the Shuswap’s very own internationally acclaimed make up artist, Missy Mackintosh. Thank you to Rotary, RBC’s Future Launch grant, and the team of local students who are making this possible. “This is great leadership in action.”
Jory reported that SD83’s mini robot school bus, Buster, and his three handlers have been busy visiting all the kindergarten classes in our district. The bus drivers and Buster give a half hour presentation to the students to talk about school bus safety. Each child also receives a bus safety ruler and pencil. School bus safety continues to be a focus for our transportation department as red light runners continue to be a problem. The transportation department has reached out to several places with electronic billboards to share the message not to pass the bus when the red lights are flashing. They are also handing out their coffee sleeves with similar safety messages through many local gas stations and restaurants. “We’ve noticed as a district that after an information push like this there is typically a drop off in incidences. The problem is that doesn’t tend to last. It appears we need to check in with people every few months and give everyone a little bit of a refresher so we can keep those red light runners to a bare minimum.”
District Athletics Update: Assistant Superintendent Ryan Brennan updated the Board on the district’s athletics programs. “Similar to so many aspects of school life, school athletic programs have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent PHO orders, BC School Sports directions, and District and school safety plans.”
Brennan noted one of the challenges is that school-based and community-based activities and teams were not bound by the same cohort model and many community teams were able to compete against teams from other communities. This proved challenging in our communities as student-athletes would leave the cohort model in school PE classes and on sport teams during the school day and then participate under different rules and expectations in the evenings and on weekends. With the PHO order from early December, the community and school sport guidelines have become more aligned.
“Feedback from schools are that the additional administrative load on athletic directors, coaches and sponsors of athletic teams related to cohort training and safety guidelines has been tremendous. On behalf of the Senior Leadership Team, I wish to offer my sincere appreciation and gratitude to all of the staff and volunteers who have been working tirelessly encouraging, motivating, and coaching our student-athletes during this difficult time,” commented Brennan. Trustees also extended their appreciation to those teachers who are “making it work” during COVID and continue to provide sports activities for student athletes.
READ REPORT HERE
DPAC Request: After a request from DPAC for a permanent spot on the Board’s agenda it was suggested that instead of a verbal update each month perhaps a written update for each Board meeting would be more streamline. Vice Chairperson Tennile Lachmuth suggested it be done on a trial basis to see how it goes. Chairperson Krebs will discuss the idea with the DPAC Chairperson Corryn Grayston. Krebs also noted that in her previous discussion with the DPAC Chair that it was clarified that as many trustees who are able are welcome to attend the monthly DPAC meetings.
Policy Committee: Lachmuth commented the policy committee tackled some smaller policies at its meeting in January to get them off their plate.
After a suggestion for a change to the structure of the policy, The Board of Education approved first reading of Policy 260 – Distribution of Information and Materials (formerly Policy 3080) as amended.
The Board of Education also approved the second and final reading of Policy 160 – Policy Development as amended.
The Board of Education approved the second and final reading of Policy 250 – Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (formerly Policy 3070) as presented.
The Board of Education approved the second and final reading of Policy 270 – Corporate Advertising and Sponsorship as presented.
To read the SD83 Policy Manual click here
Education Directions Report: Committee Chair Marianne VanBuskirk reported the next meeting of the committee is on Wednesday, February 3.
Labour Relations: Committee Chair Quentin Bruns reported the committee met on January 12. They discussed amongst other things the upcoming BCPSEA AGM which he will be attending along with Assistant Superintendent Ryan Brennan. Updates were also provided on the manager of finance and custodial supervisor positions. He noted the committee also discussed the provincial job evaluation project for CUPE to establish a regionalized grid, as well as the challenges around the custodial re-assignments.
Upcoming Committee of the Whole Meeting: The next committee of the whole meeting will be on February 24 at 3 p.m. On the agenda so far is livestreaming and electronic meetings, graduation data, and the enhanced student learning website.
BCSTA Update: Krebs reported that the Board Chairs had their first meeting with the new Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside. She added all trustees were sent a summary of the call. She noted there was a lot of discussion about how school district’s were gong to do a budget this year after the provincial government postponed its budget announcement until April. “We did hear that the operating grants for schools will be announced in March. On March 15 we should hear what our grant is going to be so we can still budget normally.”She also reported Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) have been delayed until March 12-15. Krebs said this brought up discussion on the misuse of the data from the FSAs and she noted Minister Whiteside said, as soon as the pandemic was over, she would look at how the data is being shared.
BCPSEA Update: Bruns reported that he and Brennan will be attending a virtual presentation of the AGM. The Board has looked at the two resolutions under consideration and received input on how to vote and he will report back to the Board next month.
FNEC Update: Trustee VanBuskirk reported the next meeting will be on Feb. 17 from 9 – noon.
Announcements & Reports:
Trustee VanBuskirk reported that with COVID she has not been visiting schools as much as usual but has been following their social media. “It’s just been very impressive how the first couple of weeks back have gone. I’d like to express my appreciation to all during the pandemic. Everyone is making the schools as safe as possible for our students and staff.”
She also reported that the Salmon Arm Active Transportation Task Force, on which she is the SD83 representative, has prepared and presented a report on January 11 to Salmon Arm City Council. She explained the report was accepted and the recommendations will be taken into consideration during Council’s budget discussions. She added she will update the SD83 transportation department with any actions that may be of interest.
Chair Krebs reported on the last DPAC meeting where there was a lot of discussion around COVID. “Mr Jory was there to help answer parent questions.”She added DPAC also noted they would like to have a rep on the transportation committee and there were a few questions about the new environmental ad hoc committee as well.
QUESTIONS: NOSTA president Graham Gomme asked that the Board pursue with the Ministry of Education extra funding to support educators who are required to isolate due to COVID exposure at work. We have members who are out of sick days or TTOCs who are unable to go to work, and we are concerned that members will have difficulty with regular expenses.
Chair Amanda Krebs suggested the question go to the upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting and in the meantime answers can be researched for what types of provincial and federal financial assistance are available to help, as well as how many of SD83’s employees are affected by this.
A RECORDING OF THIS MEETING IS AVAILABLE ON THE DISTRICT WEBSITE BY CLICKING ON THIS LINK. Please scroll down to Meeting Recordings.