CTTCS fiscally healthy

According to a preliminary fiscal accountability report for the fourth quarter of 2012/2013 Christ the Teacher Catholic Schools (CTTCS) remains in the black.

"Our board's in a very healthy financial position," said Wilfred Hotsko, the separate division's secretary-treasurer.

The report shows the division has current net financial assets of nearly $5 million and an operating surplus of $904,000 before year-end adjustments. Hotsko said he expects that will likely be more in the $200,000 range by the time the final audited report is prepared in a couple of months.

The board accepted the report as presented at its regular meeting September 10.

Also at the September 10 meeting, the board accepted the administration's Student Welfare Accountability Report.

The report covers a wide range of topics including emergency and safety procedures, counseling programs, anti-bulling and abuse prevention programs, threat assessment procedures, teacher certification opportunities and data gathering methodologies such as the provincially-sponsored Tell Them From Me (TTFM) survey.

"Overall, what we're trying to provide to our board is evidence of the comprehensive services we provide to make sure our students are well-taken care of," explained Darrell Zaba, director of education.

The TTFM survey provides a window into how divisions are doing in terms of student welfare by directly polling students with respect to bullying, social-emotional outcomes, physical health outcomes, drivers of student outcomes and, in the case of CTTCS, spiritual outcomes.

Chad Holinaty, superintendent of education, said overall the results of the surveys were positive with CTTCS students consistently answering at or above national norms in all areas.

Holinaty was particularly pleased with data that showed students are more comfortable communicating issues over previous years.

That's a positive because we want to have an environment where students feel there is someone they can turn to at school or at home when they have concerns.

The standardized survey, available to all schools in Saskatchewan, also allows school divisions to customize a couple of questions for their particular needs. CTTCS added two questions, whether they felt daily school prayer is meaningful and engaging and whether they feel their Catholic school experience has made them a better person.

Holinaty said the data shows the number of students who agreed with these statements increased at the elementary level and remained steady at the high school level.

At both levels a large majority-almost 70 per cent for high school and over 90 per cent for elementary-either agreed or strongly agreed with both statements.