Good Spirit School Division (GSSD) held their regular meeting of the board for November via Zoom on Thursday, November 19th. All Trustees were in attendance at the meeting including Bob Simpson, Chairperson, Jaime Johnson, Vice-Chairperson, Trustees Jade Anderson, Chris Balyski, Gilda Dokuchie, Gord Gendur, Shannon Leson, Jan Morrison, Lois Smandych, Nicole Pohl and Steve Variyan. Division office staff in attendance included Assistant to the Director Heather Morris, Director of Education/CEO Quintin Robertson, Chief Financial Officer Keith Gervais and Deputy Director of Education Donna Kriger.
Some highlights of the meeting are provided below and the full highlight report can be found atwww.gssd.ca
Audited Financial Statement for 2019-20
Chief Financial Officer, Keith Gervais, presented the 2019-20 Audited Financial statement to the Board of Education. He discussed the audit which was completed by Gary Kreklewich of Miller Moar Grodecki Kreklewich & Chorney. The notes from the school boar state, “The verbal report from the auditor indicated that the audit went very smooth and staff were prepared and enjoyable to work with.”
All reports were filed with the Ministry of Education on time and the financial report details can be found online.
Advocacy Session
Advocacy groups were represented at the meeting including Karla Sastaunik, President of the CUPE 4784 local. The GSSD meeting notes stated she “began the session by sharing her appreciation for the work done at the division level during the COVID-19 pandemic. Karla referenced her conversations with CUPE members from across the province and country and expressed her gratefulness for the communication and involvement GSSD has shown to her and her members regarding the planning around the pandemic. Karla highlighted the excellent relationship that CUPE 4784 has with the leadership team of GSSD and that in many ways this was unique from other CUPE locals and their employer. Karla credited the extraordinary amount of work invested by Director Quintin Robertson, Assistant to the Director, Heather Morris and other members of the senior leadership team in keeping employees safe and in ensuring timely communication is shared across the school division.”
Next, the report mentions Susan Avramenko, who made a statement representing the Deer Park Employees Association (DPEA). The highlights mentions “some of the challenges that bus drivers were experiencing regarding the failure to use proper personnel protective equipment (PPE) by a small percentage of the student ridership. Director Quintin Robertson and the Board of Education expressed their commitment to ensuring that PPE was being worn consistently and properly to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission to both students and drivers.”
It was then stated that “Good Spirit Teachers Association (GSTA) President, Stuart Wilson, and LINC Chair, Ron Lutz, shared their appreciation for the measures put in place to ensure the safety of staff and students in schools. Stuart and Ron both identified that teachers are at times struggling with balancing the additional responsibilities and stresses that accompany life during a pandemic. Ron Lutz would have brought forth concerns regarding the many newly introduced technology platforms during the 2020-21 school year and asked that consideration be given to providing teachers with additional support with mastering the technology. Both Stuart and Ron expressed their genuine appreciation to Director Quintin Robertson, his leadership team and the Board of Education for the planning and communication that employees across the division have experienced since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
New Business
Assistant to the Director Heather Morris shared that the first draft of the non-financial portion of the 2019-20 Annual Report was submitted to the Ministry for review on October 19, 2020; a second review of the draft was not required. Next, the completed financial reporting sections will be included so the annual report can be submitted and reviewed again. The approved report will then be submitted to the Ministry to be presented in the legislature and will finally be posted on the GSSD website.
Organizational Meeting
The Board of Education conducted its organizational meeting for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. Bob Simpson was named Board Chairperson and Jaime Johnson was named Board Vice-Chair through acclamation. Committees of the Board were decided. Board indemnities and remuneration will remain unchanged for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.
Director’s Report
Service Recognition and Sea Star Awards
The Board of Education engaged in discussion regarding the presentation and awarding of the GSSD annual service recognition awards and Sea Star awards. The Sea Star awards are an annual acknowledgement of the staff throughout GSSD.
Financial Update
Chief Financial Officer, Keith Gervais, presented the Board of Education with an updated financial report for the current operational year.
Utilizing GSSD Communiques with SCCs
Director/CEO Robertson led the Board through a discussion regarding the six main roles of School Community Councils (SCC). Some of these highlighted roles included, “SCCs should have a community profile that describes the economic, social and health conditions of their community, that also identifies the community’s needs and aspirations related to children and youth learning and well-being...The purpose of SCCs is encouragement and support the involvement of parents and the community as partners to improve student learning and well-being. SCCs are an important part of the governance of the school division and a critical connecting link between both the school and community.”
The report mentions how Robertson ended his discussion by sharing the many ways that GSSD has communicated with School Community Councils, endeavouring to keep them apprised of the ever-evolving business within the division.
GSSD Remote Learning
Donna Kriger, Deputy Director of Education, updated the Board on the GSSD Distance Learning School. The report mentioned approximately 380 students are enrolled to date in the K-12 Distance Learning School. The services of 18 full-time equivalent teachers are available to the program, along with Educational Assistants, Administrative Assistant, Interventionist, School Counselor, and Speech Pathologist, their time has been reassigned to the online school. Val Ruf (Student Services Coordinator), Mark Forsythe (Superintendent of Education) and Donna Kriger (Deputy Director) will oversee the services and operations for the program.
Edsby and MySchool Sask
Heather Morris, Assistant to the Director, gave a background, as well as an update regarding MySchoolSask (MSS) and Edsby; these are two new platforms that staff are using to manage student information and how they report grades.
Morris allotted to what each platform is capable of accomplishing, and that the implementation of the platforms has brought some challenges. She is confident that they will bring overall improvement to the security necessary for student information, reporting student grades and increasing communication through an improved parent portal.
Transportation Scan Cards
The Board of Education was given an update that involves a pilot project where eight GSSD buses will use student scan cards to track ridership. The scan card project will allow the Transportation Department to track students on boarding and disembarking of division buses. The report stated that this “will allow the division to make informed decisions regarding out of attendance area requests, courtesy ridership and future fleet requirements. Most importantly, the real-time data provided by the scan cards would supply important information in the event of a lost child or bus accident. Communication will be sent to families who will be affected by the new technology. Cards will be handed out to students at the school in which they attend.”
