I am very excited that we approved our live-streaming equipment at the board meeting tonight!

At our Standing Committee for Operations and Finance, we had an update on funding announcements from the provincial government.

I am very pleased that trustees voted in favour of live-streaming our meetings tonight. Previously, I brought a motion which stated:

That the GECDSB undertake a cost effective strategy to live video-stream public board meetings and standing committee meetings.

Education Development Charges were the hot topic for this evening. School boards use EDCs to fund the purchase of land to build or expand schools. The rates are set by school boards within parameters set out by the provincial government. Municipalities then collect the EDCs from developers on our behalf. 

Tonight trustees supported a motion to initiate International Baccalaureate programming in the "core".

The motion was brought by Trustee Cipkar, one of the area trustees. There was much discussion including that a previous motion in 2018 to expand IB throughout the board asked that consideration be given to the core schools. Instead, a decision was made at the last meeting to bring IB to Glenwood in south Windsor, which I supported. Trustees also discussed what is meant by the core. This motion defined the core as the Kennedy and Walkerville area of schools. The motion also identified that special consideration be given to under-capacity schools.

While I support all of this and believe that we need to protect the core especially because the city has an ongoing Improvement Plan for the core / downtown area that we should not work against, I think we need a board-wide plan for expanding IB. It is a very popular program, but it is also expensive and I believe a deliberate plan is needed. It could include the Long-Term Accommodation Plan as well as statements of interest from schools as well as a needs assessment that includes parent input.  

Trustee Cipkar presented an excellent discussion. I did vote against the motion, but, again, not because I disagree with the idea of IB in the core, but that I believe a plan is the way to go with this type of programming. 

The next meeting is on April 2. See you there!

Jessica

I am proud that the GECDSB passed a motion tonight to fly Pride flags at elementary schools for one week in June.

The major item on the Education Committee tonight was a recommendation from administration to create International Baccalaureate programming for the elementary panel at Glenwood and Margaret D. Bennie Public Schools. This would represent a pilot of elementary IB. We currently offer IB at the secondary level at Riverside and Leamington.

Happy New Year! Trustees received the Long-Term Accommodation Plan (LTAP) tonight which administration puts together annually.

We received a presentation about updates to the Education Development Charges. These are charged by municipalities on behalf of school boards which are acquiring sites for new builds usually as a result of an increase in enrolment often resulting from new residential developments. 

Tonight was our Inaugural Meeting of the new Board of Trustees!