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ASBA welcomes new trustees with orientation sessions in five cities
New trustees are welcome to attend these orientation workshops in the following locations.
All sessions start at 9:30 a.m. Lunch is provided. See this brochure for more details.
New trustee orientation workshops
Edmonton |
Oct. 25 |
Royal Glenora Club |
Red Deer |
Oct. 27 |
Red Deer Lodge |
Grande Prairie |
Oct. 29 |
Pomeroy Inn & Suites |
Lethbridge |
Oct. 31 |
Ericksen’s Family Restaurant |
Calgary |
Nov. 1 |
Westwinds Superstore |
Online registration starts Oct. 30, 2007
Plan now for the ASBA’s FGM
The ASBA’s FGM takes place Nov. 18 to 20 at the Westin in Edmonton. The meeting brochure is online.
Feature sessions include:
| • | The Board That Works |
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| • | Moving Your School Jurisdiction From Good to Great |
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| • | School Closures and Special Interest Groups |
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With new trustees coming on board –we are offering these sessions especially for them. Veteran trustees are also welcome to attend: |
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| • | Media Relations 101 |
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| • | Navigating the Law |
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2007 school board election round up
As of Monday Oct. 22, with 58 of 62 school boards reporting: 261 trustees were acclaimed and 165 trustees were elected. We are awaiting responses from the following school boards: Christ the Redeemer CS Regional Division, Northern Gateway Regional Division, Northland School Division and Palliser Regional Division. Last election, with all school boards reporting, 201 of the trustees were acclaimed and 232 were elected.
Eight school boards did not get enough candidates to fill the available seats
Christ the Redeemer Catholic Separate Reg. Div. No. 3
Golden Hills School Div. No. 75
Holy Family Catholic Regional Div. No. 37
Living Waters Catholic Regional Div. No. 42
Northern Lights School Div. No. 69
Northland School Div. No. 61
Peace River School Div. No. 10
Prairie Rose School Div. No. 8
Two school boards held plebiscites to raise funds -- Grande Prairie Public and Grande Yellowhead School Division. Neither plebiscite passed.
ASBA President Maureen Kubinec did not run in the election. In accordance with the association’s bylaws she will serve as president until a new president is elected at the November Fall General Meeting.
Visit the ASBA website for an updated list of trustees serving on Alberta school boards for the 2007-2010 term.
Under the dome…
The fall sitting of the legislature is set start Nov. 5, 2007.
Premier Ed Stelmach’s State of the Province address will be aired on Oct. 24, 2007 at 6:40 p.m. on CTV or www.alberta.ca.
2007 trustee orientation book online
In an election year, the ASBA prepares an orientation book for new and returning trustees. The 2007 edition – Serving on school board – a guide to trusteeship and school boards – is online. The book will be mailed to jurisdiction offices and trustees’ homes on Oct. 24. Topics covered include:
| • | The history of education in Alberta |
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| • | The role of the school board |
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| • | The board organizational meeting |
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| • | Education finance |
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| • | About the ASBA |
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| • | Who’s who in education in Alberta |
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| • | Education acronyms |
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| • | Education jargon |
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| • | FAQs – a legal perspective |
Congratulations long service trustees
Congratulations and thank you to the 2007 long service recipients.
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Reviews 2006-07 ASBA annual report
The ASBA publishes an annual report summarizing the association’s work on behalf of school boards over the previous school year. Thank you to the 26 readers who completed the evaluation for the 2006-2007 annual report.
Asked to comment about the overall quality of the report,
13 readers said the report was excellent
12 said it was very good and
1 said it was good.
In response to the question: What would you change to improve future annual reports, readers said:
| • | It contains good information. |
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| • | I liked the wide range of photos. Just the right amounts of finance info. Liked the info on the Zones. |
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| • | Send it out sooner. |
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| • | Good to see different groups featured each year. |
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| • | This is a great report. It is well done. I especially liked the action shots of the staff. |
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| • | Zone highlights a little more thorough. |
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| • | You always do these reports so well. Thanks |
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| • | Well written. So much easier to read now. Financials on one page and all we want to see is clearly stated. All staff on one easy page so easily found. When looking for that person or department. Good job. |
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| • | Include goals for next year. |
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| • | Maureen you’ve been great – sorry to see you are leaving. I appreciated the Zone highlights – there’s much we can learn from each other. Your goals for next three years. What was accomplished. |
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| • | Color was nice last year but sure black and white is cheaper |
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| • | Although I don’t find the information all that interesting it is information that needs to be communicated to the members. This report was written very clearly and concisely. Good job. Can’t think of any improvements. |
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| • | Fine as is. I like the photos. |
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| • | Nothing – kept it short and to the point. |
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| • | Really enjoyed seeing pictures of office staff included. |
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| • | Nothing this was an excellent, professionally written and presented report. Thank you. |
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| • | Colored photos make it more appealing. |
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| • | Like the simplicity – new to the role of assistant superintendent – informative document. |
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| • | An extremely useful document, the only improvement I can think of is having it in color. The front photo of all the staff is genius. |
Zones host presentation of new Minister’s Education Leadership Recognition Award
The Minister’s Educational Leadership Recognition Award (MELRA) was created by Alberta Education in collaboration with key education stakeholder representatives to formally recognize and celebrate improvement and/or high achievement of jurisdiction leadership teams which are comprised of boards and jurisdiction administrators. It is based on the Accountability Pillar which was designed by stakeholders as a means of collecting objective criteria and data results from a broad set of measures related to school quality. The inaugural presentation of these awards will take place at upcoming Zone meetings. The first two presentations will take place:
Zone 5
9 a.m., Friday, Nov. 2.
Holiday Inn, 1250 McKinnon Drive NE Calgary
Zone 2/3
9:45 a.m., Friday, Nov. 23
St. Anthony’s Centre 10425 – 84 Avenue Edmonton
For more information about the MELRA awards, please visit the Alberta Education website.
What’s new online?
Good reads about governance for school trustees
• a reading list compiled by the Canadian School Boards Association.
