October 2, 2009

ASBA responds to funding cuts

When economic times turn
give back school board savings
See ASBA Vice-president Jacquie Hansen’s interview on Primetime Alberta where she calls on the provincial government to return savings scooped by the provincial government during the recently announced in-year cuts to public education.

ASBA works with ATA/ASCA to protest cuts
In the face of a projected $400 million in cuts to Alberta’s public education system, the ASBA is joining the Alberta Teachers’ Association and the Alberta School Councils Association in a media and web-based campaign against the cuts. “It is important for the public to understand the possible implications of large budget cuts to education,” said ASBA President Heather Welwood. “When education stakeholders stand together, more voices are heard to make a difference for students.”

The aim is to raise public awareness about the cuts and to galvanize citizens to contact their MLAs. TV and radio ads will be aired in mid-October and will be linked to a website where Albertans can register their concerns about the cuts with MLAs. 

While the ATA is bankrolling the campaign, ATA President Carol Henderson said school boards and school councils endorsement are key to the initiative’s success. “The participation of our two partners is critical; our work together will show the government and the citizens of Alberta the depth and breadth of our shared concern for the future of public education in this province.”

The three partners have a shared understanding of the importance of education, Henderson says.  “Alberta is a world leader in education because the province has made sensible investments in our schools, and it is exactly this type of investment that will equip Albertans to prosper even though the future right now may appear uncertain.”

ASBA submission to School Act review
ASBA Executive Director David Anderson will represent the ASBA on the School Act Review committee. The deadline for stakeholder submissions is October 30. The ASBA has developed a draft submission based on current association policy. School boards are invited to review and comment on this proposed submission at a series of meetings to be held in each of the Zones.
Zone 1     October 21    Grande Prairie Inn
Zone 2/3  October 16    Coast Edmonton Plaza
Zone 4     October 26    Clearview School Division
Zone 5     October 13    Greenwood Inn, Calgary
Zone 6     October 14    Country Kitchen, Lethbridge
Video Conference Meeting October 22 ASBA Office

For more information contact , Manager Special Initiatives.

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Trustee marks 30 years of service
Congratulations and thank you to these trustees who hit special milestones: Robert Vasseur, Evergreen CSRD No. 20 – 30 years; Gerald Bernakevitch, Evergreen CSRD No. 20 – 24 years and Elk Island Public Schools’ Pat McLauchlan and Pembina Hills Regional Division’s Clayton Jespersen and Ken Nagel who have each served as school trustee for 21 years. They – and the following trustees – will receive long service awards at upcoming Zone meetings. The ASBA recognizes long serving trustees annually. For more information contact .

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Deadline noon, November 18
Have an emergent issue for FGM?
School boards who want to submit emergent issues for consideration at the Fall General Meeting should send it to before noon on November 18.  Please review the definition of an  emergent issue: it should have come up since the deadline for submitting “regular” issues (May 22, 2009) and it should comply with the principles for association policy set out in ASBA Board of Directors’ policy GP-12 (see pages 22-18 and 22-19 of the ASBA Governance Handbook). The ASBA Policies Bulletin will be emailed to boards October 30. Re-drafted proposed policy positions for FGM 2009 will be included along with association advocacy highlights for 2008-2009.

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Feedback to 2008-09 annual report
Thank you to the 47 people who completed the online evaluation of the 2008-09 annual report. Sixty-six per cent of respondents rated the report as very good and 21 per cent said it was excellent.
Respondents asked and answered as follows:
Is the report valuable?
93 per cent agreed
Is the report interesting?
84 per cent agreed
Did the report have information you didn’t know?
72 per cent agreed
Did the report help you understand the ASBA's work? 
82 per cent agreed

Feedback about the value statement
This year we included information about the services each school board purchased from the ASBA and our estimate of the savings to school boards as a result. Respondents were asked and answered as follows:
Was the information about services purchased useful?
61 per cent strongly agreed; 31 per cent agreed
Was the information about estimated savings useful?
53 per cent strongly agreed; 31 per cent agreed
Would you like to receive this information each year?
55 per cent strongly agreed; 31 per cent agreed.

Note: Respondents from one board questioned the estimated savings calculation. We encourage anyone with questions to contact , Director of Finance. Again thank you for your feedback. We consider your feedback as we develop this report each year.

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Update: Setting the Direction initiative
Consultant Steve Cymbol represents the ASBA on the Setting the Direction Working Group. He attended the first of four working group meetings scheduled for this year and reports:

• it’s status quo for special education this year: 2009-10
• government is reviewing the proposed framework
• pending acceptance of the framework, an implementation plan will be developed
• department staff are focused on ensuring the momentum to change special education created over last year is not lost – and that implementation occurs as soon as possible.
  

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What's new @www.asba.ab.ca?
Check out the October edition of Communications Now for these articles:

• 8 basic listening skills
• Host a successful meeting
• Working with afterschool programs
• Connecting with religious organizations
• Get ready for H1N1
• Web links – Get free refurbished computers
  

Communications Now is a monthly package of communications tips distributed to jurisdiction offices as a service to school boards. For more information contact .

Agenda Board of Directors
October 8-9, 2009 (PDF–57K)
Draft Minutes Board of Directors
September 10-11, 2009 (PDF–125K)
Job postings
Secretary-Treasurer - Lakeland RCSSD No. 150
(PDF–19K)

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In the news....
Kudos for public education from Premier Stelmach
Acknowledging the current brouhaha in health, Premier Ed Stelmach gave a very positive assessment of education in Alberta telling newspaper editors and reporters the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association’s annual meeting: “Alberta excels at education. We spend the money and we get results. But we’re also spending a lot of money on health care – and not getting the results we expect.”  As reported in the September 18 edition of Alberta Scan.

See the ASBA website for media stories about education. In this week's headlines:
We scan and post media articles every day on the ASBA website. These headlines are making news across the province:
Palisades nominated for Premier’s award
Transgendered teacher takes Greater St. Albert Catholic board to human rights commission
High school completion rates stalls
Inspiring Education discourse not complete–but conversation opens about School Act
In-year cuts = $160 per student for Grande Yellowhead Reg. Division

Read more>

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