Keeping school boards
up to date with Tripartite talks

Jacquie Hansen sends an e-mail to board chairs – for circulation to trustees and senior staff  – following each Tripartite meeting. These e-mails and supporting documents are posted on the ASBA’s password-protected labour portal for future reference. For more information please contact Scott McCormack.

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ASBA to move on nine
recommendations aimed at supporting school boards’ community engagement work

Led by directors Johnette Lemke and Dave Colburn, the ASBA Community Engagement Task Force proposed nine recommendations aimed at deepening school boards’ understanding and participation in community engagement activities to the ASBA Board of Directors. The board of directors adopted all the task force’s recommendations which include:

• proposing a definition of community engagement
• offering a conference where school boards can see best practices in community engagement
• inviting the College of Alberta School Superintendents and the Alberta School Councils’  Association to work on identified barriers to community engagement

The task force’s recommendations reflected what it had heard from the 44 school boards who completed a March benchmark survey about community engagement and the task force’s own views about community engagement. The survey asked school boards about:

• their current community engagement practices
• barriers to community engagement
• supports for community engagement
• how school boards would like the ASBA to help them on the community engagement front

The On-ramp to community engagement in public education report, which will be mailed to school boards this week, includes the survey results, the task force’s observations and its recommendations. An online copy will be posted in early October. Task force chairs Colburn and Lemke will be presenting the report at the Fall General Meeting.

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Nov. 18-20 Edmonton

Dr. Gabor Maté headlines FGM

Doctor and author and former teacher Dr. Gabor Maté headlines the Fall General Meeting with his presentation Peer orientation: a look at why children are stressed; why parents and teachers are disempowered and how to restore a healthy balance in adult-child relationships. The author of four books, Dr. Maté spent 12 years working with patients suffering from hardcore drug addiction, mental illness and HIV in Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside.  Today Dr. Maté speaks internationally and is the father of three adult children and lives in Vancouver with Rae, his wife and better half of 42 years.

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LRB rules in favor of Rocky View School Board

Victory for transparency with communities

In what ASBA  President Jacquie Hansen called a victory for school boards’ freedom to communicate transparently about teacher negotiations, Alberta’s Labour Relations Board September 17 dismissed an ATA complaint against the Rocky View School Board. Read the ruling.

In June, the ATA complained to the Labour Relations Board after the Rocky View board, in keeping with its commitment to transparent communications with its community about negotiations, posted the local ATA’s opening position on its jurisdiction website. The ATA objected and filed a complaint. See the Rocky View website for background.

“This ruling says Rocky View broke no rules. It is a ruling in favor of school boards’ right to communicate information about negotiations to their communities,” said Hansen. “The ASBA intervened because we believe school boards, working within the parameters set out in labour relations law, must be free to choose how they inform their communities about negotiations with teachers.”

“Negotiations involve millions of public dollars – and represent the biggest ticket item in local school board budgets. Albertans, Canadians and citizens are demanding more transparency and accountability from their governments. This decision supports this.”

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Nov. 6 and 7, Greenwood Inn & suites, Calgary

A year in the legal life of a school board

Whether it’s getting ready for the first meeting of the year, dealing with complaints from the community, running a hearing when a teacher disagrees with a transfer or a parent disagrees with an education decision relating to their child, legal issues abound in a year around the board table.  This ASBA legal conference will cover the legal procedures a school board navigates in a school year.

Who should attend?

• Central office staff who work for the school board
• Staff who coordinate board meetings and hearing processes
• Board chairs and interested trustees
  

A block of rooms is on hold at the Greenwood Inn Calgary.
Ph. 1.888.233.6730. Reference ASBA block.

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Sept. 30 to Oct. 2

Still time to register for
ASBA Health Revolution conference

Great topics, great location great price! Register for the ASBA’s Time for a Student Health Revolution conference featuring: public health reporter André Picard; Dr. Mark Tremblay; Dr. Bruce Perry and Dr. Kim Raine. Open to all with an interest in students’ mental and physical health. Note: For every 5 people your school board registers; earn a half-price registration for a parent or student.
Conference information and registration

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Social media changing how schools communicate

School websites are taking a back-seat to Facebook and Twitter as people prefer the immediacy of text messaging and Twitter for quick updates.Time to rethink your communications? Read more in this September 17 Communications Now article.

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Deadline: Sept. 28, 2012

Enter your board for the
ASBA's Premier's Award 2012

Did your board launch an initiative last year that you are particularly proud of? Are you doing outstanding work on the public engagement front? There’s an ASBA award for that too. Check out the criteria and entry forms for these and other ASBA awards here. Nomination deadline: September 28, 2012.

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What's new @ www.asba.ab.ca

Agenda Board of Directors September 13-14 (PDF–56K)
Highlights Board of Directors September 13-14 (PDF–78K)
Agenda Board of Directors August 22 (PDF–61K)
Minutes Board of Directors August 22 (PDF–70K)
Minutes Board of Directors June14 (PDF–83K)
Minutes Board of Directors June 21 (PDF–41K)
Minutes Board of Directors July 12 (PDF–41K)
Strategic Plan final report: September 2012 (PDF–210K)
Superintendent/CEO - Boundary School District No. 51
(PDF–47K) Closing date: October 8, 2012
Superintendent/CEO - Burnaby School District (PDF–39K)
Closing date: December 2012.

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In the news...

Each day the ASBA posts education headlines
on the ASBA website.

Recent headlines

Listen to Jacquie Hansen on
Rutherford re transparency in negotiations
09/18/2012, Audio Vault Sept 18 9:30am
Ruling allows Rocky View school board
to publish details of contract talks with teachers
09/17/2012, The Calgary Herald
Past teacher wage hikes will be tough to match
09/17/2012, The Canda.com
Board axes 'zero' mark teacher
09/15/2012, The Edmonton Journal
B.C. teachers free to give
students zeros for incomplete assignments
09/17/2012, The Vancouver Sun
ASBA VP Cheryl Smith talks fees on AB Primetime
08/31/2012, Alberta Primetime

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