1. Board Welcomes New Student Trustees
Several years ago, Saskatchewan Rivers was the first School Board in the province to have official Student Trustees join the Board at every regular meeting. Every SRPSD high school selects 2-3 representatives to participate in division-wide student leadership team, and those representatives elect two students to join the Board. At its recent meeting, Tia-Lee McCallum (PACI) and Daniel Vidal (WP Sandin) became the latest Student Trustees to take the oath of office. These two students are well-equipped with skills and passion to bring the voice of students to the Board. Their work will perhaps be more challenging than usual because the student enrolment in the division is nearly 1000 students higher than last year and almost 500 students more than projected. Student voice is an essential part of SRPSD governance to ensure the voice of students guides the decisions.
2. Student Learning Highlighted
Superintendent Jennifer Hingley provided the Board with Student Learning Accountability report that summarized student achievement from previous year. As expected, COVID learning disruptions negatively impacted student achievement in some significant ways, but there were many examples of resilience and success despite the challenges. Examples of these success stories were shared in person by a team from Arthur Pechey Public School. The team shared amazing work done by staff and students, despite the challenging circumstances. Another success in the report was the continued trend towards parity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in the provincially monitored high school courses. SRPSD Indigenous students consistently exceed their Indigenous peers from across the province and in some courses also exceed the provincial average for non-Indigenous students.
3. Protocols for Vaccination or Proof of Negative Test
Trustees had the opportunity to review and discuss the Administrative Procedure that was developed since it directed administration to do so on September 22, 2021. The new AP provides some clear rationale, timelines and processes for staff to confirm their status as fully vaccinated or to participate in regular testing for COVID. Time is provided for staff to obtain vaccination and a weeks-long transition period is also provided where the division will provide rapid antigen tests for employees who do not provide proof of vaccination. Although the Administrative Procedure applies only to staff (not students, parents or others), the Board approved a motion requiring Trustees to comply with the protocols in the AP.
The Board hopes this brief update can provide information and promote communication. Further details about the Board’s leadership and its meetings, at this link SRPSD Board Information, or under the “About Us” tab at www.srsd119.ca. You are also encouraged to contact your local Trustee.
We look forward to the connection!
| SRPSD Board of Education | |||
| Barry Hollick, Chair | bhollick@srsd119.ca | Arne Lindberg | alindberg@srsd119.ca |
| Darlene Rowden, Vice-Chair | drowden@srsd119.ca | Jaimie Smith-Windsor | jsmith-windsor@srsd119.ca |
| Cher Bloom | cbloom@srsd119.ca | Alan Nunn | anunn@srsd119.ca |
| Bill Gerow, | bgerow@srsd119.ca | Michelle Vickers | mvickers@srsd119.ca |
| Grant Gustafson | ggustafson@srsd119.ca | Bill Yeaman | byeaman@srsd119.ca |