Richard Froese
Spotlight
High Prairie School Division has joined a rural municipality on a plan to grow its hamlets.
At the first meeting of the new board on Oct. 25, trustees reviewed a report from Big Lakes County on area structure plans which will provide direction to the county to manage growth in the hamlets of Joussard, Faust, and Grouard over the next 20 years.
“All dealings between High Prairie School Division and the municipalities within the HPSD service region have been exceptional,” says Tammy Henkel, who chairs the board.
Supt. Laura Poloz and Henkel met with Invistic Consulting Ltd. facilitating the survey to provide information on the division.
Area structure plans for those hamlets are the most long-overdue as ASPs were adopted for Faust in February 2006, Grouard in September 2009, and Joussard in October 2001, says a report from the county when the issue was presented to county in April.
Kinuso has a plan that is more recent.
A discussion was then held regarding the Alberta School Boards Association fall general meeting and the 2017 policies bulletin.
That included discussion around the proposed policy positions on the funding framework review, wrap-around services, school zones/playground speed limits, high school redesign funding, and participation of telecommunication companies in the municipal planning process.
Trustees reviewed the transportation report for September, which included 37 fly-bys where vehicle pass school buses stopped with flashing lights.
The majority of the violations occurred in towns with nine on school property in a designated bus pick-up and drop-off area.
Upcoming, trustees discussed the Public School Boards Association of Alberta fall general meeting Nov. 15-17 in Edmonton.
They reviewed the FGM documents including the executive reports, agenda and budget.
Further discussion focused on the 2017 policies bulletin.
That included discussion around the proposed policy positions on the funding framework review, wrap-around services, school zones / playground speed limits, high school redesign funding, and participation of telecommunication companies in the municipal planning process.
Trustees reviewed correspondence from St Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division based in Leduc.
STAR Catholic sent a letter to all board chairs, the Education Minister David Eggen deputy minister of education, and Alberta Teachers’ Association executive secretary Gordon Thomas regarding interpretations of the Teachers; Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA), which ratified an agreement in May.
In the letter, STAR Catholic states a concern regarding the Joint Interpretation Bulletin No. 2-2017.
The concern is that the bulletin was going beyond interpretive and was, in effect, introducing new language or clauses.
A discussion was held on the correspondence and the interpretation of the new agreement.