School District 51 (SD51) discussed fire safety, the district’s plans for an upcoming financial audit, works orders throughout the year and the completion of nutrition rooms on June 12 at its last board meeting of the school year.
Fire safety plans
A template has been developed for Fire Safety Plans for the schools in SD51.
“Each school is unique and needs to be looked at individually,” explained SD51 Secretary-treasurer Jeanette Hanlon. “We realized during the process that it was to our benefit to have our floor plans redrafted to ensure the changes made to the schools were updated.”
Floor plans have been drafted and completion of the fire safety plans is aimed to be finished before the next school year.
“Principals will be required to go over the plans with their staff in the fall,” said Hanlon.
Financial audit
Hanlon reported that June 30 is the school district’s fiscal year end.
“That is the snapshot date for our financial statements,” she said. “On June 13, the auditors will come in for one day to do a preliminary audit. They will then return to the district for five full days from July 16 to 20.”
The financial statements will be presented to the school board in September.
Numeracy results
Reading and writing assessments have been conducted by SD51 since the 2004-2005 school year.
Grades participating in the assessment range from Kindergarten to Grade 9 and the assessment takes place twice a year to track changes throughout the year.
For the 2008-2009 year, Grade 7 FSA (foundation skills assessment) results indicate a slight improvement in numeracy, writing, and reading, while Grade 4 FSA results indicate a slight improvement in numeracy, writing, and a slight decline in reading.
For the 2009-2010 year, it was much more difficult to draw conclusions from FSA results, since participation rates for the district were down to 70 per cent.
“Unfortunately, participation rates varied from school to school,” said SD51 Superintendent of Schools Michael Strukoff in his report. “Where participation rates were good, results showed improvements. Where participation rates were very low, school results were meaningless.”
The 2010-2011 district participation rates were much better, with preliminary results for
Grade 4 indicating that reading continues to improve but writing took an unexpected drop. Preliminary results for Grade 7 indicate that reading is down and writing has plateaued.
Carbon action report
SD51 was approached by the Climate Action Secretariat after submitting its Carbon Neutral Action Report.
“Climate Action asked if they could feature the Boundary Central Secondary School (BCSS) Sustainable Resource 12 program as a success story in their magazine, which highlights the results for the public sector,” said Hanlon.
A copy will be posted on the SD51 website once they receive it, stated Hanlon.
Maintenance work orders
During a nine-month period, from Sept. 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012, the maintenance department has handled 1,616 work orders.
“In the 12-month period of the previous year, Sept. 1, 2010 to Aug. 31, 2011, they completed 1,363 work orders,” said Hanlon. “Adding to their productivity is moving the maintenance staff back to five days per week and relocating the maintenance shop at Grand Forks Secondary School (GFSS) instead of Marlex (their company), which makes for less travel out to Marlex during the day.”
The employees are also utilizing the equipment at GFSS in the woodshop.
Nutrition rooms complete
The nutrition rooms at Greenwood Elementary School and BCSS are complete.
“Both schools are utilizing the space daily and are thrilled to have such a space,” said Hanlon.
Okanagan Youth Team visits
From May 14 to 16, the Okanagan Youth Team was in the Boundary district completing 11 stick game workshops in various schools.
“The stick game presentations included singing and drumming and was well received by students and Aboriginal community members,” said Director of Instruction Maxine Ruzicka. “Thanks to Boundary Metis Community Association and BANAC for hosting a potluck dinner on the Tuesday evening for the four facilitators.”
Inuit author reads to students
Inuit author Michael Kusugak and his wife Geri provided a two-hour presentation to students in the school district from May 14 to 17.
Kusugak is a full-time author and storyteller.
“He enthralled students with his storytelling style,” said Ruzicka. “His session was followed by an Inuit artifact display.
“This was a very busy week for our Aboriginal Education Teachers and schools,” added Ruzicka.
