Diary of a Mad Trustee Open Board Meeting November 16th 2011

Posted on November 30, 2011 by eden

 Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice

                                       Resist the Beginning…Consider the End

 

This meeting was the last of the old board and as such was fairly tranquil – many of us were reflecting on those who were leaving for good after many years of service and the changes to come if the election should grant the opportunity.

Trustees enjoyed a very endearing slide show presentation assembled by young ones from Quamichan about their trip to the river near the Boys Road Reserve to participate in spear fishing; there was a report about concluding the installation of the modulars at 3 district schools. There were the usual approvals for retirements and school trips.

My mind wandered a bit simply because some of us had been up to our shorts in the election campaign for many weeks. I contemplated the homilies offered up at the all candidates meetings in light of the challenges we have in our district. Some people are in for a surprise. Apart from me of course who never ceases to be shocked at the chaos and deterioration designed by our overlords at the Leg.

Largely unsullied by the slightest insight from attending our board meetings, some candidates had told us how clearly they understand the problems; how confident they are in their creative solutions for our funding circumstances. I found myself thinking about the heroic lengths to which our employees and families already travel to embrace our kids and advance their learning prospects – against all odds, unswervingly valiant despite the years stretching on with mounting shortfalls.

I thought about the families who try to raise extra money for basic classroom needs from shrinking pocketbooks in spare time which these days does not exist for anyone.

I thought about the teachers who buy food, clothes, books and supplies with their own money – and never receive a dollar in remuneration and little thanks.

I thought of the resourcefulness of our EA’s as they try to compensate for the lack of person power in the classrooms. Or those who must attempt to make up the huge gap left by the reversals in our schools brought on by cuts to Intensive Behaviour programs, Alternate Education and non enrolling teaching positions in literacy, numeracy, technology, resource time and counseling.

I pondered the range of activities teachers must now undertake to provide what our teacher/ librarians once did now that over half of them are gone.

Creativity? Ingenuity?

Whenever the Ministry has flounced in to download yet another bureaucratic train wreck e.g. BCESIS, Bill 33, FDK, 21st Century Learning and a swarm of ridiculous contentless fads without the attendant resources- our Leonardo Da Vinci’s in all areas of our district step up their game. Not enough? No we must all become captains of commerce and devise schemes to generate cash on top of our real jobs. Meanwhile we are distracted from the fact our kids are being robbed while the government uses our best intentions to obscure the obvious – and we all feel it is somehow our fault for not being innovative enough.

What dog poop it all is!!

Long ago, this province funded its public schools largely through the practice of local taxation. A school tax was levied as part of the property tax and from this revenue, the needs of our school districts were met. It had something to recommend it as this gave communities some vital ownership over their schools. The decision to resource them reflected community priorities as of course taxes could be stayed or raised depending on need or inclination. However, by the early 1980s, the autonomy of local school boards was being constrained in response to what the government of the day regarded as rising educational costs (due to growing enrollments- ironic, eh?). The predictable ideological reaction prompted the introduction of public sector restraint legislation, which capped local spending and removed board authority to tax commercial and industrial property.

 In 1990/1991, this province after a period of change, soul searching and discourse finally moved to block funding whereby the entire school tax portion of the property tax was remitted to the provincial coffers and distributed from there to all school districts in concurrence with other funding from the provincial pot. The intention was commendable and sought to bring equity to the schools all over BC.

Though it was fine to have locally funded schools you can well imagine this bred deep inequality from district to district, as some had tremendous revenue bases and some did not. If all our children were to have the same opportunities for learning, wealth had to be transferred from the wealthiest to the poorest and a level field established everywhere. Sane and sensible and just and oh so Canadian.

So…here we are. The province has copped the lot in the name of consistency and school boards are entirely dependent on the largesse of Victoria for the operation of their districts. If Victoria decides to apply the contents of the purse swollen by taxation from our communities to priorities which are not our own, we are left trying to figure out how to pay the district hydro bill among many other things.

Our employees, our families and our trustees have a job to do and frankly, they are doing it. Guiding the district, nurturing our children, supporting our employees, tending our physical plant- these are the critical functions we all perform despite the turmoil and insufficiencies visited on us. We are not responsible for coming up with dazzling solutions to a problem designed by the very people who are obligated to provide us with the revenue we need to do these jobs.

When the province took over collecting the money and further for distributing those funds they became the sole custodians of our needs. The money they allocate is ours by right and there is no reason to believe we have to add one cent to the pot we have already paid into. You cannot have it both ways – either distribute the people’s money for the people’s needs or let someone else collect the revenue.

If we want to apply creativity decisively we should club together  and poetically let the extremists at the Treasury Board know there is a serious disconnect between what they think is important  and what we know is vital for our families. That requires perseverance and a touch of the artistic spirit.

So lets continue to be creative and support all the wonderful people who inhabit our schools from the tiniest kindergartener to the veteran teacher to the cheerful secretaries; the gifted trades people, the hardworking and diligent custodians, the courageous bus drivers; the tireless principals, the ungainly ‘about to be adult’ high school students, the skilled managers; the troubled, the sad, the overwhelmed the hopeful, the brilliant and those hanging on by their finger nails to their dreams.

And of course the thoughtful and beleaguered trustees.

Let the government do their job and provide the money we need to do ours without all this whining and distortion. We have not allowed ourselves to be taxed so they can tell us to mount bake sales or run offshore businesses to meet the needs of our kids. They have our money. We need it and damnit we are going to get it all back.

That is a fundraising campaign I can get behind and so should you. Anything else is just endorsing our own victimhood. 

So the meeting ended and the credits rolled – the last installment in a series of mocumentaries by Bummer Films Co. We are adjourned but not for long and when we return the cast should include all our communities and all our employees and if those who believe as I do have our way (which would be a first but there you are) it will.

See you  6:30 pm December 7th at the School Board Office on Beverley Street in Cowichan for our official swearing in (as opposed to just plain swearing which is understandable). All are welcome and as we want to get off to a good start the more of you who join us there  the merrier it will be. And thanks for the last 6 years…they have been most instructive.

Your Trustee Pal

Eden

 

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Diary of a Mad Trustee November 2nd 2011 Open Board Meeting

Posted on November 14, 2011 by eden

 

 

Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice

 Resist the Beginning…Consider the End

I know you know we are in the midst of an election campaign and though there is a sad deficit of interest in the school board I always tell people without hesitation –school board is more vital than you may think. I have observed it is a place where our folks in Cowichan could- with the right dedication to our mandate for community involvement- engage with their elected people with reasonable ease. Of course, most people incorrectly assume boards of trustees have no power and no means to guide the public education system but we do…a board majority could operate with alarming effectiveness on behalf of our schools and our kids if they chose to do so.                                      

Anyone I have ever talked into sitting in the gallery has always found the proceedings everything from fascinating to comic to hellish to addictive. We only have 10 people seeking the nine seats so only one of us will drop off the bottom but that one person will make a world of difference to the work we do. Some of us are more self assured about the outcome I have noted. However, I am not so self assured– the people I work with are campaigning vigorously and not at all willing to believe it will all just fall into their laps as a matter of privilege. Reminiscent of the way we have functioned at the table – we prepare and assume quite correctly we must be one step ahead at least.

We need your interest and we need your counsel. Please vote; please pay attention because the next three years will rub along much better if the board is full of resolve and not just rhetoric or careerism.

“There lives a man who arranges the things of today as pleasantly as possible but creeps blindly towards tomorrow” - Sophocles

Tonight the bus route up Mount Sicker Road was settled – I hope- to everyone’s satisfaction. The service prior to 2007 filled the needs of that neighbourhood. The kids we were collecting and dropping off merely wished to attend their home school and lived miles outside any sensible walk limit. When in 2007 there were no kids who needed a ride, the service was paused as of course, it should have been but with the proviso it would be restored when needed by a changing family dynamic. It did change but as in the meantime we had slashed funding from our bussing budget to try to stop the bleeding in other areas of district function, the service was not reintroduced as requested.

When the budget was being hammered out in 2010/2011 – a number of trustees, reps from employee groups as well as parents and the aboriginal community asked what bussing would look like with the proposed 20% ($318,568) hack job to the service. It was cold comfort to be told the loss of routes and bus drivers(who cares about a few long serving dedicated employees anyway?) would be managed with a few simple flicks of the wrist – all the kids who currently rode the bus would continue to do so. They would however likely be asked to travel to a succession of central hubs rather than be picked up closer to home. Cold comfort but comfort nevertheless.

Evidently, we might have saved our breath asking. When the bussing was unveiled the following  September and without any prior notice to our community, things had changed far more and families suddenly found they had no right to attend any schools other than those which were designated ‘home schools’ if they wished to have their children bussed. For years in the breathless language of ‘client’ preference which frankly I have always disliked, parents had been encouraged to send their children to their school of choice based on any number of criteria they might have. There were in effect no home schools. This approach had the blessing of the province which had its own reasons for allowing parents to select their child’s school. It certainly has helped build grave inequities into the circumstances our district schools operate under. Mission accomplished!

The routes were adjusted to adapt to the budget cuts and many of our kids were denied this service. Only French Immersion families emerged relatively unscathed but even those students had to contend with the other manifestations of budgets cuts to our bussing. Even the so called courtesy shuttles, meant to operate for students who needed to travel to Cow High from the south or Kelsey from the other zones, travelled out of a central stop which many kids had no way of reaching.

The new arrangement obligated our kids to wait in school parking lots for as long as 45 minutes after class before making the trek home. Some drivers indicated some of the stops created to receive kids more centrally were unsafe and the walks required to get to these stops were on roads which did not have adequate shoulders or sidewalks.

Over the early months of the school year in 2010 our bussing department valiantly worked to offset the problems created thoughtlessly by the cut to funding. As always, it fell to the transportation management and the drivers to craft solutions after the fact.

We should and we do dearly value our bussing service. We treasure the advances it represents. We are aware our busses are a safeguard for equal access and environmental conscientiousness. To be forced into cataloguing defects is painful because we know most people have no time to protest the changes or demand better. Many families accepted there was nothing for it but adjust and soldier on. In many cases, they did so by making other provision for getting their kids to school if they could. Remember – our attendance and even our grad rates are impacted by a child’s ability to arrive at school reliably.

As trustees and community members, we are obligated to resist the downward pressure to relieve this valley of its largest public transportation service. Free, green, safe and accessible – all the bywords of our busses with 4 times the number operating for our schools as that of BC transit.

We can carve away in the name of trying to support conditions in our classes but even the entire bussing budget would not restore our lost programs or shore up our services in the district. Try to decide for yourself whether you could do without your liver, heart or your lung and see how futile it is to steal from one part of the district organism to sustain another part.

The Ministry of Education provides funding within the annual Funding Allocations System (FAS) to compensate districts for transportation costs, a system which has been in place since 2002/03.

This had been calculated at $85.7 million in 2002 for the 60 boards for transportation. Believe it or not, this sum has not been substantially adjusted and remains more or less at this level to this day. In the intervening time, our Transportation Department in this school district has faced the challenge of maintaining the fleet while balancing a shrinking budget with rising costs – costs which have increased by almost 100% over the decade.

The department has achieved this through cutting the mileage our busses travel, technical innovation and reductions in drivers’ hours. Administration has endeavoured to balance district budgets on the back of this service – as time has gone on, the cuts have gracefully escalated, carefully year after year – a bit like punching someone through a telephone book – lots of pain with minimal outrage due to an absence of obvious bruising.

Does anyone actually recall we once had three senior drivers who drove 8 hours a day, 5 days a week? Aside from driving the special needs kids to and from school, our bussing system drove all those kids to swimming twice a week, to the riding program at Providence Farm and to life skills programs. Not any more – not since 2004.

By 2005, sports and field trips had been cut by more than half and the midday kindergarten runs had stopped; the department had endured a 50% cut to full time employees and the 10 most senior drivers had their hours cut by 25%. The rest of our drivers suffered a 15% drop in income.

The great folks in the Mt Sicker neighbourhood have been as they were referred to ‘squeaky wheels’. But not only on their own behalf. They have made it clear they champion bussing for all our students and have participated in our election process to emphasise their support for candidates who do so as well.

In the end, a motion was brought to endorse the option which travels up the road to collect the younger children while the older kids are picked up by a second bus a bit lower down the road- close to where they live. I am happy for them. It certainly took quite a lot of squeaking. It is interesting to note a further motion calling for a review of student bussing needs in our more outlying areas was also passed. I support this motion but am saddened by the somewhat after the fact character of it. It is edifying to be able to reexamine the opportunities our kids have for accessing the busses. However, we already have on our books a number of recommendations from the now defunct Transportation Safety Review Committee which could shed light on many of the inadequacies imposed by cuts to the bussing budget. In light of the lack of enthusiasm those recommendations received over the last year, I am skeptical a further review will actually benefit our families – if our intentions are to continue to pick away at the transportation system.

When we made the last large cut to bussing in the 2010/2011 budget, a motion was brought to the table during second reading as follows:

Whereas the duty to endorse budget details rests entirely with trustees and trustees are accountable for the outcomes of any cutbacks

It is moved that:

2nd reading of the 2010/2011 compliance budget is referred to June 16th to allow the gathering and distribution to trustees of the following:

·         Detailed bussing model now required due to the 20% cut to transportation

·         Detailed model for providing alternate program in the district in light of the cuts to staffing and the new policy from Ministry

·         Full report on the results of the consultation process outlined in Bylaw # 4 regarding School Calendar changes

·         Review of cuts to technology requested by trustees including the unanticipated cut to the DRC

·         Review of the cost to district of the Partners in Learning program beyond student funding for enrollment

·         Details concerning the cut to principal/vice principal’s admin time to determine the real extent of the savings

·         Full details concerning the expansion of cleaning areas for custodians as well as the outcomes of loss of summer, Christmas and spring opportunities for cleaning in our schools

·         Details regarding the supports for the students in the cancelled IBIT programs at Bonner, Prevost and LCSS

·         Full disclosure of the details of our contractual arrangements with the 9 SBO managers including their full costs i.e. gross salary, benefits, vacation allotment, cell phones, retreats, professional development and mileage, a detailed list of their duties and previous structure of senior staffing in our district.

You will note the attempt to tease out the details regarding our bussing among other things – how would these services and programs look if we passed this budget? The motion failed and we proceeded to watch as the majority passed the cuts without any further inquiry. I do not mind a review now but it makes more sense to anticipate the real life impacts of budget cuts before you approve them rather than look in later after the school community has tried to cope with the damage.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.”

                                          -Albert Einstein

We have  had a bit of a donnybrook concerning the placement and activation of the new modulars which have come to us by Ministry command to somehow alleviate the capacity issues three district schools may have in handling full day kindergarten  – Palsson, Duncan Elementary and Ecole Mill Bay.  

Due to be delivered in June 2011, they did not arrive until just before the Labour Day weekend. District maintenance was to have had the whole summer to install the damn things and if they had arrived on time, they would have been in place without much difficulty. Our diligent operations department had planned all the details and this included asking our trades people to stall their summer holidays in order to have them in harness for the work involved in establishing utilities, setup and finishing, cleaning the sites for classroom use.

This lengthy delivery delay resulted in a disastrous planning situation for some of our schools and some truly unpleasant conditions for staff and kids. Not all parents at all the schools found it in their hearts to be understanding about the whole thing. It tells me a few things about trusting our ministry fed contractors. We were ready and Shelter Industries was remiss. However, the call for more contracting out was high on the minds of some of the parents who failed to connect the dots between the loss of control for our district and the debacle created by an unresponsive business who endure no consequences for failure.

It might have occurred to the families they at least could air their grievances to our district employees, managers and trustees as is entirely appropriate. That is why we are here. Shelter Industries got off relatively unscathed but no doubt richer for the experience.

By November 14th the modulars at Ecole Mill Bay will open for use – I hope the lesson here is we must at all costs restore and advance the capacity of our maintenance department so we can as a district always keep our hand on the tiller.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

So- this was the next to last meeting of this board.

In the air is a sense something very different just might hove into view after the election. I certainly hope so because -god knows- we can’t carry on as we have.

For some reason lately, I cannot stop thinking about the ‘Wizard of Oz’ and the scene at the end which always made me cry. I suppose it comes as quite a shock to most of us to discover our subjugation is a myth, a fable told to us which hangs on and suffocates us. Poor old Dorothy goes through all that bother including the endless singing and fending off the advances of sexually confused Hallowe’en costumes only to be told in the end she had the power to go home all along.

And so it is with us. We have the power. We have always had the power. No one person- mind you- but all of us together can remake the world in a better image, if we all decided to make the break with despair and resignation. We could all go home – where we belong – with our right to genuinely direct the course of decisions which affect our lives.

Don’t listen to them – the big ‘uns have a vested interest in keeping this a secret. 

 DOROTHY
Oh, will you help me?

GLINDA
You don’t need to be helped any longer.
You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.

DOROTHY
I have?

SCARECROW
Then why didn’t you tell her before?

GLINDA
Because she wouldn’t have believed me.
She had to learn it for herself.

And so we have…thanks Glinda.

Your Trustee Pal

Eden

                                                            

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Posted in Board Report, bussing, Classroom Conditions, Democracy, Funding, Operations/Maintenance, Provincial Government, School Board Elections | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Diary of a Mad Trustee Open Board Meeting October 19th 2011

Posted on October 31, 2011 by eden

 Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice
Resist the Beginning…Consider the End  

Six years is a long time to spend in the board room but I have been a willing participant and I have no one to blame but myself. It has not always been a pleasure but it has always been a privilege. If I strung together some of the more dramatic or comedic incidents from those years I would have a series which would make  ‘The Borgia’s’  blush and show up ‘Madmen’ as bland and predictable. The learning curve (fancy talk for how long it takes to find your feet) is steep and I have not been able to flatten it right out even after all this time.

However – I do have my own testimony …not official. Will not stand up in a court of law. I can read though my diaries and get a grip on the landscape of my own experience at the table. All these pages are admittedly through my eyes alone – not necessarily the final say or the only stories. However, they are my stories. Sometimes I reread an ancient bit of scribble from an old report and I am amazed at how much I have forgotten.

This meeting was not inconsequential by any means. We spent most of the tiny amount of so called surplus on a recommendation to the Board regarding allocation of Surplus Funds from 2010/2011:

 “That the Board of Education direct that the Surplus Funds from 2010/2011 be allocated as follows:

EA Contingency $75,000

Class size and composition:

Quamichan 20 hrs per week Academic EA $20,872

CHSS (2 blocks teaching support for academics) $20,872

Alexander .3 Teaching support for academics $20,872

Khowhemun .3 Teaching support for academics $20,872

Cobble Hill .3 Teaching support for academics $20,872

Koksilah 20 hr per week Academic EA $20,872

Chemainus Elementary Additional 7.5 hr per week Behaviour EA

Totaling $209,210

 

As you can gather from this list, this arrangement- which has left us with only $25,367 unspent- is much like tossing a gnat’s bum into a boxcar. I am pleased some of our neediest schools are getting a bit of the help they so desperately should have had without all this to-do but we are so far from doing the right thing by the kids in our classrooms it would be insensitive indeed to celebrate these meagre gestures. Out of 221 consultation and consent forms completed for the classes which were over 30 students or had more than 3 special education codes as of Sept. 30th, 107 forms demonstrated the teacher believed the proposed size and/or composition of the class were not appropriate for student learning. Nothing to write home about- we will soon need a particle physicist to track the sub atomic activity our paltry efforts produce. I must however extend my gratitude to our superintendent for listening to the employees and fashioning a plan which was more about the needs and not about improving the dismal numbers in the Organisation of Classes Report.

I have in rereading some of my tracts found a few comments I think might be worth repeating under some of the most compelling topics. As I have always clearly stated – these are my views not the views of the board or indeed many of the trustees. However, I have found many friends who do agree from time to time and even if they don’t they are glad to note the discourse and the diversity. 

 Job Action

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.
William Butler Yeats

“It is our job as the employer to set direction. I hope we are not committed to being slave drivers or despots so we must demand our senior staff and the good folks at BCPSEA who bargain on our behalf adopt a progressive tone free of ‘condescension and confrontation’.

We should be reminding them (BCPSEA) they are obligated to negotiate a contract and not wait for the government to wade in with back to work legislation. I am loath to suggest their conditions of work be unilaterally modified to include a proviso which allows trustees to have them blown out an airlock into deep space if they don’t get on with it.

This can be resolved with the good faith of an honourable government doing more than just hoard money for their own priorities. If I must pick a side based on past actions and evidence of loyalty to our kids, our schools and our public education system, I am afraid there are few particulars which would allow me to choose the Ministry of Education or their beard BCPSEA. I can accept happily the teachers’ understandable wish to seek a salary increase but I cannot overlook the continuous assault the government has mounted on our schools.”  

Diary of a Mad Trustee /August 31st 2011

 

Bill 33

“What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork.”

 -Pearl Bailey

“In the wake of Bills 27 and 28 which expunged the language governing classroom supports without negotiation from the teachers’ contract, trustees should have cried out in indignation. Bill 33 was spawned exclusively to whitewash the exponential dismantlement of our learning conditions by replacing the contract language with a clumsy, despotic process pretending to examine classroom function. The role of trustees has been to anoint the reports arising from this activity with little or no question. Perhaps if we had rejected these class organisation reports from the get go and refused to bestow credibility on them with our raised hands, the government would not have been able to hobble our kids while saving over $3 billion dollars since 2002. Boards passed the budgets; trustees accepted as futile any resistance to this agenda. Now we sit grimly and hope it is not as bad as it seems. It is worse but you will only know this if you visit schools and talk to teachers and principals. Of course, our employees live and breathe this reality daily.

But make no mistake – Bill 33 is the flagship of this government’s public education take down.”

Diary of a Mad Trustee /Oct.5th 2011

Transportation

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”
Rachel Carson
               

“The Community Alliance for Public Education applied to the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Victoria last fall through their intern program for the services of a graduating lawyer to prepare a legal opinion on the potential reductions of bussing by school boards in districts across the province as it relates to existing environmental legislation.

School District #79 Cowichan was drawn on as a case study.

 The law student and her supervising professor requested delegation status to present the substance of their final report and its recommendations to the Board of Education in Cowichan. They were denied but rerouted to the Sustainability Committee. A bit disappointing and sanity challenged considering the topic but what the hell – the report could at least reach a few trustees and a smattering of community members.

That opportunity was revoked – seems the board frowns on the organisation which commissioned the report and objected to the possible presence of members of the public at the meeting. I have no idea what they thought might transpire but their imaginations are clearly more developed than mine.

The backgrounder as well as the full report and recommendations can be found at –http://capeincowichan.bc.ca/2011/02/20/school-bussing-enviromental-impact/”

Excerpt from the School Bussing/ Environmental Impact Legal Memo published February 8th 2011

“Summary

In addition to the legislated requirements for carbon neutrality, school districts across the province have committed to reducing their carbon footprint. However, removing or reducing school bus service is an act contrary to this goal. Reduced bus service leads to an increase in the number of private vehicles making separate trips to schools, and thus an increase in GHG emissions related to student transportation.

Recording and reporting emissions and the purchase of offsets by school districts can only cause meaningful change if government allows for an accurate account of all emissions related to district operations. Excluding school bus emissions from the carbon offset scheme leaves unaccounted for CO2e being released into the atmosphere each year by both B.C. school buses and by private vehicles being used in place of those buses. By allowing the provision of school buses to be used as a local offset program for individual districts, the GHG reduction regime in B.C. would provide a more meaningful tool in the fight against global warming.

We look forward to speaking with you further about this matter.

Sincerely,

Natasha Gooch, Law Student Lawyer,

Deborah Curran, Program Director

Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria”

 Diary of a Mad Trustee/ February 16th 2011

 Schools at the Lake

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.- George Bernard Shaw

“Tonight I learned the parents in the Friends of Cowichan Kids are much better than the board at determining exactly what they need to advance the public education system out at the Lake. Frankly, their plan is as useful and cogent as anything the board has managed to cobble together for the district.

§  Fully resourced, fully funded quality public education for all our children

§  Open, accurate and consistent communication between the school board and our whole community

§  Maintenance of all our current schools as well as new facilities as required

§  The right to enroll at our own neighbourhood schools.

§  Improved bussing

§  Ongoing communication with the board and provincial government regarding the community expectation for a new school

They are looking for a commitment from this board that we will neither close nor sell any more schools in their communities – it is a simple question and I would like to give them a simple answer.”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/Nov.18th 2009

 

21st Century Learning

We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.
C.S. Lewis

“Competition is the byword and as always will function to strangle liberal education without remorse. Evidently, our schools are not turning out enough narcissistic sociopaths to satisfy employers. No one wants our communities littered with human beings fundamentally hobbled by their lack of drive and competitiveness, their incapacity for pushing past others. If there is a ‘concern about competitiveness’ we are not told who is concerned or why. Families are urged to respond to the current lack of equal opportunity by turning on each other in a battle royale for the crumbs which remain.

For all future purposes when translating 21st century lingo into English the term ‘modernise’ will heretofore be code for ‘job training’ because god knows there is not a moment of childhood to waste in seeking wisdom, culture or civic concepts.

The role of the 21st Century design – continue to pull back public funding, end elected oversight, privatise the care of facilities, rubbish unions ; the vision – convince the business sector education can -with a bit of skilled slight of hand- bestow both profit and a suitable workforce. We just have to embrace rampant self-interest, cut the problem students loose, ratchet down working conditions and give up on our obligations to equality and democracy. When you can easily craft another initiative to avoid doing the obvious- why fund our public system so it can provide learning in a quality environment with everyone getting what they need?”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/ October 6th 2010

 

Board Governance/Democracy

Those against politics are in favor of the politics inflicted upon them.
                             Bertolt Brecht

“Whether you read the BCSTA’s authoritative Q & A guide or rely on the locally developed codes all created within School Act directives there is no question our role as trustees is primarily that of projecting the community voice and priorities in the context of public education. We are not merely a convenience for the ministry – a means to lend the sheen of democracy to decrees from Victoria. In addition, the deluge of propaganda which flows endlessly from the government telling us everything is just ducky is really just another form of opinion from a very biased and self interested source – hell we even have to pay for it. There are no political activists like the spokespersons for the government. It seems a soupcon dramatic to complain about one tiny blog like this one which in the scheme of things makes hardly a squeak. Amazing we will tolerate all manner of wild speculation and hyperbole from the government as it feathers its own nest, amazing the district can issue releases to all and sundry bronzing the images for public consumption but great care is prescribed for the minor players ( that is you and I).”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/ September 1st 2010

Funding

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.

                                                                -Victor Hugo

“The cuts must stop and since it is clear the cuts are not tied to any genuine austerity or inefficiency ,this year more than ever ‘no cuts’ makes sense. After all – as ‘funding protection’ bestows the same operating revenue as last year regardless of any drop in enrollment, it makes sense we should not have to make any further cuts. But we do have to make cuts to the tune of $1.4 million and then some.

Translation – the province consistently fails to meet the costs of running our district as follows: inflation, labour settlement increases as well as rises in MSP payments and other benefit costs, actual costs of provincial initiatives, mandates and legislation (e.g. BCeSIS, Bill 33), real price tag of delivering special needs services, true costs of maintenance, custodial and transportation needs.

So – the cuts are necessary to pay the ministry’s tab for these items. It is their round and they disappeared into the toilets to avoid ponying up.”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/ April 6th 2011

Budget

“Action expresses priorities.”
                   - Mahatma Gandhi

As the statement from our partners on the Budget/Finance Committee said:

“The emphasis of this Strategic Plan is improved learning outcomes for all our students. Yet, the cutback budgets passed by this Board over the last two years undermine staff capacity to support student learning in practical terms. The draft budget cuts on offer from senior staff for this year continue to overturn the laudable principles in our Strategic Plan. This is the time for school boards and their communities to make themselves heard and insist our expectations for public education be answered. This government must immediately begin to reverse cutbacks to public education through increased funding.”

“We have been telling trustees for years if they file cutback budgets this action effectively says the funding is more or less in line with needs. School Boards slash and burn and hang on to a few miserable kopeks in case of dire emergencies and find themselves- after all this- hauled up in front of the Leg by a bunch of extremist carnivores as fine examples of what a far out job the ministry is doing funding public education. Even when boards submit these sad ass needs budgets in tandem, they get lost in the shuffle. No one in government reads the fine print documenting the brutal experience in our districts once the budget is passed and sent off to the ministry – evidently, ministerial staff don’t pour over our Student Success Budget crying out in alarm over the discrepancy between what they supply and what we clearly need.

For boards, the message is plain – You pass it; you wear it. What is worse- you become the poster child for the ministry propaganda machine – smiling eerily with the broken programs and rapidly dwindling services lying off to one side in a smoking heap no one can see due to clever photography.”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/ May 18th 2011

Provincial Government

“A better title for the ‘Report on the Vancouver School Board’ would be ‘Chutzpah R Us’ since in no way does the report place any weight on the antics of the ministry charged as they are with providing the needed funds and yet failing to do so. All the problems which relate to funding shortfalls are attributed to the failings of the VSB and for the most part blame their stubborn attempts to represent their constituents for their difficulties. Despite the stated focus of the report on the fiscal obstacles the VSB have in meeting mandates under this regime, 26 of the 42 recommendations contain no budget implications and 8 seek the services of outside hires which would mean carving more funding away from student needs.”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/ June 16th 2010

FSA Testing

Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.

                              Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

 

“Our board to its credit has clearly expressed its considerable dismay over these tests – in March 2007 the Cowichan Board of Trustees passed a motion calling on the BC Ministry of Education to eliminate the Foundation Skills Assessment testing program. They supported the teachers call for a moratorium on FSA testing in the fall of 2009. It should be time for us to get off the pot and lend a hand to those parents who feel the same way. As usual – we are instructed by administration without any actual evidence that if we simply practise what we preach and tell parents they have the right to choose we are disobeying a law and will be punished in this or perhaps the next life on the grounds we could be offending the School Act. This despite the fact there is no direct wording in that piece of dynamic legislation which prohibits parental right to decide on this matter. The participation guidelines merely assert our students are ‘expected’ to write. You and I both know if students could be compelled to write, the word ‘required’ would have been used– but it is not.”

Diary of a Mad Trustee / January 6th 2010

Achievement Contract

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot

 nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”
                                The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss

 

Damn it I would vote for Dr. Seuss in a New York minute if I had the chance and he wasn’t dead!!

“I know… you thought our schools were in place to nurture learning and wisdom while employing a large group of dedicated professionals and trades people in a meaningful way. Nah…it is all about generating the damn achievement contact. This modification to the previous ‘accountability contract’ with the advent of Bill 20 proves the adage: you can change something without improving it.

First we have an army of well trained educators spending vast amounts of time preparing, administering and marking tests – all unproductive busywork which does not enhance learning and must really be quite soul destroying for anyone who genuinely thought they would spend their teaching career imparting the finest learning experience to children instead of training them to connect the dots for the ministry.

Second – there is no evidence what so ever that these batteries of tests and the balloon folding the kids and teachers go through has improved their learning at all. Finally – as you wend your weary way through the ‘Achievement Contract’ (soon to be followed by Achievement Contract- Revenge of the Tedious) it becomes clear there is no recognition on any level of the inequalities of opportunity our children labour under. I guess we are to assume full stomachs, adequate clothing and ample family incomes and education backgrounds have no visible impact on the progress kids can make in school.”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/June 17th 2009

 

Native Education

In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
From ‘The Great Law
of the Iroquois Confederacy’

“Targeted funds meant to serve the enhanced culture and language needs of native students must be used for that and that alone- not to supply native students with core services they are entitled to just as all students are. And it is vital the representatives of the aboriginal community establish the right to autonomy over these funds and in particular the practice of directing their allocation.

Also – it is critical a greater portion of the core funding contribution derived from the presence of aboriginal students should be redirected where possible to serving the advancement of aboriginal student learning.

The Hwulmuhw community has identified all the problems which haunt their kids – they have offered specific, practical and well understood solutions.

They are anxious to expand the culture and language content into more areas of the curriculum and to proceed with Hul’qumi’num immersion. How many times must it be confirmed that the presence of the culture and language of aboriginal people is decisive to the realisation of a quality learning environment?”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/June 3rd 2009

 Privatisation in Our Schools

The combination of financial difficulties caused by government under-funding of education increases school vulnerability to commercial influences, as does the debate between proponents of education as a social right and those who define it as a marketable commodity subject to international trade rules and agreements.

-Canadian Teachers Federation

“Private ventures, just like school closures and public land sales, are a short sighted response which can only damage the prospects for fully funded public services. This path may provide a few individuals with a cosy chance to hobnob with the highborn or cultivate a bit of profile wheedling dosh out of businesses. It will intensify the crushing burden of fundraising among our parent volunteers while establishing the rubric private individuals must carry the weight of paying for our kids’ education while we continue to fork over vast sums of taxation to the province for god knows what.

The real solution for School Trustees is to demand full, stable funding by submitting needs budgets to the Province. Our families and employees will stand with us if we do.”

Private Funding – The Bottom Line

§  Inequity: Some schools and school communities have varying degrees of capacity to fundraise and otherwise attract outside funding.

§  Competition: Relying on private donors may create competition among programs and schools, as different institutions chase the same sources of funds.

§  Targeting: Relying on private sources, through fundraising or corporate donations, allows those private sources, rather than schools and school boards, to make decisions on programs deemed more “worthy” of support.

§  Conditional funding: Some private donors may attach strings – an advertising requirement, or the inclusion of certain students and the exclusion of others, or the use of specific curriculum – to their funding for public education.

§  Selective funding: An increasing number of items, such as playground equipment, field trips, and even some classroom and learning resources, are being defined as “frills” outside of government funding.

§  Unstable funding: Many private sources of funding do not make commitments to provide the resources over any extended period, particularly in times of economic instability.

§  Lack of educational quality control: Who ensures the curriculum/classroom materials being provided to schools by business sources are unbiased, complete, and accurate?”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/January 5th 2011

School Closure

“Closing schools no longer saves much money as most of the funding we now receive is based on FTE enrolment. If we move (the students) from one school to another, for the most part the dollars follow as we fund schools on an FTE basis for teacher clerical, SEAs, principals etc. About the only savings that arise are custodial and some small portion of clerical but not much more.”
Secretary-Treasurer Don Woytowich,
Maple Ridge Oct. 12, 2007

“Does closing schools supply net savings to redirect to other schools and programs as suggested?

We have been told closing schools will permit a redirection of resources to programs and services for the schools which are left. Has the closure of many schools in this district plumped up our budgets?

We are frequently reminded 80 – 90 % of the operating budget for this district indeed all districts is wages, salaries and benefits. If a school is closed and the children from that school are moved to another in the district then generally the positions move with them and the costs of educating them is ongoing –but at another location. We still have to maintain class sizes according to the School Act and Bill 33.Even a closed school needs to be heated and cared for inside and out and in our new property policy this is now required.

And – as is often the case – when a school closes and for one reason or another some of the children leave the public system or the district (private schools, home schooling etc) we lose that funding. There is little to redirect when schools close. If anything, we find ourselves paring back and losing assets and continuing to find the provincial policies for underfunding fail our kids.

Closing our schools is part of the process of cutting not a solution to it – as evidenced by the fact all the previous cutting and closing which by the way have gone hand in hand has not slaked the appetite to continue to diminish our school programs.”

Diary of a Mad Trustee/December 1st 2010  

So, that is the report for this and other meetings. The themes do not vary much which at least allows us to focus. The reports do contribute to my ability (and hopefully yours) to examine how far we have come and how little may have changed. Nothing will be transformed if elected people cling to the status quo and their pointless optimism about the motives of the powerful. The people in government at the higher levels have the means to make this better and yet they refuse. They refuse because they do not wish to promote the collective well being of our communities. They believe only the most privileged should benefit from the wealth of our land. What are we to do with this? What are we to do with those who may love their own children but don’t give a fig for anyone else’s? As you can see this is a long game – but anyone who doubts we have a fight on our hands has not sat in our board room or studied the direction of our public system.

There is nothing inherently positive about counting on our government for wise and honourable decisions. There is nothing inherently negative about fighting for our kids even if it seems a bit rude. If we pay attention to history, we will do as many have done before us and are doing now. Shall we join the incoming tide or float out to sea on the outgoing?

And the beat goes on….

Your Trustee Pal

Eden

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Where to Vote on November 19th 2011

Posted on October 18, 2011 by eden

School District No. 79
(Cowichan Valley)

Voting Places

Saturday, November 19, 2011

8:00 am to 8:00 pm

North
Cowichan Location 		Address
Chemainus Senior’s Drop-In
Centre		 9824 Willow Street
Crofton Elementary School 8017 York Avenue
Maple Bay Elementary School 1500 Donnay Drive
Mt. Prevost Middle School 6177 Somenos Road
North Cowichan Municipal Hall 7030 Trans Canada Highway
Quamichan Middle School 2515 Beverly Street
CVRD Voting
Place Location		 Address
Area A – George Bonner Middle
School		 3060 Cobble Hill Road
Mill Bay, BC
Area B – Shawnigan Lake
Community Centre		 2804 Shawnigan Lake Road,
Shawnigan Lake, BC
Area C – Cobble Hill
Community Hall		 3550 Watson Road, Cobble
Hill, BC
Area D – Bench Elementary
School		 1501 Cowichan Bay Road,
Cowichan Bay, BC
Area E – Eagles Hall 2965 Jacob Road, Duncan, BC
Area F – Cowichan Lake Sports
Arena		 311 South Shore Road, Lake
Cowichan, BC
Area G – Chemainus Elementary
Community School		 3172 Garner Street,
Chemainus
Area G – Forbes Hall (Thetis
Island Community Hall)		 L. 292 Mission Road/North
Cove, Thetis Island
Area H – North Oyster
Elementary School		 13270 Cedar Road, Ladysmith
Area I – Youbou Community
Hall		 8550 Hemlock Street, Youbou
Town of Lake Cowichan        Centennial Hall 309 South Shore Road, Lake Cowichan
City of Duncan         
Duncan Volunteer Fire Hall		 468 Duncan Street, Duncan, BC

Advance Polls  November 9
and 15, 2011

8:00 am to 8:00 pm

 

North Cowichan
North Cowichan Municipal Hall		 7030 Trans Canada Highway,
Duncan, BC
CVRD
Island Savings Centre		 James Street, Duncan, BC
City of Duncan
City Hall		 200 Craig Street, Duncan, BC
Town of Lake Cowichan
Municipal Hall		 39 South Shore Road, Lake
Cowichan, BC
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Diary of a Mad Trustee / October 5th 2011 Open Board Meeting

Posted on October 18, 2011 by eden

 

Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice

  Resist the Beginning…Consider the End

 

 

“What matters most is for the school, the district, and the state to be able to say that more students have reached ‘proficiency’. This sort of fraud ignores the students’ interests while promoting the interests of adults who take credit for nonexistent improvements.”
                                  -Diane Ravitch

 

I have often thought information we are given freely is useless to us or we would not be getting it in the first place. I think this every time I review the monthly Organisation of Classes report.

At first when the whole mad process began back in 2006 with the passage of Bill 33, our board was asked to accept the flaming report; later we were asked only to receive it; now we are asked to accept it once a year. The remainder of the time it is an uncelebrated document which barely gets a moment’s notice on a board meeting agenda. This is curious when you reflect on the time and effort which goes into procuring it. Because the School Act seeks only a minimal reporting out, the fashion in which our reports are provided vary from district to district depending on the diligence and sheer bloody-mindedness of trustees.

As time has gone by and the conditions have clearly deteriorated, the focus has carefully been drawn away.

I understand…

Remember the period prior to January  2002- when the provisions governing non-enrolling teachers, class size and composition as well as the inclusion of students with special needs resided within the collective agreement between the employer and the BCTF. These features were dealt with as a matter of working conditions within the contract. Much more rational and much more effective. Who better to be the arbiters of school based services than our teachers?

In the wake of Bills 27 and 28 which expunged those details without negotiation from the teachers’ contract, trustees should have cried out in indignation. Bill 33 was spawned exclusively to whitewash the exponential dismantlement of our learning conditions by replacing the contract language with a clumsy, despotic process pretending to examine classroom function. The role of trustees has been to anoint the reports arising from this activity with little or no question. Perhaps if we had rejected these class organisation reports from the get go and refused to bestow credibility on them with our raised hands, the government would not have been able to hobble our kids while saving over $3 billion dollars since 2002. Boards passed the budgets; trustees accepted as futile any resistance to this agenda. Now we sit grimly and hope it is not as bad as it seems. It is worse but you will only know this if you visit schools and talk to teachers and principals. Of course, our employees live and breathe this reality daily. But make no mistake – Bill 33 is the flagship of this government’s public education take down.

The information in these organisation reports brought by the superintendents is slight and does not even add a breath of discovery to what we as trustees and you as community need to know about what is going on in our schools.

Bill 33 established the protocol where by class size and composition in Grades 4 through 12 can deviate from conditions set in the School Act through a process of consent (grades 4-7) or in the case of grades 8-12 through consultation between the teacher and the school principal. Though it fell to the principal at first to arrange consultation meetings with the teachers in the event their classrooms violated the benchmarks, a change in legislation back in 2008 placed the burden for seeking these meetings on the teacher. In October of each year, the district parent association (DPAC) must also sign off on this outrage and I have yet to hear a peep out of them. Their leadership in this would be exceedingly valuable. I remain hopeful.

_____________________________________________________________

 See below for the whole enchilada.

Individual CLASSES cannot exceed these limits:

Kindergarten: 22 (not altered by Bill 33, previously in the School Act)

Grades 1–3: 24 (not altered by Bill 33, previously in the School Act)

Grades 4–7: 30(cannot be exceeded unless the superintendent and principal agree that the organization of the class is appropriate for student learning and the teacher consents within 15 school days after school opening day.)

Grades 8–12: 30 (cannot be exceeded unless the superintendent and principal agree that the organization of the class is appropriate for student learning and the principal has consulted the teacher within 15 school days after school opening day)

What is the class-composition provision in Bill 33?

There can be no more than three students for whom IEPs must be designed in any class, K–12, unless the superintendent and the principal agree that the organization of the class is appropriate for student learning and the principal has consulted the teacher within 15 school days after school opening day.

What does it mean to give consent or to be consulted?

Consent is straightforward. It requires the actual, unforced agreement of the individual Grade 4–7 teacher faced with a request by a principal to put more than 30 students in her or his class. If the teacher does not consent, the principal may not add the 31st student. As the Minister of Labour stated during the debate on Bill 33, “Consent implies that it could be withheld and, in that circumstance, there would be, obviously, financial implications that flow from having to reconfigure classes.”

The right to be consulted is more than being given mere notice. It includes an exchange of information between the parties in which each has an active role to discuss, express opinions, make their views known, and have a say. It means teachers must be provided with all relevant information regarding the class and students involved. The principal must remain open to suggestions and input before the final decision is made.

___________________________________________________________________________

Imagine the discomfort teachers experience if they endeavour to stand firm on these flimsy guidelines. The principal is a work colleague and someone most teachers do not wish to trouble further. Teachers also know those principals who speak out will bear the brunt of administration disappointment at the district level. And believe me there is a significant price to be paid by anyone who fails to fall into line. We have been specifically told principals are not permitted to ‘disagree’.

In our district this month out of approximately 1200 classes, we have 259 classes which are either in violation of the size and\or composition limitations. Most of the critical composition issues appear in our middle and secondary schools. But some of the most tragic conditions occur in the elementary classes and go relatively unreported.

But there is more…

Under the provisions of Bill 33, districts are not obligated to recognise the need for non enrolling teachers- a detail once acknowledged in the contracts. Therefore, over the last decade it has been possible to whittle away at resource time, learning assistance, teacher librarians and counseling without having it register in the mandated reports. Of course we can’t provide the classroom teaching time either which is why our class sizes and challenges have proliferated but most teachers realise the presence of these other services can make all the difference when dealing with a demanding classroom.

 A few more details would add to our understanding. But remember having trustees and community understand does not feed the cat.

We should receive samples of comments made by teachers on the consultation forms including information regarding whether they have or have not agreed their classroom is ‘appropriate for student learning.’ Despite having a professional and collegial concern for other staff members in light of a dearth of resources to modify the situation, teachers do make cogent and insightful remarks in the paperwork which should be added to the public discourse about our schools when the monthly report is made.

We find out how many violations there are but we do not receive any information about the supports in place for any classes. Truly- even if there were only 1 child with a designation in a class, trustees must know if the teacher has the necessary support.

Every teacher I have spoken with tells us there are many children who have behaviour or learning needs which are not formally recognised but must be accommodated in the classroom. There are no supports for these kids except of course the classroom teacher. A senior administrator told us it is not possible to calculate these numbers because the situation is ‘fluid’. I bet every teacher in every class knows the answer – so let’s not ask and let’s not tell.

In our elementary schools there are classes with 9 or 7or 5 designated kids, 3 way splits and so on. Just accepting the description ‘classes with 3 or more students with Special Ed. codes’ fails on so many levels to outline the problems teachers and kids face as they try to function in the interests of learning. We are not told how much EA support time exists in classes. Nor do we get any info about resource, learning assistance, counseling or librarian time.

You may well ask what might happen if a teacher or principal or superintendent were to disagree with the conditions in a classroom or a school or the district. Logically if no one can usefully disagree, why endure this expensive and time consuming process?

Why ask if the answer must always be ‘YES SIR!’?

Just impose the conditions and leave it at that instead of applying a veneer of open review and consultation. Let’s enjoy a bit of authentic totalitarianism and call it what it is. At least then, the precious resources we waste while forcing educators to apply their efforts to this complex exercise in combing over the big bald spot created by the remorseless budget cuts could be directed to teaching. This is a black comedy at its farciest (again not necessarily a word). We compel teachers and principals to evaluate their classroom situations in detail very month though we have no means to improve those circumstances at all, no matter what insights they may have. Every month we watch the Ministry chew up a big chunk of the meagre funds they have allocated for our schools and crap it off a cliff.

 

 In December 2005,B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled the B.C. Ministry of Education and School Districts discriminate against children with learning disabilities by making cutbacks which disproportionately impact children with learning disabilities and by failing to provide them with necessary programs and services and stated:

            “Failure to provide appropriate support and accommodations to a vulnerable group could not be justified on the basis of cost. Public schools are required by law to provide an education for all students to the point of undue hardship.”

 

  Bill 33 is a Wal-Mart standard for learning – one stop; lowest quality for the least cost; mediocre benchmarks because this is all we deserve and all we are willing to pay for.

While most teachers are seeking the very best circumstances for their students, this protocol merely provides for the bare minimum if that. Boards have unthinkingly accepted as routine and normal, classrooms which cry out for better resourcing. Bill 33 is not interested in non enrolling teachers because those positions were placed in jeopardy the minute the language regarding their merit was stripped from the contract – the only acknowledged format is to display the classrooms as separate little kingdoms. This is a totally batshit concept right up there with the thinking which leads us to diminish our cleaning and maintenance regimes and our bussing service. The environment for learning is collective and complex – each component secures the success of the rest of the world our kids and employees inhabit. When we cannabalise one area for another, the process of disfigurement is completed. That is one of the many reasons Bill 33 is a crock – it atomises the conditions class by class and forgets the people and the umbrella under which they struggle together.

It is far past time to be sitting in board rooms making pious comments or asking pointless questions and I have been as guilty of this activity as anyone has.

It is time boards demanded the right to opt out of the Bill 33 provisos so we can redirect our energies to dealing with our kids and stop pretending the provincial government gives a rat’s ass about the conditions under which they are learning.

This process comes to us courtesy of ill concealed contempt for public education and its promise. Many hangers on and apologists are doing very well thank you because of this race to the bottom. Wholesale rejection by trustees of these reports is our minimum program now. Then we can start looking up and out – instead of colluding shamefully with this ‘end of public education’ vision we are assured is our only course.

Teachers in this province are fighting hammer and claw for the kids in these dilapidated classrooms. Their job action is as much about that as it is about wages and benefits. We have a duty to the people who speak out for the kids despite the personal and professional cost.

No trustee and no board will suffer any real world penalty for supporting our bravest educators. As for our senior administrators – can anyone think of a better mountain to die on?

Please proceed to this link and view this report as a salute to the voice you will hear.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/17/bc-teacherspeaks.html

Your Trustee Pal

Eden

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Diary of a Mad Trustee September 21st 2011 Open Board Meeting

Posted on October 3, 2011 by eden


Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice
Resist the Beginning…Consider the End

Our board has illuminated 2 areas of school district function- emergency preparedness and carbon offsets- and taken some steps to better the situation. Just letters mind you but I love a good letter- so civilised and yet so entirely ignorable (not necessarily a word). However, short of pulling up with a well motivated angry mob behind us where else can we start? It is good news when boards speak out at all about anything that matters.

Let’s see… 

 Nothing is easy and the road is never straight.

In April  2010 which seems a very long time ago because it is, a motion was brought to our school board table which sought to establish a price tag for the costs of keeping our schools prepared for calamity particularly earthquake. Rather than leave the responsibility for paying for emergency resources and preparation to our families through PAC fundraising efforts as it now is, the motion was intended to insist the provincial government absorb the costs.

There was sound reasoning behind this besides acknowledging the sheer absurdity of asking our families to pay for something which is certainly the responsibility of government. We as a board must guarantee our kids and employees in all schools in the district have the same high quality means to meet the misfortunes we hope will not arrive. Since some school communities are more blessed with wealth than others, it is clear some of our children will be safer and better cared for than others will be in the event of a disaster like an earthquake.

It took a bit of nannying. However, thanks to staff and tenacious trustees, we have finally posted a letter to the ministry. The letter explains rather poetically in the event of earthquake we must be at the ready to care for over 8000 students for ‘an extended period of time’ particularly in light of the high incidence of seismic activity in this area of the world including a recent 6.4 magnitude event.

In this letter, we also make clear our PACS have dutifully soldiered on providing emergency kits and other supplies as best they can. However, this is an ongoing burden and some of these supplies need replenishing regularly. The district has estimated it will cost $160,000 to bring all our sites up to acceptable standards of preparedness with an additional $20,000 a year to replace food and water stores. In this time of rapidly dwindling public education funds, we cannot redirect money for our classrooms to this worthy enterprise – and no responsible person wants to choose between day to day learning needs and vigilance for all our kids and employees if the worst happens.

Our letter is spot on and we anxiously await the minister’s response. Any guesses?? Until otherwise informed, I will continue to believe the government will grasp the merit of this request. It is in the direct interests of equal access to services and safety and a modest sum to help ensure the well being of our kids and the staff in our schools.

Of course we need to be thinking about this for our homes and the CVRD has an excellent  publication you can download at this link or pick up at their offices next to the post office in Duncan.

http://www.cvrd.bc.ca/DocumentView.aspx?DID=890

Next letter from our board…

Since the spring, Trustees across our province have been aware of an interesting extension of becoming signatory to the Climate Action Revenue Incentive Charter. One previously unexplained development of this commitment to carbon neutrality is the requirement for school boards to buy offsets at the rate of $25 per tonne for any green house gas (GHG) emissions we produce above zero levels.

These charges are turned over to the Pacific Carbon Trust which is owned by our provincial government under the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. For reasons left unexplained, private emitters of GHG do not have to purchase these offsets.

In this district, we have thus far submitted over $111,000 to PCT despite our best efforts to meet our obligations for reducing our carbon footprint. Of course, we might be able to do a better job of managing our emissions if we had the funding to improve our facilities and our methods. Instead, we pay a fine to a body which is a government owned corporation.

Interestingly school districts like ours receive no recognition for our considerable contribution to the carbon well being of our communities by virtue of our large and effective school  bussing system.

Now if this money – remember it comes out of the revenue we receive from our provincial government to operate our schools -went into a pool meant to ensure the improvements for our buildings which might raise their environmental soundness  we could almost nod in agreement but it does not. In fact, some of this extracted cash is handed off to private companies – the outstanding example is EnCana- one of North America’s largest natural gas producers whose initiatives towards reducing their own GHG emissions are subsidised by the money appropriated from school districts.Therefore, a highly profitable company which should do its own due diligence in reducing its environmental impact is doing so with the help of school districts, hospitals and other public sector outfits.

The BCSTA has asked to have this money dedicated to our efforts to achieve the goal of reducing our carbon footprint and the Cowichan board passed a supporting motion which states:

“The Board of Education SD # 79 calls on the provincial government to return all funds currently being appropriated from school districts in BC to purchase carbon credits to support upgrades in our facilities in order to raise their environmental integrity and immediately sends a letter to this effect to the Ministry of Education as well as all school districts.”

Our board has forwarded a letter expressing this sentiment to the Minister as well as all school districts to make our contribution to this discussion and perhaps to a fair and rationale outcome.

Though it is now the norm to pull money out of public needs and hand them off to private interests there is a considerable chorus of resentment across this province. Obviously highly profitable companies like EnCana can raise their own ‘environmental integrity’ without the help of cash strapped public education and health care systems.

If our blessed government is so keen to organise a whip round for its corporate buddies they could just hand them the money directly through tax cuts and credits as per usual without resort to the more unusual and time consuming method of laundering those funds through our school district books.

 

Architectural rendering of Calgary’s skyline featuring “The Bow,” EnCana’s new 58 story office tower, the largest west of Toronto

************************************************************************************************

 

The opening scene of the first chapter of the novel ‘Brave New World’ is set at the “Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre”, a sterile factory which produces human beings and prepares them for their future roles in the World State. “Community, Identity, Stability” is the World State’s motto. I bet if the fictional people in this novel had bothered to ask what that was all about they would have gotten the same power point cha cha we have received within the hallowed halls of public education regarding ‘21st Century Learning.’

 I suppose the whizkids who dreamt this up said unto themselves over panini’s – “We will create a cultish program which can be recognised as mysteriously similar to practices already in play, give it all a silly name calculated to intimidate people by sounding terribly modern so no one will want to look like a reactionary and then use it to further cut the crap out of the schools”.

And so they did.

I really think they dropped the ball on the name – so lacking in pizzazz as it is. Maybe the Treasury Board Underdepartment for Linguistic Bafflement has had its tiny budget cut and they can’t perform as required. How about the ‘Farbstein Initiative’? Or ‘Operation Awesome Toupee’? Or the ‘German Railway Project’? How about we just call whatever this is the ‘Kipling Files’?

 For entirely legitimate reasons, this has created some worry since no one from our educational leaders right down to the shop floor seems to have a clue what it all means. Even to this day, the premise remains largely undefined and certainly, we have no real idea what the government intends practically speaking. Of course, if they are holding to type there is no good news here. Trustees, teachers and parents have asked, as specifically as they can the questions which should have led to careful explanations but to little avail.

Evidently, the ministry has consulted widely with the school community but no one in Cowichan appears to have been asked for an opinion. But in the real world how can you ask anyone their views on something about which you have provided no details?

Still I am reliably informed though we do not have any clear idea what is being expected of our districts and our schools in light of this new model, we are now in fact situated in Year One of its implementation here in Cowichan. Even at this meeting, there was a grim sense of black comedy at this revelation. Year One of something which resembles something else no one has any idea about but we are already doing it anyway so not to worry. I am worried and my guess is so are you.

Still amid the swirl, we find some hints apart from some coy yet alarming language. The BC School Superintendents Association (BCSSA) staged a conference last fall in Victoria which as always included carefully chosen principals, trustees, teachers and students entitled ‘Personalised Learning for the 21st Century: From Vision to Action.’

 I am sure the discussion was wide ranging but the speakers welcomed to direct the central session of the conference figure prominently in something called the Innovation Unit from the UK. The aims of this organisation focus on pioneering methods to provide public services at reduced costs. While most of us are not tilted towards opposing ‘innovation’ we could be forgiven for wondering exactly what this means when it comes to our schools.

Since the ideologues in our midst have refused to supply direct talk on the intention of this new wave of education, it falls to anyone with a laptop and some spare time to define some of the lingo they have substituted for plain language and authentic conversation. Nature hates a vacuum though clearly nature doesn’t have a house full of cats.

So here goes…

“Teacher Excellence”- A condition which can only be achieved by decertifying the union and stripping said teachers of every charter right they have. That’ll beat the excellence into ‘em…

“Power Of Informal Learning”- Kids do much better in the absence of confining and old fashioned concepts of schooling like teachers, resources, buildings.

“Lifelong Learning Journey”- You will be made redundant so many times your head will spin so you must have a back up plan and a hairnet.

“Performance Culture” – Ratting out your family and colleagues for not measuring up to a unilateral standard no thinking person could agree with if they actually knew what it was.

“Personalised Learning” – You are on your own, Skippy!

“Opportunities For Education” – Assuming your only goal is to plan your own high levels of exploitation.

“Open Data”- Access to material not normally considered useful or informative.

“Accelerating Technological Change”- Making private firms who market incomprehensible software and endlessly out of date hardware as rich as Croesus.

“Holistic Transformation”- Transforming our schools into holes.

“Hands On Learning” -Here is a stick – now go play in the mud.

“Flexibility”- Being able to bend over far enough to hold your ankles.

“Consultation” – Giving the peasants a chance to vent after the authorities have already made the decisions.

There are things far more important to address besides putting a fresh false face on our approaches to educating our kids.

We need 21st Century Poverty Eradication; 21st Century Democracy; 21st Century Labour/Management Relations; 21st Century Full Cost Accounting and we need those now and far more than some Houdini exercise in sleight of hand to keep us sweet while our schools shrivel away.

When I was a kid I knew despite my fervent hopes, we would not have flying cars by the 21st century but I would never have guessed our fearless leaders would be wasting our time trying to cheat us out of the public education system our forbearers envisioned and fought for.

There is every reason to sit as citizens and craft better learning environments. Our children and the people who teach them deserve the best. However, these days the only element up for debate in the public realm is a conversation about cutting costs. The needs of our schools are not relevant in this discourse.

When it comes to 21st Century Learning, the only relevant goal is brainwashing us into believing our hopes and dreams are unrealistic and the grown up solutions can be found in finding ways to provide our kids with an education which will not disturb the fiscal priorities of commerce.

It is not ‘brave’; it is not ‘new’.

It is an empty hostile gesture indifferent to our kids and their well being.

Your Trustee Pal

Eden

These two links will put you in touch with some of the power point patter.

If some of this does not keep you awake in a cold sweat I will be surprised.

I welcome your analysis.

http://bcssa.org/fallconference.html

Scroll Down for the Fall 2010 conference material
 http://www.bcssa.org/sla.html

Click on Summer Leadership Academy presentation
Deputy Minister of Education, James Gorman 

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Diary of a Mad Trustee Open Board Meeting August 31st 2011

Posted on September 20, 2011 by eden

Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice

  Resist the Beginning…Consider the End

 

God!!

 I do not want to engage in the usual patter about returning to the salt mines and how terrible it all is to be back in harness after a carefree summer of topless sunbathing and substance induced euphoria. Particularly since I can’t lay any claim to those pastimes.

We are back…school has started and we are in the middle of job action by the people we entrust our kids to for many hours a day. I suppose it is a very good time to reflect on why we have such faith in teachers, who has the best interests of kids in their heart of hearts and what the mentors of our children deserve in the way of conditions and wages.

For some of us,we are also stepping out into election campaign territory which has its rewards – the job of trustee is both a civic duty and a privilege though seeking to perform this duty has its own set of pressures.

Interestingly – our board has chosen to hire our own Secretary Treasurer and Assistant Secretary Treasurer to function as Chief Elections Officers with an accompanying bump in pay to compensate for their extra time of which I am assuming they have very little. I am bewildered at the optic of having employees of the school district who could hardly be less neutral in this matter placed in charge of the process of conducting the election of their own employers. No matter how diligent and honourable the specific people may be, it contributes to a sense of insecurity for those of us who are not on their Xmas list. It is just something I would have thought the board might have wished to sidestep in the interests of good sense. It is not as if it is saving us any money.

However, I will abide…the board has spoken.

I am so terminally annoyed at the media for their relentless incapacity for truth or balance I am tempted to either become a frequenter of call-in shows  or to just start walking around with a sandwich board wailing “The End is Nigh”.

 Clearly, these rather self serving attacks on our teachers and their defense organisation have nothing to do with caring for our educational needs or seeking a better way to provide learning- it is about transforming the profession of teaching into a service industry complete with clients and profit /loss statements.

This meeting it was clear we are as trustees seriously contemplating playing a mere spectator role in this dispute and as if that were not terrible enough we are planning to do it behind closed doors.

Therefore, I will provide my own lack of measure for which I have more tolerance obviously.

“My friends, it is solidarity of labour we want. We do not want to find fault with each other, but to solidify our forces and say to each other: “We must be together; our masters are joined together and we must do the same thing”. – Mother Jones

Why are teachers engaged in job action?

The short version is :after beginning the process of bargaining in March 2011 to observe the expiry of the contract in June 2011 and seeing little progress, the BCTF obtained a 90% strike vote (70 % of their members voted which is impressive) . The longer story is …. through the enactment of Bills 27 and 28, the class size and composition elements of their collective agreement were shorn out in 2002 and imposed despite the unions best efforts to seek very modest wage increases in favour of improved classroom conditions. This of course as we now know ended the BCTF’s ability to negotiate class size and composition, supports like teacher-librarians, counselors, learning assistance and other specialist teachers, the length of the school day, and hours of instruction in the school year. Minister of Education at that time, Christy Clark, and her band of vandals must have been laughing their asses off as they executed this outrage – even they would have had the sense to appreciate irony when they dealt it out.

Provincially, our classrooms have subsequently been robbed of at least 3 billion dollars. In the wake of the court decision in April 2011 which supported the teachers’ charter right not to suffer unilateral changes to their collective agreement, the BCTF is looking for the right to return to bargaining for their conditions of work again as well as a sensible pay rise. They are now back in court seeking some redress in the current round of bargaining which reflects the April ruling before wasting any more time with the government who seem to operate as if the court had never commented on this matter.

Of course, the last decade has been marred with further harm to the conditions of work and learning and most teachers will tell you no amount of money in their pay packet would ever compensate for the disappearance of resources and the loss of supports. The BC Public School Employers Association (heretofore known as BCPSEA if they are lucky) has been sent out horseless in this round of so called bargaining with a net zero mandate which simply put means they refuse to offer any further money and any increase in wages must come from further deteriorations in the classroom. The government is willing to pay our teachers out of their own conditions of work and out of our kids’ conditions of learning.

 In addition, there is a carefully framed challenge to the whole principle of seniority – the administrators would love to have the right to cut and paste people as unilaterally as they wish. Seniority has its own special quandary but the principle is much fairer and rational than just letting managers promote their private favourites.

There is a relentless dispute over which elements of the collective agreement can be deliberated at the local level. BCPSEA is determined to have its heavy hand on every detail of these contracts. As the bargaining meetings have been going on since March with little actual negotiating unless you count government demands for concessions and threats to legislate teachers back to work, we are now in Phase 1.

I hope the government is enjoying its dominion over this process because they are the ones who should therefore wear it.

What is Phase 1?

This is the first step of job action which is meant to apply pressure to the government with a minimum of impact on our kids. Phase 1 features a ‘teach only’ strategy. This will include classroom teaching, finalising of class room size and composition organisation, communication with parents about their kids’ progress. This does not include some of the data collection and paperwork or out of class supervision normally performed by teachers. All this has been blessed by the Labour Relations Board under the essential service guidelines( I am amazed to hear public education described as ‘essential’ considering the total lack of priority the government usually ascribes to it) and if it becomes necessary to escalate then the LRB must rule on upping the ante.

Whether this intensifies will be up to the side which has come to the table with nothing and considering BCPSEA has yet to arrive with even one costed item, we may be looking forward to Phase 2. I don’t know what Phase 2 is but I am guessing it will be a damn sight more inconvenient for everyone than Phase 1. Maybe it is time for either the organ grinder or the monkey to negotiate productively.

Are teachers entitled to wage increases?

In a democratic society, we recognise as a basic tenet the right to have a genuine say over our conditions of work. After all, we are not serfs (Keep telling yourself that. Repeat “We are Not Serfs…We are Not Serfs”).

While the primary concern of our teachers is and has always been the well being of the students, it stands to reason this is not in any way distinct from seeking decent remuneration for their profession. BC teachers are among the most poorly paid in Canada. Teaching requires a 5 year degree and typically most new teachers  spend the first 3- 5 years on call with an average annual wage of  $15,000.No one expects to work for less and less compensation especially as costs rise. Teachers are no different.

As we listen to the bashing and misinformation, it is important to remember every advance in the workplace will be enjoyed by our kids as they emerge into the adult world. No one stays a child forever and the tone and quality of the life our kids will face is a direct result of our willingness to fight for what is fair and meaningful. Sure teachers want more money – we pay sports celebrities, talentless TV judges and supermodels big style; we fork over huge sums to people who do a great deal less for everyone’s well being and simply regard them as deserving recipients because they are already wealthy. Why not parse off some of that considerable wealth to people who actually do something laudable for a living.

Where does collective bargaining fit in?

There are 2 principles essential if collective bargaining is to function effectively. One is the recognition both parties come to the table with equal status and the other is that the employees are able to withdraw their labour to press for settlement (the employer obviously has the lockout as the parallel possibility). Normally the employer needs the workforce to provide product or perform a useful service and any obstacle to this process is highly inconvenient. The workforce needs to be paid in order to live and care for their families.

However, where is the incentive to negotiate constructively if one party has so much power and influence they need not bargain in good faith? Our government has only to wait this out, cram the airwaves with loaded tales of employee greed and capriciousness and when everyone is well fed up with the state of things, legislate the job action out of existence like a disappointed parent weighing in on a puerile disagreement between children.

For teachers, it is a bitter pill to swallow – the mere fact they have had no negotiated collective agreement  in nearly 20 years should tell us all we need to know about the lack of regard our governments ( not just this one) has for the value and professionalism of teachers and the significance of public education. Teachers will have gear up for a gargantuan struggle – by now they must have noticed the only way forward is by fighting no matter how this looks in the press.

Local or Provincial issues? What are the actual rules on this?

On August 28th 2011, Marguerite Jackson acting as arbitrator on this very matter has ruled the definition of ‘cost provisions’ which are viewed as provincial under the Public Education Labour Relations Act  as follows:

       • all provisions relating to salaries that affect the cost of the collective agreement

        •all provisions relating to benefits that affect the cost of the collective agreement

        •all provisions relating to time worked that affect the cost of the collective agreement

         •all provisions relating to paid leave that affect the cost of the collective agreement

And that is that or as the lovely Ms Jackson says- these cost provisions ‘exhaust the definition.’

Everything else can and should be the jurisdiction of local boards. For many years up to the mid 90’s teachers negotiated with their own Boards of Education and this allowed a more responsive approach from district to district. The disadvantage for the government was they watched as one decent agreement between a local board and its teachers become the gold standard for the rest.

In 1993 ( after the Korbin Commission which among other things examined the bargaining process in BC with a clear eye on cutting the cost of paying teachers) the overarching BCPSEA came to be and has since imposed a monopoly on the whole process of working together to achieve agreements which reflect the diversity and needs of districts. In fact since the advent of BCPSEA, it is commonplace for collegial arrangements and letters of understanding crafted between boards and their employees to be over turned by the thumping great Obergruppenführer of all things.

Is BCPSEA an independent body?

 Yah … sure. Well if you think an assassin sent out by a paying customer is independent than I suppose so but BCPSEA was created to manage with all the subtly of a rhino horn up the wazoo, the collective agreements which exist between the provincial government and their various public school employee groups. I note with interest trustees receive pious little updates from these people who do a rather unconvincing job of sounding measured. Frankly – they hate teachers and are there to make the whole relationship between boards and their employees messy and inauspicious. Moreover, hilariously they think we are fooled by their fake moustaches into believing they are not the direct agents of the government but neutral actors on the labour stage.

Is the job action an appropriate topic for open school board meetings?

Apart from absolutely everyone in the province, the breakdown of relations between our teachers and the government is pretty much our little secret. I defy anyone to snap on a radio, open a paper or haul up Facebook and not find an avalanche of material on the subject generally tilted towards portraying the BCTF like a slightly less moral version of the North Korean Ministry of Mischievous Explosions. This is the issue of the day.

Boards have publicly discussed and commented on labour disputes in the past including the Cowichan Board which in an open meeting back in October 2005 passed the following motion unanimously:

“That School District #79 write a letter to BCPSEA, Chair Ron Christensen expressing disappointment with the condescending and confrontational tone of the BCPSEA communication of October 14th,2005 and reminding BCPSEA that their specific statutory obligation is to negotiate a contract with the BC teachers, and that our students are counting on them to do that without further delay.”

This motion was brought at the end of an open meeting which featured a number of recommendations related to the strike including another to dismiss BCPSEA as the bargaining agent. Some passed and some did not but they all had their time under the scrutiny of the community which is as it should be. The general tone and direction of the process is a public matter – the binding legal details as they roll out may not be but hundreds of teachers in any district must be aware of these anyway.

It may sometimes be uncomfortable for the management to air these issues in open but that is where they belong. We must comment publicly on public matters not cherry pick subjects for closed door proceedings at our whim.

How do trustees fit into this picture?

Trustees can and should take a bold position. After all – despite being willing to repeatedly pass hopelessly inadequate budgets, boards have as a minimum program generally cried out in their frustration about the underfunding and the state of our schools. We write letters, we pass motions and occasionally our professional body -BCSTA- sends out courteous squawks of distress.

The teachers are taking up this work in a vigorous manner and it would be dishonest to deny them now. Trustees are not spectators in fact the 2003 Wright Report (Towards a Better Teacher Bargaining Model in BC) states: “it is important that trustees be part of the collective bargaining process.” Our own BCSTA points out there are 8 specific duties which Boards of Education must fulfill according to the School Act and one of them happens to be “establishing conditions of employment for employees”.

It is our job as the employer to set direction. I hope we are not committed to being slave drivers or despots so we must demand our senior staff and the good folks at BCPSEA who bargain on our behalf adopt a progressive tone free of ‘condescension and confrontation’. We should be reminding them they are obligated to negotiate a contract and not wait for the government to wade in with back to work legislation. I am loath to suggest their conditions of work be unilaterally modified to include a proviso which allows trustees to have them blown out an airlock into deep space if they don’t get on with it.

This can be resolved with the good faith of an honourable government doing more than just hoard money for their own priorities. If I must pick a side based on past actions and evidence of loyalty to our kids, our schools and our public education system, I am afraid there are few particulars which would allow me to choose the Ministry of Education or their beard BCPSEA. I can accept happily the teachers’ understandable wish to seek a salary increase but I cannot overlook the continuous assault the government has mounted on our schools.

If we are to contribute to equalising this situation, trustees across this province must forcefully stand with the teachers and in doing so stand with our kids and their families.

“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, government relief for the destitute and, above all, new wage levels that meant not mere survival but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome. When in the thirties the wave of union organization crested over the nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Your Trustee Pal

Eden

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Diary of a Mad Trustee Open Board Meeting June 15th 2011

Posted on June 29, 2011 by eden

 

Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice

  Resist the Beginning…Consider the End

 

This was the last meeting of the school year and even trustees are getting time off for good (or bad) behaviour. No point in whinging now –  but this has been one brutal year for everyone yet I think we are becoming much too good at adapting to the increasing stress and disappointment of seriously trying to uphold the fragile premise of public education in this province ,this country ,this mad, mad world. Oddly enough, the last meeting had a cross purpose theme – one where the board submitted to the voice of community and yet decided to parade its inclination to thwart it in a most fundamental fashion.

This meeting our board decided whether we wished to proceed with a request to the Ministry of Education seeking a reduction in trustee numbers.

 We don’t …which is just as well since it is a requirement of the Trustee Variation Guidelines the  board must  submit its rationale and documentation arising from the required consultation with community to get the ball rolling.

(Trustee Variation Guidelines are found in the appendix of a doc called School Trustee Election Procedures In British Columbia produced by the Ministry of Education) http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/legislation/trustee_election/2008_school_trustee_election_procedures.pdf)

 With one or two very telling exceptions (DPAC and the Principals/Vice Principals Association) no one thought this was a good idea and we had letters from our other employee groups, aboriginal education partner organisation (HMEC), local elected people including CVRD directors, city counselors, a mayor, 2 MLA’s and our MP, Cowichan Tribes Chief and Council as well as several PACs and assorted regular folks. Had we sent this forward I can only imagine what our overseers in Victoria would have thought as they browsed through the heavily weighted views from Cowichan – bewildered any board would make such a request in light of response to the suggestion. 

 At the one and only opportunity for community to assemble and speak to us about this matter–we enjoyed a great moment when all of us realised our community seems to value its elected people despite all the vocal pressures which surely would encourage them to feel otherwise. I felt like Sally Fields after she got her second Oscar (You like me… you really like me!!)

So the positions stay and at the total cost for all nine of us of $93,000; this seems a very wise and prudent choice. It is now up to you and up to me to make sure the best candidates fill those positions in the fall with people who will fight for our schools.

The great battle over whether trustees should tolerate presentations from our community without resort to denial has been raging for most of this board’s duration. The source of the aggravation for some of the board members has been the delightfully elegant and spot on

Policy 1010 https://bcsd79.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1009 

which has a distinctly welcoming tone and seems to suggest we are here to listen. I believe the offending word is ‘receptive’ which features in the first two lines of the doc (please see above link).

 According to the wording in the policy, the only real power granted to the agenda prep committee is along the lines of scheduling – in other words deciding how many delegations to allow in one meeting while postponing some until the next one.

So trustees have taken it upon themselves  to do the work of our Policy Committee (which has representatives from all our partner groups) right at the table  and evidently see no value in the recommendations that committee has brought forward repeatedly asking we simply align our practice with the words in the policy . Neatly gotten round of course by changing the policy to suit the practice the majority wishes to pursue. They have ‘made their will the law’ which contributes to a very corrosive trend in wishing to isolate trustees from anyone the admin views as inconsequential, or likely to be a bad influence like our employees. This device is usually disastrous for the credibility of our board but of course, the unelected have little regard for our credibility.

It can and should be an election issue this fall. Are trustees absolutely obliged to hear from those who ask to speak to us or will one or two of us apply careful censorship to the views of those who wish to present? And by the way – the revisions they rammed through at the board table now restrict those who may hang in for the end of the meeting to questions only as opposed to having the option of simply voicing a comment about school district matters.

So I will not be attending any board meetings until August 31st unless we have to call a special meeting due to a radiation leak or the ‘rapture’ (neither of which we will have any actual ability to solve). I look forward to a summer of having the windows open and enjoying a lethal level of oxygen which will be a treat. By the time we return some of us will be a bit occupied with the fall election and how we can convey to our neighbours our desire to serve again whether we deserve to be back at the table or not. I actually think I do deserve to be there but that may just be the result of a strong sense of self hatred and an underlying need for performing penance.

If you want to chat; if you need to vent; if you have a gripe; if you need any help; if you have any help to offer please email or call. I am surgically connected to my cell phone (250-709-7975) and always available for a tea and a rant. And as the summer passes let’s hope our teachers can negotiate a collective agreement which will honour their efforts and needs – it is a source of sadness local boards of trustees have so little influence over the manner in which these talks proceed.

They are our employees and as even the BCSTA has noted in the tidy little Q&A supplied at this link – http://www.bcsta.org:8080/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-28215/teachersQA7.pdf 

The specific duties of Boards of Education are described in British Columbia’s School Act. They include:

• establishing conditions of employment for employees.

So why are most of us excluded from the discussion? I am sure many trustees if asked would have their own carefully considered view on how we should build these agreements in a just and productive manner. I hate to leave this delicate process in the hands of a bunch of carnivorous suits whose only standards for action rest with getting the most for the least and devil take the hindmost who are of course the students in our classrooms along with the people who care for their learning needs every single day.

I close this end of year report with some thoughts from others on dissent and its place. Long may it wave. Oh – and a quiz which is of course based on the antics of the last 6 months or so. If you have been paying attention you will find it a dawdle. And we don’t have to allow the Fraser Institute to analyse the results and rate anyone on a league table for which I am grateful.

 

Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience.

                                                                                        -Howard Zinn

 In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.

                                                                                        -George Orwell

 What you need is sustained outrage…there is far too much unthinking respect given to authority.

                                                                                         -Molly Ivins

 I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.

                                                                                        -John Diefenbaker

 No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

                                                                                        -Barbara Ehrenreich

 If you go to one demonstration and then go home, that’s something, but the people in power can live with that. What they can’t live with is sustained pressure that keeps building, organisations that keep doing things, people that keep learning lessons from the last time and doing it better the next time.

                                                                                        -Noam Chomsky

 

A bit of end of the year trivia which will allow you to self assess:

What is the best way to fund our public schools?

  • Taking our alumni hostage
  • Selling arms to Yemen
  • Celebrity endorsements
  • Province passing on revenue collected from the population to support public education

Bussing our kids to school is:

  • An indefensible service we should abandon
  • An incentive for  children to be unlawfully assembled
  • An unrealistic pipe dream only communists support
  • The safest and most environmentally wise means to ensure full attendance for all our kids

 Class composition reports:

  • Should be as obscure and incomprehensible as it is humanly possible to make them
  • Should include a home pregnancy test
  • Are less relevant than MySpace
  • Would not be necessary if those conditions were part of the teachers’ collective agreement

I think the BC Liberals are a fraternity because:

  • They are entirely devoted to punking the population
  • They are devoid of social conscience
  • They wear flip-flops, cargo shorts, polo sweaters and Oakley fashion sunglasses when they are not wearing SS uniforms
  • Okay – I have no serious answer for this one
  • Finally – they festooned the Leg with graffiti while drunk

Our Strategic Plan is:

  • Featured on YouTube burning police vehicles after Game 7
  • Better than nothing
  • Part of a stand up act at the Montreal Comedy Festival
  • The meanest bare minimum imaginable but still unattainable

The work of administrators could be:

  • Raising the dead
  • Cloning mammoths
  • Designing and operating super colliders
  • Slavishly following Ministry dictate regardless of the outcome 

Appropriate topics for delegations:

  • Brazilian waxing
  • Morris dancing
  • Underwater welding
  • Whatever the members of our community wish to discuss with the board

 How should the board consult the community?

  • In a locked toilet between 2 and 2:15 pm next Tuesday
  • In their absence
  • During hockey finals
  • According to the exacting code of the International Association for Public Participation (http://www.iap2.org)

 Life is easier with BCeSIS:

  • Is a play on Broadway at the Wintergarden Theatre
  • Only if you are medicated
  • Relative to being held in a Burmese prison
  • Is the claim likely to be made by Pearson while laughing all the way to the bank

 Our small secondary schools are:

  •       Responsible for the destruction of western civilisation as we know it
  •       Only good as warehouses for old Atari computers
  •       Likely to be bulldozed to build box stores and golf courses
  •       Pillars of the communities in which they are located

Debate among trustees:

  • Should never get in the way of obeying our senior staff
  • Should be restricted to picking furniture or paint colours
  • Should be subjected to heckling
  • Is crucial to the democratic representation of all members of our community

 

 

Your Trustee Pal and have a lovely summer

Eden

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June 1st 2011 Open Board Meeting

Posted on June 14, 2011 by eden

Diary of a Mad Trustee

Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice

Resist the Beginning…Consider the End

This meeting was all about distractions.

Distractions from the real issues; distractions from the real treasure; distractions from the real risk and harm.

Our board was approached in the fall of 2009 by the RCMP with a request. The local constabulary wished to use the now closed and replaced old Crofton Elementary School as a ‘kill house’ or ‘active shooter’ training facility– defined in this case as a location in which they could prepare to respond to a Columbine style situation inside any of our schools here in Cowichan. The matter was referred to our Operations Committee and there a profound and comprehensive discussion took place.

All our employee groups with the exception of the principals as well as the Aboriginal (Hwulmuhw Mustimuhw) Education Council had real concerns about both the practical and the philosophical significance of this venture. There was unease about the message this sent to our kids and our community about the actual environment we live in and a reluctance to submit to a military solution for our troubling social problems almost all of which are poverty based. One principal though supportive of the request from the RCMP remarked the use of one school for practice would have little value in any other school as all schools have difference layouts. He pointed to the school blueprints which the police had in their possession already and reflected these would be useful if there was an occurrence as long as they were kept up to date. In other words – an empty school is no better for such rehearsals than any other empty building on hand.

At the end of this dialogue, the Operations Committee recommended the board deny the request to use the school in this manner but continue to pursue a partnership with the RCMP in dealing with security concerns.

Relevant excerpt from the October 27th 2009 Operations Committee minutes minus specific names:

“The Superintendent got a request from the RCMP to do an Active Shooter Training Session at Crofton Elementary School. This item was referred to the Operations Committee from the October 21st Open Board meeting for consideration. Issues of publicity, site security, liability and clean up were discussed and after some discussion, it was agreed not to support this request to use closed school sites for training, but to examine alternative ways to support the RCMP in meeting its training needs.

Moved by ________, seconded by ________, “That the Operations Committee recommends to the Board of Education that they support the RCMP in examining alternative ways to meet its training needs.

CARRIED unanimously”

When the recommendation returned to the board table from committee, it was modified to include direction to notify the RCMP about the decision and endorsed. Done and dusted… but no.

Despite this motion – which was an honest attempt to accommodate our local cops, the RCMP were never notified in writing by senior staff. Understandably, the RCMP were rather put out and returned for another go round to the Operations Committee.

As a result of this second foray ,the board decided to seek public input for this initiative and in a meeting held last month, they were told by those who attended there was support for allowing the police to train in the school. The board has now agreed to the original request provided there is no cost to the district.

If you knock on any door long enough someone always answers. I am, of course, edified by this unique example of a board decision which reflects the views expressed at a public meeting by members of our community.

When we first had our initial visit from the RCMP at the board table, they were asked if anything remotely resembling a ‘Columbine’ scenario had ever occurred in our valley schools. We were of course, told there had not. In fact, all in all, we are quite a lucky little corner of a very brutal world. Our homicide rates in Canada hover just under 2 per 100,000 and have been falling more or less since the early 1990s similar to rates in France and Finland but actually lower than Sweden and New Zealand.

Yes our cousins to the south of us provide endless entertainments devoted to the promotion of their culture of violence (the US tops the chart at 3 times our rate of homicide) but perhaps we should be wary of suffering from crime envy. While we have been guilted into this arrangement after all this time and discussion on the basis there is no other way the police can train – it was revealed they actually have such places already on the island and the reason they are pursuing the Crofton location is convenience. Regardless of our decision, this sort of training exercise was already taking place.

The US is the model for our panic though perhaps it should not be the model for our actions. We are not an American city; we do not have that level of violence and crime. We are not an ideologically driven gun nut nation. What we do have is too much American TV telling us we are in the same straits as they are. This creates unnecessary alarm among those who are not thinking locally. We should be grateful we share this serene place but somehow there is a drive to emulate the dominant fear mongering culture to which the US has fallen prey.

In America, they are armed to the teeth, trained in the deadly arts, militarised up the wazoo. They have the largest per capita prison population in the world. None of this has stemmed the tide of anger and bloodshed. And it certainly has not solved the most significant source of crime – poverty and inequality. By offering our little school as a place to practice shooting down the anticipated perpetrators of an act of terror we are creating the conditions for just such a thing.

Brutality has a way of breeding brutality. Why are we choosing to circumvent this event in a manner which is more likely to bring it to our door? Our board in response to the bottomless demands for austerity from the government has removed supports for at risk children in our classrooms – substantial cuts to intensive behaviour, counseling, drug and alternate programs. This foolishness will bring many troubles our way none of which will be solved by force. Yet – we do not regard this practice of succumbing to the unreasonable fiscal demands of the ministry as a strong contributor to the potential for peril in our schools and in our community.

We have dragged our feet in this district on preparing all our schools equitably for disasters like earthquakes – a threat we can reasonably prepare for and know it will make all the difference if this valley endures such a catastrophe. We are only willing to acknowledge a distant threat but fail to recognise the real ones.

I am sad to see us consent to this forlorn project. Our schools should be beacons of hope and peace and tolerance and understanding – oases of learning and humanity which provide respite from trouble and chaos. Even a closed school should continue to symbolize some of these hardwired values.

If influential community leaders and law enforcement organisations are determined to keep us safe, they will raise their voices in unison against the ruthless dismantlement of our decencies not just gear up for war on our kids.

Hate and force cannot be in just a part of the world without having an effect on the rest of it. – Eleanor Roosevelt

__________________________________________________________________________________________

“This government has a vision for education in BC—one where schools and community organisations can create Neighbourhoods of Learning where people can access educational and community services under one roof. Schools throughout the province will be able to adapt this model in the future to best meet the needs of their students and communities.” – Premier Gordon Campbell, Vancouver, Sept. 3, 2008

As you may know, this board has been trying to secure a new elementary school for Lake Cowichan since shortly after the abandonment of AB Greenwell School in February 2008. In fact it is our numero uno priority if words are anything to go by.

However, three years later we are channeling our hopes through the vision of what we now call a ‘Neighbourhood of Learning’ or ‘Neighbourhood Learning Centre’. Frankly – is that not what a school actually is and always has been anyway?

This concept was raised late in 2008 by the Liberals to sidestep some of the considerable back splash arising from many years of school closures and subsequent property sales many of which occurred in small and rural communities. The idea was to provide a very tiny and finite amount of money (I believe the budget was around $30 million provincially) to encourage communities to save their small or supposedly under populated schools by bringing other services into the buildings which could collaborate and provide funds.

Educationally speaking Lake Cowichan has really been through the ringer since amalgamation in 1996. They are now enduring more of the same.

While waiting for a verdict in this matter from the government, we hired a consultant in November 2010 with a grant from the BCSTA and the UBCM to examine the prospects of developing such a Neighbourhood Learning Centre as a means to speed approval for the school.

Somehow, it was assumed this would ring well with the Ministry or in this case, the real decision makers at the Capital Secretariat. In short, the purpose of the consultant’s work was to determine what sort of services people at the Lake would find appropriate to share within a new school building and whether there was any prospect of such a partnership. The most popular services envisioned by the 64 people who filled in the survey were early learning and adult education. I do hope no one has forgotten we had a highly successful and financially stable alternate/adult education centre(Reconnect) at the JH Boyd site before the program was eliminated in 2003 and the old school sold off in August 2008 (a highly controversial and unwise decision).

However, all the truly appropriate elements were already carefully provided for within existing arrangements in Lake Cowichan. The Lake is a very civic minded and thoughtful community. In truth, though the Lake dearly needs a new school for its kids they really did not need anything else which could reasonably be housed in a school.

The results of the consultant’s work have been released this month. This individual was a neutral party and simply did the job we asked her to do. She brought to light the reality we all already should have recognised.

How did we get to this place?

The mould issue at AB Greenwell School had been widely known and reported for almost a decade if not longer by custodians, teachers, maintenance and other support workers.

When ABG was emptied in February 2008, there was already remedial work (AFG $1,175,000) and seismic work in the pipe – all with approved funding and due to begin in March 2008.

Many of the problems which had plagued the school would have been attended to under this renovation. The timeline indicated would have led to renos taking place throughout the summer and fall of 2008 with completion early in 2009 at the latest.

According to CEI- the architectural firm charged with examining the options for the district – ABG despite the mould had ‘good bones’ and was a candidate for repair.

In the meantime, a year passed and we were then told by CEI the school was no longer viable for repair and must be replaced. It was grudgingly admitted at that time the delay in restoring the building contributed to some of the deterioration. The worst area – the gym floor was the sticking point.

Due to neglect over the long and shorter term, the board no longer enjoyed the option of renovating ABG. It should be pointed out the board and the district would have been more responsible to community and to the public assets it is entrusted with if the response to the crisis had been met with immediate repair and ongoing air testing to get the much needed school back and running. Despite the concerns of parents and staff this would -I think- have been a substantial improvement over the current situation and their fears could have been allayed with appropriate measures.

We do not have a guarantee for any new school – small or large -at this time. We really must focus on retaining the system at the Lake and properly maintaining and resourcing the schools which are there. In addition, the promise of a new large school presupposes the closure and sale of Palsson and Yount.

It is interesting the intermediate option – that of building a new small school and arranging some needed maintenance/renovation at Palsson is not on the table. Why? It is by far the least costly and sustains the small school environment Lake Cowichan and area has enjoyed. The deteriorations and shortcomings of all the schools at the Lake are not the fault of the community or the schools or the staff – they are the fault of diminished financial commitment from the Ministry as well as the district to those sites and the people in them.

What is the problem with this whole Neighbourhood Learning Centre (formerly called ‘a school’)? Well nothing I guess but it has become a distraction and the community has been led into taking its eyes off the real prize. We have been hilariously told we needed a partner or partners in order to make our case for a new school. We have also been told – it is unlikely we can ever secure a partner in this venture unless there is some assurance the school will be built. Good eh?

In the end as the Lake community has done duty by its citizens and carefully nurtured valued services they are to be declared failures and poor candidates for a new school. It is all their fault I suppose for being a forward thinking dynamic town.

So now what?

If the school district is genuinely committed to the public education system out at the Lake they will simply confirm their support for a replacement for ABG regardless of the outcome of the Neighbourhood Learning Centre review.

Alternatively, maybe it is time for some honest talk about the more probable intentions for the Lake Schools- a single school and the disappearance of the high school program.

If the people in Lake Cowichan have been paying attention, they may now want to champion their schools with all the fervour they previously demonstrated before all this misdirection. Make it an election issue. Don’t be sidetracked by ministry manipulation. The families at the Lake deserve the school system they nurtured for years before being forced into this unholy alliance with SD#65.

Patience is a virtue they say but it has its price. However, it is not too late for the people at the Lake to celebrate what they have always been – a community devoted to genuine progress and fine public services for all.

Mark these words from the Charter for Public Education created after public hearings across British Columbia in 2002-2003.

We expect:

Equitable access for communities to programs, resources, experiences and opportunities for learners, regardless of geographic location or socio-economic status.

Never stop expecting the best for all our kids; never stop fighting for community entitlements.

Your Trustee Pal

Eden

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Diary of a Mad Trustee Open Board Meeting May 18 2011

Posted on May 30, 2011 by eden

Principiis Obsta…Finem Respice

Resist the Beginning…Consider the End

 

Budget 2011/2012 is over and yet as most of you can testify, it is never over when the results are starkly in our faces. Of course, despite all the 4 alarm hysteria, the staffing and other great milestones awaiting the definitive vote go on as if the first draft will be the last anyway.

It has been a many faceted little drama so I have chosen to comment on it through the oft used ruse of Q&A. Of course, I made up the questions and the answers are entirely my views and perhaps no one else’s. Therefore, it is not so much a Q&A as a setup and a rant. However, it is my diary and as you may have noticed, I don’t get my way very often.

Why did the District Budget Committee support a No Cuts Budget?

The whole point of the No Cuts Budget was to honour the mild, obvious but attainable goals in the Strategic Plan this board created last year. That and an appetite to avoid the see -saw last minute attempts to diffuse the bomb about to go off in our classrooms. No agonising over which wire to sever or whether to don a specialised protective suit, using flame and fragmentation-resistant material. No ritual offering up of necessary elements in our schools just to stave off the termination of the crucial. All our employee groups and the Hwulmuhw Mustimuhw Education Council represented on the district budget committee called for a No Cuts Budget and had the votes to carry this recommendation. Though the board used guile to derail this motion and simply refused to even allow discussion of the proposal at the table during budget where it had been directed, it remains the only truly coherent  tack offered during the weeks leading up to the conclusion of this budget process at the May 18th meeting.

As the statement from the partners said:

“The emphasis of this Strategic Plan is improved learning outcomes for all our students. Yet, the cutback budgets passed by this Board over the last two years undermine staff capacity to support student learning in practical terms. The draft budget cuts on offer from senior staff for this year continue to overturn the laudable principles in our Strategic Plan. This is the time for school boards and their communities to make themselves heard and insist our expectations for public education be answered. This government must immediately begin to reverse cutbacks to public education through increased funding.”

Do we need a Director of Operations?

We do not need more administrative positions and if we did we would really only be able to justify them if we were already supplying learning supports to our kids instead of carving them away. The Director of Operations position was created against the advice of the maintenance employees back in 2008 who clearly understood what they really needed was a foreman. During a long period of higher enrollments and larger building and grounds areas, we got along quite nicely with a Works Supervisor reporting to the board along with custodial and transportation managers.

In the grand tradition of Parkinson’s Law – our admin tends to multiply subordinates to offset their own work load and of course, the more of these people there are the more work they end up creating for each other. Thus, we find our senior staff has expanded despite their own determination to grind down other areas of the workforce in the name of balanced budgets and efficiency. In the case of this particular position – the person filling it was unavoidably absent for very long periods including over much of last year. To adapt to this void, the operations department was restructured and despite the increased demands of the government regarding the use of the Annual Facilities Grant, all deadlines were met. Somehow, I think we have empirical evidence we simply do not need another director. The front line people took up the work and did it well. Right now as we have not yet filled this position, we could realise the full $111,333 without having to endure the lengthy notification period accorded all managers under contract.  

In the Low Report, which was commissioned and completed in 2005, Mr Low observed a need for another admin position as consultants often do. But in addition he supplied a formula by which the district should determine the number of tradespersons needed to effectively complete the maintenance of our buildings – by his formula we are short at least 8 positions(12 if you include the 4 trades people now in non structural seismic). Funny how his counsel on hiring a pricey senior manager was followed enthusiastically while his advice regarding an increase of trades positions went unheeded.

Do we need a Vice Principal for the International Program?

Oh Brother – this one is a real pip.

We already have a full time principal for this program and the 85 kids (give or take – I have received a different figure every time I have asked but the actual FTE numbers remain somewhat vague) are spread throughout our district in schools which of course also have their own principals and in many cases vice principals.

 However, some of our senior staff as well as a few trustees are convinced this program will keep the wolf from the door if only we are willing to invest in it. I am not. This is a very unreliable revenue source and we have in fact built our balanced budget this year on projections for increased clientele from afar. It is a matter of some discomfort for some of us who believe only public revenue generated in a spirit of optimal support for all children in our province can supply equitable education opportunities for all districts.

Intriguingly we have been unwilling to fund from our core revenue, a District Aboriginal Principal despite this being a position which oversees the provision of core learning opportunities for the 1400 native students who by the way bring in around 12 million dollars a year if you combine general revenue from the province with the targeted 1-31 funds they also generate.

 However, we are very anxious indeed to cater to kids from abroad with tutors, summer programs and other services our own kids do not enjoy. I do believe the presence in our midst of children from other shores is valuable for us and for our guests but I do not believe they should be here as paying customers. Let the government fund them – let the students be chosen for merit and need not ability to pony up. As to requiring a very expensive Vice Principal (an additional $97,980 combined with admin time already in the pipe) all our kids need more counseling time, more library time and our teachers need smaller classes with fewer unsupported challenges. The profit from each international student once you peel away the endless costs of recruiting and travel and increased special staff is about $3000 but even that does not take into account the core services all students in our schools need from regular teachers to cleaning and maintenance. Moreover, of course, revenue from this program has been on the decline for 2 years in BC– corresponding predictably with the global economic downturn.

If we really want to support our district fiscally, we should be focusing our efforts on programs and services for the kids in this valley and hope we can increase the populations in our schools. We should be building a fierce response to underfunding and standing up to the government rather supplementing our misery in the short term with dodgy propositions.

 It seems very inappropriate to be spending our meagre resources on servicing a tiny section of kids while our students do without. SD 79 is a school district and must devote itself to that very admirable project part of which is campaigning vigorously for the public funds we need to operate on behalf of our students and employees. We are not in business and if some of the trustees and admin fancy themselves emperors of commerce, they should take this up in their personal lives and live the fantasy there.

What did Specialist Teachers in the areas of Literacy, Numeracy and Technology do before their positions were cut?

As 25% of children in our classrooms are at -risk learners, this is the focus of much of the work of the people who we call specialists in our schools. They support our classroom teachers in meeting some of the varied and extensive challenges in every school in our district. These folks are trained to inspire, guide and assist our teachers and students despite the ominous learning environment brought on by deteriorating resources. They are a conduit through which all our kids can expect equal access to some of the most critical programs and learning opportunities. Now in the final days of the budget they have been removed from the classrooms as we offer up one critical service to hang onto another. In addition, let us be clear – unless things change, anything we may have saved back by expunging these services to kids and teachers will only find its way into the cuts column next year.

What does our Annual Budget Policy #1040 say?

https://bcsd79.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentDisplay.aspx?ID=1016&Original=1

“The District’s annual operating budget shall express in financial terms the Board’s plans by which it seeks to accomplish its objectives, plans, and programs. At suitable intervals during the year the Secretary-Treasurer shall report progress of actual performance against these predetermined objectives, plans, and programs.”

If you have a look at the Annual Budget Policy # 1040, you will notice it stirringly recommends our budgets should allow us to further our plans for the district. I assume our plans include the Strategic Plan we devised over much of last year but perhaps there is an overriding plan we have not been privy to. Nothing would surprise me less.

In addition, the policy calls for regular reports on how the budget is managing to meet the standards we established within our plan. I don’t recall ever reviewing the outcomes of our budgeting habits.

My guess is the plan referred to in the policy is not just a laundry list of fundamentals no school system could do without. Imagine a public education approach which feels the need to outline a plan calling for the absolute minimum goals any normal thinking person would have taken as read.

Under ‘objectives, plans and programs’ in #1040 previous hopeful policy writers would have been forgiven if they worked in the understanding  we would not have to actually detail the following  basic education services as we have in our Strategic Plan:

•        Nurturing academic, fine arts, social development, and physical education

•        Maintaining current educational choices and opportunities

•        Improving transition and graduation rates

•        Strengthening curriculum and teaching that reflects the Hwulmuhw language and culture

•        Supporting at-risk students and students with special needs

•        Support Early Learning opportunities

•        Increasing district transportation effectiveness

•        Incorporating outreach and technological opportunities

•        Enhancing program opportunities for small secondary schools and alternate/adult options

Really – when this policy was written, who might have guessed objectives like these could not be assumed. And if we ever do review our budget practices and how those practices have supported our kids and employees in this district at even the most basic level we are going to be very embarrassed indeed.

Did the budget process meet any of the minimum benchmarks of good governance?

No not even close and considering the extremely low standards I would have measured this by, it should have been a cake walk.

This meeting saw the final budget bylaw passed – hastily completing 2nd and 3rd reading despite efforts to extend the budget process for an extra week. This would have been a small remedy for the total lack of any thoughtful process and an alarming absence of budget work by trustees as a board. This was the first time I experienced no collaborative budget work. From the March 30th Budget Committee meeting until we arrived at a last minute grudgingly bestowed 90 minute working session held the same day as 1st reading on May 11th, there was no budget work apart from our own individual efforts.

There was no discussion of the presentations from our community on May 9th. There was no opportunity for all trustees to go over the budget material together with senior staff. Some of us may have been granted this privilege but not all.

In order for a budget process to reach for inclusion of all those affected by its outcome, the views of our partners must receive some authentic consideration – not just ‘a justice seen to be done/ lets get this over with’ style of work which is exactly what we had from January 26th through to March 30th. We seldom had material in time to reflect and develop discussion and the only views deemed valuable were those of the highest remunerated employee group – the senior staff. The process was not laid out ahead of time so we never really knew what was about to transpire. Information requested was not supplied and in the end – a frustrated majority on the budget committee recommended a no cuts budget and it all went back to the trustees for concluding work. That work never happened–there was not one board session to encourage inquiry or modification to the draft budget.

For all the efforts of our community and their willingness to talk about their concerns, nothing they had to say made one jot of difference to the proceedings. All handled in a dismissive take it or leave it fashion. Things will have to change- those of us who run again will have to commit to something more generous, more -dare I say it- democratic. Budget proceedings are not meant to look like riot control in an East German election.

Did Saanich submit a deficit budget to the Ministry?

Technically Saanich did not pass and submit a budget bylaw. They formulated a budget based on the work of a committee (believe it or not, comprised of 61 staff and parents) created to evaluate programs and impacts in order to restore those services which were considered the most valuable. They also assessed the effectiveness of their spending priorities and established which of those services could be funded strictly from the revenue offered by the government.

What they did do was pull cuts of over $300,000 off the table while including identified services and programs not covered by the operating grant. Thus, the final budget calculation incorporated a shortfall of $2.8 million– ‘approved to include additional grants from the Province in order to restore and support these needs but unaffordable with current government grants’.

You cannot tender a budget bylaw without the collaboration of the secretary treasurer. The Saanich board understandably had no wish to place their secretary treasurer in such a position so instead passed a follow-up motion which directed the board chair to submit their budget plan to the ministry. A balanced budget is legally required by June 30th – obviously, Saanich is hoping to secure some consideration from the ministry, some communication, some acknowledgment before that deadline. I suppose they may file the bylaw – balanced by then but I can only applaud their boldness for at least trying to do better than conducting another grim march to decline.

Some have disputed this deficit budget on those technicalities but in fact, Saanich has done what we have not done. They have imaginatively and with poetic wordsmithing submitted a deficit budget. At least they will now find out what the ministry will do. Our speculations are intended to raise fears about firing and dire consequences. I think it is a theory worth testing. How could anything the ministry does directly be any worse than what they have contrived to do by remote control?

What does the running total for 2 years of cuts budgets mean?

Placing a budget forward which restores some of the programs and services will without doubt require an act of fierce demand from boards – and a rebellion against the self serving section of the School Act which commands trustees to submit a budget wherein estimated expenditures do not exceed estimated revenues. Of all the levels of government in this era of selective austerity, school boards  are alone in the requirement to scrupulously adhere to a balanced budget model at all costs – in this case a terrible deficit in our schools . Good thing the province and the federal government don’t have to balance their budgets – how else could they keep arms salespersons and bankers happy – all our favourite folks no less?

Here is the more comprehensive list we wanted to see added to our budget based on additional grants from the province which includes many of the more frightful cuts from last years deliberations. As you will see it is hard to believe we can go on like this for much longer – even the startling human ability to adapt endlessly is being tested by this annual turkey shoot. This next list combines the 2 years worth of cuts and does not actually include all of them – just the more outstanding ones. After a few very unsuccessful forays into budget revision which would add back services, we decided any further effort would be fruitless in the face of the stubborn refusal by the board majority to consider our options. But, these are the meaningful additions we should have and could have sent on within our budget as Saanich did – ‘approved to include additional grants from the Province in order to restore and support these needs but unaffordable with current government grants’.

2011/2012 Budget Cuts

3.4 FTE Class Size                                                                                   $308,000

District 5 Day Closure                                                                           $322,395

District In- Service                                                                                 $50,000

Supplies                                                                                                    $47,428

Unfunded Liability                                                                                  $100,000

School Based In-service                                                                       $34,000

Learning Resources                                                                               $25,000

Career Supplies                                                                                       $6,500

Transportation                                                                                        $40,000

0.8 FTE Technology Curriculum Coordinator                                  $72,480

1.0FTE Numeracy Specialist                                                                 $90,600

1.0FTE Literacy Specialist                                                                     $90,600

                                               

2010/2011 Budget cuts

Bussing                                                                                                      $318,568

District 5 Day Closure                                                                            $267,974

Custodial                                                                                                   $355,355

IBIT                                                                                                             $196,783

Alternate Education                                                                               $289,037

Partners in Learning                                                                              $72,514

Adult Education                                                                                      $67,899

Substance Intervention/Student Counselling                                $35,000

CSS Science Lab Assistant                                                                     $36,597

                                                                                                                  $2,878,269

 It is vital we never allow past cuts to achieve invisibility; it is our job to ever keep these confiscated services and programs part of our shared anguish and never accept as inevitable their continued absence. Not easy as the years pass and further incursions are upper most in our minds as we fight to stop the bleeding. Every one of these cuts listed above has damaged or demeaned our classrooms, our schools, our public assets.

Are School Trustees life long learners?

As I have said – I always believed boards would reach a tipping point- a final line in the sand they would not cross. At least a few trustees have absorbed this sorry lesson. A few more would be useful. Even a dog learns to  pee outside if he gets a good bop on the nose but trustees seem to be constructed of different cloth. We accept with tears the self proclaimed inevitability of public education decline as if no one could ever envision any other way. By now, we should have learned we are only doing what will exacerbate and perpetuate this situation. The ministry is responsible for contriving this outrage against our kids but we are responsible for doing nothing about it that matters. Every year we willfully slip on blinkers and hope for better days as we walk hand in hand with those who do not have the best interests of our kids, families and our employees in their minds or their actions. It is a good thing most kids can learn from their lessons because we simply cannot. Every reduction in service we squire along has built in a commensurate dive in enrollment and frankly, I believe this is exactly what is intended by the government’s confiscation of public school resources to the tune of at least $3 billion provincially in the last ten years.

In commenting on the useful cost cutting effects of abolishing class size and composition language from the teachers’ collective agreement back in 2002, a ministry document stated:

“It is assumed that the largest opportunity for savings will come from school boards taking advantage of the opportunity to increase class sizes and reduce non-enrolling teacher positions.”

We should learn who our allies are; who our enemies are and more to the point we should have long since learned the ministry sees us as a tool of their ideology when our only real job is fighting for our schools.

At the very least we should want to get our own back for being used so cruelly in this cold blooded enterprise.

 

It seems fitting- as we slouch away from all this- to pay tribute to Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) with a piece of his famous poem from his 1970 album, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

 The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver’s seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

Your Trustee Pal

Eden

 

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Posted in Board Report, Budget Campaign, Classroom Conditions, Debt, Democracy, Funding, Operations/Maintenance, Provincial Government, SD #79 Administration, Strategic Plan | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment