May 14th, 2013

Director’s Update

Waterloo Region District School Board – Committee of the Whole Meeting

On May 13, 2013 at 7:00pm, the WRDSB held its Committee of the Whole Meeting. The agenda and reports for this meeting are available on the Board’s website by clicking here.

No delegations appeared at the meeting.

Reports

Special Education Review Implementation Update (For Information)
This update is one of a series of reports on the status of the implementation of the “opportunities for improvement” identified in the “Operational Review of Special Education Service Planning and Delivery: Final Report – Sept 8, 2010”. This report provides an update on the plan for the implementation of the priorities identified from among the “opportunities for improvement”.

The Special Education Review Committee had identified the following four areas from the quadrants in the Special Education report as areas of focus:

  • Stakeholder Engagement,
  • Partnerships and Transitions,
  • Inclusion to Congregated Classes, and
  • Individual Education Plans.

The committee determined that the emphasis for action should be on developing and implementing consistent criteria for creating Individual Education Plans(IEP’s).

Learning Services staff has focused on the development of a system-wide process that provides clarification about the expectations for creating and reviewing Individual Education Plans based on the recommendations provided by the 2011-2012 Individual Education Plan sub-committee.

Throughout 2012-13, Learning Services staff has reviewed the findings from the 2012 Ministry of Education IEP audit and created a draft IEP moderation rubric. The draft rubric will be implemented through a series of Individual Education Plan (IEP) professional learning activities for elementary and secondary administrators during 2013-14.

Full Day Kindergarten and Before and After School Program Updates (For Information)
Twenty-two additional schools will implement the FDK program in the 2013-14 school year. The Phase 4 implementation will bring the total number of schools offering the FDK program to 65. Funding is confirmed for a cumulative total of 6,136 pupil places or 236 FDK classrooms. These totals represent 74% of our total Kindergarten population.

For the 2013-14 school year, families have been offered the option to register for two Before and After school programs; an Extended Day Program for children in JK – Grade 2, and a Youth Development Program for children in Grades 3 – 6. Both programs began an on-line registration process on March 18, 2013. As of April 30, 2013 approximately 2,000 students have been registered for Before and After school programs in our 65 FDK sites.

The WRDSB will operate Before and After school programs in 42 schools for the 2013-14 school year. Youth Development programs, run by Third Party providers, will operate in 36 schools for the 2013-14 school year.

Energy Update (For Information)
The purpose of this report is to update the board with respect to energy consumption across the Waterloo Region District School Board.

Energy Use Intensity (EUI) measured in equivalent kilowatt hours per square metre (ekWh/m2) is the base unit for comparison purposes. This metric is developed by first weather normalizing gas heating units, often reported as cubic metres of gas or gigajoules. Cubic metres of gas or gigajoules are then converted to equivalent kilowatt hours (ekWh). Total energy consumption is calculated by adding ekWh of gas use to electrical consumption, already reported in kWh.

When considering elementary and secondary schools on a combined basis, the board has experienced a 9.6% reduction in EUI when comparing 2011/12 to 2008 average intensity.

Energy intensity is driven by consumption. Consumption is an aspect over which the board and its stakeholders have partial control. Factors that are controllable may include:

  •  Behaviours
  • Waste minimization
  • Use of efficient technologies
  • Automation and control technologies (Building Automation Systems or BAS)
  • Building envelope improvements
  • Designated periods of set-back and/or shut down

Consumption is also driven by factors beyond stakeholder control and can include factors such as:

  • Weather (colder winter drives heating demand)
  • Hours of operation (extended use for Ministry initiatives such as Community Use)
  •  Growth of region (new schools and additional portables)
  • Expansion of facilities and square footage (FDK additions)

Operationally, the greatest opportunity that exists for our board to reduce energy consumption is to reduce waste. This means not only shutting it off, but perhaps a different mindset of not turning it on. This involves changing behavioural patterns of all stakeholders including staff and students and the public.

2013-14 Pupil Accommodation Grant – School Renewal Allocation (For Approval)
The Pupil Accommodation Grant for School Renewal Allocation is provided by the Ministry of Education to address the cost of repairing and renovating schools and infrastructure. This funding has typically allowed major maintenance programs such as roof replacements, mechanical upgrades and school renovations to be completed. Renovations have included program improvements such as those made to science, libraries, special education and athletic facility upgrades as prioritized through Elementary and Secondary Accommodation Committees.

The Waterloo Region District School Board’s School Renewal Allocation for 2013-2014 is estimated to be $8,470,426. Money received in this allocation must be spent on renewal projects.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:

That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve the 2013-2014 Pupil Accommodation Grant expenditures for the year September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014, not to exceed the estimated level of grant received from the Ministry of Education for School Renewal Allocation as established in the budget, for the project categories listed in Appendix B and projects listed in Appendix C of the report entitled, 2013-2014 Pupil Accommodation Grant – School Renewal Allocation, dated May 13, 2013.

2013-14 School Condition Improvement Grant – School Renewal (For Information)
As per Ministry Memorandum 2012:B5 dated March 29, 2012, boards will be provided with a total of $150M in funding to address school renewal needs. The funding has been allocated to boards based primarily on the number of schools, excluding schools built since 2007 and schools for which boards have received Ministry funding to size of schools substantially renovate and/or replace. These funds must be used for expenditures that meet the requirement to be capitalized and cannot be used to build new schools, expand the size of schools or to service debt.

Each year several projects for major maintenance are prioritized and funded from the annual Pupil Accommodation Grant for School Renewal but not all prioritized projects can be completed due to the limited amount available. This extra funding will allow for completion of additional prioritized projects in the 2013-2014 school year. The intent of these prioritized projects is to bring older schools up to current standards.

The Waterloo Region District School Board’s School Condition Improvement Grant for 2013–2014 is $3,394,804.

Empire School Capital Project Update (For Information)
Empire Public School in Waterloo has been identified by the Ministry of Education as a Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) site scheduled for implementation in September 2013. The school, originally built in 1953, is a JK- Grade 6 school with a current OTG (on the ground capacity) of 285 pupil places supplemented by a porta-pak addition bringing the total current OTG capacity to 400 pupil places. In addition, there are currently 6 portables on site housing the student population. The March 31, 2013 FTE was 473 students. Due to the inability of the existing school building to accommodate the increased FDK enrolment, the Ministry of Education approved a 5classroom addition on the site with funding of $2,329,735.

A public meeting for the construction project was scheduled for March 21, 2013. Prior to the scheduled open house, a number of neighbours voiced some concerns about the project in 2 specific areas: the school parking lot and the removal of trees on the school property.

As part of the follow up to the concerns expressed by the school community, staff were requested to approach the City of Waterloo to re-examine the plan with a view to saving some of the trees by working with the parking lot design in particular.

The solution arrived at by the city and school board which optimized all the factors inherent in the issue and which most notably reduced the number of trees to be removed is as follows:

  1. The City agreed to allow the Board to reposition the Moloks waste system from the parking area to a spot adjacent to the side of the school but still accessible through the parking lot. This opened up room for 3 parking spaces.
  2. The parking lot is to be shortened by 27.6 ft. (8.4 m) and reorganized to accommodate 57 cars. The site lines from the street will be improved due to the levelling of the parking lot.
  3. Five trees will be worked around as best as possible (#30, 35, 46, 55 and 56) with the understanding that the construction may compromise them and they might eventually need to be removed.
  4. In order to save tree #46 at the front of the school an attempt will be made to excavate deeper under it at a cost of about $3,000. This will accommodate the storm water routing to the city connection. A complete re-routing to bypass the tree and reach the city hook up would be anticipated to cost $30,000. (However again there is no guarantee that the additional excavation will be totally successful in saving the tree).
  5. The size of the 8 new trees in the school yard will be increased to 6”, (150 mm) diameter, to speed up the time-frame for the canopy to provide shade (this is equivalent to a 15 to 20 year old tree).
  6. The original plan called for 39 replacement trees once the project was completed. The new trees to be located outside the construction area will be planted earlier in the spring where possible rather than next fall to enhance the tree canopy and enable other benefits sooner.

Elementary Boundary Studies and Accommodation Reviews 2013 (For Approval)
This report looks to establish the boundary studies and/or accommodation reviews to be undertaken in the 2013-14 school year.

A boundary study is led by the Planning Department and involves a group of related schools and may result in changes to boundaries and/or program, as well as school construction and renovations.

With some similarities, an accommodation review is a more formal process led by an Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) that, like a boundary study, may result in boundary and/or program changes, as well as school construction and renovations. Most importantly, in an accommodation review, there is also the possibility of school closure(s) and/or consolidation.

It is suggested that one boundary study be conducted during the 2013/2014 school year to establish the boundary for the new Doon South area (Thomas Slee Drive) Elementary School. A capital request to build a new JK-8 elementary facility of 600 pupil places was approved by the Ministry of Education on January 24, 2013 and the Board on March 18, 2013.

At the last annual review of accommodation issues, the Board approved the following motion on May 28, 2012:

That the Waterloo Region District School Board postpone the Pupil Accommodation
Review of the Senior Elementary facilities in the City of Waterloo and City of Kitchener
core areas, approved by the Board on June 21, 2010, to be conducted prior to
September 2013 until such time as the funding situation for potential outcomes is
clarified.

The rationale for this motion was that any closure recommendation out of a senior elementary school review would result in the need to replicate existing spaces in another location (through additions or school construction) because there is insufficient capacity at any of the potential receiving schools. Until the Ministry of Education provides further direction to boards regarding funding for capital projects, it is important for the Board to focus its efforts on reviews that place students in schools where there is capacity. It is for this reason that a further delay is recommended until such time that the Board can be more confident in its ability to follow through on potential outcomes of a senior elementary school review.

Trustees approved the following recommendations:

That the Waterloo Region District School Board delay the Pupil Accommodation Review of Senior Elementary Facilities in the core areas of the City of Waterloo and the City of Kitchener, until such time as the Board receives clarification on the funding of the potential outcomes of such a review; and 

That the Waterloo Region District School Board commence an Elementary Boundary Study of Pioneer Park, Brigadoon, Doon and J W Gerth Public Schools, and including the new school to be constructed on Thomas Slee Drive, Kitchener, to be called the Doon South Boundary Study.

Annual Facility Partnerships Consideration (For Information)
This report is provided to fulfil the requirement under Section 4.6 of Administrative Procedure 4990 – Facility Partnerships to hold a public meeting once a year to consider potential facility partnership opportunities with the community and/or listen to what needs or plans community partners may have.

The Ministry Guideline requires boards to post, on an annual basis, information regarding its intention to build new schools and to undertake significant renovations. Boards are also required to post information regarding unused space in open and operating schools and administrative buildings that is available for facility partnerships.

Staff have reviewed underutilized, open and operating schools and administrative facilities for partnership suitability based on the criteria outlined in Section 6.1 of Administrative Procedure 4990 – Facility Partnerships. At this time, the Board does not have any facilities with unused space available during the regular school day that meet these criteria.

The Board is, however, working to develop nine construction projects and is inviting eligible community partners to contact staff regarding the potential for partnerships on these projects. It should be noted that although the projects may be supported by Board resolution, they await Ministry approval and funding.