March 25th, 2014

On Monday, March 24 starting at 7:00pm, the Waterloo Region District School Board held a Committee of the Whole Meeting. The agenda and reports for the meeting can be found here.

Six delegations appeared at the meeting. One speaking to changes in fees for the IB Program, the other five speaking to the issue of wi-fi in schools.

Policy and Governance (30 minutes)
Review of Board Policy 4006 – Parking on School Board Property
Review of Board Policy 5006 – Allocation to Schools/Allocation by Principal
Review of Board Policy 6005 – Alternatives in Education
Review of Board Policy 6006 – Adult & Continuing Education

Trustees voted to move these policies to the April 14 Committee of the Whole Meeting.

Reports

Delay to the Implementation of Changes to Partial French Immersion
At the November 12, 2012 Committee of the Whole Meeting, the Waterloo Region District School Board passed the following motion:

That the Waterloo Region District School Board increase the Grade 7 and 8 French Immersion Instruction to 50% for September, 2014.

Concerns and challenges have been identified with respect to staffing additional subjects required to achieve 50% French in grades 7 and 8. The challenges include a limited availability of qualified French Immersion teachers currently employed by the WRDSB, and the restriction of hiring new teachers without seniority unless there are vacancies. Additionally, current understanding with ETFO restrict the ability to place teachers without specialized qualifications in the specialized subject area they would be teaching. With these understandings, a teacher employed to teach visual arts and/or physical education in grades 7 or 8 would be required to have qualifications in French, as well as the specific subject area they are teaching.

While some current French teaching staff are prepared to earn additional qualifications to meet the requirements to be both French qualified and subject-specialized qualified, there have been challenges for staff in completing their qualifications for September 2014. In summary, there will not be enough qualified staff in French with an appropriate subject specialization available to begin implementation for September 2014.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:
That the Waterloo Region District School Board increase the Grade 7 and 8 French Immersion Instruction to 50% for September, 2015.

Technology Plan Update
This technology plan update provides additional detail regarding strategies to move the Waterloo Region District School Board forward regarding the use of technology for learning and business needs in the areas of mobile technologies and digital resources and seeks approval for a Board policy, “Access to Digital Resources and Technology.”

The 2013-2014 Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement (BIPSA) clearly defines our vision of a student. Specific areas of focus including collaboration, communication, creative thinking and critical thinking are emphasized in the learning journey of becoming positive, engaged and contributing citizens. It is recognized that these identified skill sets must extend to the digital world.

Under the leadership of Superintendent Mark Harper, the Waterloo Region District School Board Digital Learning Steering committee, with representation from Learning Services and Information Technology Services (IT), has developed a formal digital learning plan which states:

“The Waterloo Region District School Board Digital Learning Strategy is intended as a systemic approach to improve learning and instruction, particularly as it relates to the enabling power of technology. The Waterloo Region District School Board Digital Learning Strategy involves system thinking and learning with a focus on a few projects to examine and better understand the change process and the conditions for improved learning and instruction. This is intended to assist by improving conditions and processes so that more staff can better utilize technology to improve learning and instruction and achieve the overall Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement (BIPSA) goal of optimizing learning and achievement for all students.”

There are many excellent projects currently underway in our system where technology is being used as an effective vehicle to support learning in new ways.

  • the iPads for Full Day Kindergarten Students
  • the Futures Forum Project
  • the eLearning and blended learning programs

The effective use of technology addresses a wide range of learning needs and opportunities that are simply not possible to accomplish in a paper and pencil world.

More information on the plan to move this plan forward can be found in the report. The proposed draft policy addressing “Access to Digital Resources and Technology” illustrates the board’s strategic vision to encourage and support the use of technology in our schools.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:
That the Waterloo Region District School Board approved Policy (number to be assigned), Access to Digital Resources and Technology.

Motion – Trustee C. Watson re WiFi in Schools
At the Committee of the Whole Meeting of October 21, 2013, Trustee C. Watson served a Notice of Motion as supported by Trustees C. Harrington and E. Fung that she intended to present a recommendation recommending that the Board strike an Ad Hoc Committee to develop a Board WiFi Policy. After discussion and consultation with Trustee Watson, the original motion was amended and presented to the Agenda Development Committee for scheduling.

The following motion was split to allow trustees to vote on each section separately – the motion was lost:
That the Waterloo Region District School Board strike an Ad Hoc Committee of two trustees, two parents and appropriate staff to develop a draft WiFi policy for consideration by the Board and that the committee also review current research and/or studies associated with WiFi exposure.

Bell Time Update – Bridgeport Public School
On November 18, 2013, The Waterloo Region District School Board passed the following motion:

That the Waterloo Region District School Board implement bell time changes, effective September 2014, with the understanding that no school will move by more than +/- 20 minutes.

On December 10, 2013 trustees received a final listing of the bell time changes for September 2014, administrators were notified on December 13. With the revisions, the following start times were achieved:

  • 13 schools starting at 9:20am
  • 3 school starting at 9:25am
  • 1 school starting at 9:30am

Considerable concern was expressed by the Bridgeport Public School community because of their 9:30 start time. STSWR Inc. looked at Bridgeport Public School and retested a number of variables. In this case, limited options are available to move the school bell time because of the location of the school, the catchment area, the road network, the number of runs and the volume of traffic around the school before 9:00 a.m. Bridgeport Public School has five runs which are longer than those of schools nearby with which to consider routing. In the northwest urban area there are 3 other schools – Sandowne Public School (2 buses and 369 students), Prueter Public School (1 bus and 217 students) and Lexington Public School (2 buses and 253 students), as well as 2 Waterloo Catholic District School Board schools that would be included in the mix to chain multiple runs. Bridgeport Public School was the original choice because otherwise 5 other schools and more than double the number of students would be impacted by any mixing of routes.

As requested by the Board of Trustees, STSWR Inc. looked at options available to address the concerns raised by the community. As part of its review, STSWR Inc. reviewed the network in 10 minute intervals between 9:10 and 9:30. Moving 5 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to a 9:25 a.m. start would cost 3 additional buses or $114,000 per year. Moving back 10 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 9:20 a.m. would cost 5 additional buses or $190,000 per year. Any earlier solutions would also require an additional 5 buses or $190,000 per year. It should also be noted that STSWR Inc. has expressed safety concerns with regard to moving Bridgeport Public School to 8:30 a.m. or earlier because of the high volume of traffic on Bridge Street at this time.

The transportation consortium has advised that once routes are in place for a few weeks in the fall, there may be an opportunity to tweak some of the bell times depending on the actual real time routing.

Motion – Trustee M. Ramsay re Adjustment to Bell Times – Bridgeport Public School
At the Committee of the Whole Meeting of February 10, 2014, Trustee M. Ramsay served a Notice of Motion as supported by Trustees A. Mitchell and K. Smith that he intended to present a recommendation directing staff to explore options regarding the 9:30am start time at Bridgeport PS.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:
That the Waterloo Region District School Board direct staff to explore possible options regarding the concerns of the school community in regard to the 9:30am start time at Bridgeport PS and to provide a report to trustees during the 2014-15 budget process.

2014 Municipal Election – Trustee Determination and Distribution 
In February of each election year, school boards receive PEG Reports (Population of Electoral Group Reports) which are produced by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). They contain information on the number of eligible voters for each of the four types of boards (English Public, English Catholic, French Public, and French Catholic) within the municipalities of the school board’s jurisdiction. The information contained in these reports is the basis for the calculations required for the Determination and Distribution Report. The Waterloo Region District School Board received this report on February 15, 2014.

O. Reg. 412/00 has been amended to say that the number of elected trustee positions on a district school board has been set at the number that was determined by the Board for the 2006 school board election. As a result, the number of trustees for this Board will remain at 11.

In addition, O. Reg. 412/00 outlines how the geographic representation of a board’s trustees is determined. To assist school boards in determining the number of trustees for each geographic area in their jurisdiction, a web-based calculator was provided on the Ministry website. According to these calculations, this Board will continue to have four representatives for the City of Kitchener, three for the combined area of the City of Waterloo and the Township of Wilmot, three for the combined area of the City of Cambridge and the Township of North Dumfries, and one for the combined area of the Township of Wellesley and the Township of Woolwich.

Under O. Reg. 412/00, boards whose area of jurisdiction includes more than one municipality must pass a resolution by March 31st in an election year either designating one or more municipalities as low population municipalities or declaring that no such designation will be made. This report includes a recommendation confirming that no such designation will be made. This resolution must be included in the Board’s report.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:

  1. That, pursuant to Section 4(1)(b) of Ontario Regulation 412/00 of the Education Act, the Waterloo Region District School Board agrees that no areas within the Board’s area of jurisdiction in the Region of Waterloo be designated as low population municipalities.
  2. That, pursuant to Section 58.1(10.0.1) of Ontario Regulation 412/00 of the Education Act which says the number of elected trustee positions on a district school board be set at the number determined by the Board for the 2006 school board election, the Waterloo Region District School Board confirms that the number of trustees for this Board will remain at eleven (11).
  3. That the Waterloo Region District School Board distribute its members as follows:
    • four (4) representatives for the City of Kitchener;
    • three (3) representatives for the combined area of the City of Waterloo and the Township of Wilmot;
    • three (3) representatives for the combined area of the City of Cambridge and the Township of North Dumfries; and
    • one (1) representative for the combined area of the Township of Wellesley and the Township of Woolwich.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:55pm.