November 19th, 2013

On Monday, November 18, 2013, The Waterloo Region District School Board held a Committee of the Whole meeting. The agenda and reports for this meeting can be found online here.

No delegations appeared at the meeting.

Trustees deferred the Policy and Governance items until December 9.

Reports

System Fiscal Review Update
As part of the 2013-14 budget process, Trustees directed staff to continue the system fiscal review that had been undertaken in the 2012-13 school year. Trustees directed staff to bring updates of the review periodically throughout the year. This is report is one of the updates.

The target savings to be achieved is $4.6 million. To date, $225,500 in savings have been identified, leaving $4,377,500 yet to be achieved. This represents over 95% yet to be saved.

2012-13 Audited Financial Statements
Annually, the draft audited Financial Statements are reviewed by the Board Audit Committee before being presented to the board. The Board Audit Committee consists of three trustees and two external volunteers with financial expertise.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:
That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended August 31, 2013 as recommended by the Board Audit Committee.

2012-13 Year-End Financial Report
Annually, the Board’s external auditors provide an audited report on the Financial Statements prepared by the Board. This is required under Section 252 and 253 of the Education Act.

School boards are required to have balanced budgets which require total expenses to be equal to or less than total revenue. However, an in-year deficit is permissible if there were prior surpluses, represented in Accumulated Surplus on the board’s Statement of Financial Position. Ministry approval is required if the use of the accumulated surplus is greater than 1% of the board’s operating allocation.

The 2012-13 actual year-end financial position is an in-year deficit of $1,272,515. This represents less than 1% of the board’s operating allocation and Ministry approval is not required.

Woolwich and Wellesley Townships Elementary Schools Pupil Accommodation Review Recommendations
In accordance with Board Policy 4000 – Pupil Accommodation Review and in compliance with the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Pupil Accommodation Review Guideline, on February 14, 2011, the Board initiated a pupil accommodation review of the elementary schools in the Woolwich and Wellesley Townships of the board, which included: Floradale, St. Jacobs, Linwood and Three Bridges Public Schools.

On March 18, 2013, the Woolwich and Wellesley Townships Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) presented its ARC report to the Committee of the Whole.

Throughout the ARC process, the ARC spent a considerable amount of time on two subjects; the condition and equity of the St. Jacobs PS facility, and the future of Three Bridges Public School as an elementary facility in the board. In the end, the ARC could not reconcile the continued operation of Three Bridges within the context of the objectives of the ARC, and the unique role the school plays in the local conservative Mennonite community. As a result, the ARC presented two scenarios to Trustees for students in the review area; one that included the continued operation of Three Bridges PS, and one that did not.

Option 1 – ARC Recommendation: Status Quo (Three Bridges stays open)

  • rebuild St. Jacobs PS
  • construct a bus lay-by at Three Bridges PS
  • consider a future boundary study between Floradale and Conestogo PS

Option 2 – ARC Recommendation 10a (Three Bridges closes)

  • close Three Bridges PS
  • modify the boundary between St. Jacobs and Floradale PS
  • modify the boundary between Floradale and Linwood PS
  • rebuild St. Jacobs PS
  • consider a future boundary study between Floradale and Conestogo PS

At the September 23 Committee of the Whole meeting, where Board staff presented their administrative analysis of the ARC’s report, the Board expressed an interest in examining alternate accommodation solutions in the review area, that would fall between the status quo and scenario 10a as recommended by the ARC.

Option 3 : School Twinning
Ontario Regulation 298 allows Boards to appoint a supervising principal to supervise the administration of two or more elementary schools. The administrative position at Three Bridges would be eliminated, and shared by an administrator at either St. Jacobs or Floradale PS.

Option 4: Transition Provision
In the accommodation report, the ARC recommended scenario 10a seeks to accommodate the Three Bridges community at Floradale PS upon closure of the Three Bridges facility.

The ‘transition provision’ concept would see the accommodation of the retained Three Bridges PS school enrolment at Floradale PS, similar to scenario 10a, except the small school organization of Three Bridges PS would be maintained as a separate entity on the Floradale PS site for a period of transition.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:
That the Waterloo Region District School Board formally close Three Bridges Public School (MIDENT #621080) effective August 31, 2014 and advise the Ministry of Education; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board establish a transition option for the Three Bridges Public School students at Floradale PS for a period of one year; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve the scenario 10a (option 2) boundaries for Floradale, Linwood, and St. Jacobs Public Schools as illustrated on Appendix A, attached to this report, dated November 18, 2013, effective September 2014; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve the grandfathering options as set out on Appendix C of this report titled, “Woolwich and Wellesley Townships Elementary Schools Pupil Accommodation Review Recommendations,” dated November 18, 2013; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board direct staff to investigate the feasibility of rebuilding St. Jacobs Public School to address concerns regarding facility equity and condition.

Notice of Bylaw Amendment – Article 4 Meetings, Sections 4.3.2 – Term and Tenure of Office – Board Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson
In preparation for the selection of Board Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson by trustees in December 2013, it was noted that the Board Bylaws did not include a definition of the length of time that would be considered as a term specifically in the case of a Chairperson and/or Vice-Chairperson who were elected to serve a partial term.

Currently time term and tenure for Board Chair and Vice-Chair are as follows:

Length of term : one year
Maximum number of consecutive allowable terms: 2 terms

Trustees approved the following recommendation:
That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve an amendment to Board Bylaw 4.3.2, to allow that in the case of a partial term for the position of Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson of less than one year, that six months or more be defined as a term.

Elementary Schools Boundary Study Report – Elmira
On May 14, 2012, a boundary study for the Town of Elmira area was initiated. The purpose of this study was to examine boundary and grade configuration options for John Mahood , Riverside, and Park Manor Public Schools considering the planned replacement and relocation of Riverside Public School.

The study area encompasses the Town of Elmira. Riverside and John Mahood Public Schools are JK-5 organizations that feed Park Manor Public School (6-8) for senior elementary program. Recent residential development within the Town has pressured the elementary school facilities such that utilization is 136% of the permanent capacities of the schools.

Over the course of the study, the working group evaluated nine scenarios for the accommodation of elementary students within the town of Elmira. The working group settled on scenario one as their preferred accommodation strategy.

Scenario 1 would see the reconstruction of a replacement Riverside Public School at 557 pupil places on a new site within the ‘Lunor’ subdivision to open in September of 2016. Scenario 1 proposes to maintain the existing boundaries but also grade organization changes that would see Riverside and John Mahood Public Schools change from JK-5 to JK-6 and see Park Manor PS change from 6-8 to 7-8.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:
That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve the construction of a 557 pupil place replacement Riverside Public School on a site to be purchased by the Board within the Draft Approved Plans of Subdivision known as 30T-07702 and 30T-07703 (‘Lunor’), tentatively scheduled to open September 2016, pending Ministry of Education approval and funding; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve a change in the school organizations of Riverside and John Mahood Public Schools from JK-5 to JK-6 upon the completion and occupancy of the replacement of Riverside Public School; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve a change in the school organization of Park Manor Public School from 6-8 to 7-8 upon the completion and occupancy of the replacement Riverside Public School; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve the construction of a 138 pupil place addition to John Mahood Public School, pending Ministry of Education approval and funding; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board designate the Draft Approved Plans of Subdivision known as 30T-07702 and 30T-07703 (‘Lunor’) as a “development area” allowing staff to assign each registered phase of development to a school that has space to accommodate the projected enrolment until a permanent solution can be established; and

That the Waterloo Region District School Board approve a ‘grand-parenting’ provision allowing students from the ‘development area’ in grade 6 the choice to remain at their holding school or attend their home school for the year the replacement Riverside Public School opens.

Bell Time Update
In order to avoid a budget deficit in 2014-2015 and return the board to a sustainable fiscal position, the board must identify a minimum of $4.6M in operational savings. A thorough review of all areas is being undertaken and in order to preserve direct classroom programs and services which support student achievement, a number of non-classroom expense areas have been identified for review.

The board currently spends approximately $1M more on student transportation than it receives in grant revenue from the Province of Ontario. In order to address this shortfall, the board is looking at ways to reduce its transportation costs. One possibility is to increase walking distances so fewer students will be transported, thereby reducing costs.

Another potential cost saving measure is to increase the use of existing buses—using the same bus 2 or 3 times to pick students up in the morning and afternoon reduces overall costs. In order to do this, school bell times, or start and finish times, need to be spread out within the current guidelines which stipulate a start time window of 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. and an end time window of 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

At the Committee of the Whole meeting on October 21st, the Board asked staff to expand the consultation process to include an online survey and on October 24th, the online survey was released via the Board’s web site and an email address (belltimes@wrdsb.on.ca) was established to allow parents and community members to submit additional comments and questions. Additional information, including Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) were also posted to the Board’s website and updates to those FAQs were made based on questions sent to the email address that had been set up. The online survey closed on Nov 14th, with 5,288 responses received.

Trustees approved the following recommendation:
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.

Trustee Expenses – September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013
The Board’s policies regarding trustee expenses for travel allowance, conferences/conventions and other expenses, include a statement which directs that the total amount of these expenses are to be presented in a public report to be published in November of each year.

The expenses outlined in the report have been reviewed by board auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00pm.