2013-11-25 DPAC General Meeting Minutes
D.P.A.C. MEETING NOTES
Schou Education Centre
4041 Canada Way
Burnaby, B.C.
DATE: November 25, 2013
TIME: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Schools Attending:
Glenwood, Maywood, Taylor Park, Moscrop, Cascade Heights, Burnaby Central, Buckingham, Douglas Road, Gilpin, Lakeview, Lyndhurst, Seaforth, Stoney Creek, Burnaby North, Aubrey, Capitol Hill, Montecito, Alpha, Confederation Park, Gilmore, and Kitchener.
District Staff:
Gina Niccoli-Moen, Deputy Superintendent; Roberto Bombelli, Assistant Superintendent
Board of Education Trustees and their zones:
Baljinder Narang, (Kingsway South), James Wang (Central West Zone), Meiling Chia (Kingsway South)
DPAC Executive:
Katherine Robertson, Chair (Central West) , Jen Mezei, Past and Vice Chair (Cariboo Lougheed), Gjoa Andrichuk, Secretary (Central West) Members at Large Dave Dye (Cariboo Lougheed), Herman Louie (Central West), Romy Bacchioni, (Kingsway South), Jocelyn Schonekess, Treasurer (Brentwood North), Kristin Schnider, Secretary (Cariboo Lougheed)
Steve Billington has stepped down. We now have a vacancy in the Kingsway South Zone
1. District Presentation: Learning Improvement Fund (LIF) – Funding Allocation Presented by:
- Roberto Bombelli, Assistant Superintendent
Roberto Bombelli began with the history of the LIF fund. The LIF came into effect in 2012. Each school is eligible to be considered for funding as per some requirements in the spring. Funds must be spent by June of that same school year: The LIF funding was a three-year allocation of funds.
Four stages of consultation involve the school and the District in the Spring and the Fall.
Priorities are identified by the
- number of students
- experience of the teacher
- resources already available
- District, Community and Ministry Data.
The funding may be used for
- additional teaching staff, EAs and other paraprofessionals
- additional teaching time
- Pro D
- District Reserve fund
The principal consults with the teaching staff, committee, or staff representative. The principal also consults with the PAC President, and their Director of Instruction collecting “wish lists” in order of priority.
The District spends time analyzing the requests and matches them with the district, school and provincial priorities.
The key areas that have been addressed are Staffing, Literacy, Mathematics, and Social Emotional Learning.
The District received $2.4 Million and has divided it under Teacher and EA staffing, Pro D and District Reserve Fund (e.g. 21K) [money held back different needs in different schools – in areas not on staffing and EAs – less held back than last year].
A sampling of questions from the parents are as follows:
- Is there a list of schools who are getting LIF funding? A: Please contact Mr. Bombelli, or your school principal.
Executive Report/Old Business – Katherine Robertson
BCCPAC Conference
Jen Mezei, Jocelyn Schonekess and Katherine Robertson all attended the conference, which was held in Kelowna.
Jen Mezei – Jen volunteered at the conference and had a chance to hear Rod Allen on the new BC Ed plan, which was similar in content to our PAC Chair event last May. – The New K-9 Curriculum presentation on Wednesday, November 27, 2013 will go over aspects of the changes as well. See the DPAC website to register for this Parent Information Evening.
She also attended the presentation on BCCPAC resolutions and how they are put forward and/or archived. Feel free to bring forward issues that we, as a district, would like to bring to BCCPAC.
Jocelyn Schonekess volunteered and attended the conference as well and enjoyed seeing it from another side. She attended Barbara Coloroso’s keynote address and her presentation on bullying. She also attended Rod Allen’s presentation as well as the Q&A held afterwards addressing questions on the implementation on the BC Ed Plan. She also attended the presentation by Ursula Cowland on Gaming Grants. Ursula advised schools to spend their gaming grants before their fundraising monies.
Jen mentioned that gaming licenses are required for 50/50 draws and any proceeds raised from gaming are to go into the gaming fund account rather than a general account. Spending with proceeds from raffles and 50/50 draws are subject to the same restrictions as the PAC gaming grant.
If your PAC has any questions regarding gaming grants please feel free to contact Ursula Cowland (gaming.grants@gov.bc.ca) for clarification.
Lunch break presentations were from WorkSafe BC and Jane Thornthwaite, Parliamentary Secretary for Student Support and Parent Engagement.
Jocelyn Schonekess also attended the presentation on BCCPAC Resolutions, and the discussion was that the resolutions need to be part of parent involvement and in future will be posted in an interactive blog so that they can be debated and discussed amongst parents before AGMs.
The next BCCPAC conference will be in the May 2014 in either Vancouver or Richmond near a SkyTrain station.
Katherine Robertson also attended the Barbara Coloroso presentation and the DPAC Chair workshop. Katherine was happy to see that our Burnaby DPAC is on a wonderful track. Katherine reported that Jen and Jocelyn had presented a workshop on LGBTQ, and DPAC’s role in developing Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Policy. . The discussion covered the fact that DPAC is mandated to support all parents.
The development of Burnaby’s policy included distribution of the draft widely to parents resulting in a comprehensive policy acting as a model for other districts.
BC School Superintendents Association Conference – http://www.bcssa.org/events/current-events/fall-conference-2013/
Katherine saw a presentation on Body Worlds and the Brain Project hosted by the Burnaby School District. The presentation detailed the four years that Burnaby has been helping students who are survivors of war, violence, and trauma.
Katherine also saw a presentation on Digital Immersion about a school within a school at John Oliver Secondary.
Jen saw a presentation hosted by Delta on inquiry based learning and by the Ministry et al. on Assessment (digital portfolios to the student). Innovation is being done all over the province in line with the new Ed Plan.
Metro DPAC Dinner, hosted by Burnaby DPAC – Sharing Ideas Across Districts
Burnaby DPAC hosted a dinner to foster conversations amongst DPAC Executives within the Metro Vancouver area. Future dinners will be held by Vancouver and Maple Ridge to exchange ideas amongst DPACs. The focused topic of the night was the ELL (English Language Learner) Consortium and how they support English Language Learners. New families to Burnaby go to the Welcome Centre located near Marlborough School and a Settlement worker (Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) support them). DPAC reps from the Lower Mainland asked how PACs and DPAC could best support the ELL’s efforts. Suggestions were for the PAC to personally welcome new families with language and culture challenges to the school community.
Trustee Baljinder Narang and Heather Hart from the District helped present the SWIS story, and are actively advocating supporting new families as they adapt to the school culture. A webvideo was shown to share the successes of SWIS workers with newcomers, and is available at www.swis.sd41.bc.ca under the tab “VIDEOS”.
2. Correspondence and Committee Reports
Buildings and Grounds: Dave Dye
- Funding decision for Alpha upgrades will be announced soon.
- Montecito should be getting four classrooms during seismic upgrades if the Ministry agrees. The cost of new classrooms is similar to the cost of adding and removing portables for the renovations.
- Burnaby North planning will start soon.
- Gilmore will be finished seismic upgrades shortly, only the landscaping is left to be completed.
- A rush of applications for gardens has happened; contact Ron Hall if you need information for your school.
- Capitol Hill is working on traffic and safety issues at their school.
- 6th Street’s community changes may impact Second Street’s circulation.
- Security presence at schools continued this Halloween and is less costly than cleaning up after the fact.
Education: Jen Mezei
- Presentation on Digital Literacy
- The assembly was asked if they would like a presentation on Digital Literacy at the general DPAC meeting to allow opportunity for input
- The members confirmed their interest
MAC Committee: Jen Mezei
- The district will have a Multi-age cluster class for advanced learners in grades 4/5 & 6/7
- There will be a Parent Information Evening held in January
LGBTQ Committee: Jen Mezei
- The assembly was asked if there was any interest in holding a PIE that would address name calling including homophobic name calling; it could be held in February in conjunction with Pink Shirt Day
- The members confirmed their interest
Youth and Community Services (November 5, 2013): Jocelyn Schonekess
- District Early Learning & Community Programs Coordinator Doreen George attended a presentation on October 30th by HELP (Human Early Learning Partnership) regarding the EDI (Early Development Index) data that was correlated from the EDI testing the District did last spring. This data helps the District to know where to support families. Report areas covered include vulnerability, physical health & well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language & cognitive development and communication skills.
- Charity group Canada SCORES was approved to run their literacy and soccer program in Burnaby schools to work with vulnerable youth, however Edmonds and Stride Elementary schools are already running enough after school programs so there is no gym space available. The program will instead be based out of Taylor Park Elementary and the criterion was widened to include more students from the south side schools. Sessions will start in January and March 2014.
- The 3rd Annual Youth Summit was held on October 24th and was attended by students from across the District. Students participated in workshops that focused on social/emotional learning, relationship building, health and wellness and creative arts. All workshops were delivered by District staff, teachers and counselors. Students gave feedback that they would like to see topics for next year’s event to include understanding addictions and gambling, stress relief, civic engagement, history of hip hop, and healthy relationships.
- District staff attended a provincial all-day ERASE bullying workshop in October. Research and plans to further integrate Healthy Schools initiatives were discussed. It was mandated that there would be two meetings per year. The ERASE Bullying Reporting Tool has been updated. To date there have been no legitimate reports of bullying from Burnaby through the reporting tool. The second phase of Erase Training will be in March 2014, with elementary schools getting 2 days of training and secondary schools 1 day of training on safe school culture.
3. New Business/Q & A/ Show & Tell
Question: What is going to happen with the changes to exams and the time students are expected to be in school?
ANSWER: Burnaby has added hours and kept classes later, adding tutorials for students who want to get stronger for exams and to prepare for exams. Burnaby has worked with the Ministry because of the timing of the exams: Can exams be moved later so that students don’t “pack it in” once their provincials are completed. Burnaby is trying to engage as many students as they can as long as they can.
Question: Do all schools have collaboration time?
Answer: No they don’t, but there are discussions about increasing collaboration times.
- Kitchener is having a fundraiser during the day for an iPad at Glenburn Ice Cream Shop on Hastings on November 30, 2013. $1 from every item purchased between 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm will go to the school.
- Confederation Park Annual Art Show will be November 30th at Confederation Park Elementary Gymnasium. Saturday November 30th from 7-10. There will be live entertainment by the band “Cupcake Affair” with Cash bar, silent and live auctions and appetizers. All parents welcome to attend, tickets $10, contact the school. (An adult-only event).
- Stoney Creek on December 7 is holding a breakfast with Santa and funds raised are going to Canuck Place and Burnaby Food Bank.
- ADHD Awareness Meet and Greet for parents and caregivers at Byrne Creek from 6-8pm Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013.
- LGBTQ committee is still looking for a third parent to sit on the committee. This person cannot be employed by the District.
- K-9 Curriculum PIE with Maureen Dockendorf & Kevin Kaardal 7:00 November 27th at Central Secondary 6011 Deer Lake Parkway Burnaby
- SPC School visits: Sign-up sheets have been distributed via listserv. Note that parents per team are limited so sign up quickly.
- BTA Annual Sock it to Poverty campaign until December 6 – looking for socks, touques, scarves, supporting Burnaby Task Force for Homelessness. See their website www.burnabyhomelesstaskforce.org for ways to donate.
- BASES (Burnaby Association for South East Side) Family Thrift store now open at 7666 Kingsway – and profits go to south side schools. Volunteer opportunities for new immigrants and students.
4. Next Meeting – Monday, January 27, 2014
5. Meeting Adjourned 8:35 pm
Thank you all for participating. Have a wonderful holiday season. See you in the New Year.
NOTES FROM THE CHAIR:
- Connect! – dpac.burnabyschools.ca – email your events to be published.
- Communicate! – Email info@burnabydpac.com or chair@burnabydpac.com
- Follow us on Facebook: Burnaby District Parent Advisory Council
- Follow us on Twitter: Burnaby DPAC
- Please bring your coffee mug or water cup.
You must log in to post a comment.