Co Chairs Year End Reports:
As co-chair of NVPAC I can say that 2009/2010 has been an "interesting time" in which to take the helm of NVPAC. The year seemingly started with budget issues from Provincial cuts to PAC gaming grants and the annual facilities grants and continued with more issues as the realization of the significant budget gap we are facing in 2010/2011 sunk in. Similar to many groups and individuals within North Van School District, North Van PAC's year has been dominated by budget driven discussions.
Throughout the year North Van Pac has worked to ensure that these discussions as much as possible support a long-term plan and perspective for the school district, to ensure the district is working from a plan for our children's education rather than simply reacting to the changes the Ministry imposes on the district. From the first President's Council meeting where we met with other NVSD partner groups to discuss the upcoming year, through the Budget Challenge Meetings, the Policy 610 review committee, The Policy 610 Working Groups and the final Budget meetings I have been proud of the support and broad perspective parents and our team have given to addressing the many unpleasant issues the budget situation has created.
There were a lot of new consultation processes this year, representing a significant effort by the District and the Trustees to involve stakeholders in broad consultation about the coming changes. I don't know what the outcomes will be for the final budget but I do think the processes, as frustrating as they have been at times, have been well supported by the district, trustees, teachers, staff, parents and students. Despite the teething pains NVPAC is thankful to the district and the trustees for insisting that the community have the ability to engage in these discussions throughout the year. The processes have been a big improvement from the past and there are lots of opportunities for further improvements to the processes but if we are to take one thing positive from this year it is that many people care deeply about public education and that commitment, despite financial difficulties, will be what enables NVSD to adapt and succeed.
I have two regrets from my term as chair of NVPAC and these revolve around advocacy and parent engagement. We started the year supporting parent advocacy at the Ministry level over the cuts to PAC gaming grants and the Annual Facilities Grant. Having seen these restored in full and in part it is possible that this early advocacy helped. What I regret is that we were so focused on responding to the financial challenges of the district that we were not able to put significant energy for advocacy around long-term stable funding of public schools that respects the true cost of education. This the true advocacy challenge and as we see the impacts of the cuts that will be implemented next year it is important for us to document these impacts and advocate for a return to realistic funding.
I also apologize for NVPAC's diminished role in terms of parent engagement. The NVPAC executive has spent a lot of time supporting District committees and discussions this year but has not spent as much time reaching out to the community either to inform or gather feedback. We implemented a blog to communicate with parents about issues but cut back on communicating many of the community events and other items of interest to parents previously shared in our newsletter. Too often we have spent our meetings primarily on discussing the current NVSD budget process and little on building PAC's or educating parents on other issues that impact the quality of education and opportunity our children receive. I thank all the PAC reps and PAC chairs that have stuck with us through this and hope that next year we can do more to share in the areas of PAC and student support rather than just budget process.
As I said, it has been an interesting year and next year will be another one as students, staff and teacher adapt to implement the budget cuts. Communication is an essential pillar supporting the changes that are to come. If my experience with the great team within the NVPAC Exec and all the PAC chairs and DPAC reps that dedicate their time to working with us is any indication I'm sure we will be up to the challenge.
Dave Whitehead
NVPAC Co-Chair 2009-2010
* * * *
I was very pleased to represent NVPAC as co-chair 2009-2010.
The year began with much activity surrounding government funding and joint advocacy. As co-chair, I sat at the President Council meeting together with our education partner groups. This involved speaking on behalf of parent interests in our district in front of the presidents and chairs of the NVTA, CUPE, Secondary School Group President, Elementary Principals, the Board of Education Chair and the Superintendent. The purpose of this group is to be open and to recognize points of view as well as common issues. Throughout the year this has been an important voice for parents in our district.
My role this year has been to coordinate our committee representation within the school district. Our executive has been very busy stepping up and offering their time and expertise on these committees. In particular there has been tremendous involvement in the budget meetings and the working group meetings. Although the year has been very challenging in terms of budget cuts and school closures, parents have become engaged and have brought themselves to many of the district public meetings. I have personally enjoyed speaking to parents and our district PAC reps on the phone and in person to discuss the issues at hand. In terms of communication and public awareness it was good to see much in our local papers this year with comments from David and myself as co-chairs of NVPAC.
In January we hosted our general meeting with two well-received topics: the “Olympic Torch Relay” and “Meaningful Assessment and Reporting” with excellent speakers. The Olympic Torch on February 10th was enthusiastically celebrated by many if not most of our schools and surrounding communities. Three amazing teachers from our district shared with parents their expertise in student assessment-a topic that parents do not know much about but wonder every time their child brings home a report card. This talk showcased to parents the thought, effort and construction that teachers bring to each of their students and their learning.
Our February NVPAC general meeting was specifically designed to encourage parent participation in a forum format on the topic of budget and district plans. This was our first attempt at this particular meeting format and it was very successful in gathering in parent opinion and input which gives our executive the membership direction. All of our general meetings and communications serve in this capacity as well. Our communications extended outward in our springtime survey: “School District Restructuring”. Once again, parent input is invaluable to our organization.
In conclusion, the year ends with challenges as it began. I am confident that NVPAC plays and important role for parents in our district. Our DPAC members and our executive form a diverse group of people –each bringing with them unique skills and abilities. Our job has always been to unify and utilize these attributes cohesively: respecting differences of opinion and recognizing our strengths. Thank you to everyone for your time, your input and your enthusiasm for education in our school district.
Leslie Uhlenbruck
NVPAC Co-Chair 2009-2010
* * * *
Executive Reports:
In my role as the Past Chair of NVPAC and the BCCPAC Liaison, I have participated at both the district and provincial levels.
At the District level, I have sat on the following committees:
Policy Review Committee, Sustaining Schools Working Committee, Communications Committee, Inclusion Committee, Restructuring 2010 - Working Group on Elementary French Immersion Reconfiguration, French Planning Advisory (on behalf of Canadian Parents for French/North Vancouver Chapter). I have regularly attended the District's public Board meetings and standing committee meetings, have participated in all public consultation sessions and have kept in touch with many parents who contact me for information and advice about PAC issues and individual concerns.
At the BCCPAC provincial level, I have participated in the Fall and Spring conference and AGM on behalf of NVPAC ad other North Vancouver school PACs who designated me as their proxy holder for the AGM with respect to voting on resolutions and for electing the BCCPAC board of directors. I am a member of the Governance Audit Implementation Committee conducting a full review of BCCPAC's Constitution and Bylaws for presentation to the membership, initially at the AGM in Apr'10, but since deferred to an Extraordinary General Meeting in November'2010. I encourage PACs to keep active memberships with BCCPAC and work to keep both our own NVPAC Executive and our local PACs aware of provincial issues.
Submitted by,
Lisa Cartwright, NVPAC Past Chair and BCCPAC Liaison
* * * *
As Vice Chair of NVPAC for 2009/10, I’ve participated in some committees, I've taken an active role as a working group representative in District public consultation processes, and I’ve been actively representing North Vancouver parents as a member of the Advisory Committee for the North Vancouver Outdoor School – Environmental Learning Centre campus revitalization project.
I sit on the Capital Planning Committee and the Restructuring 2010 – Elementary Schools – Fromme School Working Group.
As a member of the Advisory Committee for the Outdoor School, I also sit on the Marketing and Re-Branding sub-committee, and the Fundraising sub-committee. The overall objective of the Advisory Committee and the various sub-committees is to guide the development of a revitalized Outdoor School into a financially self-sustaining Provincial Centre of Excellence for environmental leadership and sustainability, while continuing to preserve and enhance the rich diversity of programs delivered to our elementary school population. This is a long-term project involving approximately $25m in capital, and includes the development of a new business model and new revenue streams, the development of a fundraising strategy through donors and sponsors, and involving the development of new programs and the establishment of an endowment fund.
I participated in the President’s Council as a 3rd representative of NVPAC (in support of our Co-Chairs) to the other Partner Groups, as well as the Music Academy Study Group.
I also participated for the 2nd consecutive year at the school level as a member of the School Planning Council for Handsworth Secondary.
Mike McGraw, NVPAC Vice Chair
* * * *
As Secretary for 2009/10 I attended all of NVPACs General Meetings this year and captured the minutes for each. I was NVPACs representative for the Education and Programming Standing Committee which had presentations on topics like: The Core Essential (curriculum for K-12); the new programs of the Ministry of Education’s expanded mandate; sustaining the District’s focus on world class instruction; success for every student; meaningful assessment; the diversity of programs in the district such as French Immersion, International Baccalaureate, Distributed Learning, Full Day Kindergarten, to name just a few; and have begun to review the Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement.
I also sat on the Communications Committee for the second year. We began the school year with a review of the implementation of the new branding of the District however the major focus of our meetings this year was looking at the potential of social networking to enhance the District’s educational and communication needs.
Finally I sat for a second year on the Calendar Committee, which received a mandate from the Board to review the standard school calendar for 2010-2011 for any potential revenue savings.
Susan Corcoran, NVPAC Secretary 09/10
* * * *
As member at large, I participated in the following NVSD Committees:
Health
Inclusion
Calendar
Alternative Working Group (610)
Cyndi Gerlach, NVPAC Member at Large
* * * *
As a NVPAC Member at Large this year I was honored to serve on the Administrative Procedures Working Group which reviewed and made recommendations on the Policy 610 criteria process, in addition to serving as an NVPAC representative in the Restructuring 2010 - Elementary Schools working group (Fromme) process.
In addition to the aforementioned committees I also attended all but one of the regular monthly school board meetings and a majority of the Finance and Facility meetings. I learned much and posed many questions. I very much enjoyed working with and beside the dedicated members of our North Vancouver PAC Executive team this year and am looking forward to a new year which will bring with it new goals for the Executive.
Todd Dea
NVPAC member at Large
Seymour Heights DPAC Rep
* * * *
Committees: School Planning Council
Alternative School Working Committee
Attended 1 of the all Day K Sessions
As a new member at large to the organization I was only participant in a few activities. The largest impact was in the public consultation process around the possible changes for alternative schools. In this work group we explored possible new configurations for the alternative programs and the factors that would influence these changes. The outcome of the working groups was an analysis of the pros and cons of five different alternative configurations and a list of transition issues that would need to be addressed should a change be made. For the SPC committee we reviewed the SPC process and discussed possible improvement to the deployment and analysis of school plans. These were placed into a survey for the participants. Since the SPC process is not yet complete there is no conclusion to report. In addition to the committee work I attended most of the NVPAC meetings and have organized a process by which the digital medial academy students will film and post our meetings to the internet make them more accessible.
Mike Sexsmith Member at Large
There were a lot of new consultation processes this year, representing a significant effort by the District and the Trustees to involve stakeholders in broad consultation about the coming changes. I don't know what the outcomes will be for the final budget but I do think the processes, as frustrating as they have been at times, have been well supported by the district, trustees, teachers, staff, parents and students. Despite the teething pains NVPAC is thankful to the district and the trustees for insisting that the community have the ability to engage in these discussions throughout the year. The processes have been a big improvement from the past and there are lots of opportunities for further improvements to the processes but if we are to take one thing positive from this year it is that many people care deeply about public education and that commitment, despite financial difficulties, will be what enables NVSD to adapt and succeed.
I have two regrets from my term as chair of NVPAC and these revolve around advocacy and parent engagement. We started the year supporting parent advocacy at the Ministry level over the cuts to PAC gaming grants and the Annual Facilities Grant. Having seen these restored in full and in part it is possible that this early advocacy helped. What I regret is that we were so focused on responding to the financial challenges of the district that we were not able to put significant energy for advocacy around long-term stable funding of public schools that respects the true cost of education. This the true advocacy challenge and as we see the impacts of the cuts that will be implemented next year it is important for us to document these impacts and advocate for a return to realistic funding.
I also apologize for NVPAC's diminished role in terms of parent engagement. The NVPAC executive has spent a lot of time supporting District committees and discussions this year but has not spent as much time reaching out to the community either to inform or gather feedback. We implemented a blog to communicate with parents about issues but cut back on communicating many of the community events and other items of interest to parents previously shared in our newsletter. Too often we have spent our meetings primarily on discussing the current NVSD budget process and little on building PAC's or educating parents on other issues that impact the quality of education and opportunity our children receive. I thank all the PAC reps and PAC chairs that have stuck with us through this and hope that next year we can do more to share in the areas of PAC and student support rather than just budget process.
As I said, it has been an interesting year and next year will be another one as students, staff and teacher adapt to implement the budget cuts. Communication is an essential pillar supporting the changes that are to come. If my experience with the great team within the NVPAC Exec and all the PAC chairs and DPAC reps that dedicate their time to working with us is any indication I'm sure we will be up to the challenge.
Dave Whitehead
NVPAC Co-Chair 2009-2010
* * * *
I was very pleased to represent NVPAC as co-chair 2009-2010.
The year began with much activity surrounding government funding and joint advocacy. As co-chair, I sat at the President Council meeting together with our education partner groups. This involved speaking on behalf of parent interests in our district in front of the presidents and chairs of the NVTA, CUPE, Secondary School Group President, Elementary Principals, the Board of Education Chair and the Superintendent. The purpose of this group is to be open and to recognize points of view as well as common issues. Throughout the year this has been an important voice for parents in our district.
My role this year has been to coordinate our committee representation within the school district. Our executive has been very busy stepping up and offering their time and expertise on these committees. In particular there has been tremendous involvement in the budget meetings and the working group meetings. Although the year has been very challenging in terms of budget cuts and school closures, parents have become engaged and have brought themselves to many of the district public meetings. I have personally enjoyed speaking to parents and our district PAC reps on the phone and in person to discuss the issues at hand. In terms of communication and public awareness it was good to see much in our local papers this year with comments from David and myself as co-chairs of NVPAC.
In January we hosted our general meeting with two well-received topics: the “Olympic Torch Relay” and “Meaningful Assessment and Reporting” with excellent speakers. The Olympic Torch on February 10th was enthusiastically celebrated by many if not most of our schools and surrounding communities. Three amazing teachers from our district shared with parents their expertise in student assessment-a topic that parents do not know much about but wonder every time their child brings home a report card. This talk showcased to parents the thought, effort and construction that teachers bring to each of their students and their learning.
Our February NVPAC general meeting was specifically designed to encourage parent participation in a forum format on the topic of budget and district plans. This was our first attempt at this particular meeting format and it was very successful in gathering in parent opinion and input which gives our executive the membership direction. All of our general meetings and communications serve in this capacity as well. Our communications extended outward in our springtime survey: “School District Restructuring”. Once again, parent input is invaluable to our organization.
In conclusion, the year ends with challenges as it began. I am confident that NVPAC plays and important role for parents in our district. Our DPAC members and our executive form a diverse group of people –each bringing with them unique skills and abilities. Our job has always been to unify and utilize these attributes cohesively: respecting differences of opinion and recognizing our strengths. Thank you to everyone for your time, your input and your enthusiasm for education in our school district.
Leslie Uhlenbruck
NVPAC Co-Chair 2009-2010
* * * *
Executive Reports:
In my role as the Past Chair of NVPAC and the BCCPAC Liaison, I have participated at both the district and provincial levels.
At the District level, I have sat on the following committees:
Policy Review Committee, Sustaining Schools Working Committee, Communications Committee, Inclusion Committee, Restructuring 2010 - Working Group on Elementary French Immersion Reconfiguration, French Planning Advisory (on behalf of Canadian Parents for French/North Vancouver Chapter). I have regularly attended the District's public Board meetings and standing committee meetings, have participated in all public consultation sessions and have kept in touch with many parents who contact me for information and advice about PAC issues and individual concerns.
At the BCCPAC provincial level, I have participated in the Fall and Spring conference and AGM on behalf of NVPAC ad other North Vancouver school PACs who designated me as their proxy holder for the AGM with respect to voting on resolutions and for electing the BCCPAC board of directors. I am a member of the Governance Audit Implementation Committee conducting a full review of BCCPAC's Constitution and Bylaws for presentation to the membership, initially at the AGM in Apr'10, but since deferred to an Extraordinary General Meeting in November'2010. I encourage PACs to keep active memberships with BCCPAC and work to keep both our own NVPAC Executive and our local PACs aware of provincial issues.
Submitted by,
Lisa Cartwright, NVPAC Past Chair and BCCPAC Liaison
* * * *
As Vice Chair of NVPAC for 2009/10, I’ve participated in some committees, I've taken an active role as a working group representative in District public consultation processes, and I’ve been actively representing North Vancouver parents as a member of the Advisory Committee for the North Vancouver Outdoor School – Environmental Learning Centre campus revitalization project.
I sit on the Capital Planning Committee and the Restructuring 2010 – Elementary Schools – Fromme School Working Group.
As a member of the Advisory Committee for the Outdoor School, I also sit on the Marketing and Re-Branding sub-committee, and the Fundraising sub-committee. The overall objective of the Advisory Committee and the various sub-committees is to guide the development of a revitalized Outdoor School into a financially self-sustaining Provincial Centre of Excellence for environmental leadership and sustainability, while continuing to preserve and enhance the rich diversity of programs delivered to our elementary school population. This is a long-term project involving approximately $25m in capital, and includes the development of a new business model and new revenue streams, the development of a fundraising strategy through donors and sponsors, and involving the development of new programs and the establishment of an endowment fund.
I participated in the President’s Council as a 3rd representative of NVPAC (in support of our Co-Chairs) to the other Partner Groups, as well as the Music Academy Study Group.
I also participated for the 2nd consecutive year at the school level as a member of the School Planning Council for Handsworth Secondary.
Mike McGraw, NVPAC Vice Chair
* * * *
As Secretary for 2009/10 I attended all of NVPACs General Meetings this year and captured the minutes for each. I was NVPACs representative for the Education and Programming Standing Committee which had presentations on topics like: The Core Essential (curriculum for K-12); the new programs of the Ministry of Education’s expanded mandate; sustaining the District’s focus on world class instruction; success for every student; meaningful assessment; the diversity of programs in the district such as French Immersion, International Baccalaureate, Distributed Learning, Full Day Kindergarten, to name just a few; and have begun to review the Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement.
I also sat on the Communications Committee for the second year. We began the school year with a review of the implementation of the new branding of the District however the major focus of our meetings this year was looking at the potential of social networking to enhance the District’s educational and communication needs.
Finally I sat for a second year on the Calendar Committee, which received a mandate from the Board to review the standard school calendar for 2010-2011 for any potential revenue savings.
Susan Corcoran, NVPAC Secretary 09/10
* * * *
As member at large, I participated in the following NVSD Committees:
Health
Inclusion
Calendar
Alternative Working Group (610)
Cyndi Gerlach, NVPAC Member at Large
* * * *
As a NVPAC Member at Large this year I was honored to serve on the Administrative Procedures Working Group which reviewed and made recommendations on the Policy 610 criteria process, in addition to serving as an NVPAC representative in the Restructuring 2010 - Elementary Schools working group (Fromme) process.
In addition to the aforementioned committees I also attended all but one of the regular monthly school board meetings and a majority of the Finance and Facility meetings. I learned much and posed many questions. I very much enjoyed working with and beside the dedicated members of our North Vancouver PAC Executive team this year and am looking forward to a new year which will bring with it new goals for the Executive.
Todd Dea
NVPAC member at Large
Seymour Heights DPAC Rep
* * * *
Committees: School Planning Council
Alternative School Working Committee
Attended 1 of the all Day K Sessions
As a new member at large to the organization I was only participant in a few activities. The largest impact was in the public consultation process around the possible changes for alternative schools. In this work group we explored possible new configurations for the alternative programs and the factors that would influence these changes. The outcome of the working groups was an analysis of the pros and cons of five different alternative configurations and a list of transition issues that would need to be addressed should a change be made. For the SPC committee we reviewed the SPC process and discussed possible improvement to the deployment and analysis of school plans. These were placed into a survey for the participants. Since the SPC process is not yet complete there is no conclusion to report. In addition to the committee work I attended most of the NVPAC meetings and have organized a process by which the digital medial academy students will film and post our meetings to the internet make them more accessible.
Mike Sexsmith Member at Large
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