The Record Off The Record is my personal record of and commentary on Board and Standing Committee meetings in School District 61 Greater Victoria.
Official approved minutes of Board and Standing Committee meetings and official voting records posted on the SD61 websiteunder “Board of Education” menu one month after the meeting. Agendas posted for the public the Friday before the meeting.
P1: Disclaimer / Backgrounder
P2: OPPS Standing Committee Report
P3: Some Applicable SD61 Bylaws / BC School Boards Advocacy Letters
P4: District PAC (aka DPAC, VCPAC) Constitution excerpts / School Act re DPACs
Links for more info /sources in blue.
Sticky post: Motions and Trustee Voting Records January 2012 – June 2015. The District now posts a record of motions carried, but the motions that fail are equally interesting. (They do appear in the minutes of meetings, along with the vote, but not until a month after the meeting.)
Next Meetings
Mon Feb 15/16 7:30 pm: Board Meeting: Tolmie Board Room
Mon March 7/16 7 pm: Ed Pol&Directions/OPPs combined
Tues March 29/16: 7:30 Board Meeting Tolmie Board Room
Mon Apr 4/16: Ed Policy & Directions
Wed Apr 6/16: 7 pm Special Public Input Budget Meeting: SJ Willis
SD61 Greater Victoria School District:
- approximately 20,000 students
- 27 Elementary Schools
- 10 Middle Schools
- 7 Secondary Schools
- 13 Programs of Choice, 155 BAA courses
- School District for Esquimalt, Oak Bay, Victoria, View Royal, part of Saanich and the Highlands, and the Traditional Territories of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations
- 6th largest employer in the Capital Regional District
- 2015-16 budget of $206,361,204.
- 9 Trustees @ approximately $1,400 a month each,; expected to attend two meetings a month. Each Trustee has access to an individual $2000 annual professional development fund, which at this point, rolls over if not used.
Legally required reports (Section 72 Reports) from In Camera meetings are posted beside the relevant meeting. (Click “view all” on the Bylaws, Policies and Regulations menu). “Section 72” refers to Section 72 (3) of the BC School Act which states “A board must prepare a record containing a general statement as to the nature of the matters discussed and the general nature of the decisions reached at a meeting from which persons other than trustees or officers of the board, or both, were excluded, and the record must be open for inspection at all reasonable times by any person, who may make copies and extracts on payment of a fee set by the board.” [Kind of an antique process now that these are posted online.] Key word: “general”. Any report out beyond the very basic one required must be done by an in camera motion and majority vote.
SD61 Bylaw 9360.1 states: “In-camera items that may be discussed confidentially include legal, property, personnel and privacy matters as defined by provincial legislation.Full board meetings must be held in public unless the board decides that it is in the public’s interest to hold a private session (closed or in-camera meeting). However, it is important not to abuse this power. Potential controversy or embarrassment to the board is not usually sufficient reasons for an in-camera meeting.”
Civic governments are bound by the Community Charter(except for the City of Vancouver, which adheres to theVancouver Charter) and move into in camera meetings by a motion made by a Councillor in a public meeting and carried by majority vote of the Council. The public has to leave for the duration of the secret meeting and them come back. School Boards are governed by the BC School Act which allows Chairs to set in camera meetings any time, often before public meetings.
Trustees and student representatives are referred to by last name only for brevity; “The Board of Education of SD No. 61 (Greater Victoria)” is referred to as “the Board”. No audio or video recordings are made of Standing Committee meetings, only of Board meetings. Motions may be shortened but retain essential wording.Seconders not noted (or needed in Committees).
Trustees are assigned by the Board Chair as members of the two Standing Committees, Ed Policy and Operations Policy. Board and Committee agenda setting is the prerogative of the Chairs, with input from senior administration.
OPPS:
Chair Leonard; McNally, Paynter, Watters (ex officio Loring-Kuhanga)
Ed Policy:
Chair Nohr; Ferris, Orcherton, Whiteaker (ex officio Loring-Kuhanga)
Policy Review Committee
Feb-Apr16 Leonard, Watters // May-July16 2016: Nohr, Whiteaker // Sept-Nov16: McNally, Paynter
TRUSTEE REPRESENTATIVES AND ASSIGNMENTS February 2016
ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES TO EXTERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
| British Columbia Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) | Orcherton |
| British Columbia School Trustees Association (BCSTA) | Whiteaker |
INTERNAL COMMITTEES (report 2x/yr: Dec&June)
| ANED | Watters |
| French Immersion Advisory Committee | Ferris |
| Needs Budget Ad Hoc Committee | Leonard, McNally, Paynter |
| Policy 1325 Partnership and Attachment Ad Hoc Committee | McNally |
| Technology Stewardship Ad Hoc Committee | Nohr |
School Groups
| Spectrum | Orcherton, Watters |
| Mount Doug | Whiteaker |
| Oak Bay | Nohr |
| Reynolds | Ferris, Leonard |
| Vic High | Paynter |
| Lambrick | McNally |
| Esquimalt | Loring-Kuhanga, McNally |
EXTERNAL TRUSTEE LIAISONS – COMMUNITY APPOINTMENTS (report 1x/yr)
| Saanich Arts, Culture & Heritage | Whitaker |
| Saanich Parks, Trails & Rec | Paynter |
| Healthy Saanich Advisory Committee | Orcherton |
| Junior Achievement | Ferris |
| Victoria Family Court and Youth Justice Committee | Watters |
