Around the Horseshoe
Limestone District School Board Trustees' Update Fall 2018
September Meeting Highlights
Facilities Manager David Fowler provided a presentation with an update on the construction of the new Kingston Secondary School. As of September 2018 the building is starting to be closed in, as masonry block is filling the gaps between the formed concrete. Concrete floors have been poured in most of the first floor areas, and the full roof will be completed later this fall.
Steve Aquino, Vice-President of contractor Bondfield, joined the meeting to address questions from Trustees related to financing of the project. Mr. Aquino indicated that Bondfield had just gone through a refinancing, so there were some delays in payments to some contractors but the project is protected by a performance bond and is backed by its insurance company. Mr. Aquino indicated the project is currently on schedule to open during the 2019-20 school year, however, things like weather are always a factor.
Superintendent Krishna Burra replied that everything is going well in the third year of combined cohorts at Kingston Collegiate & Vocational Institute. The Integration Committee is currently working on design concepts for the new mascot. A newsletter with regular updates will be starting later this fall.
Facilities Manager David Fowler gives media a tour inside KSS
The entrance foyer with tiered student seating inside KSS
Director of Education speaks to reporters outside KSS
Strategic Plan Update
Director of Education Debra Rantz spoke to the updated Strategic Action plan for the 2018-2019 school year. She noted that the plan’s pillars and goals have stayed the same from the previous year, allowing these attributes of the plan to stand the test of time. The plan’s areas of focus may be tweaked as new information comes in from the Ministry of Education.
The Senior team has tracked the last couple of years of Education, Policy & Operations Committee and Board meeting topics to see where areas of focus have been, which will allow the Board to see the evidence of growth in all the areas. Future reporting will include the action plans for areas of focus with the traffic light system, and the year-end report that provides more details of yellow and red areas of focus.
Clarification re Private Session Motions
Trustee Laurie French brought forth a motion to request that all items and decisions from Private Session be reported out immediately in the public session following private session. This was in response to confusion about how and when these items were previously reported. The motion requests that Policy 9, Section 3.4, be revised to reflect the above sequence on the agenda, with a Report from the In-Camera session preceding Section A: Matters Requiring Action at the Meeting.
Currently, the Board holds private session prior to public session to discuss items that must be held in-camera such as personnel issues, property or legal matters.
The motion, which was passed, should alleviate any confusion about reporting, especially in those rare occasions when the Board may have a second private session after the public portion, if not all private session business was completed.
October Meeting Highlights
Capital Projects Presentation
Facilities Manager David Fowler provided Trustees with a presentation on recent Capital Projects totaling more than $13.5 million that were completed over the summer months. These projects included new roofs, new boiler heating systems, new gymnasium floors, lighting retrofits, repurposed outdoor spaces, new sports fields with enhanced drainage systems, and accessibility improvements including accessible washrooms and entrances.
New accessible entrance at Limestone Education Centre
New partially rubberized gym floor at dessa PS
New playground and greening project at Elginburg District PS
Trustee Censure
Trustee Karen McGregor requested to speak to a letter to the Chair regarding a petition to revisit the motion to censure Trustee Tom Mahoney. Trustee McGregor read a statement outlining the Board's position on the Trustee Code of Conduct violations which resulted in sanctions against Trustee Mahoney barring him from all meetings of the Board until the end of the current term. These sanctions were as a result of multiple censures for inappropriate behaviour which is in contravention of multiple policies, and is disrespectful to staff and to the integrity of the role of Trustee.
In 2017, Trustee Mahoney received two cautions for behaviour in contravention of the Trustee Code of Conduct, and was warned that further infractions could result in censure and sanction. The subsequent motions (see attached) were passed following the initial two cautions. Given Trustee Mahoney had already been barred from one meeting in late 2017 as a result of a Trustee Code of Conduct violation, the Board imposed additional exclusion of meetings to underline the significant and serious nature of his actions.
As part of his notice of censure on May 30, 2018, Trustee Mahoney was provided the opportunity to address the Board of Trustees regarding his censure. The Board did not receive any correspondence from Trustee Mahoney. His censure prevented him from attending Board and Board Committee meetings only. Trustee Mahoney continued to be a sitting Trustee with the Limestone District School Board.
The Trustee Code of Conduct contributes to confidence in public education and respect for the integrity of Trustees in the community. It deals with acceptable and respectful behaviours. The Code of Conduct and the enforcement procedures apply to all Trustees of the Board. When dealing with code of conduct violations, the Board employs a progressive discipline model for all members including Trustees, employees and students.
November Meeting Highlights
November 14, 2018 marked the close of the fourth and final year of this Board’s term in office. Outgoing Chair Paula Murray thanked her fellow Trustees for their work this year and over the course of their term representing our constituents, and ensuring students of the Limestone District School Board receive quality public education.
Although she remarked that the year was not without its challenges, Trustees remain focused on student achievement and well-being. She acknowledged some of the achievements attained over the term, including:
- Completion and roll-out of the Board’s new Strategic Plan – the development of a comprehensive vision to sustain us over the next several years.
- More graduates than ever before as a result of focused efforts by school teams as well as integrating specialty programs.
- The opening of Molly Brant Elementary School, and the construction of Kingston Secondary School.
- A 10-year Capital School Renewal plan.
- The introduction of the Kingston Transit Field Trip Pass for teachers and staff - building on the unique partnership between the Board and the City of Kingston which has garnered national and international attention.
- The completion of the Rideau Heights Community Centre hub attached to Rideau Heights Public School.
Through all of this, Trustees remained focused on making decisions that effectively served all students. On behalf of this Board of Trustees, the Chair acknowledged the leadership of Director Rantz and Limestone’s Senior Staff for the development and delivery of initiatives that support student transitions, career paths, character development, and interventions that ensure success for all students.
OPSBA Report
Trustee Alec Ross provided a brief update from the Ontario Public School Boards' Association including the release of its Priority Development & Action document which lists five key areas:
- The Whole Child and Student Well-Being for Today and Tomorrow
- Advancing Reconciliation: First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education
- Trustees as Leaders in Public Education
- Education Funding
- Labour Relations
Strategic Action Plan 2017-2018
Under the Education Act, the Director of Education must review the Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) annually with the Board of Trustees, normally timed to align with the Director’s Annual Report at the end of the calendar year. To assist Trustees with their ongoing monitoring, a ‘traffic light’ system is being used to evaluate the progress of specific actions, which were designed to operationalize the achievement of our strategic goals.
Senior staff presented the end-of-school-year Strategic Action Plan 2017-2018. This report focused on items that have been assessed as ‘red’ or ‘yellow’ one year into our five-year plan. Staff’s commitment to Trustees is that the areas of focus will also populate Board and Education, Policy & Operations Committee agendas throughout the five-year Strategic Plan, thereby providing ongoing monitoring opportunities. Read the year-end report here.
Limestone District School Board
Email: communications@limestone.on.ca
Website: www.limestone.on.ca
Location: 220 Portsmouth Avenue, Kingston, ON, Canada
Phone: 613.544.6920
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Limestone-District-School-Board-308623265872996/
Twitter: @LimestoneDSB