Around the Horseshoe
Limestone District School Board Trustees' Update Winter 2018
January update on new intermediate & secondary school
Trustees were provided with an update on the construction progress of the new intermediate and secondary school in early January. The New School Integration Committee continues its work on the new school naming process. The committee moved ahead with Phase 2 which involves feedback on shortlist of nine names submitted during an open-call for suggestions last fall. Board staff are visiting students from area feeder schools and Kingston Collegiate & Vocational Institute who will make up the new student population to gain their input on the shortlist of names. Board of Trustees will make final selection on the new school name in March or April.
January Meeting Highlights
Director's Annual Report
Director of Education Debra Rantz outlined the 2016-2017 Director's Annual Report, an online report that provides a snapshot of the previous year and progress on the strategic plan. This is fifth year for online report which will now live off the Board's new strategic plan website.
Proposed Boundary Changes
Consultation for proposed boundary changes in Central Kingston have begun as well as for families with students attending Rideau, Central, Sydenham and Winston Churchill Public Schools. Consideration of changes is the result of changes to French Immersion at Rideau PS and the Central Kingston Program and Accommodation Review in 2013.
Students join advisory committee
In an effort to get more student voice around the Board table, InterSchool Council selected two students to be representatives on the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee. The committee welcomes Sam Laing from Loyalist Collegiate & Vocational Institute and Logan Anderson from Sydenham High School.
Online registration coming to Limestone
Superintendent of Education Michele Babcock demonstrated a new online registration process which will be available to families registering new students later this spring. The form automates our current processes.
February Meeting Highlights
OPSBA Public Education Symposium
Limestone was well represented at the Ontario Public School Board Trustees' Association annual Public Education Symposium in January in Toronto. Trustee French presided over the conference as OPSBA President while Sustainable Initiatives Coordinator Dan Hendry and Kingston Collegiate & Vocational Institute student Natalie Murray presented on the Board's successful bus pass partnership with the City of Kingston. Student performers with the Limestone Learning Foundation Canadian Crystal Gala in November also provided the entertainment for the opening of the gala dinner.
OPSBA President Laurie French
Dan Hendry and Natalie Murray
Tim Stiff and Canadian Crystal student performers
Budget planning cycle begins
Trustees received an update from the Superintendent of Business on the upcoming budget planning cycle. Currently, staff are working on enrolment projections and setting up meeting dates for discussion with various stakeholders.
Strategic Plan update
Director of Education Debra Rantz provided Trustees with drafts of the new strategic plan evaluation framework, action plan for 2017-2018 and sample operational plans to support each pillar, goal and area of focus. These plans will allow Trustees to monitor progress of goals and areas of focus to ensure we are working to improve student achievement and well-being. Plans will use "stop-light" progress bar - green=on target, yellow=making progress and red=needs further attention. Trustees applaud format of new plans in aligning strategic goals with actions and the new evaluation framework is approved as presented. First reports will be brought to the Board in spring.
Experiential learning in elementary
March Meeting Highlights
Student Trustees attend annual OSTA conference
Student Trustees Marie-Ange Kanellos and Ayrison Haynes attended the Ontario Student Trustees'' Association annual Board Council Conference last month with several joint-sessions with its French counterpart, Regroupement des élèves conseillerès francophones de l’Ontario (RECFO) to discuss current issues in education facing both French-speaking and English-speaking students across Ontario. Student delegates attended various workshops including sessions in public affairs training and a panel featuring OPSBA President and Limestone Trustee Laurie French. The student trustees reporter that the panel allowed them to expand their knowledge and understanding and discuss future relationship between both associations.
2018-2019 School-Year Calendar
Trustees approved the draft School-Year Calendar for 2018-2019. Notable dates of the calendar include 194 school days with school beginning on Sept. 4, 2018 and ending on June 29, 2019. There are seven professional activity days. Now Limestone must wait for approval from co-terminus Boards (Hastings Prince Edward District School Board and the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board) as the calendar depends on shared busing. Final approval is likely to come in April.
Boundary changes approved for central Kingston
The School Enrolment/School Capacity Committee of the Board approved staff recommendations regarding proposed boundary changes to the central Kingston area. The new boundaries, which reflect enrolment changes to French Immersion and English programs at Rideau Public School, will begin in September 2019. The changes affect students attending Rideau, Central, Sydenham and Winston Churchill Public Schools. The full list of changes can be found in the Follow-Up Staff Report (March 19, 2018 SE/SCC Agenda, page 2).
Naming of new Kingston high school
Report from the Central Kingston Intermediate & Secondary School Integration committee was presented outlining final recommendations for names of the new Kingston high school now under construction on Kirkpatrick Street. The final five names provided to Trustees for consideration comes after two phases of consultation including specific outreach to future students of the new school. Phase one was an open call for suggestions that resulted in 560 submissions. The Integration Committee then narrowed submissions to a list of nine names. More than 2,400 (including 739 students) people provided input.
Feedback from the phase two survey showed that students preferred a KC-related name followed by a Kingston-related name. Public input indicated support for Gordon Downie followed by a KC-related or Kingston-related name.
Following a review of the online voting, and discussion among committee members made up of students, families and staff of the affected schools, the committee offered the following five names for consideration:
- Central Kingston Secondary School
- Gordon Downie Secondary School
- Kingston Secondary School
- Kingston Central Secondary School
- Namwayut Secondary School
Following a vote by Trustees, the name of the new high school will be Kingston Secondary School. École Module Vanier, the Grade 7 and 8 French Immersion school currently located inside Kingston Collegiate & Vocational Institute, will retain its name when it moves to the new building.
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