Boardroom Briefs
April 24, 2024 Meeting of the LDSB Board of Trustees
You can view the entire Twitter/X thread here.
Each meeting, a different Trustee will present the Indigenous Acknowledgement of Territory and include their own personal reflections.
Presentation
Tri-Board Transportation Presentation – Jeremy DaCosta, CEO, Tri-Board
Tri-Board Transportation services 30,000+ rides over 16,000+ square kilometres.
Student summary and route summary provided. Route cancellations due to unavailable drivers. Number of routes cancelled from Sept. 5, 2023-Apr. 20, 2024: Tri-Board – 267, LDSB – 157. Percentage of total routes planned is 0.23% and 0.27% respectively.
Route cancellations: Target is always 0%. Industry-wide driver shortage. Daily school bus cancellations occurring across the province. Operators do not receive any financial compensation.
Reminder of transportation application deadline: Aug. 11. Submit by this date to have transportation ready for first day of school. New deadline is important because in the summer of 2023, Tri-Board received 3,225 applications between July 1-Sept. 4, and 2,150 between Aug. 13-Sept. 4.
Chair's Report
With Spring upon us, it has been delightful to see staff, students, and schools welcoming the warmer temperatures, allowing for expanded learning opportunities outside of the classroom. I am grateful for Limestone staff’s commitment and dedication to providing quality education to the students and families in Limestone.
It was inspiring to see many schools across our district celebrating Earth Day this week. Every contribution and celebration no matter how big or small helps to make our world a better place.
The Limestone Learning Foundation’s Speaker Series hosted their first session last week with Dr. Robin Handley-Dafoe. The session focused on realistic and sustainable strategies for understanding and practicing wellness, personal resiliency, and emotional management. The event reinforced Limestone’s commitment to mental health and well-being, allowing over 100 classes of students across the district to come together in an interactive session. Thank you to Limestone’s Mental Health Lead, Laura Conboy for moderating the session.
Last week was the second annual LDSB Entrepreneurship Showcase, organized by our SHSM team at the Rose Innovation Hub at Queen’s University. Secondary students pitched their entrepreneurial ideas to local entrepreneurs and judges, including Trustee Elliott, who all offered constructive feedback and encouragement. Student projects ranged from 3D printing fidget products, car detailing services, instrument repair, fashion design, and more. Thank you to all of the local entrepreneurs for offering their time and guidance.
Director's Report
We are eagerly awaiting the the province providing detailed budgetary information. The hope was that this information would be released at the beginning of April in line with traditional timelines for the release of that information. The longer the delay, the greater the challenge for us in meeting our needs in preparing for the 2024-25 school year. This information is vital for our planning purposes in preparing for the 2023-24 school year. I know Superintendent of Corporate and Staff Services Young and Manager of Financial Services Carson, and their teams, will do the best they can to unpack the funding and the local implications in Limestone, and allow us to continue planning once the information is made available. That being said, further delays do impede our staffing processes.
I have a few highlights of recent events to share with Trustees this evening. First, Chair Hutcheon already shared the news regarding the LDSB’s Entrepreneurship Showcase event that was held at Queen’s last week. I would also like to mention the cross-school GSA event that the equity team arranged at the end of March at the Screening Room. More than 90 students attended from multiple schools. I would like to acknowledge École Maple for being one of the Terry Fox Foundation’s top 50 fundraising schools for Ontario raising just short of $15,000 for cancer research, an amazing feat. Earlier this week at the United Way Workplace Volunteer Awards luncheon, Limestone was given two awards: first an award honouring the 10-24 Leaders of the Way who contributed to the fundraising campaign, and a second award acknowledging that Limestone contributed just short of $50,000 to the most recent campaign. The work of the United Way is of critical importance in supporting some of the most vulnerable members of the communities we serve, and I am proud of our collective efforts to support critical services for so many of the families that benefit from the work of the United Way.
I would also like to publicly acknowledge the work of the LDSB payroll department that is part of financial services. There is significant work involved anytime there are adjustments to salaries, let alone a situation where the Bill 124 remedy that overlaps across years is combined with contract wage changes. Thus, creating a complicated process for these employees to process the necessary changes which are high stakes for all Limestone employees. Kudos to this team for the work that is occurring, and that will continue into the next couple of months.
Finally, I would also like to acknowledge Shauna Mitton, Allison Grange, and KSS Vice-Principal Tiffany Donnan for supporting the East Region Trustee gathering held at KSS on April 6.
This evening there are three reports on the agenda: an update for International Education, Interim Financial Reporting for the second quarter, and an overview of operational plans supporting the new Limestone Strategic Plan. In addition, Trustees will note that Trustee Neill’s motion is also on the agenda this evening.
Student Trustee Report
The Student Trustee’s Report and Introduction to New Student Trustees presented by Student Trustee Emily Eckloff.
I would first like to introduce our upcoming Trustees who are currently in attendance right now.
Rachel Kolosov is a Grade 10 student at Kingston SS going into Grade 11 who will be the LDSB Indigenous Student Trustee for 2024-2025. Rachel enjoys playing sports including basketball, water polo, and volleyball. She loves to spend time outside in nature and with her family. She enjoys planning/participating in Indigenous initiatives in the school community.
Siya Kumar is a Grade 11 going into Grade 12 at Kingston SS who will be Limestone's Urban Student Trustee for 2024-2025 school year. Siya has experience in organizing a tutoring program for KSS, Vanier, and Molly Brant students who need it. She also organizes different initiatives on her own time to help give back to the community such as volunteering as a dance instructor to help kids from India connect to their culture.
The incoming Rural Student Trustee for the 2024-2025 school year is Ayesha Bukhari, a Grade 11 student at Ernestown SS. Ayesha is a firm advocate for equity and human rights within her school, LDSB, and the community at large. She is the creator of the Ernestown Racialized Student Affinity Group, Mosaic, and the organizer of the March Racialized and Indigenous students career fair. She is looking forward to her term as rural student trustee and is excited to make a positive impact on her community.
We had our April Inter-School Council meeting on April 16 where we discussed many things such as our recent beach day spirit day. First place went to LCVI, then Bayridge and Sydenham and runners-up Frontenac and La Salle. We came up with ideas to collectively help promote events like these to reach out to more of the student population.
Reports for Information
International Education
Presented by Bob Seitz, Executive Lead and VP of International Education (Pages 20-21)
It is with great pride that the Limestone District International Education Office (IEO) facilitates students from around the world to travel to Kingston to learn. In addition to the core beliefs of the LDSB, the IEO focuses on Care, Responsiveness and being Globally Connected. The International Education program supports increased diversity and enrolment in Limestone schools and provides valuable learning experiences for many secondary students.
Background: The IEO started in 1998 in Limestone and has grown and developed over the last 26 years. The program hosts an average of 120 students each year to learn, stay and study in Limestone. Although the department has grown past pre-pandemic enrollment levels, the IEO is always continuing to support careful and deliberate growth. Over the last 5 years the IEO has expanded school offerings to include 7 schools.
The finances gained in the program have been used to grow ESL support to schools like Loyalist CVI, Kingston SS, Bayridge SS and the district ESL program. In addition, schools that host IEO students are supported financially in their school budgets.
Current Status/Next Steps: The program keeps careful watch on global trends to identify which countries are interested in studying in Canada. In the past, students from the Pacific Rim made up over 90% of the program enrollment. In 2019 this approach was starting to shift, and the pandemic years demanded a change in thinking about where and why our students were coming to Limestone.
Currently there is a more balanced approach to enrollment with the IEO hosting students from over 15 different countries and 5 continents. This balance is important moving forward as global trends, politics, and economies can swivel quickly.
There are many unique reasons why students choose Limestone including:
● Kingston is a safe, medium sized, centrally located city in Ontario.
● The Ontario Education system is seen as a high-quality system globally.
● The LDSB runs a comprehensive and supportive ESL program.
● Limestone runs its own Homestay family hosting program.
● The IEO has 2 full time Homestay Coordinators that support hosting families.
● Safe and free City of Kingston transit.
● Students in the program are provided ‘activity trips’ to experience Ontario.
● There are proven positive education/social outcomes for past students of the program.
● Culture of care in the IEO Program.
● Each school as dedicated staff working with International Students.
Students travel to Kingston via Air Canada in either September or February. With Air Canada not flying to Kingston currently, students arrive at either Montreal (YUL) or Toronto (YYZ).
Homestay families are currently the limiting factor for growth in the department. The IEO continues to promote the IEO in Kingston through social media, word-of-mouth connections, and school presentations. We have also added shorter term programs (like one semester), to have potential homestay families consider the program before committing to full-year students. Currently we have programs for students staying one semester and up to and including multi-year to graduation. Our goal is to add more homestay families to the hosting pool for September 2024.
The department currently has the following staff:
1: Bob Seitz, Executive Lead and Vice-Principal
2: Tomoko Phippen, Officer of Registration and Finance
3: Shannon Revell, Assistant to the Executive Lead and Homestay Support (contract for 2024)
4: Sevena Flindall, Homestay Coordinator
5: Debbie Villeneuve, Homestay Coordinator.
Interim Reporting Q2 2023-2024
Presented by Superintendent Young and Manager Carson (Pages 22-23)
Purpose: To report on the Interim Financial Operating expenditures for the period September 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024 (Quarter 2).
Background: The 2023-2024 Interim Financial Report was presented to the Board on Jan. 17, 2024 and provided updated revenue and expenditure information from the budget to the revised estimates, as well as operating expenditures for the period ending November 30, 2023 (Quarter 1).
Attached in the meeting agenda is the 2023-2024 Interim Financial Report for the period ending February 29, 2024 (Quarter 2), which has been presented in a similar format to the 2023-2024 operating budget, indicating the amount spent by expenditure category and the associated percentage.
As at Quarter 2, $142M of the $286.4M operating budget or 50% has been spent. This is comparable to the 49% results from the same quarter last year.
It is important to note that expenditures are based upon items paid within the stated period. Certain expenditures may be non-cyclical in nature, which may lead to higher or lower expenditures within a given period. (See Appendix 1 for more information.)
The Board is on target to end the 2023-2024 fiscal year within the budgeted deficit of ($2.5M).
Overview of Operational Plans
The purpose of this report is to provide Trustees with an overview of the operational plans that departments use to guide efforts in support of the LDSB Strategic Plan.
Background: As part of a July 2023 memorandum, the ministry released a Student Achievement Plan Framework, which aligns with the regulated provincial priorities (O. Reg. 224/23). During the better part of the last year, Trustees have been creating the LDSB Multi-Year Strategic Plan (2024-2028), with consideration given to the regulated priorities shared by the Ministry of Education, and the considerable family and community feedback received since consultation began in the spring of 2023.
The alignment of the Multi-Year Strategic Plan (2024-2028) with provincial regulations has resulted in a streamlined strategic plan, focused on student achievement and well-being. To support the goals of the strategic plan, LDSB departments use operational plans to guide daily actions and activities. Operational plans outline specific tasks, responsibilities, timelines, and resources required to achieve objectives, and are flexible documents that can be reviewed and updated annually.
Current Status: With the approval of the Multi-Year Strategic Plan (2024-2028), departments are designing operational plans that directly contribute to the fulfillment of the goals of the Strategic Plan. Many departments already have operational plans, as mandated by the Ministry, including the Math Achievement Action Plan, Equity Action Plan, Board Action Plan for Indigenous Education, Mental Health and Substance Use Strategy, FSL Plan, and the Early Years Leadership Strategy.
LDSB specific operational plans are created by departments, and include Information Technology Services, Financial Services, Gould Lake/Outdoor Education, Facilities Services, Human Resources, Educational Services/Special Education, Safe and Caring Schools, Literacy, Student Success (including Expanded Opportunities), Communications, English as a Second Language, and Accessibility.
Departmental operational plans include several components, including objectives/goals, strategies and actions, timelines for completion, and who holds responsibility for them (See appendix A). As departments are finalizing operational plans, consideration is also given to what metrics will be collected, and how completion towards goals will be assessed.
Next Steps and Communication Plan: To ensure alignment and coherence within the system, operational plans will be regularly shared among the senior team. Governance level updates and highlights of departmental operational plans will be provided to trustees at Education, Policy & Operations Committee meetings throughout the year. This will allow trustees to remain knowledgeable about the operational level work that is occurring, in support of the strategic plan goals.
Unfinished Business
Revised motion for discussion from Trustee Neill “Given the critical partnership between KFL&A Public Health and local school boards before the most recent pandemic and throughout the pandemic, a letter should be written to KFL&A Public Health exploring the opportunity for a school board seat on the local public health board. This letter should also be shared with our coterminous school boards.”
Seconded by Trustee Elliott. Discussion. Vote - 4 for, 6 against. Motion defeated.
Future Board Meeting Schedule
May 1, 2024 EPOC
May 15, 2024
June 5, 2024 EPOC
June 19, 2024
Limestone District School Board
Email: communications@limestone.on.ca
Website: www.limestone.on.ca
Location: 220 Portsmouth Avenue, Kingston, ON, Canada
Phone: 6135446920
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Limestone-District-School-Board-308623265872996/
Twitter: @LimestoneDSB