CTR CATHOLIC BOARD HIGHLIGHTS
from Board Meeting held on January 29, 2022
BOARD REFLECTS ON INCREASED FATIGUE WITH COVID MEASURES
The Board discussed the issue of several recent requests from parents and members of the electorate to lobby Alberta Education to eliminate pandemic measures such as the use of masks. The will of the Board was to remain consistent with the philosophy used throughout the pandemic. This focus has been to follow guidance from Alberta Education and Alberta Health Services (AHS), while focusing on delivering the highest quality education we can. CTR has also endeavoured to keep learning conditions as normal as possible. The Board reaffirmed that CTR’s focus should continue to be on educational programming, while deferring decisions on health measures to the experts at AHS.
BOARD APPLAUDS STRATEGY TO MAINTAIN IN-PERSON LEARNING
The Board heard how CTR’s attention has been focused on the number of times substitute teachers were needed to cover classes but not available. When this happens, it is termed a Failure to Fill. As the Board is committed to keeping schools open for in-person instruction, having enough staff in place to cover the classes of absent teachers is pivotal. CTR Catholic’s Non-Certificated Classroom Supervisors (NCCS) have been indispensable in keeping schools open and reducing the number of times a teacher is asked to cover a class during a prep. Since the Christmas break, there has been a total of 143 Failure to Fills, meaning each of our 500 teachers would have needed to cover two 40-minute classes to keep schools open. However, by utilizing internal and external NCCS’s, the adjusted Failure to Fill was 19.5, meaning that, on average, 156 of the 500 teachers and administrators have been asked to cover one 40-minute class. This is a reduction of internal coverage by 86%. The Board thanks the NCCS’s who have assisted with covering classes to keep our schools open. You are greatly appreciated.
BOARD COMMENDS TEACHERS’ RESPONSE TO STUDENT ABSENTEEISM
The Board was informed that beyond the challenges of “Failures to Fill”, another trial that school staff have endured in January is significantly higher rates of student absenteeism. The normal education response is to catch students up when they are absent from lessons upon return. This problem is exacerbated by student absenteeism rates approaching 20% in some schools. Early on in the Omicron wave, the decision was made to not casually jump to online schooling. This is because both students and staff at home are presumed sick rather than healthy and self-isolating as in the past. In this wave, CTR decided to let the sick be sick and get well, catching up upon return. Teachers were given guidance to make this as reasonable as possible for both them and their students. Even with these considerations, the increased load has been heavy on our staff. The Board acknowledged this and expressed their appreciation.
CATHOLIC EDUCATION PROGRAM REVIEW
Program reviews are conducted on an annual basis, and this year the Board has approved the review of the Catholic Education Program. The categories of the review will include: 1) Religious Studies Programming; 2) Permeation of Faith; 3) Staff Faith Formation; 4) Advocacy for Catholic Education; and 5) Catholic Leadership. The Bishop has been consulted and has approved the focus areas. The review will take place in April by a team of external candidates approved by the Board and endorsed by the Bishop. The final report will be presented at the June Board meeting, and the results will be shared with our community shortly thereafter.
CTR’S RIGOROUS TEACHER SUPERVISION, EVALUATION, AND GROWTH PROCEDURE
Board Policy #1 states that, “We expect excellence of our students and of ourselves as educators." CTR has an intentional plan to support teachers in various aspects of supervision, evaluation, and growth. Deputy Superintendent Behm shared the highlights of how CTR supervises and evaluates its teachers. It begins with an evaluation process based on Alberta’s Teacher Quality Standard. Each new teacher receives 10 classroom visitations by their principal and vice-principal and one of the Superintendents. CTR also engages experienced teachers in Enhanced Supervision, a unique process that every experienced teacher undergoes every four years. Teachers are also required to prepare an annual growth plan. This ongoing professional growth process is designed to be supportive as opposed to corrective. In a video presentation the Board viewed, an experienced teacher shared that she cherished, “the opportunity to connect with other adults, other colleagues, other professionals, who are equally passionate about education and improving teaching.” The model also serves the purpose of assuring our community that CTR takes the supervision and growth of teachers seriously.
ÉCOLE GOOD SHEPHERD SCHOOL GYMNASIUM
Senior Administration and Trustees have been in periodic consultation with the Ministry over the last year regarding the future of École Good Shepherd School, and specifically, its gymnasium. In the absence of any recent news, the Trustees requested that Board Chair Andrea Keenan contact the Minister of Education’s office for an update.
UNIVERSAL MENTAL HEALTH SPENDING
Student mental health is a longstanding concern that has been further impacted by Covid. Teachers began this year by training in how to provide classroom-based mental health supports to students in various forms. Further to this, the Board learned that each teacher was allocated $200 to purchase items to support student mental health. Teachers were very creative in their responses, and purchases focused on many dimensions of student wellness including faith resources, calming activities, physical games, relational board games, and nature-inspired activities. Teachers were appreciative of the funds to support their students.
TEACHERS’ EMPLOYER BARGAINING ASSOCIATION (TEBA)
Trustee Salm (Strathmore) reported that the province and the Alberta Teachers’ Association agreed on a revamped grievance procedure which will be inserted into the next iteration of the teachers’ collective agreement. Although it is quite rare in CTR to deal with an official grievance, it is good to have a formal process that respects all individuals and their interests.
WARD COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Ward Committees, established by the Board under Policy #07, provide an opportunity for local input into the governance of the schools in each community. At the Board's monthly meetings, Trustees report on the eight Ward meetings held throughout the division every three months. A Ward meeting is attended by Trustees, the Superintendent, principals, school council chairs, and parish priests.
The communities of Strathmore, Oyen, High River, Okotoks Ward II, Brooks, and Okotoks Ward I hosted a Ward meeting since the November 25th Board meeting. The Ward meeting summaries are included in the Minutes of the Board meeting and will be located here once posted.
In this cycle of meetings, the Board was most impressed with how online technology is being utilized as detailed below.
BOARD ENDORSES TECHNOLOGIES THAT ENHANCE PARENT ENGAGEMENT
A theme from all five Ward Committees this month was how well Zoom and other videoconferencing platforms have increased parent engagement. For example, Zoom interviews at Sacred Heart Academy (Strathmore) were attended by 97% of families. In addition, Zoom has led to almost 100% participation at Assumption’s (Oyen) School Council. Moreover, Zoom is the reason the Centre for Learning@Home was able to begin its first School Council ever. The Board acknowledges that in-person interactions are usually best, but technology has been effective at increasing parent engagement for events such as parent-teacher interviews and School Council meetings.
BOARD STANDING COMMITTEES
Since the last Board meeting, the following committees met: Liaison, GrACE CTR, Board Policy Development and Review, and Awards. Their reports follow.
LIAISON COMMITTEE AND TRUSTEE VISIBILITY
According to Trustee Salm (Strathmore), “Liaison is one of the most amazing committees!”, as it represents an opportunity to truly converse with teachers on common issues of concern. One such issue arising out of the meeting was Trustee Gustafson’s (Okotoks) desire to discuss trustee visibility, prompting the Board to reflect on the role of the Trustees and the Board. The primary role of Trustees is to oversee their sole employee, the Chief Superintendent, to whom they transfer the responsibility of managing all operations of the school division. The role of a Trustee is at the Board table, governing on behalf of the entire electorate. By Board policy, Trustee engagement occurs through Board meetings, Ward meetings, School Council meetings, the Liaison Committee, and Board communications. The Board concurred that it is important teachers are aware of how important the Liaison Committee is to them.
GrACE CTR (GRATEFUL ADVOCATES FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION)
Trustee MacDonald (High River) reported that at the last meeting, Executive Director of Provincial GrACE, Dr. Bonnie Annicchiarico, presented the provincial theme: Rebuild, Renew and Restore Together. She mentioned that many meetings are being held around the province, and that schools and communities are encouraged to look inward and outward to see how to contribute. Having said that, there is recognition that there are many great things already happening in schools. GrACE CTR is considering how they might incorporate both Trustees and priests into efforts during Catholic Education Week at the end of May. Until then, the next meeting is scheduled for March 3, and all are encouraged to look for the invitation and attend through Zoom.
BOARD POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND REVIEW COMMITTEE
The Board Policy Development and Review Committee meets to review Board Policies on a four-year cycle. At the most recent meeting, Policies 18 (Offering a New Grade Level), 19 (Special Education), 21 (Budgeting Policy), and 22 (Financial Guidelines) were reviewed and left unaltered. Although the content of Policy 20 (Good Works Policy) did not require substantive revisions, the committee elected to add a quote from Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”, as a reference point calling us to Good Works. The Board Policies are on the CTR website under the ‘About’ tab, which is also linked here.
AWARDS COMMITTEE
The committee met to recommend recipients of this year’s St. John the Apostle Honorary Life Membership Award. This annual award goes to a retired CTR employee who exemplifies a list of notable virtues and qualifications. The Board endorsed the committee’s two recommendations and the recipients will receive their awards at CTR’s Faith Day on February 23.
ACSTA (ALBERTA CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE ASSOCIATION)
At the ACSTA’s Spring meeting two former CTR Trustees will be honoured with recognition for Long Service Awards. Both have recently retired from their representative positions, but Trustee Van Donzel (High River) and Trustee Domingo (Canmore) combined for close to 40 years of dedication to Catholic Education.
ACSTA is also hiring an Executive Director in the near future and announced that Bishop McGrattan will be included on the hiring committee.
ALBERTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION (ASBA) ZONE 5 REPORT
Trustee Salm (Strathmore) reported that the December 3rd meeting was a very busy one, highlighted by discussions on curriculum, school board advocacy to Alberta Education, a Covid policy for ASBA staff, Annual Education Results Reports, and Diploma exams.
ASBA is also conducting upcoming PD for Trustees: on Systems Thinking on February 4 and Reconciliation on May 6.
TRUSTEE'S CORNER
As we finish putting away our decorations and begin a new year, I hope everyone is excited and has plans for a prosperous 2022. With a new year, you have an opportunity to make this year the best for you and your family. I enjoy January because I like to look back at the previous year and goal set for the current year. One of my biggest goals every year is to experience new things and make new friends.
As I reflect about my previous two terms as a trustee and plan for this term, I think about all the relationships I have made. I have had the opportunity to make new friends and acquaintances in all of the areas our school division covers. This has been a great experience as I enjoy hearing other people’s stories. When I talk to others, I am always amazed how friendly and open to discussions they are. I have attended chats with parents about school, celebrations in communities, faith building events and many other events within our community. It’s heartwarming to see how we can all come together and discuss any topic.
I understand that we will not agree on everything but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. I always try to follow the golden rule “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Respect and understanding of other people’s different views are key to having meaningful and hearty discussions with others. We can agree to disagree. I think we all need to remember this rule.
Wishing everyone a very Happy 2022!
NEXT BOARD MEETING DATE
The next Board meeting will take place on Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. at the Catholic Education Centre, #301 - 23 Riverside Drive, Okotoks, AB.
Board of Trustees
Andrea Keenan, Chair, Foothills County
Harry Salm, Vice Chair, Strathmore
Andrew Gustafson, Okotoks
Mark MacDonald, High River
Mark Chung, Drumheller
John de Jong, Brooks
Michelle Rude-Volk, Oyen
Channin Liedtke, Canmore
Super-intendents
Dr. Scott Morrison, Superintendent
Vincent Behm, Deputy Superintendent
Michael Kilcommons, Associate Superintendent
Mariette Moss, Associate Superintendent
Directors
Katelyn Nickel, Director of Corporate Services
Dawn Quinlan, Director of Human Resources
Dave Lunn, Director of Facilities
Cora-Leah Schmitt, Director of Student Services
Cheryl Kuemper, Director of Learning
Lindsay Avramovic, Director of Catholic Education
For any information on items in this publication, please contact Michael Kilcommons, Associate Superintendent, at mkilcommons@redeemer.ab.ca or at 403-938-2659.