Deadlines for submitting motions to Provincial Council and AGM rapidly approaching

The 2008 deadlines for submitting motions are: January 23 for extraordinary motions; February 1 for substantive motions. For full details see our new Guide to Submitting: BCSTA Motions.

Back to top ^

Positive results on winter bus route advocacy

Last month BCSTA President Penny Tees and Executive Director Stephen Hansen had a constructive meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Highways on concerns about winter maintenance of school bus routes.  As a result of the meeting, the Director of Highway Maintenance Contracts, Reg Fredrickson, has communicated with all Ministry of Highways district staff and local maintenance contractors on the importance of winter maintenance of school bus routes.

To ensure coordination of maintenance activities with local school bus coordinators Mr. Fredrickson has asked that communications be enhanced, particularly during more intense storm periods. He has also re-enforced that local school bus coordinators or representatives should be invited to attend post-winter de-brief sessions to ensure problems are identified and solutions proposed for the following year's operations.

While it is possible that there will still be occasions when winter conditions are severe enough to require the cancellation of some bus routes, BCSTA feels confident that there is a genuine commitment on the part of the Ministry of Transportation to be as responsive as possible to school district needs.

All boards are encouraged to forward their bus route information to their local highway maintenance offices as soon as possible in September so that the information can be incorporated into the local road maintenance planning.

Back to top ^

Backgrounder on Foundation Skills Assessment sent to all Trustees

In a January 8th message to all trustees, BCSTA President Penny Tees gave an update on the administration of FSAs and provided a Backgrounder on the subject which includes links to more detailed information.

Penny’s message and Backgrounder are “intended to be useful to review the topic of FSAs from both a local and provincial perspective so that you can be well informed and prepared to engage with your community and respond to questions.”

Back to top ^

Review key ideas generated from the December 8 Plenary Forum, Contemporary Issues, Policies and Practices

This from Rob Goodall, our Senior Director, Education

During the last Plenary Forum delegates to our December Academy had an opportunity to discuss important emerging issues in education. Recorders at each table took note of comments made at their table during the discussions. For a summary see Plenary Forum — Contemporary Issues, Policies and Practices (December Academy).

Back to top ^

BCSTA’s December Board Academy well received by delegates

Delegates to the December 6-8, 2007 Board Academy, Mastering Our Mandate, have rated the conference highly. In an online survey the conference was rated “good” or “excellent” by 88.6 per cent of the respondents. About 350 people attended the conference with 120 responding to the survey. Read the full survey.

Back to top ^

Another Great Debate

On January 24, at Newlands Golf and Country Club in Langley, the British Columbia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (BCASCD) will present Dinner and Another Great Debate How do we educate the whole child for the 21st Century? with moderator Dr. Fred Renihan.

Back to top ^