Government announces boards will get Harmonized Sales Tax rebates
 It's a significant advocacy win for BC boards – and for BC public education. Following a December 2009 BCSTA letter to Finance Minister Colin Hansen, plus intensive work by the BC Association of School Business Officials, the provincial government has announced that boards of education will receive rebates to ensure that on average they will not pay any more provincial tax after implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Along with universities and hospitals, boards will receive an 87 per cent rebate of HST's provincial portion when the new tax is implemented in July.
BCSTA had called for a rebate of no less than the 68 per cent originally calculated by BCASBO to mitigate the estimated $32 million impact on boards. “This is very welcome news,” said President Connie Denesiuk. “This will remove one of the many funding pressures that boards are dealing with as they start to prepare their budgets for the next school year.”
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SD 8 students safely home from Haiti; here's how you can help those left behind
 Our province heaved a huge, collective sigh of relief on finding out that several Kootenay Lake students, who'd been in Haiti when the earthquake struck, were heading home. But their thoughts, and ours, are very much with those left behind – the poverty-stricken citizens of Haiti who desperately need donations. Gordon Swan, a BCSTA Board Director and Nicola-Similkameen trustee, draws from his experience in international development work to offer the following ways for individuals, schools and districts to participate in Haitian relief:
As well, CBC has a useful overview of Haitian relief efforts.
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Only one day left to PC motions deadline; AGM deadlines are coming up next month
 The calendar is ticking down on deadlines for BCSTA's key governance events. Make sure you and your board, branch or committee are ready!
Tomorrow, January 22, is the deadline for Provincial Council motions (Note: per new bylaw 7(m), all PC motions must now be of an "emergent" nature, i.e., cannot wait until the annual general meeting). Here's a motion template for PC, which meets February 20 in Victoria.
For the annual general meeting, April 22-25, Victoria, the deadline for extraordinary motions (to change BCSTA bylaws) is February 11. The deadline for substantive motions is February 19. Here's a motion template for AGM extraordinary motions; and one for AGM substantive motions.
If you have any questions about the preparation or submission of motions, please contact Executive Director Stephen Hansen.
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Join BCSTA's forum on public education – and reach out to our students' future
 Students' future is our future. Help ensure that it's the best one possible! Join in the forum on public education at BCSTA's 106th annual general meeting, April 22-25 in the Victoria Conference Centre. Targeting the future and sustainability of public education, this forum presents an exciting chance for you to help shape the direction of BC schools.
At the forum, BCSTA will lead school trustees, business and political leaders, and education partner groups in identifying key initiatives for public education as we enter the second decade of the 21st century. Though currently finalizing the details, we expect the forum to begin Thursday evening, April 22, with a keynote or expert-panel presentation. Then, on Friday, April 23, we will hold a facilitated plenary and smaller-group discussions. Watch for more information over the next few weeks. Be sure to mark your calendars to attend this important event – as well as BCSTA's AGM.
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Learn school crime-prevention strategies
 In a challenged economy, crime rises among juveniles as well as adults – and schools need to be extra aware. The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General and the Abbotsford School District invite trustees and other educators to the "Evidence-Based Practices for School Crime Prevention" workshop, Friday, February 19 in Abbotsford, offering knowledge, connections and tools for evidence-based school and youth crime prevention initiatives. The comprehensive agenda also includes celebrating successes in preventing youth crime and violence in and around schools, and sharing strategies to improve practice.
To attend this workshop, you must register by February 12. For more information, contact Joel Cardinal.
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Check out these new, invaluable resources on early childhood development
 The young mind is a rich planting ground for lifelong success. As educators place increasing importance on early childhood development (ECD), more and more invaluable resources on this subject are becoming available.
The Council of Early Childhood Development, which you can follow on Twitter, welcomes trustees to access the following:
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Turpel-Lafond, Carter urge child-friendly complaint process for children, youth in care
 Children and youth have a right to make a complaint about government services they receive – and that complaint process should be easy for them, with quick resolution. In their just-released joint report Hearing the Voices of Children and Youth, BC Representative for Children and Youth Mary Turpel-Lafond (pictured) and Ombudsperson Kim Carter note ways the Ministry of Children and Family Development can make its complaint process more accessible and responsive to the vulnerable young people it serves.
"[These] young people have a right to have their voices heard and their views considered in decisions that affect them," said Turpel-Lafond. "If they disagree with or fail to understand why they are being treated in a certain way, they need to know they have a right to complain and that their concerns will be heard."
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Remembering Southeast Kootenay's 'strong and tireless advocate,' Pat Casey
 Along with her family, colleagues and many friends, BCSTA mourns the passing of Southeast Kootenay Trustee Pat Casey. There will be a celebration of Pat's very fulfilled, very giving life January 22, 2-4:30 pm at the Key City theatre in Cranbrook. Flowers can be sent to her husband, Carl Casey, 400 Fink Street West, Cranbrook V1C 6W6. "Pat was a strong and tireless advocate for public education and the needs of students for many years as a teacher and a member of the Board of Education in SD #5," said Southeast Kootenay Superintendent Bill Gook. He noted that Pat, a trustee since 2002, "will be remembered for her unrelenting commitment and dedication to ensure all children received a quality education and were able to be successful. She will be missed." Indeed she will.
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