Your input is important: help BCSTA respond to the Local Elections Task Force
 As announced in the fall, the provincial government's Local Elections Task Force is working on recommendations for changes to the electoral process of BC's local government elections. Changes could well impact school trustee election procedures. The task force is considering such issues as length of term (four versus three years), financial disclosure/reporting requirements, and campaign donations.
The task force has invited BCSTA to make a submission on March 31. To help inform BCSTA's submission, we are asking you to respond to a brief survey. Additionally, you may also provide suggestions directly to the Task Force. Be sure to check out background information and copies of the current legislation.
Please complete the BCSTA survey by Monday, February 8. We appreciate your input on this very important matter.
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Last call for BCSTA's 2010 Student Citizenship Awards applications
 Alert your schools: Monday, February 8 is the deadline for BCSTA to receive applications for our five 2010 Student Citizenship Awards. Students may mail or fax their forms to BCSTA, with winners to be announced in June. The awards, for $500 each, recognize students graduating from Grade 12 who have markedly contributed to the life and well-being of their school and community.
One of the awards commemorates the Association’s late communications director, Jean Ciriani. Listed in a special Leader honour roll, donors to date have contributed $5,340.
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Join BCSTA's 106th AGM in Forging Our Future, including a landmark forum event
 It will be a landmark event for students – and for all British Columbians. BCSTA will kick off its 106th annual general meeting, April 22-25 at the Victoria Conference Centre, with a forum on public education. Trustees, other educators, and business and political leaders will come together to identify key initiatives for public education in the 21st century. The theme Forging Our Future: strong, sustainable public education for BC will carry through both this seminal forum and the AGM itself. Don't miss out! Registration is now open.
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BCSTA's Datebook – is it of value to you? Take our survey and let us know!
 Help BCSTA to serve you better and more efficiently in this budget- and green-conscious era. In our initiative to provide services of value, we’d like to know if you continue to find the BCSTA Datebook, with its diary features and public-education-related information, useful in your planning. To that end, we've prepared a short – trust us, very short – survey. You've probably already seen a message about the survey in your e-mail inbox.
Please take a moment to fill out the survey about the Datebook (2009 version is pictured), which we've traditionally published every June. Thank you for your help – and keep in mind that five lucky respondents will receive an insulated BCSTA mug!
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Government releases its fifth annual Overview of Class Size and Composition
 According to the provincial government’s just-released Overview of Class Size
and Composition in British Columbia Public Schools 2009/10, class sizes continue to be smaller today than they were before class-size and-composition legislation came in four years ago. Read more in the government's bulletin about the report.
School districts are required to submit a report on class size each year by October 30. These reports include information on the number of students at each grade level in each class, the number of students with special needs in each class and the number of ESL students.
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BCELC offers informative webcasts
The BC Education Leadership Council may be wrapping up operations – but it's leaving trustees with a valuable collection of resources. BCELC's archived webcasts cover a rich array of topics, including: Teacher Leadership; Early Learning; and Assessment for Learning. Contact BCELC for more information.
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