Edmonton Public Schools

STUDENTS

• Gateway to current Ward H Schools
• Description of Programs Offered in Edmonton Public Schools
• Success in school starts for students before they ever step foot in our buildings.  The Early Years are critical, and the district supports early learners in a variety of ways.  Check it out!
• Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP)

STAFF

There are many people who work together to staff our schools effectively for our students. Most are represented by unions, and it is interesting to read their perspectives on the factors that contribute to high quality schools and excellent learning opportunities for all students. The Exempt Staff, another important group of employees, is not represented here.

Every year, as part of preparing and considering the Budget, the various staff groups speak to the Board about their concerns and their ideas on improving the work of the district as well as working conditions in the district. The Administration prepares a response to the various concerns raised and this plus the original presentations are forwarded to all district leaders charged with allocating funding to their work. The 2011 summary can be found here.

Another way staff groups bring their ideas and concerns to the table is through contract negotiations.  In 2011-12, contract negotiations are underway with our Maintenance, Custodial and Support Staff unions.  Two trustees sit at each bargaining table;  I am sitting at the Support Staff table this year. 

You can also access the various staff group websites directly for further information and insight:

• Edmonton Public Teachers (Local 37)
• CUPE 474 (Custodial Workers); Search for Local 474.
• CUPE 784 (Maintenance Staff, which includes Welders, Painters, Sheet Metal Workers, Security/Communications Technicians); Search for Local 784.
• CUPE 3550 (Support Staff, including Teacher Assistants, Administrative Assistants, Clerks, Secretaries, Food Preparers, Science and Library Technicians, and Interpreters) 

FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

Without a doubt, “it takes a village” to raise a child. The involvement of parents and community members enhances, extends and supports the work done in the classroom and is highly valued by Edmonton Public Schools.  This involvement can come through School Councils, through volunteering at your local schools or with one of our partner organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, through offering financial contributions to our Foundation, and the list goes on.  For information on how you might get involved, please contact your school, the district, or me.  We need everyone!  

THE BOARD 

• Our policies for ourselves – Board principles, committees, and operations!
• Schedule of upcoming Board meetings; all are welcome.  All Board reports are accessible through the agendas, and the minutes from each meeting are also there. 
• Staying in touch with the public is a key task for the Board and for individual trustees. Your ideas and thoughts are always welcomed; you can find our individual contact information here.   
• OR if you would like to communicate with the full Board in person, there are four possible ways to do this. 1) To share a comment or idea of a general educational nature, there is time allocated to hear from the public at our public board meetings. 2) If you have a specific comment on a specific Board agenda item, you can register to speak to it.  The time allotment for these first two speaking opportunities is three minutes.  3) There is also the opportunity for delegations to request to appear before the Board’s Community Relations Committee and potentially before the Board.  These three opportunities are governed by Board Policy  ; for more information, please contact our Board Secretary, Ms. Anne Sherwood, at 780.429.8000.  4) The fourth way is to write or email the full Board c/o the Board Chair. 

Goverance:  Setting Directions, Priorities, and Policies for the District

• At the beginning of any new Board’s term, the Board  (in consulation with the community, parents, staff,  and students) examines the priorities under which the district has been operating and either confirms those priorities or establishes new priorities.  In 2011, as mandated by the previous Board, the Board also examined the District Mission, which had not been reviewed in a number of years. As part of this examination, the Board created a Vision for Edmonton Public Schools.  The current Vision, Mission and Priorites guides the Superintendent and the entire district in their work. 
• Policy Review and Developing New Policies; sign up to be informed of policies being reviewed and opportunities to give your feedback.

Governance:  Approving the Budget

• Approving the Budget. The Budget supports the attainment of our Priorities and the delivery of excellent eduation in Edmonton Public Schools.  The Provincial Government provides our allocation and within this allocation, we are required to produce a balanced budget. 
• The cycle starts in the early winter with a Board discussion of the “Basis of Allocation” — i.e. how the Superintendent proposes to fairly and equitably distribute the funding across the district to support the success of ALL students and the  attainment of the Board’s priorities. For schools, the funding is primarily distributed on a per student basis with the principal then making the decisions about how to best meet the needs of all students in his or her school from the pooled allocation.   However, there are some other considerations that can contribute additional funds into a school’s allocation.  For example, if the school enrollment is very low, it will receive additional funding to ensure it has enough money to support the basic operation of the school.  To find out more, click on the Allocations and Rates link at the bottom of the Budget Services page. Once the Board approves the Basis of Allocation, schools and central departments develop their budgets to support their educational plans. The district budget is reviewed by trustees in late spring, and then the final budget is approved in the fall after the September 30 enrollment count firms up the allocations for all schools.  A link to the current budget is also at the bottom of the Budget Services page

Governance: Good Stewardship of our Infrastructure and Approving the Capital Plan

• Ten Year Facility Plan (2009-2018). Page 3 gives the planning principles used in making both big and small decisions on school space by the district.A new principle was added in 2008 (Proactive Approach to Environmental Awareness and Stewardship), and exploring the idea of planning by sector was recommended (see page 40). See page 35 for the information on the SW sector (Ward H).
• Three Year Capital Plan (2011-14)
• School Viability and Sustainability Profiles
• In November 2010, the Board voted to have a moratorium on school closures for two years,  to study the issues contributing to school closures and to develop ways to keep schools open.  You can follow the School Closure Moratorium Committee’s progress and read the information it has been reviewing here. 

Governance:  Monitoring and Ensuring Accountability

• Part of the thorough accountability process at Edmonton Public Schools involves trustees reviewing the results of schools and central departments every fall. We do this in two ways — through ”sub-committees” by which a trustee (and possibly, one or two guest trustees) review the results for schools in their own wards on a rotating basis over three years.  We also review the results of the Central Departments. The reviews allow leaders and trustees to examine: What went well? What are the challenges? How do the results affect the plan going forward?   How is the school’s budget supporting its plans?  To access the specific results, budgets and plans for any or all schools and central departments, please visit the Budget Services home page — and look at the bottom of the page for the appropriate document.   By the way, these meetings are always open to the public, and it is good to hear comments from the public (usually parents) at these sessions.  I always let people know the time and place of these reviews through my Insights e-letter, which is also posted on my home page blog.  Watch for this in late October/early November each fall.  Everyone is welcome and I encourage you to attend!
• The second way we examine our district results and the plans going forward is collectively as a Board.  During the fall (usually October and/or November), the Superintendent shares our district-wide student achievement results, our Alberta Education “accountability pillar” results, and our Student/Staff/Principals/Parent/Community Survey results.  Out of this comes the Three-Year Education Plan and Results Report, which is sent to Alberta Education.  This document is well worth reading to get an overview of the work being done in the district, our strengths and challenges.   
• Finally, every year, the Board reviews the Superintendent’s work and performance through an intensive evaluation process. Similarly, it reviews its  own work.  It uses both these evaluations to discuss areas of strength and areas for improvement so as to continually improve the leadership by the Board and Superintendent for Edmonton Public Schools.  It reports on the results of these two evaluation processes at public board;  in the winter for the Superintendent, in the fall for the Board.