Hello SD63 Families,
Thanks to everyone who provided feedback regarding the proposed changes of moving recess to the end of day. Last night, on Monday Dec 5,2011 the newly elected board of education discussed this issue.
- Dr. Keven Elder provided a confidential print out to the trustees only which included all of the feedback received by parents since Thursday Dec 1st to Monday Dec 3rd. In all, 104 responses were received from parents and 101 of them were opposed to moving recess to the end of the day.
- In response to the feedback, Dr. Elder brought forth and recommended another proposal that included leaving recess time unchanged and instead proposing to add ALL excluded and management staff to supervision duties commencing Jan 3, 2012, rather than just district management staff.
- The extra staff would include speech and language pathologists, district psychologists and First Nations assistants to recess and before and after school supervision. This would have the unfortunate effect of reducing services to children during class times, but it must be remembered that teachers are on strike and there is an effect. Avoiding all negative effects on children during this job action, while desirable, is not possible.
The Saanich Board of Education passed a motion:
-approving the deployment of all management and excluded staff to the supervision duties as of Jan 3rd 2012
-requesting a report to be submitted to the board in January 2012 detailing the impact of the supervision duties on the ability to accomplish work requirements by district management and staff
-adding this issue to the agenda for the January 18, 2012 meeting for further discussion.
Thank you again for taking the time to send in your responses and expressing your valid concerns as it definitely had an impact. We will provide updates on this matter as they arise.
COPACS