UPPER GRAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
BUSINESS OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
MINUTES
November 8, 2011
The Business Operations Committee of Upper Grand District School Board met
on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, in the Board Room at 500 Victoria Road North,
Guelph, Ontario commencing at 7:00 p.m.
Trustee Fairbairn, Chair, presided and the following Trustees were present:
Bailey, Borden, Busuttil, Cooper, Gohn, Moziar, Topping and Waterston.
Present from the Administration were Director of Education, Dr. M. Rogers,
Superintendents Benallick, Boswell, Fyfe, Morrell, and Wright; M. McFadzen,
Communications Officer; M. Weidmark, Administrative Officer, Communications; J.L.
Rose, Executive Officer of Human Resources; H. Imm, Senior Planner and, P.
Scinocca, Manager of Capital and Renewal Projects.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Item 14.1 was added to the agenda (In Camera).
Trustee Busuttil moved that the agenda be approved as amended.
The motion carried.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Trustee Topping moved that the minutes of the previous meeting, held October
11, 2011 be approved as printed.
The motion carried.
DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Trustee Topping declared a conflict of interest with item 13 on the agenda.
OPEN SESSION
EDWARD JOHNSON FI BOUNDARY REVIEW – REPORT #1
Mr. Paul Scinocca, Manager of Capital/Renewal, introduced and reviewed the
report entitled, “Edward Johnson FI Boundary Review – Report #1,” dated November 8,
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2011. The review is a result of the FDK Capital Plan approved in principle by the Board
in September 2011 and the identification of the necessity to undertake boundary
reviews in East Guelph in order to fulfil the intent of the FDK Capital Plan. Edward
Johnson PS with FDK will have 300 more students than capacity. It will be the first
boundary review to be undertaken and is required to establish a sustainable JK-6
French Immersion boundary for the school. The intention is to minimize the number of
student moves while relieving capacity pressures in the near future.
Mr. Scinocca reviewed in detail the Proposed Process, Committee Composition,
Proposed Timeline (Appendix A), Goals, Objectives & Constraints Matrix (Appendix B),
and the Communications Plan (Appendix C). The process should be completed for
consideration by the Board in January or early February 2012.
It was noted that another boundary review process is required for the new King
George School based on the assumption made by staff and approved in principle by the
Board, that a second FI program (K-8) is required and that it could potentially be housed
in the new school. It was also noted that with the magnitude of the overcrowding at Ken
Danby School, the new King George School may be required as a holding school during
the construction of the new school on the Stockford site and that the boundary for King
George might not be implemented until 2014.
Trustee Moziar requested that the approximately 45 students from Tytler PS that
were moved from John McCrae PS to Edward Johnson PS be given consideration
during the review process as there is apprehension within the Tytler School community
that the students may be required move again. A copy of the slide presentation was
also requested and Mr. Scinocca was directed to send the presentation to Trustees.
Recommendation #1
Trustee Moziar moved
THAT:
1. Memo PLN:11-25, entitled “Edward Johnson FI Boundary Review – Report #1
be received.
2. the Board approve a boundary review for Edward Johnson PS.
3. Trustees adopt the schedule shown in Appendix A of report PLN:11-25, as
the proposed timeline for the boundary review process necessary to establish
the JK-6 French Immersion boundary for Edward Johnson PS.
The motion carried.
FDK CAPITAL PROJECTS, PONSONY PS, PRIMROSE ES
Mr. Paul Scinocca, Manager of Capital/Renewal, introduced and reviewed the
report entitled, “FDK Capital Projects, Ponsonby PS, Primrose ES,” dated October 26,
2011. He explained that the rationale in the FDK Capital Plan (CP:11-12) approved in
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principle by the Board on September 27, 2011 indicated major projects regarding
significant additions and/or renovations will be presented to Trustees for consideration
individually. The Project Descriptions and Proposed floor plans for the projects at
Ponsonby Public School and at Primrose Public School were then reviewed in detail.
Recommendation #2
Trustee Gohn moved
THAT:
1. the report entitled “FDK Capital Projects, Ponsonby PS, Primrose ES, CP:1115, dated November 8, 2011, be received.
2. the “Project Description” for Ponsonby PS and Primrose ES, as outlined in
report CP:11-15, dated November 8, 2011, be approved.
3. staff be directed to proceed to construct the projects attached as Appendices
1 and 2 in report CP:11-15, dated November 8, 2011.
The motion carried.
TRUSTEE HONORARIA ANNUAL CALCULATION
Ms. Janice Wright, Superintendent of Finance, introduced and reviewed the
report entitled “Trustee Honoraria Annual Calculation,” dated November 8, 2011. She
noted that the Ontario Regulation 357/06 requires that Trustee Honoraria be adjusted
each year based upon the enrolment reported in the Estimate (Budget) of the most
recently completed year. Ms. Wright reviewed the honoraria calculations for the
individual Trustees, Vice-Chair and Chair for the period December 1, 2011 to November
30, 2012, in detail, and noted small decreases due to a decline in enrolment.
Recommendation #3
Trustee Borden moved that the report, Trustee Honoraria Annual Calculation,
dated November 8, 2011 (Finance #2011-39) be received.
The motion carried.
ACCESS UPPER GRAND – ANNUAL ACCESSIBILITY PLAN OF THE UPPER
GRAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD 2011-2012
Ms. Rosemary Fyfe introduced the report entitled, “Access Upper Grand –
Annual Accessibility Plan of the Upper Grand District School Board 2011-2012,” dated
November 2, 2011. It was explained that each school board was required by Ontario
legislation to develop an Accessibility Plan which would outline how a board would
approach dealing with barriers to accessibility for its students, staff and partners with
disabilities.
The Accessibility Steering Committee is mandated to update the
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Accessibility Plan annually. It was reported that the Committee membership has been
expanded to include more expertise and persons with disabilities.
Mr. Jim Bowie, Health and Safety Officer and Chair of the Accessibility
Committee, reviewed the report which describes the measures that the Board has taken
to date, and those that will be taken to identify, remove and prevent barriers for people
with disabilities who work in, use, or attend Board facilities and services. The recent
barrier removal initiatives and areas of interest pertaining to physical barriers,
architectural barriers, informational barriers, communication barriers, attitudinal barriers,
technological barriers, and policy and practice barriers were noted. The audit has been
completed and the Committee has begun to identify areas where facilities can be made
more accessible, with projects identified in consultation with Special Education and
Capital Projects/Plant Operations. New staff will continue to receive training on the
Customer Service Standard as a condition of employment.
The Accessibility Plan will be made available on the website and will be in an
accessible format for the first time. It is also available in an alternate format upon
request. An awareness campaign to inform the staff and public of the progress being
made will also be developed.
Trustee Moziar requested that the Committee consider chair heights when
assessing barriers as it can be an issue for some people with mobility issues.
Recommendation #4
Trustee Busuttil moved that the report Access Upper Grand – Annual
Accessibility Plan of the UGDSB 2011-2012 be received.
The motion carried.
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT MULTI-YEAR PLAN
Ms. Jennifer Rose, Executive Officer of Human Resources, introduced and
reviewed the report entitled, “Human Resources Department – Multi-Year Plan,” dated
November 8, 2011. She reviewed the action plans for 2011/12 (Appendix A) in detail
that outline the measurable outcomes, person responsible, timelines and budget
implications for each of tasks outlined in the plan. It was noted that it is a rolling three
year plan and that some items were included as the result of the operational review.
In response to questions from Trustees, it was explained that it is the intention
that Action Plan #3, Staff Satisfaction Survey, will have a broad scope in order to
assess overall staff satisfaction and morale noting the resulting impacts on all aspects
of the organization including staff retention and student achievement. Ms. Rose also
indicated that the survey will be developed with a number of system partners. Trustee
Cooper was invited to submit the questions from a recent small survey conducted by the
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Environmental Committee for the group to consider in the context of the larger staff
survey recognizing that health and wellness are also impacted by job satisfaction.
Recommendation #5
Trustee Bailey moved that the report, Human Resources Department – MultiYear Plan, dated 2011 11 08, be received.
The motion carried.
RESIGNATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND RETIREMENTS - Nil
HEALTH AND SAFETY REPORT
Mr. Jim Bowie, Health and Safety Officer, provided a verbal update of Health and
Safety activities during the past month. He reported that all School Boards across the
province were visited by Ministry of Labour inspectors at the request of the Ministry of
Education as a result of an explosion in an Ottawa Tech shop in June 2011 and several
fires/explosions in Science Departments of the course of last year. The UGDSB
received 9 visits resulting in 87 orders being written. Most of the orders were written
around training and machine guarding. Almost half of the orders have been addressed
to date. An inventory of machines that require guards is underway and an RFQ for
installation of the guards will follow. It was noted that many of the machines that require
guards are older and that when purchased, there was not a requirement for guarding.
In response to a question from Trustee Moziar, Mr. Bowie reported that the good
sanitation habits put in place in past years in an effort to contain the spread of influenza
are continuing. In particular hand washing procedures are in place and many schools
continue to provide hand sanitizer.
Recommendation #6
Trustee Busuttil moved that the verbal report on Health and Safety as presented
by Mr. Jim Bowie, Health and Safety Officer, be received.
The motion carried.
OTHER BUSINESS
Budget: Guiding Principles
Trustee Busuttil reported that the Budget Liaison Committee met earlier today.
She then distributed copies of the guiding principles for the budget process and invited
Trustees to forward their comments to her before the November 22nd Board meeting.
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IN CAMERA
ADJOURNMENT
Trustee Busuttil moved that this Committee adjourn at 8:30 p.m. to report to the
Board.
The motion carried.