School board calendar approved

The Prairie Land School Division re-approved the 2013-2014 school calendar during the board meeting on Wednesday, March 20.

The school calendar had been previously approved on Friday, February 15, but re-opened after the results of a board-wide parent survey were analyzed.

Two additional professional development days in late August were the only changes made to the calendar.

The school board made these changes after analyzing the report from the survey. According to the survey, the board indicated that the quality of instruction was more important in student achievement than the number of days of instruction, evenly dispersed breaks respect the priorities of families and provide the necessary down time for students and faculty and more time for professional development was needed to improve the effectiveness of teachers.

Diploma exam results

Deputy Superintendent Cam McKeage presented the January 2013 diploma exam results to the board, revealing results that ranged above and below provincial averages.

Prairie Land students scored above the provincial average in English 30-1 and Social Studies 30-2. Students scored ‘significantly’ below the provincial average in Mathematics 30-1 and 30-2, Biology 30 and Social Studies 30-1.

On a school by school basis, Consort, Morrin and Delia outperformed other schools in Alberta in Mathematics 30-2,  Biology 30 and Social Studies 30-1.

Labour agreement

The Alberta Teachers Association came to a tentative agreement with the province on a new labour contract on Friday, March 15. According to the Ministry of Education, the four-year agreement includes a three year salary freeze and a two per cent increase in 2015 with a one percent signing bonus. The agreement also limits a teacher’s annual instructional time to 907 hours per year, gives the teachers the ability to appeal the decisions of school board superintendents and includes a review of teacher workload.

The Prairie Land School Division took issue with several parts of the agreement, stating that they feel the agreement will turn educational priorities into negotiated points in a labour contract and ‘erode the board’s ability to prioritize student learning and well-being.’ Specifically, the board is concerned about the agreement’s unclear definition of instructional time, the creation of a work environment based on ‘appeal the grievance’ instead of one built on ‘role clarity’ and the ‘delineation of duties.’

The board must ratify the agreement by Monday, May 13.

2013 Budget

As reported in last week’s edition of the Review, the 2013 Provincial Budget resulted in a 0.2 per cent increase to funding for the Prairie Land School Division. The board’s position is that the funding increase represents a ‘positive shift’ to the equity of rural education funding in Alberta. The board feels that the increased funding from the Equity of Opportunity grants is an indication of the province’s increased commitment to the funding of rural education.

The school board has announced that it will advocate for the reinstatement of the fuel price contingency grant, an inclusion of colony schools to the student density formula and an increase to the student density factor. The province currently caps the student density grant entitlement at one student per three square kilometres, while the current reality is one student per six kilometres.

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