Shifting the Blog to Saanich District Website

Hello everyone and welcome to the new (2010/11) school year. We are excited about another great year in Saanich and looking forward to greeting students and families on September 7th. So you know, I will be taking this blog down in the coming weeks and migrating over to communicating through our district website http://www.sd63.bc.ca. Our new platform allows us to have "comments" added to any message on the website, so as I post messages on the main page and post my newsletters accessible via the link under "latest news", readers will have a change to post comments, reflections or questions right there. That will serve the purpose of blogging, making this site redundant. A message will be posted here when that shift occurs.

In the meantime, please post any comments you would like right here! What's on your mind as we move into the new year? Do you have any thoughts, for example, on what government should do in terms of its commitment to "modernize the education system for the 21st century", as per the 2010 throne speech? For more on that, see the paper written by Saanich students, accessible on our website, direct linked here.

Check out "Facts in Education"

Some of the leading researchers in Canada, including Michael Fullan, Ben Levin, Penny Milton and Charles Ungerleider have created a blogspot entitled "Facts in Education" which: "aims to correct factual errors in education that appear in various news media sources across Canada. The purpose of this project is not to critique the article or the news outlet, but simply to inform you of the real facts in education as supported by empirical evidence."

Their latest post brings research syntheses into the question of whether or not smaller class sizes make a difference, with the conclusion from a number of meta-analyses and specific research projects being that in the younger years smaller is better. However, this is only true if if you keep students in smaller classes for longer periods of time (perhaps K-3 as we do in B.C.) and have the right programs being taught by the right teachers supported by the right interventions for students who struggle.

The need for this leading think-tank to bring these comments to the fore through their blog came from Malcolm Gladwell making the front page with his assertion that class size "is the biggest dead end in the world", arguing that it is only and all about quality of teaching and teachers. His speech, given to a Liberal think-session entitled Imagining Ontario's Future was noteworthy in that it flew in the face of both research and the Ontario government's plans. It also hit the media, giving rise the the Facts group publishing its response as noted above.

May-June Newsletter: Budget, Secondary Futures

I have posted my May-June 2010 newsletter on our district website. Click here to go directly to my newsletter or here to go the main website. In my newsletter and on our website you will find updates on the Saanich School District budget for 2010/11. In a nutshell, the news is not good on the budget front. Our Board had to make reductions totaling 5% of the budget, after reducing for enrolment decline, in order to pass a balanced budget as is required by law. We remain concerned in Saanich about the levels of provincial funding being far below the levels needed to even maintain, let alone enhance, our programs and services.

That said, we are proud of what we do in Saanich. We remain fully optimistic that public schools will continue to serve children, families and communities in ways that are vibrant, engaging and in keeping with the 21st century. Diversity and excellence are alive and well, and we invite anyone to see it "live" by contacting a neighbourhood school and connecting with the principal or vice-principal to learn more.

Alongside all that is going on in schools, we have a significant activity occurring at the district level as well. As superintendent I have taken a "21st Century Learning" presentation to our secondary schools and shared it with the board and district partners. I will be using it as a conversation starter as well at a student symposium scheduled for May 27th. Our quest is to provoke dialogue around the extent to which secondary education of today is consistent with the ideals, dreams and visions that are evolving around the world in relation to engaged learning in this age of technology and global connections. We are also interested in influencing government in relation to its throne speech commitment to "modernize the education system for the 21st century."

Comments are welcome, as always, on any of these topics. And . . . how about that new web site? It is more than just better looking; it has running in behind it a much more modern and robust "web 3.0" foundation. More interactive, more current, and more dynamic - just what we need for our tech-savvy readers.

Go Habs.

Newsletter Posted: Budget, FDK, Vision, Throne Speech, Calendar and More

My January/February 2010 newsletter is posted on our district website. Remember to check our website periodically for news and updates as there is always something new, two recent examples being postings in regard to full day kindergarten and the posting of the "calendar options paper" that I presented to the board earlier this month. If you want to go straight to my newsletter, click here. Comments, as always, are more than welcome.

3 Hot Topics

I'm wondering if there is any desire to share thoughts on three key issues (of many) in Saanich and across our province:
1. Foundation Skills Assessment: FSA 2010 is underway and students in grades 4 and 7 are busy completing reading, writing and numeracy assessments. Depending on where you sit, FSA is either a useful instrument for understanding student achievement and when results are aggregated up provides a useful tool for planning, or it is an unnecessary intrusion into the lives of children and teachers. I am always interested to know what people are thinking when it comes to FSA.
2. Full Day Kindergarten: Our Board, like others across the province, has made a decision in regard to FDK for September 2010 and has accepted the offer of 240 funded FDK seats for next year as we move to every child being in FDK as of September 2011. Schools in Saanich were selected based on a number of criteria related to need, space and more. FDK will be provided September in Brentwood, Sidney, KELSET, Lochside and Cordova Bay. Registration in neighbourhood (catchment area) schools is the week of February 1st, and anyone wanting to be out of catchment is invited to come to the School Board Office beginning February 8th. We will process those applications in the order in which they are received.
3. Budget 2010/11: Our budget situation for next year is, unfortunately, a major challenge. After a $3.6 million reduction (relative to carrying on with "status quo") coming into this year, we face a challenge of about $3 million as we move toward September 2010. Information on this is available on our website www.sd63.bc.ca and we invite everyone's participation in the budget setting processes that will unfold over the next few weeks.

December Newsletter - Parent Involvement, Report on Achievement

If you read this blog you may already know the goings on in Saanich, but in case you haven't seen it, my December Newsletter is posted. Our November 25th Parent Involvement Evening is described there, and I can tell you that we had a great evening of dialogue around the topic: Child-Centred, Productive Conversations in the Education Community. Much of the talk focused on how to have difficult conversations based on having already created trusting relationships, particularly between parents and administrators. Also mentioned in the newsletter is the annual Superintendent's Report on Achievement that will be received by the Board on January 13th and posted to the district website shortly thereafter. On an unrelated but important matter, if you are needing information about potential snow closure days, you will see on our main web page links to the information sent home to parents early in the school year.

October Newsletter - From Vision to H1N1 and More

Here we are at the end of October, with the first two months of school having been a blur of positive energy and hard work by so many in service to children and families. Sorry to be so long between posts, but I am pleased to provide you with access to my October newsletter (via this link). In the newsletter you will see an update on plans to clarify district innovations in support of our Board's declared vision of success for all learners. You will also find news on H1N1, our Olympic spirit and our class organization reporting. Please have a look and feel free to post comments here. The more dialogue the better.

September Newsletter - Back to School, Budget, H1N1 and More

We are back in session as of September 8th, and as we welcome students and families we remember how proud we are to be part of a public education system that has so many successes to celebrate. We are also deliberate and strategic about how we face our challenges, some of which are captured in my September newsletter. Although the provincial budget protected the core operating grants for school districts, other cuts will have real impacts on our day to day operations this year, including the loss of the annual facilities grant. You can read about the loss of the AFG and more by checking the BCSTA (school trustees) website. You will also see in the September newsletter, as well as on our district website, updates on how we are preparing for any possibility of H1N1 influenza. As usual, feel free to post comments here. I am interested to know what is on your mind.

Excited to be Back

Welcome to September everyone. I will post a newsletter in the coming days with updates on everything from our enrolment (higher than expected) to the budget (lower than expected) and H1N1 (we're ready, but hoping it will be less than expected).

In the meantime, please know that we are excited and optimistic about the year. Please comment here if there is anything that you would like to know as we enter the 09/10 year, or if there is just anything you'd like to air.

Looking forward,

Keven

Into the Summer

Thank you, everyone, for another great year in Saanich. 2008/09 brought many successes, some of which I have noted in my June newsletter, not the least of which was the way we came together as a community to deal with our budget challenge for 2009/10. Even with the reductions, we are looking forward to another great year for public education in Saanich and across the province as a whole.

We are also interested to see the emergence, at least informally, of a province-wide dialogue about funding. People are wondering about funding levels, the mandate for public education (does it match the funding?) and the potential for some efficiencies to be found system-wide. I look forward to hearing more about that as we move into the fall. Meanwhile, I wish all of you the best possible summer and a great start to the new school year.

So Much to Celebrate

As we head into grad season I just want to comment how proud I am to be an educator in the Saanich School District. Our graduation ceremonies that are held every June serve as reminders of the many successes that our students have had during their years in school. We are also reminded of the bright futures that lie ahead for our grads and, thankfully, for society as these fine young people move off into the world. Public education is thriving in the 21st Century and much of that credit goes to the families who continue to be positively involved in their schools and to the teachers, support staff and administrators who go beyond the call of duty every day to make children's experiences rich and relevant. Thanks to you all, and best wishes to our grads. For those who are not yet done, even if you are of an age where you feel that you should be, stay true to your plans and allow us to keep working with you in whatever way best suits your life circumstance. It is worth the effort, and so are you.

Budget Passed in SD 63 Saanich

The Board of Education passed its 2009/10 budget at its public meeting of May 6, 2009. It incorporates $3.6 million of reductions, some of which was managed through enhancing revenue from distance and international education, but the large majority of which came from actual cuts. You can check the details by going to our website, or go directly to the complete list of reductions here, and the Board's media release here.

One thing to make clear is that Saanich remains a first-rate school district within a first-rate public education system . At the same time, we have to realize that we are $3.6 million short of being able to do next year what we are doing this year. Credit goes to the Board of Education for keeping those reductions as far from the classroom as possible, but we will certainly need to call on the considerable good will that exists among our employees, parents, students and community partners to minimize the impact of these significant reductions.

April/May Newsletter - Memorials, Successes, Budget and Early Learning

If you are interested in having a look at my April/May newsletter, click here. I have listed a number of district successes ranging from our 700 grade six students cleaning up the beaches on Earth Day to Lochside Elementary School hosting a showcase event to celebrate their very successful Scientists in Residence program held through April. You will also see in the newsletter tributes to Marika Townshend and Doug Carswell as well as an overview of the Board's budget deliberation. Early learning is also featured, with reference to the BC School Superintendents Association spring forum that featured brilliant insights from people such as Stuart Shanker, and that brought school and early learning partners together from across the province. Click here for a link to the BCSSA website to see more.

Remembering Marika

As many of you who read this blog will know, we lost a very special person on April 23, 2009. Trustee Marika Townshend, who had served on the Board of Education in Saanich since 1999, was taken by cancer, but her spirit will carry on in all of us for years to come. Marika cared deeply about public education, and extended her Trustee work by serving in many other official capacities (Vancouver Island School Trustees Association, Vancouver Island Labour Relations Council, BC Public School Employers Association, and more). She served the community of North Saanich and the citizens of the entire Saanich School District with passion and commitment, including right up to our last Board meeting on April 8. Marika knew, was known by, loved, and was loved by innumerable people, and we will miss everything about her. Please feel free to post a comment here so that we can together remember this special person.

March Newsletter . . . and more about the budget

I have posted my March newsletter on the School District 63 website. You can access the March newsletter directly by clicking here. In addition to some bouquets for the wonderful coaches, managers and volunteers who support our extracurricular programs I have offered some advice for people in regard to online social networking as well as an overview of how we use our six designated non-instructional (professional development and planning) days in Saanich.

Of greatest urgency, however, is a reminder of processes that the Board of Education has put in place for finalizing our 2009/10 budget. The post below provides more information, including links to the information that we have posted on our website. As you may know, this is a particularly challenging year; we have some very difficult work to do in order to reduce expenditures by 5% and maintain the high quality of programs and services that characterize Saanich. I would urge you, if you are a member of the Saanich learning community, to read further below, then do what you can to contribute to the discussions in person or online.

Budget Reduction Options Up for Commentary

We now have our budget information for 2009/10 and have confirmed our need to reduce the school district budget by $3.6 million next year. Before talking about those necessary and dramatic cuts (see next paragraph), I must say that I appreciate that government came through on its commitment to fund education at the level promised one year ago. During these tought times it was gratifying to see that the education ministry did not see reductions. That said, we remain concerned on two levels. One is that the allocation system seems not to reflect the true needs in districts. The money that is sent may need to be divided up differently. The other is that the relative increase in funding (same money, fewer students) is not keeping up with the real cost of providing educational services. Thus the need to cut. This was rather well captured in the Times Colonists editorial of March 17, 2009. We hope to see a review of the funding model in the coming year and would, of course, be happy to participate.

However, even as we press for provincial dialogue on education funding, we have work to do. Our immediate task is to prepare a balanced budget in May, and we can only do that by cutting $3.6 million worth of programs and services. Make no mistake. This will be a difficult and painful exercise. We have published our list of budget reduction options, along with implications, and are looking for feedback, either through the processes described on our website or directly to budget@sd63.bc.ca, or via responding to this posting. We need all the help we can get. You will see some serious reduction options including eliminating a number of education assistant jobs, reducing by 10 enrolling teachers (after reducing by 6.5 for enrolment decline), reducing the school calendar, closing one of our individual learning centres, and more.

Please contribute to the budget dialogue. After reducing steadily for 12 years, we have hit a cliff unlike any we have encountered before. Thank you for your ongoing support and involvement.

February Newsletter - It's Budget Time

My February newsletter is up on our district website. If you wish to bypass the main page you can go straight to the newsletter by clicking here. Topics include assessment, planning and the use of upcoming non-instructional days, but the most pressing topic in the newsletter, as it is across our entire district right now, is budget.

As you will see in the newsletter, and by accessing the budget information on our district website, we have a serious challenge in moving toward 2009/10. For a variety of reasons, including funding not keeping up with costs, and enrolment decline resulting in more money being taken out of the budget than can be saved through cost reductions, we have a $3.6 million shortfall looming. That represents about 5% of our overall budget and with resources directed primarily to classrooms we are concerned about the impact that this type of reduction will have.

I encourage any of you in the communities served by our school district to engage in the processes described in the budget planning documents available via our website or on request from the office of the Secretary Treasurer.

Of course, your thoughts are welcome here as well.

January 2009 Newsletter - Focus on FSA

My January newsletter is up on our district website at http://www.sd63.bc.ca/super_newsletter.htm.

Included is an overview of where we are with the Foundation Skills Assessment for 2009. FSA is currently the subject of controversy in that teachers have voted to not prepare for, administer or mark the FSA in 2009. Part of the challenge, aside from people's beliefs about assessment in general and the FSA in particular, is that Boards of Education, as employers, are needing to deal with this as an employment issue. Each Board, as an employer, is having to decide how to deal with teachers standing down from what is their normal work. But whether this is job action or political action, someone has to administer the FSA and in most districts while the "work requirement" issue is being worked out contingency plans are being made to have FSA overseen by principals and vice-principals if necessary, supported as possible by each Board.

The FSA is currently the only province-wide measure of student performance in relation to the BC Performance Standards for reading, writing and numeracy. While there are legitimate concerns about how much emphasis is put on a one-time snapshot assessment and how the scores are used (inappropriately and harmfully) by external agencies to rank schools, there is also a legitimate concern framed by some as "if not FSA, then what?" What is needed is a province-wide dialogue about high quality, consistent, standards-based assessment that works for students, teachers, parents and the system. We need a standards-based way to understand student learning and to plan for school or system level improvement.

In the end, we may find that FSA is still the best instrument, and that having every student do the assessment every year makes sense. We may find something better, perhaps through a different way of administering that same FSA. Meanwhile, this is a mandatory assessment and one that we will be sure is administered in Saanich as is the case in other districts. Then . . . on to that high level dialogue. I am interested in your thoughts.

Technology Plan REPOST - New Comments Welcome

REPOSTED:

Comment here or down four posts to the original (there is already a good conversation underway there).

Public education is looking to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by information and communication technologies. Our Director of Information Systems, Gregg Ferrie, is leading us through a planning process designed to provide the Board with a new comprehensive technology plan.

We have placed a response document in the form of a powerpoint presentation on our district website, and we are welcoming responses until Monday, January 19, 2009. Of course, responses are welcome beyond that date, directly to Gregg at gregg_ferrie@sd63.bc.ca. We will take a revised draft to the Board in February. All of this is designed to have the new 3-5 year plan in place before the end of the school year. Please visit the website, have a look, and respond if you are so inclined. Comments are welcome here on the blog as well as Gregg is monitoring and is happy to respond directly to anyone who submits feedback. Everything we hear will be incorporated into our thinking and planning. Thanks for your help.

Back in Action

My apologies everyone. My blog has always been set to allow all comments to be posted without being moderated (if anything inappropriate was posted I could just delete it, but that was never necessary). Somehow in mid-December my setting changed to "always moderate" meaning that a large number of comments posted by you were held until I could review them. Needless to say, when I realized that was the case I reverted back to auto-posting, so we're back in business. Thanks for your continued viewing and commentary. As always, new topics are welcome, whether you want to be in dialogue with me as Superintendent of Schools in SD 63 Saanich or as President of the BC School Superintendents Association.