Two of New Westminster’s rookie school trustees will be soaking in some knowledge at a conference at Harrison Hot Springs next month.
Trustees Anita Ansari and Gurveen Dhaliwal were given the green light by fellow trustees to attend High Ground, an annual conference hosted by the Centre for Civic Governance, part of the Columbia Institute, an organization aimed at helping build progressive communities across Canada.
“Previously, we had members of the board who had a vast library of information from history and from the things they experienced; we didn’t necessarily need professional development to know what was happening,” Ansari told trustees at the Feb. 12 operations policy and planning committee meeting.
“I can’t say that’s true for myself and other members of the board who are new.”
The two-day conference is held at Harrison Hot Springs Resort and is open to municipal politicians in the province. It costs $400 or $475 depending on when people register. Workshop topics include Privatization and Distributed Learning in BC: Impacts on Educational Opportunities for Special Needs Students; Inclusion in our schools; Mobilizing Popular Support for Public Education: The People for Education Story; Women in Leadership; Popular Priorities for K12 Renewal: Insights from Ontario; and Reconciliation in our communities.
“We’re new at advocating for education at this level,” Ansari said. “We need to be able to reach out and have development opportunities.”
According to secretary-treasurer Kim Morris, it is in the board’s power to approve requests for professional development opportunities. She confirmed there was still money in the board’s governance budget to cover the expense.
Trustee Danielle Connelly said she was concerned about approving requests as they come in and suggested trustees come up with a policy to handle these requests.
But Morris recommended addressing the issue in the upcoming budget talks.
“What you might want to consider is building in a pro-d budget for the 2019/20 and subsequent years, especially in an election year, when you might have a new board similar to you guys, where there’s a little bit of effort required in a particular year,” she added.
Trustees Mark Gifford, Maya Russell and Dee Beattie were supportive of the request.
Russell and Beattie expressed interest in attending BC Ed Access’ advocacy conference, also happening in March. Tickets for that conference, which is taking place in Surrey, range from $100 to $235 depending on if they attend the full two days.
Gifford said that as long as the trustees were committed to sharing what they learn with the rest of the board, there’s “great value” in attending conferences beyond those offered by the BCSTA and BCPSEA.
