Kids are back in class and the New Westminster school board is ready to get back to work.
Tomorrow night trustees return to the board table for an education policy and planning committee meeting, the first meeting of 2019.
The meeting will be chaired by trustee Gurveen Dhaliwal (this is her first official meeting as chair of the education policy and planning committee). Here’s a sample of what to expect Tuesday night:
Menstrual initiative
Selina Tribe, a professional geoscientist, instructor at Douglas College and parent, wants the New Westminster school district, and all districts across the province, to install coin-free pad and tampon dispensers in all girls’ and universal washrooms in all schools in the city.
She’ll be making a presentation to trustees and staff about why these dispensers are needed and what it would cost the district.
Tribe told the Record she thinks it’s unacceptable girls and young women are expected to go to the office to ask for a pad or tampon if they need one during the school day. She thinks schools should make pads and tampons available in all girls and universal washrooms – just like toilet paper.
(Stay tuned for more on Tribe’s initiative.)
Aboriginal education
Bertha Lansdowne, the district coordinator for Aboriginal programs, will be presenting the latest Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement. The document is a five-year plan that outlines how the district will support the academic, social and cultural achievement of its Aboriginal students.
The agreement was developed in collaboration with the Aboriginal advisory committee and lays out six guiding principles: collaboration, engagement, equity, inclusion, innovation and integrity. The theme of the agreement is reconciliation, and it aims to ensure staff, students and the community continue to learn about Aboriginal history, culture and perspectives.
Special education review
The school district could be embarking on a full-scale review of its special education services and programs if trustee Maya Russell’s motion passes.
Russell wants the district to address a number of concerns, including getting timely learning assessments and a lack of communication between parents of students with special needs and teaching staff.
Russell is suggesting the superintendent begin a comprehensive review of the district’s delivery model, learning services handbook, policies and procedures, and to gather data and analysis, conduct district-wide consultation with parents, caregivers, students, teachers, staff and community groups, review opportunities for staff development, and, eventually, form an advisory group to guide the review.
She is asking that a special education review implementation plan be presented to the board by May 2019.
The education policy and planning committee meeting is happening at Fraser River Middle School, 800 Queens Ave., at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
