In video: School trustees’ hold their first meeting of the new school year

By David F. Rooney

School enrollment is likely going to be higher this year than was expected, Superintendent Mike Hooker told trustees at their first board meeting for 2016 / 2017, held on Wednesday, September 28.

While the formal release of school attendance figures will not be released until the 4 pm October 12 Board of Trustees meeting, Hooker said they show that enrollment is (you can watch him deliver that news at the 17:51 mark on the video below) expected to peak at 945 students.

“We anticipated 930 and it looks to me like… about 945 students and maybe 947 — so up substantially,” he said.  “Arrow Heights Elementary went stays the same at 234 students, Begbie View Elementary went up from 245 all the way to… 259 and Columbia Park Elementary jumped up from where we left off in June at about 186 to 198 with are two new arrivals expected in October.”

That leaves 246 students at RSS, which should receive 21 foreign students this year.

Trustees also heard a report from Andy Spencer of BDO Canada regarding the audited budget. Spencer begins speaking at 2:11 on the video). She found nothing remarkable about the budget.

Of greater likely interest to parents and students is the Middle Years Development Instrument forGrades 4 and 7 in 2015/16. This annual report provides a snapshot of academic development regarding Grade 4 and 7 students. (You can access the entire report by clicking here.) Eighty-one children from SD 19 were involved in last year’s program.

Hooker said that this year students will again have the opportunity to work with the data to understand factors that influence their overall health and well being and to develop plans for school and at home to enhance their assets (The terms Well-Being and Assets describe the well-being index and the 5 sub-scales related to optimism, happiness, self-esteem, general health and the absence of sadness).

During the month of November, Grade 4 and 7 students at all three elementary schools will
complete the MDI, the results of which will be available in January 2017, Hooker said.
You can watch the video below to see all of the meeting and / or access the PDF-format agenda.