b'New Brunswick Update September 2020 Like our colleagues across Canada, COVID-19 has been the defining challenge of the past year.New Brunswick was among the first provinces to close schools with in-person learning ending in March.Our teachers, administrators and students struggled to adapt to a sudden shift to on-line learning with effectiveness and uptake varying from class-to-class and school-to-school.This emergency response focused on reinforcing previous lessons and not teaching new materials. Like our schools, the District Education Council have adapted.Council elections, originally scheduled for early May 2020 were postponed and will now be held at some time before May 2021.This extended the mandate of our dedicated volunteers who have agreed to continue their work through to next year. The Councils will continue their work to advocate for strategies to increase candidate participation and voter turnout for the 2021 DEC elections.We have long-considered if and how to make our council meetings accessible online.While some DECs had previously recorded or live-streamed their meetings, in the face of a province-wide lockdown, our councils met virtually with many members learning the ins and outs of online meetings for the first time. Getting everyone comfortable with meeting online and streaming will not only serve our councils during the pandemic but it has improved public access to the work of the councils particularly when many people have questions about education and may help us avoid meeting cancellations when the winter weather arrives. Following two years of minority government in New Brunswick, we are heading back to the polls.The outcome of the election is of great interest to the District Education Councils at a time when emergency measures are impacting operations, timelines in the 10-year Education Plan, and significant costs in relation to smaller class sizes, PPE, and other necessary health precautions.The councils look to strengthen collaboration and communication with whichever Minister is appointed later this month.The Chairs of the District Education Councils met in July to discuss shared priorities for the bonus year of their mandate.The have agreed that safety and student services during the pandemic will be at the forefront.They will continue to monitor the impact of the pandemic on the goals of the provincial 10-Year Education Plan. As the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has recently required high-school students to bring their own laptops or tablets they will be monitoring the need for policies and infrastructure to support the new requirements. We have benefitted greatly from our membership in CSBA and greatly appreciate updates and best practices from across the country. Regards,Robert Fowler, ChairNew Brunswick Council of DEC Chairs'