Hoping you all had a great start to the new school year. Since my last message, the CSBA and OPSBA hosted a very successful Annual Congress and National Trustee Gathering on Indigenous Education in Toronto.
More than 260 Trustees and staff attended, with an additional 65 attending a special session with Dr. Gabor Maté. Highlights included an engaging session with Kevin Lamoureux, described as powerful and truthful. Delegates also had an opportunity to hear from Brian Woodland, as well as numerous presenters in breakout sessions. Students’ perspective and input remains at the forefront for governance and both events included strong student voices.
Planning for 2020 is well underway. The events will be hosted by ASBA in Banff, Alberta. Check out www.cdnsba.org for updates on programming and registration.
An important component of Congress is the CSBA Annual General Meeting. I encourage you to read the 2018-2019 Annual Report, which provides details of the many initiatives and activities of your national association. I was proud to be acclaimed for a second term as President and most pleased to congratulate and welcome Alain Fortier as the new Vice President of the CSBA. Alain is President of the Commission scolaire des Découvreurs and President of the Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec.
The CSBA released a research paper that demonstrates the value of locally elected school boards on student outcomes – see more information and a link below.
The Board of Directors met in Quebec City in October. The full agenda resulted in a revised strategic plan about to be published, review of the budget, and continued work on Indigenous education and advocacy.
The CSBA continues to be extremely concerned with the erosion of local democratic voice in education in some areas of the country. While in Quebec City, the Board held a press conference to denounce Bill 40. If adopted, Bill 40 will significantly change the governance of English education in Quebec, and completely eliminate local democratically elected French school boards, with no evidence as to how it will make any improvements to student outcomes.
On a positive note, there continue to be areas in the country where shared governance is alive and well. In western provinces, provincial governments and school boards work collaboratively in the name of students. CSBA anxiously awaits the report on education in Manitoba currently under review. We encourage everyone to take action locally and nationally on this vitally important issue to strengthen local education governance.
I look forward to attending many of the upcoming provincial association general meetings.
Yours in education,
Laurie French