It has been a year since COVID changed our way of life in Canada and around the world. While many things are different, one thing that has remained the same is the dedication and commitment to education shown by teachers, staff and trustees.
In the face of immense challenge, our education partners have risen to the occasion and continued to provide education to students across the country. I am incredibly proud of the work that has been done to ensure students continue to receive an education in our system.
While in person meetings have stopped, board and committee work has continued. Since our AGM in October, the executive committee has continued to meet every couple of weeks. It has been a pleasure Winter 2021 to begin work with Carolyn Broady as our new vice president. In spite of COVID consuming enormous time and energy for school board trustees and school system leaders, we continue to make progress with association priorities and partnerships.
In November we held a Special General Meeting to approve the Constitution and By-Laws for our association. I would like to thank everyone who attended, and give a special thanks to the Governance Work Team and our consultant, Judy White, for their work and support on this document. These are now available on our website.
The Executive Director and I met with NSBA President Charlie Wilson, Executive Director and CEO Anna Maria Chávez and Valerie Carty. They are interested in the CSBA work on Indigenous Education, and we are very proud to have Josh Watt, Executive Director of the Manitoba School Boards Association present to their Dismantling Institutional Racism in Education (DIRE) team in the near future. We are excited to share resources with the NSBA on such important topics. Alan Campbell and I will be presenting virtually at the NSBA 2021 Conference in April.
In her role as vice president, Carolyn Broady spoke at the virtual Fall General Meeting of the Alberta School Boards Association and I will be providing a video message at the Manitoba School Boards Association’s Conference. I also had the pleasure of addressing trustees at our newest members Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l’Ontario’s (ACÉPO) Annual General Meeting, and I’m looking forward to British Columbia’s event in April. It is always a great pleasure to connect with trustees across Canada.
I am very excited that the necessary work of our Anti-Racism strategy is moving forward. Additional details are included in this Bulletin.
I hope that everyone will be able to join the second Indigenous Leaders Panel, that will take place on March 11.
My thanks to those who placed nominations for the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching. I am again pleased to participate on the selection committee as we honour the amazing work of teachers and early childhood educators in teaching and STEM. As always, I would like to thank our Board of Directors and members of our committees and work teams for their continued support. The work done by these individuals drives the organization and is providing strong advocacy and support of students and school boards across Canada.
Yours in education,
Laurie French