Usually, the Chair’s Report is an update on the recent activities of the Board. Each activity, concert, seminar and meeting that trustees recount is the story of our commitment to our schools, to our students and to the fostering of relationships with stakeholders throughout the community. This month, I will move the telescope out a notch or two to share with you what a board of education does as a whole and why.
Our job as trustees is to set the Visions and Goals that the school community wants to see in their district. We do this by establishing a Strategic Plan. This September past, with the collaboration of our staff, students and other stakeholders, we, the trustees presented this four-year plan. It is up to the trustees to carry this plan forward and regularly evaluate it to make sure that our district doesn’t lose sight of these values and goals. You see this in the Superintendent’s Report each month and throughout the agendas of all of our regular committee meetings. You see this when we go on our School Tours and receive updated reports on the progress and stumbling blocks of each school from the Principals’ School Growth Plan. From these experiences and reports, we make evidence-based decisions through discussion, to align our policies or advocate on behalf of our community for those issues beyond our scope.
We know our schools.
Our job as trustees is to adopt and amend an annual budget. We are not Chartered Professional Accountants. This is not our wheel-house. We put in place an amazing team, led by our Secretary-Treasurer, to make sure that our I’s are dotted and our T’s are crossed. We are ultimately responsible for the budget and accountable to both the Ministry and our community, however, so we make sure that we are apprised every step of the way in the budgeting. We ask tough questions and we make sure other stakeholders are able to ask those questions as well. Our budget is transparent. Further, we make sure that our checks and balances are focused on the goals set in our Strategic Plan. Again, this Plan drives the district and reflects the goals of the district.
We know our district.
We are here to make sure that our schools and our district work to achieve our mission, each school community’s mission, to support and inspire each student to experience joy and fulfilment in realizing their potential as a knowledgeable, confident, and contributing citizen in the global community. We would not be able to achieve this mission, nor follow through on our values and goals if we were not also a part of this community.
We know our community.