March 18, 1996 7:30 P.M.
Special Joint Halifax District School Board / Halifax District PTA Meeting.
Please note location: Teachers Resource Centre, Downs Avenue (take Springvale off Dutch Village Road)
This meeting will focus on School Councils, and School Board Amalgamation.
The Board, senior staff and school council facilitators will be in attendance. We hope to have a good turnout of PTA executives and members, as well as Principals and teachers, for this opportunity to discuss the future of PTAs and schools in the metropolitan area, and the impact of the introduction of the new School Council provisions.
In January, Deborah Naugler submitted her resignation as Co-Chair of the Halifax District PTA, due to pressing obligations at work. At the January meeting, she asked for and received a mandate to continue to serve as our representative in talks with parents from the Dartmouth and Halifax County school districts to form a new umbrella organization for PTAs in the new amalgamated school district.
Deborah had served as Co-Chair since October of 1993. During the last two and a half years, she has shown outstanding dedication and commitment, and made an enormous contribution of time and energy to this organization. There were many accomplishments during that time, and Deborah opened many doors for us, forging closer links with the School Board, and among the PTAs in the city.
As it is only a matter of months until the amalgamated school board begins operations, and we will need to form a new association, Ian Watt will fill out the remainder of his term as sole chair. Since this position has been held jointly for the last three years, he will need the full support of the PTAs in the city during the next several months.
The Foundation held a planning session in November, and is in the process of finalizing its Business Plan. One of the first priorities is expanding the mandate of this organization to serve the larger community which will come within the new amalgamated school board boundaries. Representatives of the other geographic areas have been invited to participate in developing this new mandate. The Foundation has also submitted a request to the Halifax District School Board for assistance in finalizing start up activities.
At a special budget meeting held May 5th, the Halifax District School Board voted to allocate the following amounts in support of initiatives recommended by the strategic planning team working on technology requirements:
These funds had previously been set aside to fund teachers retirement gratuities. A review of this funding was conducted prior to amalgamation. After providing for known and anticipated commitments of the Board, the above balance became available to fund these initiatives. Our aging high school computer labs will now be state of the art, all schools will be Internet-ready, key technology will be provided in support of board programs for special needs students and language arts, and the junior high school labs will be completed. These will be lasting benefits to the children attending our schools.
While Halifax District School Board meetings are open to the public, people may find it hard to get to the Board offices on Brunswick St. for these meetings. Responding to a strategic planning recommendation that the Board become more accessible to the community, the Halifax District School Board will periodically be holding its meetings at various schools around the city. This year, these meetings will be taken out to the four high schools. Local communities will have an opportunity to submit agenda items and more easily observe the activities of their Board. Watch for announcements of these meetings in your daily newspaper or through your local PTA.