Here are some highlights from the Jan. 16 School District 19 board meeting.
Six-year completion rates
The rates were released by the province in December for the 2017/18 year. While the province has Revelstoke’s graduation rate as 84 per cent, which is one per cent below the provincial average, the school board noted that the 84 per cent does not adequately reflect graduation rates for the district. When a student moves, if they register into another BC Public school, they leave our cohort and would not be included in our graduation rates. However, when students move out of the province, or do not register in BC recognized independent schools, they stay in our cohort and are considered non-graduates whether they completed or not. Due to students moving to other provinces, playing on Revelstoke Grizzlies, or taking an extra year to graduate, the school board says the actual graduation rate is 91 per cent.
Funding model review report
The Ministry of Education released a report in December to review the funding model used to allocate funds to each school district. There are 22 recommendations in the report, such as targeted funding for Indigenous students, supplementing special needs funding, English/French language learning, and setting clear provincial policies on what school districts may save for. SD 19 noted that it’s unknown how any of the proposed changes may have on our district as the budget process won’t start until late March. The Ministry has deferred any changes for at least one year which means that the funding model for 2019/20 will remain unchanged.
2019 Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education
These awards recognize outstanding educators who have made exceptional contributions to benefit their school, students and communities.
The awards are open to all education professionals within the B.C. K-12 public, independent or First Nations school systems. This year, awards will be given in the following categories: community engagement, district leadership, extracurricular leadership, Indigenous Education, outstanding new teacher, outstanding support (school community), outstanding support (teaching assistant), school leadership, social equity and diversity, and technology/innovation.
Nominations are now open and all B.C. citizens, including students, parents, teachers, administrators, trustees and community organizations. Deadline for nominations is March 31.
For more information and for nominating, please go to https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/excellence-in-education