The recent amendment to Bill 10 by the Government of Alberta was a focus of the March 19 Rocky View Schools (RVS) board of trustees meeting, moving board members to voice their support for schools in the county who currently run Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs).
“We’re enormously proud of what (organizers) at our high schools have done,” said RVS Board Chair Colleen Munro. “But also, our board’s position has been consistent throughout all of the debate – that we will support students who want to establish (these clubs).”
The provincial government passed an amendment to Bill 10 on March 10, making it a requirement of school boards to authorize the establishment of GSAs if requested by one or more students. Prior to the amendment, RVS supported the implementation of GSAs in district schools.
“I’m really proud of our division for being progressive,” said Trustee Bev LaPeare. “Any time you have kids in our schools who want to (establish a club), that should be (supported).”
Three district high schools currently run GSAs, including Springbank Community High School, George McDougall High School and Bert Church High School. Students who request GSAs be implemented in RVS schools will have staff assigned to them to help support establishing the clubs.
“I’m very proud to serve a board that supports (GSAs),” said RVS Superintendent of Schools Don Hoium. “We certainly will support additional clubs moving forward.”
Fees Unchanged
The Board approved keeping school supply fees at current rates for the 2015/16 school year. Fees have been set at the current level for the past four years.
Fees are currently set at $25 (for kindergarten students), $105 (for students in grades 1 to 8) and $145 (for students in grades 9 to 12). The limit in fees is $360 per family per school year.
“I’m glad to see there is not a motion to increase (fees) in these financially troubled times,” said LaPeare.
School fees in RVS cover costs for supplies such as pencils, notebooks, art supplies and digital resource fees. The fees do not include additional costs, such as rentals for music classes.
“In a perfect world, there would be no school fees,” Munro said. “The fact that we’ve been able to hold the line on these fees shows that we understand the pressure that some of our families are under.”
Teacher Nominated
The Board moved to accept Joshua Lafleur, a first-year teacher at Ecole Manachaban, as the RVS nominee for the Alberta School Boards’ Association’s Edwin Parr award.
The award, which was established in 1964, is awarded yearly to any first year teacher with a minimum of 100 full-time teaching days.
“I started hearing buzz about this new teacher very early in the school year,” Munro said. “It’s great to see him recognized.”
