Motions, Policies and Other Accomplishments

I have taken a leadership role in bringing new ideas, policies, and procedures to the operation of Edmonton Catholic Schools.

Internal Auditor to Improve Risk Management and Seek Efficiencies: The complex nature of any organization requires ongoing analysis and assessment of efficiencies, productivity, and risk management.  As a Board, we are responsible for over a 300 million dollar budget and it is critical that we be vigilant to ensure that departments are effective and productive. 

Transparency at Public Board:  I recommended that more Board business be discussed at Public Board meetings, rather than at internal planning meetings which tend to be confidential in nature. Standard practice would dictate that only issues relating to land, labour, or law need to be considered confidential, and therefore, all other aspects of school board policy and operations can be discussed in an open forum. To document the effectiveness of this change towards increased transparency, at my request, a review of this practice was added to the Board self evaluation process so that the progress could be evaluated after one year.  [Back To Top]

Student Health and Nutrition: I requested an evaluation of the Edmonton Catholic School District’s nutrition policy, to enhance nutritional education of our students and their families.  In addition, I proposed to investigate the potential to increase the level of healthy food choices in school cafeterias, food kiosks and vending machines. [Back To Top]

External Member with Financial Expertise to Sit on Board Audit Committee: Part of the duties of the Board of Trustees is to operate an audit committee.  Each member of the board is represented on that committee and is responsible to ensure that financial statements are accurate, balanced, and make good fiscal sense.  This is one of the most important responsibilities of Trustees and for this reason I brought forward a motion to include an external and independent member with financial expertise to sit on this committee.  This individual has the expertise to ask pertinent questions of our Chief Financial Officer and of our auditors and to provide feedback to the Board.  Following my motion, our Board became one of the first Boards in the Alberta to take this direction, a direction supported  the Auditor General. [Back To Top]

Set Up a Whistle Blower Hotline to Report Fraud: Fraud is one of the most difficult crimes to identify.  My intent here was to have an avenue that is discrete, private that allows employees or community members to report activities that may be questionable in nature.  It is important that individuals know that their concerns will be investigated without concerns of retribution or harassment. Purposeful fraudulent behavior has not been an issue at Edmonton Catholic Schools, however, as part of good sound governance and risk management, all organizations of our size need to have a mechanism to address such concerns in a safe and private manner. [Back To Top]

Create Anti Idling Zones Around Schools: It has been well documented that areas of high vehicle density can lead to elevated levels of toxic exhaust gas emissions in the air of surrounding buildings, in this case, our schools. And this air quality is especially important for small children.  For this reason, I led an initiative to educate our parents on the advantages of establishing idle free school zones. Through this initiative, parents can be made more aware of air quality related to unnecessary car idling, and can be encouraged to turn off their vehicles while waiting to pick up children. [Back To Top]

Teacher Substitution Policy to Improve Equity for Young Graduates and Reduce Costs: I requested a new policy in this area for two reasons.  Long term assignments are paid according to a pay scale which means that retired teachers working as substitutes represent a higher cost to the system.  In addition, teaching as substitute teachers provides employment opportunities for recent graduates, helps them develop their essential and practical skills, and provides a mechanism towards obtaining a full time contract.  In addition, substitute teaching helps ensure that recent graduates from the Faculty of Education stay in the profession rather than seek employment elsewhere.  Demographic data for Alberta indicates that within the next ten years there is going to be a teacher shortage, and providing near term opportunities as substitute teachers is one more way to help retain our trained young teachers. This policy change has resulted in improved equity for our young teachers as well as reducing school operating costs. [Back To Top]

Partnership with NAIT to Improved High School Completion Outcomes: As part of identifying areas for collaboration with post secondary institutions, one of the goals identified included providing credit for high school courses that are recognized as part of a college program.  In this way, students are working on courses that are part of a post secondary program while getting their high school diploma.  Opportunity to attain credit for college courses while in high school is so important to many students who, due to financial circumstances, have to transition into the work force immediately following high school. Another benefit is that students will see increased relevance in their studies, which will help at risk students experience success and become motivated to complete high school. Further, access to college level courses enables these students to explore and participate in a post secondary environment, develop skills unique to a particular trade or program and as well, has the potential to ignite a passion to pursue post secondary education that might otherwise not be realized. Although this partnership is still in its development stage, I believe the long term impact of such programs play an essential role in inspiring our youth to learn, improve high school completion and broaden career opportunities. [Back To Top]