Board Appoints Acting Superintendent

The Peace River School Division’s Board of Trustees have appointed Dr. Jeff Thompson as Acting Superintendent effective November 16. Dr, Thompson is currently the PRSD Deputy Superintendent and has worked with the Division in various roles since August, 2017. 

Read the full media release HERE.

Board Committees

The PRSD Board of Trustees have struck two new committees. The first is an advocacy committee consisting of Board Chair Crystal Owens, Trustee Lori Leitch and Trustee Marie Dyck. This committee will be responsible for developing the Board’s advocacy plan for the next year. The Board is committed to advocating for issues that support the goals in the Peace River School Division’s Five-Year Education Plan. Those goals are as follows: That all students will be literate; that all students will be numerate; and that all students are successful through inclusionary practices.

The second committee was struck to review the educational needs of Fairview and the surrounding area with respect to the Division’s annual capital plan. Trustee David Rushton and Trustee Lori Leitch will engage with stakeholders in the area to develop a new plan for schools in the Fairview area. The results of this committee will be included in the capital plan to be approved by the Board in March. 

“Keeping the needs of the Fairview and area front and center is very important to the Board,” said Board Chair Crystal Owens.

September Enrollment Update

Superintendent Adam Murray presented the Board of Trustees with updated enrollment information for the current school year. As of September 30, the PRSD’s enrollment remained above 3,000 students across the Division, including Kindergarten students. 

The schools that have experienced the greatest amount of growth since June 2024 include Lloyd Garrison School in Berwyn with 12.3% enrollment growth, Peace Home Learning Connection with 10% enrollment growth, Fairview Jr./Sr. High School with a 19.4% enrollment growth, and Cleardale Colony School with 33% enrollment growth. Other schools that experienced a 6-8% increase in enrollment included E.E. Oliver Elementary School in Fairview and T.A. Norris Middle School in Peace River. 

Audit Committee

The Board of Trustees discussed the need to fill the vacant positions of Members at Large for the Audit Committee. The Education Act requires three members of the public to sit on the Board’s Audit Committee. This committee meets once a year to review the Audited Financial Statements. Serving in this role is an important opportunity for the public to hear from the external auditors and to ask questions about the financial statements. In the absence of having an Audit Committee, the Board will have the auditors present the August 31, 2024 Audited Financial Statements to the entire Board at the regular Board meeting on November 21, 2024.

As the Board has now gone two years without being able to fill these positions, they discussed plans to bring the topic to their annual Joint Municipalities meeting in February with the hopes of having the position filled in 2025.

The following is part of the October 31, 2024 Special Meeting

Advocacy: Manning Aurora Composite School

Trustee Lacey Buchinski put forward a successful motion requesting that the PRSD Administration draft a letter for board signature to the Minister of Infrastructure requesting that the Furniture and Equipment (F&E) budget formula be applied to the current cost of the new school building. Buchinski explained that when the F&E budget was allocated, it was set based on the original estimate of the building’s construction expense, which is now considerably less than the actual cost of the building.

The existing budget for Manning Aurora Composite School has allocated $869,104 in funding for F&E. About $100,000 of that is already allocated for CTS spaces. The remainder of the funding is to purchase items such as bleachers for the gymnasium and curtains for the stage; cameras and security systems, bookshelves for the library, boot racks, window coverings, a C-Can for storage, paper towel holders and soap dispensers in the washrooms, and furniture in the school’s new flex space. While both Manning Elementary School and Paul Rowe Jr./Sr. High School will utilize existing furniture and equipment in the new school, there remains many things that must be purchased for the new school. 

Policy 7: Board Operations

The Board of Trustees have provided first reading to an updated version of Policy 7: Board Operations. The policy is now available HERE for public viewing and feedback. All feedback should be submitted to Chris Warne, executive assistant to the superintendent and secretary-treasurer, by Thursday, November 13.