TRUSTEE REPORT – Judi Hunter – Feb 2022

Judi Hunter -Ward 5 Trustee

Much has happened since my January Newsletter. Omnicron took front and center for the month of January leading to a delayed start, the government’s decision to supply masks for each student and Rapid Covid 19 tests to all families with children in school.

The Board continues to seek middle ground in the polarized environment on masking and vaccinations., following the advice of the Chief Medical Officer while we are still considered to be in pandemic status. Currently over 95% of RVS staff is vaccinated. There continues to be restrictions about attendance at student athletic events, but at least our students are now allowed to play. This a link to a parent’s story and concern for her children. https://www.macleans.ca/society/the-cruel-ridiculous-reality-of-virtual-learning/

For almost two years our students have been through a lot: in and out of in person learning, banning of sports activities, disruption to learning, masking, removal of normal childhood interactions and development. As a society we have witnessed rising family violence incidents, suicides increasing, mental health issues at crisis levels, financial impacts to families, loss of loved ones, increasing intolerance not only around masking and vaccinations but also general lack of civility. Since April 2020, there has been ten times as many under ages 45 addiction deaths, we have witnessed governments vilify the unvaccinated and so allowed a public looking to place to lay blame, treat people who were only before this pandemic our friends, our family and our neighbors as second-class citizens

Decisions have consequences, decision makers need to balance carefully, one set of needs against another. The need to support our hospitals and health care workers against the negative outcomes for children, families, our economy has consequences. It has been abundantly clear to me in watching our COVID 19 policies evolve, that the media has been complicit in the evolution of outcomes. Fear sells – reports no longer just give the facts but provide personal bias or commentary and use value laden vocabulary. Take for example a Texas mother who put her son in the trunk of the car in order to isolate him from her while in transit for testing. Did fear or limited analysis play a role?

We also are witnessing a collapse of the democratic process and freedom of speech which should be a concern to all of us. This democratic interruption comes when a pandemic is declared. Our elected government defers the Health Department whose job it is to keep the population safe. That small group of experts is not accountable to the public nor to the government it seems. In fact, calls for transparency or input are neglected. As the pandemic comes to an end, I am sure there will be many books and research papers written about how policies were developed, the role of the media and fear played in the population’s understanding of and response to the virus, the lack of transparency in models developed, who counted as a COVID death and who did not, how our seniors were treated.

The world is a much smaller place than it was prior to the internet, communication and expertise is world-wide and immediate. The opportunity to engage world experts in the debate is critical for informed decision-making, yet it seemed any debate contrary to the health narrative was banned and those offering alternative ideas were discredited. Open debate is the hallmark of a democracy.

Many countries, provinces and states developed policies different from those of Alberta. Outcomes are informative – did masking mandates, vaccination mandates or isolation mandates work?

OPERATIONAL UPDATES DUE TO CHANGING PROVINCIAL MANDATES

For all details visit www.rvs.ab.ca
Jan. 7 update includes information on:

• Masking;
• Medical-grade masks and rapid test kit distribution. 
• January Diploma Exams are cancelled.
• Portions of January PAT have been delayed.
• Changes to case notification process/outbreaks.
• Temporary shifts to at-home learning

NEW E-TUTORING HUB

Minister LaGrange announced a new e-Tutoring Hub to support student learning in Grades 4-9, specifically in literacy and numeracy.

• There will be no cost to students or school authorities for access to the e-Tutoring Hub. This service will be provided by Alberta Education free of charge.
• There will be new resource videos, developed by Alberta Education certificated teaching staff, which will be pre-recorded and short. Alberta Education expects a modest launch next week with only 4-5 videos total, but with more videos developed in the coming weeks.
• Currently it will support Grades 4-9 in all subjects. Over the coming weeks, support will extend to all Grades in K-12 in all subjects as possible, based on capacity within Alberta Education.
• Live tutoring will be offered in the coming weeks by Alberta Education staff. All tutors will be certificated teachers from Alberta Education, and videos can be accessed free of charge. More information will be released about this in the coming weeks.
• This resource will be a supplement to support student learning and will begin as a modest resource. This is not intended to replace the great work happening in classrooms.
• The e-Tutoring Hub will be available week of January 17 and will be announced when live.
• Alberta Education will seek feedback from school authorities for topics to include and how to best enhance this service.

High School Redesign Podcast

Below is a link to a podcast about how our thinking about high school education might change. This podcast speaks to many of the innovations already part of Rocky Views schools learning environment: project-based learning, real-world applications, making learning relevant and visible, school culture, student voice. It is lengthy but interesting
Like a Sponge podcast: Radical rethink | GreatSchools.org

School Culture

Below is a link to the importance of positive school culture to student learning.
The power of positive school culture Video | GreatSchools.org

Chancellor Murray Sinclair named to Order of Canada

The Honourable Murray Sinclair, C.M.S.C. (LLD’19), 15th Chancellor of Queen’s University, has been named a Companion of the Order of Canada. Chancellor Sinclair was one of 135 appointments to the Order of Canada, announced Wednesday, Dec. 29, by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada. Chancellor Sinclair has had many accomplishments throughout his career, including being appointed as Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge. He was the former chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and recently retired from the Canadian Senate. 

National Indigenous Scholarship Program 2022/23

Western University’s National Indigenous Scholarship Program is available to three incoming Indigenous undergraduate students studying full-time at Western’s main campus. Recipients must meet the minimum academic averages for admission to their selected program and will be selected on the basis of academic achievement, creative and innovative thinking and previous or intended contributions to Indigenous communities. The deadline to apply is March 14. More information is available here. Please share this information with any students who may be interested!

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