REGINA – The Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) is highlighting student safety as young people across the province prepare to begin a new year of learning.

Today has been officially proclaimed as “Provincial Students’ Day” in Saskatchewan to help ensure safety is the primary consideration for students, families and communities, and especially for motorists who will be driving in and around school zones.

“The annual proclamation of Provincial Students’ Day helps to remind drivers that children and youth are back in school and that extra care for their safety is important,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, president of the SSBA.

The Government of Saskatchewan proclaims the day each year at the SSBA’s request, with the intent of reinforcing the message of care and concern for students going back to school.

“This is an exciting time of year for the more than 190,000 students who are going back to school,” Deputy Premier and Education Minister Gordon Wyant said. “There is a lot of activity in school zones and the safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance. We encourage all drivers to be vigilant throughout the year.”

Provincial Students’ Day was first proclaimed in 2010, in response to a resolution passed by the province’s trustees at the SSBA 2009 Annual General Meeting.

REGINA – Ten schools in Saskatchewan will each receive a $10,000 grant to support student nutrition after being selected to win this year’s Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge.

“The response to this program continues to grow year over year, which speaks to the need for and interest in making nutrition a daily part of student lives,” said Sarah Fedorchuk, Vice-President, Public Affairs and Government Relations at The Mosaic Company. “Helping the world grow the food it needs is our mission at Mosaic, and we look forward to hearing about the efforts of the 10 winning schools as they help connect students with food and nutrition in unique ways.”

The grants will support projects that have goals including creating or improving kitchen and garden facilities; enhancing education for students, families and communities about nutrition, food safety, life skills and Indigenous knowledge; aiding in the path toward reconciliation; and, developing or furthering breakfast, snack and other programs.

More than 80 schools from across the province submitted their projects to compete for the total of $100,000 in prizes, provided by Mosaic. Schools receiving grants as part of this year’s Mosaic Challenge are part of the Good Spirit, Greater Saskatoon Catholic, Living Sky, Northern Lights, Northwest, Regina Catholic, Regina Public, Saskatoon Public and South East Cornerstone school divisions.

To encourage grassroots initiatives to help improve student nutrition, the Mosaic Challenge began in 2006. Mosaic and the SSBA have continued to partner for the initiative since then.

“School boards across Saskatchewan are very grateful for Mosaic’s continued generosity in funding this effort to support nutrition environments,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, president of the SSBA. “We are proud of the success for this exemplary and long-running partnership.”

Backgrounder: Mosaic Extreme School Makeover Challenge 2019 Winners

REGINA – Saskatchewan school boards continue to call for increased investment in education, but recognize the priority areas they have identified are reflected in the provincial government’s budget for 2019-20 released today.

“Investment means being able to do more than maintain the status quo,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA). “While some funding previously cut is being restored, this budget fall shorts of even status-quo levels, as opposed to the investment we wanted to see for students.”

Today’s budget includes some restoration of operational funding that was significantly cut two years ago, but the increase is not enough to fully meet pressures of growth and inflation. The budget does include announcements on designing new schools, continuing capital projects underway and increasing infrastructure maintenance and renewal. It also recognizes salary increases negotiated as part of the provincial teacher collective agreement.

In advance of the budget, school boards in Saskatchewan identified priorities for investment if funding was increased beyond the status quo, recognizing enrolment growth and inflation. Those included supports for early years, mental health and wellness, diverse classrooms, intensive needs and staffing levels and development.

“These are priorities for the future, where new investment in students would benefit Saskatchewan’s economy,” Davidson said. “We appreciate these priorities are being heard, though levels in this budget will not enable school boards to make significant new investment in these areas. Boards will be challenged just to maintain stability.”

Davidson said school boards will now be working through the individual funding allocations for their divisions to determine what exactly those will mean for the next school year.

“We have heard loud and clear from Saskatchewan people that education is a priority,” he added. “It is important to locally elected school board members that community voices and views are genuinely considered when decisions are being made about education. We recognize and appreciate the Minister of Education for listening and look forward to continued engagement.”

REGINA – If investment in education is increased beyond the status quo, school boards in Saskatchewan envision early years and mental health as two high priorities for additional support.

“We surveyed our member school boards across the province about their highest priorities and those two themes emerged consistently,” said Dr. Shawn Davidson, president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA). “We could affect outcomes in these areas if we had increased investment. At the same time, these are areas in which we won’t be able to provide additional supports if funding for education remains at status-quo levels.”

In the SSBA’s recent survey, early years supports was mentioned most often, with boards referring to increasing investment to support learning at Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 3 levels. Expanding mental health and wellness supports was another area mentioned by most respondents. Improving support for diverse classrooms and intensive needs were also common themes identified by boards, along with increasing staffing levels and development.

Davidson explained that ‘status quo’ funding for boards in the 2019-20 provincial budget to be released next month would mean funding levels that reflect enrolment growth and inflation, while ‘beyond the status quo’ would mean additional funding to enable improved investment.

“We want to communicate what improved investment in education means to school boards in Saskatchewan,” Davidson said. “Boards have worked hard to limit the impacts of funding cuts made two years ago, while continuing to face growth and inflation pressures. But we also have identified priorities for the future, where new investment would benefit outcomes for our province’s students.”

Survey respondents also emphasized the need for stability and predictability in education funding, a continued focus on student achievement through reconciliation and the importance of partnerships on shared priority areas.

REGINA – Prairie Spirit School Division has received the 2018 Premier’s Board of Education Award for Innovation and Excellence in Education, for its submission of “innovative music programming” in the division.

The Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) co-ordinates the Premier’s Award each year. The award was presented on behalf of Premier Scott Moe during the SSBA Annual General Assembly on Friday night.

“I want to congratulate Prairie Spirit School Division for winning this year’s award,” Todd Goudy, MLA for Melfort, said on behalf of Premier Moe. “This award honours the great work in Prairie Spirit schools, which includes expanding opportunities through an innovative music program that brings quality music education to rural schools.”

In its application for the award, Prairie Spirit School Division said a new approach to music programming called “Resonate” (www.resonatelive.ca) was initiated in the division in 2015. Resonate is designed to be an inclusive approach to music programming in the division and involves a number of channels and outlets, including a student music conference, teacher professional development, performances and other events.

“We measure success for our school board by whether students and teachers are successful,” said Prairie Spirit Board Chair Sam Dyck. “Resonate gives us feedback that tells us the subject matter is relevant and that parents are engaged in the students’ learning – two of the factors we use as key ingredients to achieve student success.”

The $3,000 award is sponsored by Xerox Canada. The award recipient is recommended by a panel that includes representation from education sector partners.

“For 20 years, Xerox Canada has been investing in the education of our future leaders and proud to continue supporting the development of youth and students in our community,” said Xerox Regional Manager Bal Badh.

Developed in 1999, the Premier’s Award recognizes educational innovations and improvements focused on student achievement that have been advanced or directed by boards of education. The prize is to be used to support or extend the innovation or project.

“The Premier’s Award highlights the great work being done by school boards throughout the province,” said SSBA President Dr. Shawn Davidson. “While there is only one recipient of the award each year, every submission is worthy of recognition for promoting efforts to help ensure success for all students.”

Two life members of the SSBA were also recognized during the assembly – Connie Bailey, former trustee for Sun West School Division, and Élizabeth Perreault, former trustee of the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises. Both served for many years through their efforts as trustees and on the Provincial Executive of the SSBA.

The Association also presents its Award of Distinction in recognition of outstanding service and significant contribution to enhancing education in Saskatchewan. Three Award of Distinction recipients were recognized this year – Larry Caswell (Chinook), Bert de Gooijer (Prairie Valley) and Ray Morrison (Saskatoon Public).

The first-ever Local Government Week has been proclaimed in the province at the joint request of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA).

Saskatchewan’s Government Relations Minister Warren Kaeding officially proclaimed the Week, which runs from November 12 to 16.

“Mayors, reeves, chairs, councillors, trustees, and administrative officials all contribute to shaping the quality of life delivered to our province’s citizens and their families. They all play key roles in working with their neighbouring communities and other government partners. On behalf of the Government of Saskatchewan, it’s a pleasure to have this week recognize their valuable contributions and insights that help keep this great province strong,” said Kaeding.

“SARM understands the important role reeves and councillors play in governing RMs,” said SARM President Ray Orb. “We are committed to building capacity at the local level and are pleased to recognize Local Government Week.”

“Local governments are responsible for the services and infrastructure that many residents rely on daily,” said SUMA President Gordon Barnhart. “Local Government Week provides a formal opportunity to highlight this work and more.”

The call to recognize Local Government Week with an official proclamation from the province emerged through discussions between the partner organizations as an excellent opportunity to increase awareness and engagement in the province’s systems of local democracy.

“Locally-elected governments are the voice of the people and provide connection and accountability to communities,” said SSBA President Dr. Shawn Davidson. “Decisions are best made at the grassroots level and local governments have credibility and relationships with their communities.”

For more information: https://saskschoolboards.ca/advocacy/local-government-week/