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Catholic School Board briefs Teachers' contract finalized Laura Busch Northern News Services Published Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The motion to accept the negotiated agreement between the Northwest Territories Teacher's Association and Yellowknife Catholic Schools passed unanimously, although board chair Simon Taylor and trustee Erin Currie abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest. "Negotiations were cordial throughout. Both sides worked vigorously to get the best deal for their constituencies and (the school board is) happy about the agreement," Mike Huvenaars, assistant superintendent of finance, told Yellowknifer. Members of the NWTTA had voted to ratify the proposed agreement the night prior. The terms are retroactive to July 1, 2012, even though there is no salary increase for that year, and will expire on Aug. 31, 2016. Under the agreement, NWTTA employees will receive a four per cent salary hike through incremental increases beginning on Sept. 1. The agreement also overhauls the retirement plan for teachers. Now, retirement income will be guaranteed through a defined benefit plan. Previously, pensions were under a defined contribution plan where an employee's income upon retirement was subject to the performance of investments. Increasing board transparency Changes to two board policies which address transparency concerns unanimously passed first and second readings during Wednesday's meeting. First, vice-chair John Dalton presented a motion to change how the board publicly reports what goes on during in-camera meetings. Under the new rules, the board will publish topics to be discussed in-camera ahead of time, whenever possible. The topics will be found in board meeting agendas available on the YCS website. Only these topics may be discussed during a closed-door meeting. Also, after a motion is passed to reopen a meeting to the public, a board member will publicly reflect on what went on in the private meeting. Secondly, Dalton presented amendments to the voting policy of the board. Under the new terms, votes will be recorded in meeting minutes as unanimous, where applicable, and when the vote is divided, the names of the dissenters will be recorded. "The intention of this is to be more open and actually record votes," said Dalton. Trustee Erin Currie voiced concerns about the policy of naming only dissenters. "To me, it's suggesting that the arguers be identified," she said. Superintendent Claudia Parker responded that this will make it possible for the public to know how all trustees voted through process of elimination. Addressing bullying in schools The topic of bullying was raised multiple times at Wednesday's regular board meeting. Barb Needham of the Catholic Women's League made a presentation to the board on the topic, highlighting how crippling bullying can be for students and appealing for more work to be done to teach children how to respond to bullying in a positive way. Later, Bev Amirault-Trenholm, a French immersion teacher at St. Joseph School, outlined a new program that aims to reinforce positive behaviour among students at the school. Kindergarten to Grade 3 students participate in WITS (Walk away, Ignore, Talk it out, Seek help) programming while students in Grades 4 to 6 take part in a similar program called LEADS (Look and listen, Explore points of view, Act, Did it work, Seek help). All school staff have completed 90 minutes of training to implement these programs, said Amirault-Trenholm. Board vice-chair John Dalton asked if there is any means of measuring the results of these programs. A comprehensive survey is distributed among students, parents and teachers at the beginning and end of the school year to record results, Amirault-Trenholm replied.
NWTTA salary increases under new collective agreement
Source: Mike Huvenaars, assistant superintendent of finance, Yellowknife Catholic Schools
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