The Board Connection
November 2, 2023
It’s an honour to be chosen by colleagues to serve as Board Chair. I’m looking forward to carrying on the role of telling the story of Edmonton Public Schools, advocating for students and working alongside Division staff, families, education partners and all levels of government to make it happen. Much gratitude to former Board Chair Trisha Estabrooks for her professionalism and dedication to public education; I’m grateful to continue working alongside her on our board.
Congrats as well to Trustee Jan Sawyer in the role of Vice Chair. Edmonton Public Schools Board of Trustees is a strong group with eight dedicated and hardworking representatives who care deeply about public education. If you have a question or feedback about public education, please reach out to your Ward Trustee. We are elected by Edmontonians to serve in the governance of public education for our city and value your voices.
Your Board in action
Throughout October, here’s what we’ve been up to:
- Visiting schools for Read In Week
- Attending and participating in a visiting delegation of German Education Ministers
- Supporting the Explore Japan event at Woodcroft
- Meeting with constituents, organizations and school councils in our wards
- Committee meetings to develop annual work plans related to governance, policy, infrastructure, advocacy and more
- Attending sessions with Alberta School Boards Association and Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta
- Professional learning regarding sexual orientation and gender identity
- Planning and hosting social innovation labs and engagement sessions on school safety
- Listening to catchment conversations with principals and assistant superintendents
School safety
In particular, I’d like to touch on school safety. We live in a global society. No longer is school safety just about preventing local bullying, or the role of police in our schools. Safety includes social media and the internet, both personal identity and identity politics, mental health and wellbeing, and is influenced by factors that don’t start in Edmonton—such as a national movement or international conflict. For these reasons, I am particularly keen around the engagement Edmonton Public Schools is doing around school safety. Collectively, we need to dive deeper into having a more fulsome conversation and understanding of what school safety means to our community.
During the last week of October, Edmonton Public Schools hosted two social innovation labs and two engagement sessions around the question “how can we create school communities that feel safe for everyone?” This is a critical question. Much gratitude to the community members, education partners, school staff and students who have made time to share in this important dialogue. This is ongoing work, and we are committed to supporting safe and caring schools for everyone.
