June 30, 2021

Looking back, and looking ahead

Each June, as the school year draws to a close and summer vacation begins, I like to take a few minutes to pause and reflect on the past 10 months.

There is always so much to be thankful for and to appreciate, especially this year. We have heard many stories of how our amazing K-12 school communities have risen to the challenge of learning during a pandemic. Students and teachers have demonstrated incredible perseverance and flexibility as they shifted from in-person to virtual learning and back again no less than three times this school year. Parents, families and workplaces shifted on short notice to try and keep everyone safe and COVID-free. Throughout all these shifts and unpredictable changes, our dedicated public school board trustees have risen to the occasion and remained focused on making sure our students have the resources they need for academic success.

Knowing that this year would pose some challenges and change would be our only constant, we at the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta were determined to make the most of this year.

We began with a renewed focus on the importance of public school education, the abundance of choice in the public school system and our key values of diversity and equality. Former Globe and Mail reporter Rick Salutin wrote that public schools are a microcosm of society. It’s true: public schools are accessible to all, and we welcome students from every socio-economic background, culture, language and ability.

We released a discussion paper written by Curtis Riep, Ph.D. called Privatizing Public Choice: the past, present and future of charter schools in Alberta. We called on Alberta’s Auditor General to conduct a full review of the educational, administrative and financial benefits of charter schools. Have they provided the value originally promised? You can read the news release here and the report here.

We collaborated with all of our 24-member public school boards and six of our non-member public school boards on a transportation task force submission to the Alberta government. We were proud of this work, and even more pleased with the level of collaboration and the strong, united voice of public school boards on this important issue.

At our fall Annual General Meeting, our membership approved an amendment to our bylaws that changed the provisions for membership in PSBAA. Indigenous Education Authorities are now welcome to join our Association if they agree with the values of public education, certify their teachers through the Alberta Teachers’ Association, teach the Alberta curriculum and are committed to inclusion.

As locally-elected public school board trustees, it is important that the people who vote for us know what we believe. It’s for that reason that, in January, the PSBAA introduced seven new belief statements, approved by the membership. You can read our belief statements, as well as why we believe they are so important, by clicking here.

We have also placed a significant amount of emphasis this year on the importance of democratically-elected public school board trustees. This is a municipal election year, and communities across Alberta are also electing school board trustees, including those who will represent them in their local public schools. It’s so important to know who to vote for, and how they will advocate for and represent your priorities.

At our Spring General Assembly in June, Curtis Riep, Ph.D. presented a new paper: A Review of K-12 Education in Alberta. We were also moved by a presentation from Chief Wilton Littlechild, former Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, a Commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a Member of the Order of Canada, the former Member of Parliament for Wetaskiwin and a residential school survivor. His presentation was days after the discovery of the remains of 215 children found buried on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops.

Chief Littlechild talked about the importance of education and we asked him what we, as school board trustees, could do to help. He asked each one of us to read the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, listen to the one that speaks to us and make a commitment to help implement that call to action.

Looking ahead, we are optimistic about what lies ahead this fall. I will be entering the last few months of my last term as President of this wonderful Association. As our province gets ready to open up more, we are hopeful there will soon be an approved vaccine or two for our children under age 12. While we look forward to a return to a more “normal life”, I hope we also remember and take pride in how we have united together toward a common goal: always putting children first.

On behalf of all of us at the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta, I wish you and your loved ones a safe, restful and enjoyable summer!

Cathy Hogg
President