April 19, 2022

Professional learning and communication are key to success for PSBAA members!

The Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta is proud to be a member-driven association, focused on meeting the needs of our members.

One of the most important ways we do this is through our quarterly meetings with our Public School Boards’ Council (PSBC). Each member school board appoints a trustee representative who sits on the PSBC.

These meetings are a great opportunity to hear from our members about the issues and opportunities that are important to them, and talk about how we can work together to meet their needs. We believe people are more inclined to engage with and support an association that is working on things that matter to them, so ongoing conversation and communications with our members is a priority for us.

Earlier this month, we held our April PSBC meeting and professional learning event. This was a blended event, as we know not everyone is comfortable yet meeting in person and for those unable to join us in person due to other factors. Whether in person or online, trustees value these gatherings because they can share ideas and challenges, and network with one another. We value these gatherings because we have dedicated time to converse with our members, and find out what more we can do to help support their work. At April’s meeting, we asked our members to consider three key areas: what challenges or opportunities are they working on; what problems are they trying to solve, and what they need help with.

We also had great professional learning at our April professional learning session, with presentations from Candy Nikipelo, Board Chair and Neil O’Shea, Superintendent with Aspen View Public Schools, Maurice Fritze, political consultant, Mark Critch, President, Alberta School Bus Contractors Association, and Heather Massel, communications consultant. Thank you to all our presenters for their informative sessions.

Ongoing communications and transparency with our members is vitally important for the success of the organization. Recently, we made the decision to shift the Spring General Assembly (SGA) in Red Deer in early June from a blended event to an in-person format only. We want everyone to have the same great learning and networking experience, and with the agenda that has been developed, it would be very difficult for members to get maximum value of the event if they were participating virtually. At the April PSBC meeting, we discussed this shift and have committed to ensure that all future events other than the Annual General Meeting and Spring General Assembly are held either in a hybrid format, or provided completely virtual.

The PSBAA exists to serve its members, and professional learning and ongoing communications with our member school boards are key to our members’ success. We are planning a great SGA and additional learning opportunities for our members this year. We are excited to see everyone in Red Deer in June!

Dennis MacNeil
President