February 15, 2023

We’re All About Our Members!

With pandemic restrictions behind us, myself and our Executive Director and CEO have been back out on the road starting to meet with our valued school board members in person once again. While virtual meetings have been beneficial over the last two years, there is nothing better than getting to chat with our members in person and on location to discuss issues that are important in their jurisdiction.

Andrew Grove once said, “How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things, but how well we are understood”. As a member-driven association there is nothing more important than listening and understanding what issues are important to each member school board and then working collaboratively to come up with potential solutions.

With each member school board having unique priorities, our in-person meetings have proven to be very productive and effective in understanding concerns the association can advocate for. Our in-person meetings allow for creative thinking on the spot that can potentially benefit all our member school boards. We are looking forward to continuing our tour into March.

With our first Public School Boards’ Council (PSBC) meeting of the year wrapped up, we discussed some key issues the association will be advocating for on behalf of our members during the upcoming election that our members deemed most important. The Public School Boards’ Association (PSBAA) has crafted some strong non-partisan messages to be campaigned during the coming months on behalf of our members and we would appreciate our members’ support sharing these messages throughout the next few months.

The PSBC is a great way for our members to bring forward issues, concerns, ideas and future opportunities for the PSBAA to act on. We value these meetings as they provide a cohesive and collaborative opportunity for all member representatives to come together and generate actionable ideas.

The PSBC also provides our membership with professional development education that is of interest to members. We listen to our members regarding topics they are intrigued about and incorporate these educational opportunities into our PSBC events. From member feedback, our PSBC professional development continues to provide interesting and engaging professional development opportunities members enjoy.

To add to the great start of the year, I was honoured to receive the Queens Platinum Jubilee Medal for outstanding service, which recognizes significant contributions to the province. I would like to thank the Minister of Education and her office for recognizing my dedication to improving public school education in our province.

I look forward to continuing to connect with all our members during the exciting year ahead and getting back out on the road to meet with all our member boards individually in person!

Dennis MacNeil
PSBAA President