12/1/2009 - Special Board MeetingTHAMES VALLEY DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
SPECIAL BOARD MEETING
2009 DECEMBER 01,7:00 P.M.
BOARD ROOM,EDUCATION CENTRE
AGENDA
V-verbal
M -material
1.CALL TO ORDER
-Director of Education/Secretary of the Board V
2.APPROVAL OF AGENDA M
3.CONFLICTS OF INTEREST V
4.VALEDICTORY ADDRESS -CHAIR JAMES STEWART V
5.ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR 2010 V
a.Election of Chair of the Board for 2010
b.Election of Vice-Chair of the Board for 2010
6.ELECTION OF INFORMATION COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE V
OFFICERS
a.Election of Committee Chairperson for 2010
b.Election of Committee Vice-Chairperson for 2010
7.ADJOURNMENT V
THAMES VALLEY DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
SPECIAL MEETING,PUBLIC SESSION
2009 DECEMBER 01
The Board met in special session on 2009 December 01 in the Board Room at the Education Centre,meeting
in a public session at 7:00 p.m.The following were In attendance:
T.Roberts
P.Sattler
J.Stewart
R.Tlsdale
TRUSTEES
J.Bennett P.Jaffe
S.Doub J.Kamphuis
F.Exley C.Neville
T.Grant S.Peters
G.Hart S.Polhill (+7:10)
ADMINISTRATION AND OTHERS
B.Tucker M. Moynlhan
L.Elliott V.Nielsen
B.Greene M.E.Smith
M.Sereda B.Sonier
C.Bourbonnals-MacDonald P.Tufts
K.Edgar K.Wilkinson
L.Griffith-Jones
S.Christie
K.Busheil
R.Hoffman
D.Rajala
W.Scott
1.CALL TO ORDER
Director of Education Bill Tucker calledthe meetingto order.
2.APPROVAL OF AGENDA
The agenda was approved on motion of R.Tlsdale,seconded by F.Exiey.
3.CONFLICTS OF INTEREST •No conflicts of interest were declared.
4.VALEDICTORY ADDRESS -CHAIR JAMES STEWART
Chair James Stewart presented the following Valedictory Address:
Iwant to open by saying that tonight is an opportunity to deliver the first Valedictory Address iri
my career.It has been a pleasure and an honour to be the Chair of the Thames Valley District
School Board for the past year.Quite simply,like Ihave stated before,we are a Board of equals
and we all get along great Especially in the past year we have been very proactive with learning
initiatives and 1 am really proud of how the committees have worked and the chair of the
committees have done more evenly distributed work.Last year,when Iasked Trustee Robera
about what he looks for In an Inaugural address,Trustee Roberts'answer was "brevity^so this
year Iasked Trustee Hart what he looks for in aValedictory Address and he said;keep it simple
-which I think is the same answer.
1am not going to take a lot of time tonight because you were here throughout the whole year and
Idon't want to enumerate on the entire year.However,I do like the idea of being able to refiea
on how well Idid my job as Chair during the last year.In preparing my message 1was reminded
of a quote by Sir Winston Churchill when he was asked if history was going to be good to him,
Mr.Churchill responded to the reporter:"It certainly is because Iam going to write it.
The challenges we faced last year and 1am not going to name them because some are ongoing
but we faced them and there was probably more during this past year then In recent years.No
doubt,there will be more in the future because the challenges of education are great and they
continue to mount up.Particularly,atThames Valley we have a group of Trustees that are here
for the right reasons and Iam confident we will move forward into the next year and successfully
address future challenges.
2009 December 01...2
4.VALEDICTORY ADDRESS -CHAIR JAMES STEWART -confd
Asfaras our successes,I think primarily,we shifted to proactive modeas opposedto reactive
mode. We have added newschoois, newprograms, targeted interventionto name one and kept
the focus on student success.We have an environment now with the new director,and he stiii
is a new director, that we all have an idea of the FEDEX rule is absolutely positively for the
advance ofstudent leamingand the student cause so 1am veryproud ofthat here at Thames
Valley.Ofcoursethe communication initiatives with the website,establishing email connectivity
with parents which has beena little bit ofa legacy of mine,has progressed nicely andofcourse
a lotof emphasis has been put upon partnerships.
Iwant to use this opportunity tonightto thank the trustees for all the contributions they have
made,thecommitteesare doinga lotofwork proving againthatweare a Boardofequals. Ithink
moving into the future youhavetoconsiderthatthe role ofthe trustee and the role ofthe Board
is changing whetherwe like itornotandweare all awarethatisone ofthe challengesthisyear.
Ijustreadtheotherdaythat6outofthe 10 fastest growing jobs in the World today did notexist
in 2004. Thatshould giveyouan idea ofthe pressure that is on us to continuetofocus onwhat
the students have to face inthe World, to invent to innovate and to make our students life long
learners.
In conclusion,Iwanttosay that the thingIam probably most proudofat Thames Valley and as
the Chairisdealing with more peoplethan 1normally would as a trustee throughoutthe year. It
happensalmost everyday,andTrusteescanattestto this,we havethis prevailing themehereat
Thames Valley that everybody gets attention and nobody falls under the radar. Iattended a
Supervisory Officer training seminar attheWaterloo District School Boarda coupleofweeks ago
and mentioned the term used in Latin America "losjentes invisible"which means invisible people,
which isa class ofpeoplethatare notseen. I know,especially as lastyear's Chair,thatwedo
nothaveanystudents thatare notseen and are working veryhardtomakesure thatwedonot
have a class of people inthis countrythat are notseen. This is the point in my speech where
my little angel whispers in my ear;"Be brief,be bright andbeseated"so Iam going to conclude
by thanking everyoneand wishing continued success fornextyear.Now letsget on with it.
The Chairperson's remarks were spread upon the minutes on a motion byT.Roberts,and
seconded by G. Hart.
5.ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR 2010
a.Election of Chairperson of the Board
Director Tucker presided overthe electionofthe 2010 Chairofthe Boardand calledfor written
nominations.Trustees J.Bennett and T.Roberts were nominated.Trustee Bennett declined the
nomination and Trustee Roberts declared his acceptance ofthe nomination and was acclaimed
the Chair of the Board for 2010.He assumed the chair and presided over the election of the
Vice-Chair of the Board.
A motion to destroythe ballotswas movedbyT. Grant,seconded byP. Jaffe and carried.
b.Election of Vice-Chair of the Board
Chair Roberts called forwritten nominations forthe position of Vice-Chair ofthe Board for 2010.
Trustees J. Bennett,and F.Exiey were nominated.Trustees Bennettand Exiey declared their
acceptance ofthe nomination.Following the vote.Trustee Bennettwas elected Vice-Chair of
the Board for 2010.
A motion to destroythe ballotswas movedbyR.Tisdale,seconded byG. Hartand carried.
2009 December 01 ...3
6.ELECTION OF INFORMATION COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE OFFICERS
a.Election of Committee Chairperson for 2010
Board Chair Roberts presided overthe election ofthe 2010 Information Committee ofthe Whole
Chair.TrusteesP.ExIey,T.Grant and P.Sattlerwere nominated.Trustees ExIey and Grant
acceptedthe nomination and Trustee Sattler declined.Following the vote,Trustee Grant was
elected Chair of the Information Committee of the Whole for 2010.
A motion to destroy the ballots was moved by,R.Tlsdale,seconded by S. Peters and carried.
b.Election of Committee Vice Chairperson for 2010
Board Chair Roberts presided over the election of the 2010 Vice-Chair of the Information
CommitteeoftheWhole.Trustees F.ExIey,S. Peters and R.Tlsdalewere nominated.Trustees
Exley and Tisdale accepted the nomination.Trustees Peters declined the nomination.Following
the vote,Trustee Tisdale was elected Vice-Chair ofthe Information Committee ofthe Whole for
2010.
A motion to destroy the ballots was moved by S. Peters,seconded by T.Grant and earned.
7.ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.,on motion of,G.Hart,seconded by J.Stewart.
CONFIRMED:.
Chairperson