PORTER CREEK SECONDARY SCHOOL COUNCIL
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting
February 12, 2020
School Library

“School Council would like to acknowledge that we are on the lands of the Kwanlin Dun and Ta’an Kwach’an First Nation people and thank them for allowing us to live and work on their traditional land.”

Present:	Council Members:				Administration:
		Dale Cheeseman:  Chair			Souhail Soujah:  Principal
		Misty Ticiniski					Candice Deo:  A/Vice Principal
		Deanna McLeod
		Jennifer Kozmen
		Don Fitzsimmons
		Amanda Leas
		Sean Smith
		William Carlick
		Jerry Zahora:  Secretary Treasurer

Regrets:	Andrew Robulack:  Council Member
		Peter Giangrande:  Vice Principal

Guests:	Lori Duncan:  Assistant Deputy Minister, First Nations Initiatives, Dept. of Ed.
		Geraldine VanBibber:  MLA, Porter Creek North
		Sheri Graham:  Parent

1.	Call to Order:  Meeting was called to order at 6:33PM

2.	Adoption of Agenda:  Moved by Jennifer, second by Misty, THAT the agenda be
	adopted with the addition of #8.4:  Victoria Gold
											CARRIED

2.1	Lori Duncan:  
	Lori introduced herself to School Council.  Started at the department in June 2019.
	Worked at Health and Social Services prior to that.  Was at CYFN as well and in Carcross.

	There is 1.5 million dollars resourced to the communities so they can work on their
	capacities.

	In the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation the FN’s are on hiring panels, especially for
	Principal positions.  A promise was made to engage more FN on the School Growth Plan
	
	The Joint Education Plan with Government of Yukon, Federal Government and the 
	First Nations, (JEEP).
	Movement is to make things better for the FN’s as per the Auditor General’s Report.
	When speaking about the First Nations, it is “Nothing about us is without us”!

	Process to be followed by YTA and YEU in the hiring process of Language teachers.
	The FN language is in a critical state right now.  
	CYFN and Native Language Centre is to work on fluency.  Work with mentors first, then
	working on being able to teach. The language is in a critical state at this time.

	The Education Act states that these languages are to be taught.  However, to be a 
	teacher you need a Certificate.  Many people are not allotting time slots for the
	native teachers to teach like they do other teachers. .  
	A Cultural Certificate is from the Dept. of Education and a Certificate of Completion
	is from CYFN .  Teachers are to teach culture and teach the language. Native teachers
	need a Language Certificate to be able to teach the curriculum.

	The goal is to respect the FN, the history and who they are, i.e.:  Ways of knowing and
	doing.  Need to know the Truth and Reconciliation to be able to reconcile!

	There are learning tools that can be accessed and used:
	Relationships and collaborations with First Nations.  The School Growth Plan inclusion
	Is another part of this.
	
	The learning about Residential Schools is part of the Gr. 10 studies and will be offered
	in Gr. 9 as well.
	Counsellors are available if students are affected by these courses.  
	Such as:  blanket exercises 

ACTION:	Lori will discuss with the Dept. to see if this can be available when teaching 
		is being done and if students are affected by it or other ways to help students
		cope with this.

	Council thanked Lori for attending the meeting and her presentation.

3.	Adoption of Minutes:  Moved by Misty, second by Jennifer, THAT the Minutes of
	Regular Meeting, January 15, 2020 be adopted.				CARRIED

4.	Parent/Community Issues:

5.	Reports:  Committees:
	5.1	Health and Safety:  No report
	5.2	Field Trips:  Bison Hunt has been approved
	5.3	Transportation Advisory:

		Committee met, Chair and Vice-Chair of committee were appointed
		Terms of Reference were reviewed, discussed and tentatively approved
		following corrections.
		South Alaska Highway bus stop safety was discussed and committee
		recommends that the bus stop audit produced by the Dept. be submitted to the
		Marsh Lake Community Association
		Accurate tracking of attendance on busses was discussed.  A representative from
		Standard busing has been invited to attend the next meeting to be held on
		Feb 26. to address concerns and answer questions.
		Lewes Blvd. safety concerns were discussed with the committee to communicate
		with the City to accelerate plans for a flashing crosswalk to increase local safety 
	  	Transit bus passes:  Committee is recommending that the transit bus passes
		provided to high school students be continued and expanded and that regular
		school bus service to high school students be discontinued if they live within
		transit services.

6.	Principal’s Report:
	-	Exams were completed at the end of Jan 14 – 16th – went well
	-	New Semester is off to a great start
	-	Staffing Allocation – 36. FTE`s, loss of .10 FTE for next year
	-	Shared Resource program 2.0 FTE – to be determined
	-	CYFN – Darby, approached to see if a possible Firefighting course could be
		offered at PC if interested.  This would be more experimental programming or as 
		part of a future experiential.  Could also be part of the WILD program to engage
		students.
	-	IEP concerns – will continue to do at PC, will be based on the school
	-	Fire smarting – possibility however, has been reduced, to be determined 
	-	Jan 17:  PD Day:  Randall Tetlich – Great and enjoyed by all.  Would like to bring
		him back
	-	Admin Meetings – Feb 6 and 7th
	-	Informal reports – Feb. 14: Interim progress reports – Feb. 25
	-	KDFN MOA Meeting, Jan 21.  Souhail attended, with Pat Cassidy and Therese
	-	School Growth Plan Mtg. Feb 5.  Discussions regarding KDFN MOA
	-	Trappers Workshop:  Feb 19 – 21 – Will demonstrate, how it works
	-	New teacher hired:  Arman Formaran – Math 8 and relief for Life Skills support 
	-	Wi-Fi Lunch and after school:  Shut down at 5PM and perhaps at lunch time
		To restrict to students, staff only – not outside
	-	Capital Funding:  received – More cameras to be put in parking lot
	-	Basketball Season starts
	-	WILD class first trip successful to Fish Lake, Feb 11 – Fundraising efforts continue
	-	AWG committee inspected school for allocation of rooms on Feb. 12
	-	Mental health counsellor/outreach worker started last week.  Wednesdays
		all day, hoping to be able to advocate for more
	-	Principal Hiring:  Souhail is leaving at the end of the school year.
		School council to discuss further and set up a hiring panel

7.	Treasurer’s Report:  Balance in account $11,377.32

8.	Old Business and Correspondence:
	8.1	AYSCBC:  Spending of Funds received ($1,000.)  Deferred to next meeting
	8.2	Youth Investment Fund: Update
		Discussed if it could be used for WILD,  cannot be used for that. To be discussed
		further
	8.3	School Council Scholarships, awards, etc.  Deferred to next meeting
	8.4	Victoria Gold: Discussions if this could be used for WILD, or other programming
		at the school and if School Council could apply.
		This is an Attendance Initiative which the school applies for.

9.	New Business and Correspondence:

10.	Adjournment:  Meeting adjourned at 7:55PM
	Next regular meeting, March 11, 2020

______________________________				_____________________________
Dale Cheeseman:						Jerry Zahora:
Chair								Secretary Treasurer