The Board adopts a policy regarding personal digital devices

School District 10 is implementing a new personal digital device policy that sets guidelines for student cell phone use at school. The policy will be implemented starting in the fall.

In January, the province announced new safety initiatives that include requiring school districts to implement cell phone policies by the beginning of the next school year. The goal is to limit use to support student learning through fewer distractions and interruptions during class time.

Each district board can create a plan that meets its unique community needs, and it will be the responsibility of school administrators to incorporate this policy into their schools’ codes of conduct.

“It is designed to be flexible … while still providing some framework within which administrators and teachers can apply certain restrictions on cell phone use in the classroom,” said Secretary-Treasurer Michael McLellan.

Under the new policy, the use of personal digital devices during school hours will be prohibited for students K-7, except for emergencies, accessibility needs, accommodations or medical purposes under the supervision of school staff.

For students in grades 8–12, the use of devices will be prohibited during classes. Educators may consent for instructional or digital literacy purposes, or in emergency, accessibility, accommodation, medical, health or equity situations. During non-teaching hours, such as recess and lunch breaks, students may use devices at the discretion of school administrators.

While the board as a whole supported the policy, Chairman Steve Gascon still had some concerns.

“When students can no longer check their notifications in class, will breaks and lunch breaks become phone call times?” he said.

Attorney Amanda Murphy echoed Gascon’s concerns that not being able to check their phones during class could result in students having to catch up during breaks.

“If we see that it’s just a case of frequently missing classes to get to phones, then I think there are things that schools can do to address that,” Superintendent Peter Dubinsky said.

The way the policy is written allows school administrators to adapt and change how they implement it, he said.

“We can go back and share what we’re seeing about student behavior, and even do some focus groups with students and have some conversations, and then continue… Let’s see how it happens.”

Student self-report surveys

Superintendent Peter Dubinsky shared data from student health surveys.

Data come from the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) for children in grades 4–7 and the Adolescent Health Survey (AHS) for grades 8–12. Students complete the MDI survey every year and the AHS survey every five years.

“Data from this year’s MDI provides important information for teachers, schools and the district to help meet the needs of students,” Dubinsky wrote in his report.

The MDI monitors social and emotional development, physical health and well-being, connectedness, time use outside of school, and school experiences.

39% of 4th grade students declared good well-being, and 17% – low well-being. 21% of Year 7 students reported good well-being and 46% reported low well-being.

MDI also collects data on self-regulation, responsible decision-making and self-awareness.

Another important data point, Dubinsky said, is the number of important adults in students’ lives. 87% of 4th grade students and 81% of 7th grade students say they have at least two significant adults.

By using the data, the district can identify gaps and areas that require further attention. School connections and belonging, encouraging less screen time and better sleep hygiene, and learning how to seek help when needed are just some of the areas that need some work.

Budget for 2024-2025

Secretary-Treasurer Michael McLellan presented the 2024-2025 budget.

Since March, the board has conducted various meetings and roundtables with partner groups and school staff, as well as conducted a public survey to solicit feedback on the budget.

The survey asked what investments, resources or initiatives should be funded in areas such as student competencies, health, environment, technology, facilities and ‘dreaming big’. There were 24 responses from parents/guardians, teachers, support staff, administrators, and community members.

Total revenues are expected to grow by 3.6%. Student income will increase by 1.6% despite a projected decline from 519 to 509 full-time equivalent (FTE) students. The district will receive $60,600 in new funding from the Council on Indigenous Education and $25,000 in new funding through the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Educator Dual Credit Program. The $100,000 Affordability Fund will run for another year, and the Feeding Futures Fund will run indefinitely at $350,000 per year. As school enrollments increase, there will also be a significant increase in childcare subsidies and fees.

There will be some changes to the staffing plan. There will be a new childcare manager and a new manager role freed from transport/health and safety responsibilities. There will also be a new 0.5/0.6 FTE Educational Technology Learning Support Teacher position and a 0.2 FTE Dual Credit/Career Teacher Liaison position (funded by the $25,000 Dual Credit Fund). Distributed Learning (DL) teachers will receive a 0.2 FTE increase for a total of 1.4 FTE to support 43 full-time DL students. The teacher-librarian will receive an additional 0.3 full-time positions to support reading and district libraries. For Strong Start programs, ECE staffing will increase by an hour at a cost of an additional $13,000.

Operating expenses for maintenance, field and custodial work will increase slightly due to inflation. Utilities will increase from $253,000 to $275,000 and the human resources budget will increase from $76,000 to $80,000. Pro-D daily budgets will receive a small funding increase, with a significant funding addition for CUPE employees. Transport will decline slightly, partly due to more new, efficient buses and reduced fuel costs for electric buses.

The Target Fund is stable and will not take into account inflation. Funding from the Strong Start program may mostly cover the costs of the proposed extension of opening hours. The Feeding Futures Fund and Affordability Fund will cover part of the cost of food and supplies. Seamless Day funds will cover any future losses to Nakusp Early Childhood Care Center, which will hopefully be minimal after July 2024. The Seamless Day program will be transferred to Nakusp Elementary School and Nakusp Early Childhood Care Center after three years at the elementary school Burton years, due to low enrollment in pre-school and after-school settings in Burton. The program finances classes with an early school teacher in the kindergarten class and the provision of after-school care. This will be the last year of operation for the $175,000 Early Learning Opportunities Fund.

The capital fund will consist of $1,271,982 from the Department of Education and Child Care for new, smaller capital projects.

Rachael Lesosky, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Valley Voice