At a Special Meeting held March 9, 2011, the Board of Trustees of the School District of Whiteshell approved the annual budget for 2011/2012. The investment in public education was approved at $3,166,139.00 which is an increase of 1.01% from the 2010/2011 budget.  Also approved was the 2011 levy request to the L.G.D. of Pinawa in the amount of $2,098,116.00.  

The presentation made by Superintendent/Secretary-Treasurer Bob Derousie is available here.

Formative Review of Student Services in The School District of Whiteshell The School District of Whiteshell is reviewing its Student Services in order to identify priorities for improvement. The School Board has hired John VanWalleghem and Lesley Weisshaar to collect information and write a report that includes recommendations. Both are former student services administrators in Manitoba and currently direct small educational organizations. Their report will be presented to the School Board and subsequently released to the community in the Spring of 2011.

What are Student Services? You could consider any school system in three parts – instruction, student services and administration. Instruction includes the curricular and extra-curricular components that are available for all students. Administration is the organizational structure that manages the system. Thus, Student Services are those non-administrative supports that help students or teachers.

Typically, Student Services include guidance, special education, clinical or therapy supports, assistive devices, and a variety of supports that meet students' individual needs. There are several important parts to the Student Services Review. John and Lesley are examining the way that the schools provide Student Services and the policies that the School Board has developed. They are meeting with some parents, students, teachers and other staff as individuals or small groups. They are circulating a short questionnaire to all students.

An Internet survey is open to everyone in the community. Anyone who wants to provide input can complete the survey. The more people who do so, the better the results. It is a short survey with four open-ended questions plus some questions to anonymously describe who you are. All responses will be kept confidential. If you want to complete the survey, you must have a computer with an Internet connection.

Simply enter http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/G8KWJYX in your browser and that will take you to the survey in a site called “Survey Monkey.”

If you have any questions about the Student Services Review, please contact John at jvan100@hotmail.com.