Director General’sReport to Council

by R. T. Mills

Year-End CalendarAs this calendar year rushes

to its end, we are already in the midst of developing plans for the 2015-2016 school year, almost all of which are based on projected student enrolment. These pro-jections are constructed on area demographic data, current enrol-ment and, of course, on numbers of registrants new to the system. The accuracy of these data is im-perative to virtually all aspects of planning for the coming year. Thus, we ask for the cooperation of all in helping us to gather this essential information.

The enrolment process begins on the week of January 12-16, 2015, with the registration of sib-lings of students already attend-ing and is carried out at the local school for children with Eligibil-ity Certificates. You are asked to contact the local school for a reg-istration appointment.

On January 20, 2015, Re-Reg-istration Forms for students now in Grade 6 will be sent home and are to be returned by January 22, 2015, in order to be sent to the receiving high school.

Registration week for students entering Kindergarten and those new to our system takes place from January 26 to January 30, 2015. For students now in the system (Kindergarten to Grade 5 and Secondary I-IV), re-registra-tion forms will be distributed on February 9, to be returned to the school by February 11, 2015.

The Second Half of the YearLeadership ChangeAt this time, we are able to an-

nounce formally the retirement of Mrs. Patricia Higgins, Principal of Thorndale Elementary School. Trish has served in a number of assignments within public edu-cation through out a career that has been marked by professional-ism, enthusiasm and leadership. I wish her every happiness and success and thank her of the skills and dedication she brought to us.

Thoughts for This Special Season

There can be no doubt that, as Canadians and Quebecers, we are blessed with plenty, with peace and with security, for all of which we can be most thankful. I think at this time of the joys of family and of the gift I have been given to have spent my professional life within public education, sur-rounded by students and staff members whose idealism, enthu-siasm and abilities have been and continue to be truly remarkable. I wish to thank all for those gifts.

I extend to all my very best wishes for health, happiness, peace and success in the days and months to come.

Chairman’s Report

to Council

by Suanne Stein Day

The holiday season is so en-hanced when you’re part of an education system like ours. I’ve been so lucky to be invited to many holiday celebrations, con-certs, plays and get-togethers. From our littlest citizens in the In-ternational Pre-K regaling the au-dience in 5 languages to the high school students at John Rennie High School performing a very unique version of Beauty and the Beast, the talent in our schools is incredible. Thank you to all the schools who invited me to their special events - I look forward to several more this week.

Most special is witnessing the incredible generosity of our stu-dents and community. Again this year, I was able to help the St. Charles Elementary commu-nity to deliver Christmas “bas-kets” to needy families in Verdun. When I say baskets, I really mean carloads of food, clothing, baby equipment, toys and personal goods. While so many of our stu-dents participate in global initia-tives – making the whole world a better place, we still need to take the time to realize that many of our own are unable to make this holiday season special. I know that St. Charles is not alone in re-alizing this and am so proud of the many food drives, snowsuit exchanges and good will that is sent to those in need.

December has been busy for our council of commissioners as well. We started the task of meet-ing our communities at Govern-ing Board meetings, the Math Olympics, and school events. I’m sure that my colleagues enjoy this community interaction as much as I do. And many of our stand-ing committees have kicked off our mandate with their first meet-ings. Reports to be presented to-night.

I would be remiss in not giving a shout out to the many board staff and volunteers who brought the 2014 Christmas Carol alive. With Ashley Daniel Foot direct-ing and producing, Tom Rhymes reprising his incredible perfor-mance of Mr Scrooge, and many administrators taking part, it seems to be the common opin-ion that this year’s show was even better than last year’s.

Tonight we will receive the board’s annual report for 2013 – 2014. While the results show continued improvement, this board knows that we will contin-ue our commitment to focus on improvement every aspect of our student’s education.

To you all, I wish you the very best of the holiday season. I hope you have a peaceful break sur-rounded by family and friends.

The Pearson NewsFROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL & CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Decembre/December 2014 GRATUIT/FREEVolume XVII No. 4

FINALDU DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL ET DE LA PRÉSIDENTE DU CONSEIL

To learn more about the Lester B. Pearson School Board’s Autism Spectrum Disorders Centre of Excellence, visit:http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/eng/asdn/index.asp

For Sierra Nadeau and Kathy Nodzynski, the two student commissioners at the Lester B. Pearson School Board, taking on an extra workload is no big deal if it means that students have a voice at council.

“It’s important to me that stu-dents’ concerns be heard,” said Nodzynski, a grade 11 student at St. Thomas High School in Pointe Claire. “And I am happy to be one of the per-sons that can do that.”

Nodzyn-ski and N a d e a u , who are also co -chairs of the LB-PSB’s Cen-tral Students Committee, said they lost no time in presenting their report at the Nov. 24 LB-PSB council meeting, the first since province-wide school board elections were held early last month.

Their report included such topics as school maintenance, said Nodzynski.

“…things like doors that won’t close in bathrooms,” she said adding that “our concerns were

well received.”This is not Nodzynski’s first

run as a student commissioner the LBPSB.

“This being my second year, I was much less shy than last year,” said the 16-year-old who plans to study honours science at John Abbott College and then on to a career in the medical field.

“I already know how it (coun-cil) works,” she said. “So that’s a

great advantage.”For her part, Nadeau said that

even though it was her first of-ficial LBPSB Council meeting as a student commissioner, she felt quite at ease.

“I felt very welcomed by the council, said Nadeau, a grade 11 student at Lakeside Academy. “I will gladly be actively participat-ing in future council meetings.”

When asked about how she can find the time to do both the

CSC and student commissioner job as well as her studies, Sierra, who plans to learn hair styling at LBPSB’s Gordon Robertson Beauty Academy following her graduation from high school, said it’s not a problem.

“I can manage,” she said. “I am good at that.”

Sierra said she wanted to be-come a student commissioner in order to help.

“I want to help my fellow students and help benefit the schools,” she said.

LBPSB Director General Robert T. Mills said he was happy to see the students on council.

“I’m very happy that this new council agreed once again to in-clude a student voice…,” Mills said. “It is a positive way of re-ceiving information from our students.”

The LBPSB has included stu-

dent commissioners to council since 2012, a first in the prov-ince.

Nadeau and Nodzynski are part of the council chaired by newly-elected LBPSB Chairman Suanne Stein Day and twelve commis-sioners. There are also four par-ent commissioners to represent parents of children with special needs, parents of children in elementary schools, parents of

c h i l d r e n in high school and parents at large.

Stein Day noted that the LBPSB was their first board in Quebec to have s t u d e n t

commissioners as well as the first board to have a Central Students’ committee as an official consul-tative partner.

“Many other boards have invit-ed our CSC grads to train their own groups of students on their role,” she said. “That process taught us how valuable, indeed essential, the voice of the stu-dents is to our deliberations.

“We are proud to have Sierra and Kathy around our table.”

by Alycia Ambroziak

A Christmas Carol, the multi-media extravaganza starring a cast of characters from the Les-

ter B. Pearson School Board, was presented with great success on Nov. 29 at Lakeside Academy in Lachine. The event was a fundraiser for the Pearson Edu-

cational Foundation’s snowsuit and boots program – founded in memory of former commis-sioner Rona Cupak – that sup-plies winter wear to students in

need. Winter clothing is always in short supply and donations are needed, appreciated and tax deductible! The PEF website is http://pef.lbpsb.qc.ca

Board Welcomes Student Commissioners

Check out what’s going on with the International Studies ProgramVisit us on the web at:http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/eng/intlstudies/indexV2.asp

Ebenezer’s Hard Night Benefits Kids

A2Pearson News Decembre/December 2014

Do you have an article to submit to

Please send your articles and pictures to your Principal who will forward them to us. Questions or comments? Email Dan Mullins at dmullins@lbpsb.qc.ca

the Pearson News?

Recen t l y B e a c o n s -field High S c h o o l ’ s S t u d e n t Leadership Team took part in a communi -ty effort to serve din-ner to those in need. “On Rock Community Services” is a West Island community organization committed to making a difference in the Montreal area by being a resource for people in need. On December 2nd and December 4th a num-ber of BHS s tuden t s , from vari-ous grade levels, un-der the leadership of Student Life Teach-ers, Mr. Adam Cox-Twardows-ki and Mr. Sean

O’Neill, took it upon themselves to make a difference in their own community.

At the On Rock Community Center, the students helped out where they could over the two

e v e n i n g s , whether it be to serve a hot meal, p r o v i d e en t e r t a in -ment such as playing violin music and organiz-ing Bingo,

or by being Santa’s little helpers by wrapping Christmas gifts.

As one BHS student said, “See-ing the appreciation that the din-ers had, and the smiles on their faces, made this night so fulfill-

ing.” BHS stu-dent hope to continue this pa r tne r sh ip with On Rock Communi t y Service in the New Year.

“Our stu-dents took away from this e x p e r i e n c e far more than they gave.” said Student Life Teacher Mr. Cox-Twardowski

Pearson Educational Foundation President Bar-bara Freeston and PEF Administrative Assistant Susan Grand took part in the Greendale Elementary Christmas bazaar last week in order to raise funds and awareness for PEF’s Rona Cupak program that sup-plies winter wear to Lester B. Pearson School Board students in need. The PEF website is:

http://pef.lbpsb.qc.ca

Students at Beurling Academy in Verdun thought they were at-tending an assembly to prepare for exams earlier this month but found out instead that they were being celebrated for their fund-raising efforts in the CIBC Run for the Cure.

Beurling students were award-ed the Suzanne Rousseau Award, given to the top-earning school in Quebec for the CIBC Run.

We ran for the Cure, we danced for the Cure, we shaved for the Cure – in all, Beurling Academy donated $5,525 for this great cause, according to Beurling Prin-cipal Deborah Gross.

CIBC delegates Joanne Rous-seau, Orly Cohen as well as Alexa Fauteaux were on hand to pres-ent Beurling teacher Louise Out-land and Marie-Lou Cousineau, the wife of a teacher at Beurling

Academy – both of whom are breast cancer survivors – a $500 cheque for the school to use as of-ficials see fit.

The CIBC fundraising effort is spearheaded by Amanda Liste, Beurling’s BA International Bac-calaureate co-ordinator, working with Beurling’s IB students.

“We are all very proud to be a part of the Beurling family,” said Gross. “Beurling Cares Big!

By Ingrid Farkas

Everybody knows the impor-tance of staying active and estab-lishing healthy habits. At Ever-green, making sure that students are given the opportunity to do this is an integral part of school life. One way in which this is accomplished is through extra-curricular activities such as Run Club. Physical Education teach-er, Arlene Tennant has been or-ganizing and running the club as part of the students’ preparation for the LBPSB Cross Country Run ever since she came to Ever-green in 2002.

Run Club begins in Septem-ber and continues into October, culminating with the race at the Morgan Arboretum. In prepa-ration, students from grades 3-6, teachers and parent volun-teers run twice a week at lunch time. Run Club is very popular amongst the students and suc-ceeds in drawing even those who are not always the most athlet-ic. They love it because it gives them the opportunity to be part of a team, but without the pres-sure of typical team sports. As a runner, you compete against yourself first and others only second. You don’t have to be the best runner to succeed. Many students begin the season walk-ing, but most are running by

race day. There is a true sense of accomplishment that comes with every step they take.

When asked why Run Club is important to her, Ms. Tennant says, “I feel that it promotes a lifelong fitness habit.” She hopes her students will come away with something that they will continue on their own. Her goal is to teach kids the importance of living active lifestyles by giv-ing them as many opportunities as possible. Running as a sport is inclusive and convenient. Many students keep running even once Run Club ends and several are inspired to tackle new physi-cal challenges, eager to try new things and continue strengthen-ing their bodies.

Evergreen students are fortu-nate to have a variety of oppor-tunities when it comes to staying active. Not all families can afford the expense or have the time to commit to team sports and ac-tivities outside of school. Joining Run Club is something anybody can do and although there is a competitive spirit, it does not ex-clude those who have to work at developing their abilities. Ever-green strives to provide students with an education in establish-ing good habits that can last a lifetime. The hope is that every step they take is a step toward a healthy future.

by Rebecca Binet and Chantal Brunet

The excitement was palpable as teams of Grade 6 students from 25 Lester B. Pearson Elementary Schools took part in the 2014 Math Olympics.

The Math Olympics took place on two dates, Dec. 3rd and 4th, in order to accommodate all the schools that wanted to take part.

On Dec. 3rd, teams of grade 6 students from 13 schools met at Riverdale High in Pierrefonds to work together on a variety of math challenges as a crowd of onlookers, mostly proud parents, urged them on.

The success of such a huge event could not be possible with-out the amazing support of par-ents, grade 6 teachers’ dedication, High School student correctors and teachers enthusiasm.

Although it is a grade 6 celebra-tion, we would like to send a spe-cial thank you to each and every elementary teacher of all grade levels that helped guide and en-

courage our students in their learning!

The winning schools at the Dec. 3rd event were:

Gold Medal: Clearpoint in Pointe-Claire

Silver Medal: Westpark in Dol-lard-des-Ormeaux

Bronze Medal: St-Anthony in Pierrefonds& Margaret Manson in Kirkland.

The Math Olympics continued on Dec. 4th as teams of grade 6 students from 12 schools met at Lakeside academy in Lachine.

The winning schools at the Dec. 4th event were:

Gold Medal: Children’s World in LaSalle & St. Charles in Pier-refonds Silver Medal: St-John Fisher Sr. in Pointe-Claire

Bronze Medal: Dorval Elemen-tary in Dorval.

Congratulations to Allion, Beechwood, Forest Hill Sr. & St-Charles who won the Amaz-ing i-Math Mission which was a Mathematics scavenger hunt us-ing the iPad as a new platform of technology.

Beaconsfield High School Students Help Those in Need Locally

On Your Mark, Get Set, Run Club!

Bottom Row from left to right: Mr. O’Neill, Pamela Singh, Celia Morin, Victoria Gabrielli, Jenny Oh, Victoria Dunlop. On the top row, from left to right; Gillian Carson, Arianna Menasce, Ashley Bock, Mr. Cox-Twardowski

Now’s the time to shine for Les-ter B. Pearson high school stu-dents who like to sing, dance or play music.

Auditions for the LBPSB’s TOPS 2015 show are taking place over the next few days.

“Every Lester B. Pearson high school student who is interested in participating in TOPS as a per-former is both welcomed and en-couraged to audition,” according to the TOPS website.

“The judging panel looks for talented vocalists, dancers – who audition as a group, a solo per-former or for the TOPS All Star Dance Team – musicians and bands who, during their audi-tion demonstrate a positive, eager and respectful attitude, and who express their ability to remain committed to a series of weekend rehearsals in preparation for the show.”

Students do not need to sign-up in advance of their audition date, and there is no fee for registra-tion or to participate in the show. Immediately before auditioning, students must register with the TOPS staff and agree to the terms listed in the participants’ contract.

Each year more than 200 stu-dents participate in the TOPS show, a non-profit initiative cre-ated by the school board in order to celebrate the arts and support student performers.

TOPS is a non-profit hands-on initiative created by the school board as a way to celebrate the arts and support student per-formers.

This year’s show will take place in mid-April.

All auditions will take place fol-lowing school hours.

While some auditions have al-ready taken place, here is the list of upcoming audition dates:•Dec. 10 at Pierrefonds Compre-

hensive High School – for PCHS and Riverdale students.

•Dec. 11 at Lindsay Place High School – for Lindsay Place, John Rennie, St. Thomas High school students and for all bands.

•Dec. 12 at Lakeside Academy, for Lakeside, Horizon students as well for all students who can-not or did not attend their own school’s audition.

•Dec. 13 – at Lakeside Academy, for All Star Dance Team audi-tions and vocal call-backs.

For more information go to the TOPS homepage at www.topss-how.com.

Students Compete in Math Olympics TOPS Auditions

Open

The Lester B. Pearson School Board

Digital CitizenshipProgram

The Lester B. Pearson School Board

Digital CitizenshipProgramhttp://dcp.lbpsb.qc.ca

Beurling Academy Cares Big

PEF at Greendale Bazaar to Help

Pearson NewsA3Decembre/December 2014

Excellence in Vocational Training and

Adult Educationvisit our website at:

www.pearsonskills.com

Click here to find out more about the LBPSB Strategic Plan for 2010-2015

or visit http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/content/strategicplan/Welcome___Bienvenue.html

Together We Learn: Partnering for Student Success

by Deborah Gross Principal, Beurling Academy

One evening this past December at the Beurling Auditorium, a lit-tle bit of magic happened. Jessica Dewling, a grade eleven Beurling student, hosted a variety show for family, friends, and fans. The $3 ticket turned out to be a huge bar-gain, as the audience was treated to a showcase of fresh, unpreten-tious talent that did not disap-point. Jessica’s Night of the Arts was the culmination of a grade 11 personal project requirement for IB certification whereby students must plan a major project from start to finish, with the support of their personal project supervi-sor, then reflect on the process as well as the product and present this reflection to their peers, their parents and their teachers. As im-portant as the display of talent was, Jessica’s words at intermis-sion gave this audience member goosebumps.

“Hello and good evening, ev-eryone! My name is Jessica and I’m here to welcome you all to The Night of The Arts. I am the organizer of this show. I held au-ditions, created tickets and pro-grams. I created schedules and check lists and chased performers down, all the while, dealing with my other schoolwork. In simpler terms, I drove myself crazy. Why

did I decide to drive myself crazy, you might ask? I’m in my last year of The Middle Years Program, aka IB, and a requirement to gradu-ate from this program is creating a personal project. A personal project is a year-long project in which we are supposed to dem-onstrate certain skills that we have developed over five years. I started this project last March when I was in grade 10 and I’m completing it tonight.

I knew since the beginning stages of this project that I want-ed to do something that involved the arts. My first idea was to put on a musical but then slowly my idea to create a sort of variety show, showcasing all the arts, took shape and I really liked it.

The arts have always had a huge presence in my life. In elementa-ry school, I was involved in ev-erything that had to do with the arts - talent shows, band, choir, musicals. In elementary school, we had an unlimited amount of freedom to express ourselves. Be-ing in high school is different. I’m not saying we don’t have the op-portunities to express ourselves, because we do, I just believe it’s much more limited. School gets harder, expectations get higher and suddenly there’s no time to do what we loved to do in ele-mentary school.

I never quite understood why we as a society value, for example, mathematics, over the arts. Both are equally important. Both de-velop the brain in different ways. In 2009, a study was done which showed strong connections be-tween arts learning in earlier years and overall academic success. Re-search done by the Dana Founda-tion proves that music training is closely correlated with develop-ment of phonological awareness ––one of the most important pre-dictors of early reading skills.

I can go on about the benefits of the arts but we’ve all heard this before. Instead of telling you about statistics on the arts, I’d much rather share with you stories of my friends and peers, who like me, believe that the arts are something worth sup-porting. Kimberly from Belgium says “Whenever I feel like cry-ing, or sleeping all day long be-cause I’m too sad to get up, I just get into bed and start writing, or start reading. It helps people to get better. It heals people.” Ste-ven from New York says “I enjoy singing because it’s a great way to express yourself and share emo-tions that would otherwise be eating you away from the inside. It also helps you cope with loss, tragedy, and just heartache.”

I’d like to share with you what

I think is the problem with the arts programs, particularly here at Beurling. I don’t think it’s the funding of the programs that makes me upset, it’s the lack of caring, the apathy of students. When I held my auditions for this show I wasn’t expecting fifty people but I wasn’t expecting one either. This caused me to ques-tion whether or not students real-ize what this school offers.

My peers need to realize that we are so lucky to have the programs we have and that they shouldn’t be taken for granted. If we do take them for granted, we’ll get even fewer opportunities to ex-press ourselves.

We personally benefit every day from the arts when we put earphones into our ears or watch a movie. All over the world there are people who personally benefit from all sorts of forms of art.

The world needs doctors and scientists but the world also needs artists and I’d be very disappoint-ed to live in a world where one of those is seen as the lesser profes-sion.

Enjoy the rest of the show. Thank you.”

Jessica’s dedication to the arts is something we should all em-brace, and Beurling Academy thanks her for so eloquently rais-ing our awareness.

The Special Needs Advisory Committee (SNAC) is pleased to present a Special Event for Parents:

Thursday, January 15th, 2015 at 7:00pm LBPSB Head Office, 1925 Brookdale Avenue, Dorval

This workshop will review the key features of an IEP, the resources available in the schools and the process of referral for services.

Parents will gain a better understanding of the types of educational supports that can be provided for students and how these supports are indicated on an IEP.

The speakers will explain how teachers link students’ objectives to their term plans and the Quebec Education Program (QEP).

Parents will leave the workshop with an understanding of their collaborative role in ensuring their child’s success.

Presented by Special Needs Consultants: Celina Bérubé & Ruth Schwarcz

This is a FREE presentation. All are welcome.

***Please RSVP by Jan 12th*** for planning purposes to snac@lbpearson.qc.ca

Individual Education Plans (IEPs) Helping Students to Achieve Success

You’ve made it through kinder-garten, grade school and most of high school – but being the par-ent of a soon-to-be CEGEP stu-dent can be very stressful.

Do you need information on such things on how the applica-tion process works, R-Scores and Omnivox, to name just a few?

Don’t worry.A special evening for all Lester

B. Pearson School Board parents with LBPSB Guidance Counsel-lor Sheila Southon is taking place Dec. 8 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School.

As well, some PCHS alumni

will share their experiences about life during and after high school.

Southon’s presentation will deal with such topics as:•What’s the big deal about ad-

vanced math and science?

•How will my child be judged as a CEGEP candidate?

•What’s the procedure to apply?

•What are the alternatives for making up missing pre-requi-sites and for not getting into CEGEP directly?

The evening is free of charge. Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School is located at 13,800 Pier-refonds Blvd. in Pierrefonds.

On a nice snowy day before the Holiday concert the Beacon Hill students enjoy the outdoor with their physical education teacher Mrs. Mumme.

A Night of the Arts at Beurling Academy Seminar for Parents of CEGEP-Bound Students

A4Pearson News Decembre/December 2014

Q The Lester B. Pearson School Board usually adopts its budget in the month of June, before the start of the new school year on July 1st. Why did the board wait until August to adopt their bud-get?

A Historically the Minister of Education sends out draft bud-get rules in the month of April. School boards are consulted on the rules and funding param-eters and are given two weeks to respond. The responses are re-viewed and final budget rules are sent to school boards at the end of May or beginning of June. The school board analyzes the new rules and adopts a budget at next council meeting, which is usually the end of June.

During the past three years, we have had three different govern-ments govern the province of Quebec with the last government being elected on April 7th 2014 and taking power on April 23rd. The 2014-2015 budget rules and funding parameters were thus delivered on June 13. School boards were given two weeks to consult on the rules and respond to the MELS. The MELS targeted the first week of July to deliver the final rules to school boards, but the rules were only received on July 25th 2014, 25 days after the new school year had started. The school board analyzed the new rules and adopted the bud-get at the next Council of Com-missioners meeting, on August 25th.

Q We have heard a lot about the Quebec government reduc-ing funding to school boards. Has the Lester B. Pearson School Board had any reductions?

A Funding to school boards are outlined in les regles budget-aires des commissions scolaires 2014-2015. http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/references/publica-tions/resultats-de-la-recherche/detail/article/regles-budgetaires-commissions-scolaires/

The document outlines the amount of funding required to educate students in kindergar-ten, elementary, secondary, adult education and vocational educa-tion. The grants include amounts based upon average class sizes, support for students with special needs, estimated energy expenses and funding guaranteed in the collective agreements signed dur-ing the last provincial negotia-

tions in 2011. School boards receive funding

parameters from the MELS based upon the regles budgetaires. The funding parameters include claw backs called “Negative Adjust-ments”. In effect the government indicates how much funding is required to operate the school board and then subtracts a per-centage because the province does not have the money to pay for the commitments. For the 2014-2015 school year, the Lester B. Pear-son School year has had a total of $10,775,415 in claw backs of which over $ 4 million were new cuts this year. The MELS signed collective agreements guarantee-ing funding for different school programs and then cut the fund-ing to the school boards.

Examples are: • a cut of $1,808,590 in financing

to student success at the LBPSB which is 37% of the financing re-quired to support the programs.

•$258,370 cut to financing of students at risk or with special needs.

The MELS has asked school boards to not touch classrooms with these cuts. As this funding went directly to pay teachers, in-tegration aids, library books and food for students in underprivi-leged areas, it is difficult to com-prehend how the cuts could not affect the classroom.

Other cuts include:•$47,364 in Ombudsman com-

pensation

•$22,500 for Judicial Background checks

•$142,988 reduction in energy funding

•$100,000 reduction in account-ing grant

•$1,421,035 as a 2014‐2015 gen-eral cut

•$267,878 in additional adminis-trative cut

Recurring negative adjustments from previous year that we again incur include:•$504,950 cut in revenues due to

amalgamation of school boards in 1998

•$2,290,670 from a 1996 nega-tive adjustment

•$416,956 Transportation cut

•$362,014 Law 100 cut

•$1,280,264 cut introduced in 2011‐2012

•$ 1,851,836 cut introduced in 2013‐2014

Q How has the school board reduced their expenses?

A First and foremost, restric-tions and resulting decline in our enrolment means fewer class-rooms and unfortunately, fewer teachers. Many teachers who have retired have not been re-placed. This cascades upwards and several administrators who have retired have not been re-placed, or have been replaced with lower level employees. Ad-ministrative and professional salary savings in this budget are just under $700,000. Other re-ductions have been made to the grants including library grants, homework assistance and entre-preneurial grants. The school board is distributing the full allo-cation of these grants to schools, but these allocations were target-ed by the MELS for cuts. While saddened to have to reduce some of these, we are working with schools and centres to ensure that the programs remain, managed in more economical ways.

For instance, a complete set of encyclopaedias cost $1500. His-torically schools have sets of Eng-lish and French encyclopaedias with many schools having more than one set. As information is updated, existing print encyclo-paedias became obsolete requir-ing the purchase of new sets. The board has been purchasing on line encyclopaedias at a frac-tion of the cost of the hard cover versions. The on line versions are updated daily, and can be ac-cessed by numerous students si-multaneously at school and from home. The school board is also piloting the Library of the Fu-ture. Libraries are not just about books, but about sharing ideas, finding information and inspiring imaginations. As learning evolves in a digital world, we are looking at having our libraries evolve in a digital world. Our idea is to have libraries become personal learn-ing networks that are both com-munal and social places within a Digital Citizenship framework and environment. They will be-come creation stations for ideas and learning. We envision li-brarians to be tech savvy and able to help with the delivery of digital content programs.

The Lester B. Pearson School Board continually re-evaluates operational expenses in order to support classrooms. By Decem-ber 2014 the school board will

have completed three highly suc-cessful projects to reduce energy costs across the board.

Q How does LBPSB plan to make up for the additional re-quired cuts?

A There are two ways to re-duce a deficit bottom line. One is to cut expenses, the other to in-crease revenues.

We foresee our Daycare Rev-enue going up $200,000 this up-coming year and we have asked our Continuing Education de-partment to increase programs to bring in more revenue.

The board started an interna-tional student program which has increased revenues in the board while exposing our students to a global environment and we are expecting over a half million in additional revenues from this ini-tiative.

Q Does the school board make sure that school taxes paid by LB-PSB parents are allocated to the Lester B. Pearson?

A The MELS establishes a maximum amount in the annual budget rules that school boards can receive in school taxes. Each school board based on the Is-land of Montreal receives a base amount of $241,386 plus an ad-ditional $804.64 per weighted student. School taxes pay for school and centre energy, man-agement costs for schools and centres, funding for maintenance of buildings and equipment, caretaking costs and part of the cost of school transportation.

The Comité de gestion taxe scolaire de l’Ile de Montreal (CGTSIM) imposes the school tax on all taxable properties within its territory. This power is conferred upon it by article 434.1 of the Ed-ucation Act. The Comité collects the tax it imposes in accordance with the provisions of article 436 of that same legislation. The CGTSIM is provided with the maximum amount of school taxes that the five island school boards are eligible to receive based upon the MELS budget rules, then di-vides this amount by the tax base on the island of Montreal. Ac-cording to article 434.2 of the Education Act, this amount can-not exceed .35‐ per $100 of the standardized assessment of tax-able immoveables. The current rate for school boards on the island of Montreal is .19462‐

per $100. The CGTSIM sends tax bills to all property owners on the island of Montreal. The CGTSIM also sends tax bills to property-owners considered to be English-speaking or “neutral” if they on the LBPSB territory off the island of Montreal. If you live off the island of Mon-treal and have not informed the CGTSIM that you are English speaking or “neutral”, then your school taxes are collected by the Commission scolaire des Trois Lacs. If your school tax bill is sent from the CS des Trois Lacs please contact the CGTSIM to have them redirected to the LB-PSB. (www.cgtsim.qc.ca) The Comité de gestion is the only as-sociation in the province who is legislated to collect taxes in the province. Throughout the rest of the province, each school board is obliged to collect their own taxes. They do this highly efficiently and relieve the school boards of the costs associating with sending out tax bills and collecting the taxes.

Q Can a school board finance representative attend governing board meetings to present the schools and centres financial statements?

A The school board has 59 different schools and centres who present financial statements and budgets two or three times a year. As the school board does not have enough personnel to at-tend governing board meetings, training has been provided to principals and centre directors to address questions regarding local budgets. Pamphlets ex-plaining elementary, secondary, centre and daycare budgets are available at http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/eng/Governingboard/Gov-erningboardV2.asp .

Q Why doesn’t the school board only use technology that has stood the rule of five years of usefulness?

A Technology evolves too quickly to wait five years before implementing new methods of helping learners. The school board works with universities, schools across the world and educational specialists to review best practices and delivery mod-els to maximize the support of each individual.

Q Has the school board ap-

proached corporate, private and municipalities for support?

A The school board has agree-ments with many municipalities for the sharing of services and buildings. Many school board fields are used by municipali-ties for soccer, rugby, baseball and softball associations. The council of commissioners has encouraged the sharing of ser-vices and has preferential rental agreements with municipalities. Some municipalities have pro-vided partial funding for play-ground equipment, theatres, gyms and student safety such as drop off zones . The school board is not a charitable organi-zation and cannot issue charita-ble tax receipts. Corporate and private donations are solicited by the Pearson Education Foun-dation which supports students in achieving their educational objectives. More information on the Pearson Education Foun-dation can be found at www.pef.lbpsb.qc.ca

Q Board should run their own fleet of busses for field trips and activities etc.

A The school board has ana-lyzed the advantages and dis-advantages of running a LBPSB fleet of school busses. Based upon the core expertise of the school board, it is not financial-ly viable to run our own fleet of busses.

SummaryThe Lester B. Pearson School

Board has one of the lowest administrative costs for school boards in Quebec while main-taining one of the highest gradu-ation rates in the province. The school board has strived to con-sistently allocate the maximum amount of resources to support student success while stream-lining administrative costs.

After analyzing the parameters delivered on July 25th and the total cuts in financing of over $10.7 million the school board declared a deficit of $2.4 mil-lion. Of the $2.4 million, the MELS budget rules permitted the LBPSB to absorb $1.4 mil-lion of the deficit into the ac-cumulated surplus. The school board continues to review op-erations to see where additional savings can be generated.

Budget 2014-2015 Questions and Answers

In the News...November issue - Parenting skills workshop in Vaudreuil-Soulanges (at Westwood Jr.) .Montreal Families.Nov. 17 – Remembrance Day at John Abbott (with students from Macdonald High school and Edgewater

elementary). Montreal Times. Nov. 17 – LBPSB urges street safety after recent incident. Canada TimesNov. 19 – Quebec government school board changes. Interview with LBPSB Chairman Suanne Stein day. CJAD.Nov. 19 – Score with School. The Chronicle Nov. 19 – Remembrance Day (Macdonald High School and Edgewater Elementary students at Remembrance

Day ceremonies). The ChronicleNov. 21 – Score with School. The Suburban MagazineNov. 21 – LBPSB’s annual Math Olympics. The Suburban Magazine.Nov. 22 – Pearson Board swears in Chairman, Commissioners. Premier EditionNov. 22 – LBPSB safe from Quebec school reform. The ChronicleNov. 24 – John Rennie students to bring coffee relief to homeless shelters. The Chronicle.Nov. 24 – McGill Redmen hockey visit Westwood High School. Montreal TimesNov. 25 – Pearson facing legal challenge over St. Lazare school project. West Island Gazette Nov. 26 – McGill hockey players deliver positive message (Westwood Jr.) . L’Etoile. Nov. 27 – Service with a smile – Westwood Sr. high school students serve turkey dinner to raise funds for the Le

Pont/Bridging food bank. Your local Journal Nov. 27 – Quebec chops $10.9 million from LBPSB budget. The Suburban. Dec. 1 – John Rennie students help homeless. Global TVDec. 3 – New Pearson commissioner brings fresh blood and younger perspective to the table. West Island GazetteDec. 4 – Ethics commission exonerates Stein Day. The SuburbanDec. 4 – JRHS Renniessance class host 2nd annual coffee drive. The SuburbanDec. 4 – JRHS presents panto take on Beauty and the Beast. The Suburban Dec. 6 – Board-wide talent show auditions (TOPS). Premier Edition Dec. 13 – Rona Cupak fund helping students in need. Premier EditionDec. 15 – Reaction to MELS proposal to increase number of students in each classroom, part of austerity measures.

Interview with LBPSB Chairman Suanne Stein Day on CBC Radio.

Below is a list of Commissioners along with their school board locals. 422-3000 Ward Communities Commissioner Local Chairman All Suanne Stein Day 30101 1 Lasalle/Verdun Mary Ann Davis 30121 2 Lasalle/Lachine Frank Di Bello 30122 3 Lachine/Dorval Joshua Arless 30123 4 Pointe-Claire Noel Burke 30102 5 Pierrefonds-Roxboro Nan Beaton 30125 6 Dollard-des-Ormeaux Craig Berger 30126 7 Kirkland/Dollard Laura Derry 30127 8 Beaconsfield Martin Sherman 30128 9 Pointe-Claire/Beaconsfield/Baie d’Urfé/Ste. Anne Eric Bender 30129 10 Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue/Île-Perrot Domenic Pavone 30130 11 Off-Island North Daniel Olivenstein 30131 12 Off Island South Wayne Clifford 30132 Parent Sharad Bhargava 30161 Parent Sandra Buckingham 30162 Parent Frank Clarke 30162 Parent Michael Nalecz 30163 Student Sierra Nadeau Student Kathy Nodzynski

Executive Committee Monday, December 8 5:30 p.m. Board Room Council of Commissioners Monday, December 15 7:30 p.m. Board Room