Tag: Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues

February Newsletter: School Closure Moratorium Committee Recommendations and much more

January 30th, 2012 No comments - Tags: , , , ,

Hello Everyone,

Two very important information pieces regarding School Closures are on the radar.

  1. The EPSB Moratorium Committee Draft Recommendations:
    http://www.epsb.ca/board/january31_2012/item04.pdf

Last year when our board established the two year moratorium on school closures, we determined the need to investigate the causes of closures and determine recommendations that could help keep more schools open. The findings focus on actions that the EPSB district should take and actions that the Province and the City of Edmonton should undertake.  Many of the mitigating factors around a school closure (amount of maintenance funding we receive, the number of children in the neighbourhood) are more influenced by the City or the Province and not by well-intentioned school trustees.

These recommendations are being discussed at 2PM tomorrow at our Public Board Meeting. You can watch it online at www.livestream.epsb.ca

To see the information reports on the causes of closures, check out presentations on:
1. Urban Growth Patterns 2.            Aging School Buildings and Infrastructure Deficit 3. Instructional and PO&M Funding 4.            District Enrolment Trends 5.            Space Utilization 6.            Alternative Programs and Open Boundaries 7. Leasing 8.            Concluding public forum

http://www.epsb.ca/trustees/ClosureMoratorium.shtml

These recommendations if approved by the board will become the backbone or our advocacy regarding school sustainability.

Some questions I have…
- So what is the action piece?
- Do we need to prioritize the maintenance of existing schools over new schools?
- Do we need to establish which particular schools are at risk and need supporting?
- What will this work mean in future for our board and future boards in 10, 20, 30 years?
- What options are there for collaboration with the Edmonton Catholic School District?
- Are replacement schools something that should be referenced or considered when the cost of repair exceeds replacement?
- What do you think? michael@michaeljanz.ca

  1. The Mayor’s Task Force on Community Sustainability (The Michael Phair Task Force) Launch Feb 2nd @City Hall.


During the election Mayor Mandel was vocal about the need to support established communities and support more collaborative planning between the city and the school board. The Mayor established the Task Force on Community Sustainability headed by Former Councilor Michael Phair. The Task Force has been meeting with stakeholders around the city and hosting public consultations. I have been to a couple of these gatherings and found them to be most informative.

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/initiatives_innovation/community-sustainability.aspx

Many Edmonton communities, especially mature neighbourhoods, are challenged with keeping their communities livable, lively and vibrant when confronted with change. The population pattern of mature neighbourhoods typically sees a large decline in the number of school aged children, resulting in a significant impact on schools. This kind of change and others that occur over time in mature neighbourhoods can slowly lead to a loss of vibrancy and community ‘wholeness’.

The City recognizes that communities are the building blocks for the quality of life of its citizens and is aware that a key building block in healthy communities is schools. In collaboration with the provincial government, school boards, parents and community groups, the Task Force on Community Sustainability has been brought together to build innovative partnerships and plans across jurisdictions and to recommend ways that core neighbourhoods can become more vibrant and sustainable.

Looking for Solutions
Mandate
Newsletters and Updates
Public Input
Task Force Members

  1. February Update

Much has been happening in 2012 so far. Last week we went on an organizational board retreat for 3 days and evaluated how we can do our work together, better. With the potential of a massive policy overhaul being undertaken by our board, we are always trying to evaluate how to do our work more effectively.

Outside of my work as a Public School Trustee (in theory this job is part-time though the committment is far more significant) I am the part-time Marketing Director for the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues. This job has me representing Edmonton neighbourhoods at the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference this coming week. This is quite complimentary to my work as a school trustee because many of the sessions focus on the relationships between schools and communities and how schools are a key component of good urban planning.
http://www.michaeljanz.ca/2011/11/interested-in-design-schools-or-urbanism-come-to-san-diego-this-february/

I’ve started my part-time Masters in Education Policy Studies at the University of Alberta and my classes are fantastic. I’m enrolled in a class about Education Administration in Canada and it is extremely relevant to the work we are doing with the board and the challenges that we face.
http://www.michaeljanz.ca/2011/12/back-to-school-for-trustee-janz/

Thanks for reading! As always, please visit www.michaeljanz.ca for more information and updates. If you would like to meet for coffee to discuss anything related to our community or public education, I’d love to hear from you.

Michael Janz
Ward F Trustee
Edmonton Public School Board
www.michaeljanz.ca
780-288-9866

Interested in design, schools, or urbanism? Come to San Diego this February!

November 24th, 2011 No comments - Tags: , , , , ,

I’m excited to share that I will be attending the NEW PARTNERS FOR SMART GROWTH Conference in February 2012 in San Diego. If you have the time or interest, please consider registering.

No EPSB dollars are being spent on this initiative. I will be attending for professional development (I still work 3 days a week as the Marketing Director for the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues) and to build upon the work I’ve been doing on our Living Local Campaign.

Every aspect of our life is impacted by the choices we make in designing and building our city. Do we want lower taxes, healthy citizens, less pollution and communities full of rich social interactions (smart growth) OR higher tax increases to pay for inefficient growth, more roads, greater auto-dependency, air and water pollution, school closures, unhealthy children, social alienation, and the “donut effect decay” that comes with more urban sprawl?

In Edmonton, Do we want the young families back in healthy, complete, communities thus revitalizing mature neighbourhoods or are we going to continue to offer a majority of the supply outside of the Henday? And if we are serious about growing “up and not out” what are some of the major barriers we need to overcome? If you didn’t see the session Councillor Don Iveson and I held that year, check out the community feedback)

This conference is targeted at a broad range of issues; design planning, public education, LRT, heathy communities, schools, transportation planning, and much more! The delegates come from a plethora of backgrounds, both elected and non-elected, from communities across North America.

As your Public School Trustee I will be looking for special opportunities to learn more about delivering top-notch public education while addressing the unique challenges that come with our urban setting. Design and planning issues, school placement, student transportation, and many of the conference sessions have huge implications on the decisions we make at the school board. I’ll be soaking up the learning opportunities!

Spread the word and if you can swing a conference this year in your professional or personal development, there are many worse places to be than San Diego in February!

You can view 10 years of past conference presentations (video and powerpoint) by clicking here: http://www.newpartners.org/2011/past_conferences.html

Putting Schools on the Map: Linking Transit Oriented Development, Families, and schools: http://www.newpartners.org/2011/docs/presentations/thurs/NP11_Vincent.pdf

How do we get more families back into the core of our city?

March 13th, 2011 No comments - Tags: , , , ,

These are not Edmonton numbers, but from what I have heard our statistics are very similar. This is a big concern and has huge impacts on our student health and quality of life.

Click to download the invitation in .pdf:  Apr7WardFCouncilInvite

Attention: School Councils, Community Leagues, parents, families, and all residents!

Please RSVP: michael@michaeljanz.ca Free parking is available. Refreshments provided.

April 7th, 2011 at City Arts Centre 84th Ave 109th Street

Doors at 6:30 PM

Meeting 7-9:30 PM

How do we get more families back into the core of our city?

Nearly all of the schools in our Ward (Downtown, University, Southgate, Riverbend) have fewer and fewer families living in surrounding neighbourhoods. Fewer students in the catchment areas put our schools at an ongoing risk of closure now and in the future.

As citizens, this is economically inefficient as these neighbourhoods are built for families. We have billions of dollars of infrastructure in the core of our city (including our playgrounds, schools, parks and pools, libraries, and roadways) but there are fewer families moving into our neighbourhoods. What can we do to bring more families back into Ward F?

This event is organized for the neighbourhoods in Ward F:

Downtown – Westmount – Oliver – Downtown – Rossdale

U of A/Southgate – Windsor Park – Garneau – Strathcona – Belgravia – McKernan – Queen Alex – Allendale – Grandview Heights – Lansdowne – Lendrum – Malmo – Parkallen – Pleasantview – Empire Park

North Riverbend – Brander Gardens – Brookside – Bulyea Heights – Ramsay Heights – Rhatigan Ridge

All guests are welcome.

To suggest a subject for our next ward council or to RSVP: Michael@michaeljanz.ca