Peggy Revell
The Rainy River District School Board established a new audit committee at its regular monthly meeting last Tuesday night.
The new committee comes as the board implements the Regulation 361/10 under the Education Act, which says all boards across Ontario now must have an auditing committee to oversee its risk management, internal controls, and governance processes.
Trustees Dave Kircher and Dianne McCormack, along with external members Kelly McFayden and Reta Dykstra, were appointed by the board to this committee.
And also in place now are regional internal auditors.
“Basically, what [the regional internal auditors will] do is audit on risk assessment,” Education Director Heather Campbell explained after the meeting.
“And it’s not just finance,” she stressed. “It’s all areas of the board: instruction, human resources, plant and maintenance, transportation.
“It’s quite a lengthy process that we’ll be undergoing,” she added.
Campbell noted that sometime by the end of June, the board will be expecting the assessments from the regional auditors, which then will be presented to the board’s now established audit committee.
“The audit committee will receive that report and then sit down and make recommendations as to what are high-risk, medium-risk, and low-risk, and some suggestions as to how we can work to improve those areas,” Campbell explained, likening the process to the operational review undergone earlier by the board where areas of concern were priorized and addressed from there.
Example of areas that will be looked into by these auditors will include things as the instructional day, bell schedule, supervision of students, plant maintenance, special education, safety plans, and school trips.
“Anything that would incur risk to the board, they assess and then give a report back,” Campbell said.
Last Tuesday’s meeting also saw the release and approval of the board’s audited financial statements for the previous year.
Independently audited by BDO Canada LLP, the audit reflects the financial position of the board as of Aug. 31, 2010, which included as surplus of $1.9 million (roughly four percent of the total budget), which has been transferred to the board’s reserve fund for future use.
“The Rainy River District School Board is very proud of the responsible financial management and good judgment shown by our administration and staff,” Superintendent of Business Laura Mills said in a press release following the meeting.
“This focus ensures that we have the funds available to undertake key projects, such as constructing new school facilities, improving our technical infrastructure, and providing cutting-edge technology in the classroom,” she added.
In other news, a policy change is now in the works following December’s board meeting which saw members of the public outline problems when it comes transportation.
“There’s some recommendations that came out of the transportation committee meeting,” noted Campbell.
These recommendations will be incorporated into a revised policy that then will be passed to the policy committee, which will be meeting later this month, she explained.
“And from there will be most likely be recommended for stakeholder consultation at the February board meeting,” she added.
Proposed changes put forward by the transportation committee, as noted in its meeting minutes that were presented at last week’s board meeting, include:
•Including language in the policy for students to be allowed to be transported to an alternative address, provided that the Transportation Department is notified a minimum of two weeks in advance of the changes, that the alternative address is on the student’s present route, and does not result in a route extension or an additional stop.
If another bus is required for an alternative address, this may be provided is there is room on the other bus.
•Courtesy requests to be allowed in situations such as busing secondary students to employment should it be on an existing route, no additional stops or route extensions are required, and with written confirmation of employment and permission of parent/guardian.
•Revising the currently unclear definition of “emergency” with respect to a death or serious illness within the student’s immediate family, with examples of non-emergency requests to be included in the revised policy.
•Updated guidelines when it comes to the definition of “regular” as it applies to a regular schedule for transportation, and inclusion of a statement in the policy which encourages parents to contact the Transportation Office to “work together with the board to achieve a regular schedule that ensures students safety.”
•A call for increased communication regarding the board’s transportation policy, such as including it in school handbooks and advertisements in the summer.
As well, that safety and efficiency be incorporated into correspondence with parents and the community, and that the superintendent of education will work with schools to ensure communication with both custodial parents with respect to transportation arrangements.
When it comes to custodial arrangements, the minutes noted that changes to the language when it comes to alternative and regular would assist when it comes to the concerns of custodial parents and transportation schedules.
Also at last Tuesday’s meeting, Fort Frances High School’s Academic Assistance Program was presented with a Recognition of Excellence.
The board also heard presentations on instructional coaching in mathematics, as well as the “Character in Action” program.
