The Northwest Catholic District School Board held its inaugural meeting in Dryden on Saturday, where Fort Frances trustee Gerry Rousseau was named chair for the second-straight year.
Dryden trustee Robert vanOort was named vice-chair, replacing Wade Petranik of Dryden, who was defeated by John Borst in last month’s election.
Both Rousseau and vanOort were acclaimed.
All eight trustees—also including Anne Marie Fitzgerald (Fort Fran-ces), Harold Huntley (Fort Fran-ces), Mark Chojko-Bolec (Stratton), Cathy Bowen (Sioux Lookout), and Ralph Bruyere (First Nations rep)—were sworn in at the meeting.
The board also examined the unaudited financial report for the year at its inaugural meeting.
“The board is in a good financial position,” said Education Director John Madigan, who noted the board’s total overall revenue for the year was just over $12 million.
The expenditures are the same because the budget must be balanced by law, he explained.
Madigan stressed the financial statements the board examined Saturday were unaudited.
“The auditor is still working on it,” he remarked, adding the final report should be ready for the board’s next meeting Jan. 20.
“We don’t anticipate there will be any major discrepancy” be-tween the audited and unaudited report, Madigan said.
Also on the board’s agenda Saturday were the 2002-03 EQAO test results for students in Grades 3 and 6.
In reading, 46 percent of the board’s Grade 3 students met or exceeded the provincial standard—a two percent increase from the previous year.
In writing, 53 percent of Grade 3 students met or exceeded the provincial standard—an eight percent drop from the previous—while 50 percent attained the standard in math—an 11 percent decrease.
But Madigan said comparisons with the previous year’s results are not necessarily very meaningful.
“Slight differences from year to year are to be expected because you’re dealing with a different group of students and different tests,” he noted. “What EQAO is looking for is incremental improvements over time.”
More pronounced increases can be seen when comparing 2002-03 figures with the results from the 1998-99 school year—the third year of the provincial testing–particularly for Grade 6 students.
While 51 percent met or exceeded the provincial standard for reading in 1998-99, 56 percent did so this past year.
In writing, only 44 percent of students met or exceeded the provincial standard four years ago compared to 61 percent this year—an impressive 17 percent jump.
And in math, while 47 percent of Grade 6 students attained provincial standards four years ago, 60 percent did so in 2002-03—a 13 percent rise.
Grade 3 students showed less dramatic improvement over time, with 44 percent of the board’s Grade 3 students attaining the provincial standard in ’98-’99 in reading, compared to 46 percent in the most recent tests.
Grade 3 students showed a similar improvement in writing, going from 50 percent success four years ago to 53 percent this past school year.
Only in math was there a drop—with 52 percent meeting the provincial standard four years ago compared to 50 percent in 2002-03.
“It’s important to look at where we’re going over the long haul,” Madigan stressed.
Also at Saturday’s meeting, Fitzgerald received a pin in recognition of her nine years of service on the board.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
