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Halton public board boosts funding for summer conference by Tim Whitnell Metroland West Media 15 | Friday, February 28, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com The Halton District School Board (HDSB) will allot more than double the usual amount of funding on a summer leadership conference for its senior administrators and trustees. Trustees voted at the Feb. 19 board meeting to accept a request from Director of Education David Euale and Superintendent of Education Tricia Dyson for an extra $50,000 for an overnight leadership conference to be held outside Halton this August. The only trustee dissenting was Jennifer Hlusko of Burlington'. Previously, $40,000 had been dedicated from the board's leadership budget for the rental of a local leadership conference venue. In years past, the conference was held outside Halton, such as in Niagara Falls. For the last three summers, the two-day leadership conference has been held at a Halton hotel or conference centre. The summer conferences are held to prepare staff for the next school year. They are usually attended by the education director and a mix of board managers, superintendents, trustees, principals and vice-principals, student services leaders and some staff from the board's administrative offices -- the J.W . Singleton and New Street education centres. "....An out-of-town experience would provide greater opportunities for our ever-changing leaders to deepen and solidify their sense of team....," stated a passage in the report submitted by Euale and Dyson. The report noted various out-of-town locales have been reviewed by the board's senior administrative team with costs ranging from $65,000 to $164,000. There was a spirited discussion at the Feb. 19 board meeting among trustees and administrators about the value of such conferences and whether they should be staged overnight and out of town. "While the last three (local) conferences have been good for learning, they have been lacking in team building," Dyson told trustees. "We believe that past student success is in system leaders working together.... While it's more expensive to bring everyone, you get what you pay for," said Dyson. Hlusko says it's not necessary to go out of town and spend more public funds. "The image to the taxpayer is that this is an inexcusable waste of taxpayers' dollars. When we used to go to Muskoka, we used to read about it in the newspaper. "In previous years, the question was `Why leave Halton?' People need rest and we provide plenty of mentoring opportunities (here)." Hlusko also noted there would be the added cost of paying for the mileage of staff that drive to and from an out-of-town conference. Oakville trustee Ann Harvey Hope suggested a bus could transport some conference attendees. Milton trustee Donna Danielli acknowledged asking for more funding for staff conferences might not look good to the public. "There is that optics piece about money spent outside the (needs of the) classroom," she said. Halton Hills trustee Alice Strachan said it might make sense to hold out-of-town conferences every five years or when there is a more extensive agenda of issues to be discussed. Dyson said the overnight conferences offer a different experience. "If you go home (from the local conference), ... you can't form those relationships in the learning part," although she added the board does have "a very successful (staff) mentoring program." Dyson said bonding or team building through overnight conferences is especially important as Halton is a rapidly growing board, in terms of its student and staff numbers. Also, as Halton continues to grow as a region it shrinks the availability of appropriately sized conference venues locally for the board to rent, said Dyson. "We would be fools not to consider this type of professional development activity for our staff. When we sequester the group we get their full attention," said Oakville trustee Don Vrooman, adding the board spends a "pittance" on what other companies spend for professional development. · · · Halton public board staff has also attended two-day Pathways conferences -- separate from the leadership get-togethers-- in recent years in Niagara Falls and Orillia. They are workshops for staff involved in the rollout of the Ministry of Education's new Pathways programs like Specialty High Skills Majors and Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP). G1, G2 DRIVING SCHOOL 1395 Abbeywood Drive, Unit #3, Oakville, L6M 3B2 (Located in the No Frills Plaza) STOP! LOOK NO FURTHER! $ Do you wish to enroll in a driving school that is caring, provides thorough training and affordable? 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