Don’s Script for Town Hall Meeting February 2, 2009

Welcome

Good evening and welcome to the 12th annual Red Deer Public School District Town Hall Meeting. This is our primary opportunity to meet with you – students, parents, staff members, and other members of our community – to seek your input with regard to issues and priorities in the Red Deer Public School District.

It’s my pleasure to introduce the Chair of our Board of Trustees, Dr. Bill Stuebing, who will begin the evening with some words of welcome and will introduce our trustees.

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«Bill Stuebing speaks»

Introductions/Explanation of Process

Thank you, Bill.

«introduce guests and welcome media»

Although we’re certainly pleased to see every one of you this evening, we are especially glad to welcome a large number of students to our Town Hall Meeting this evening.

«Ask all students to stand and be acknowledged»

In years gone by, we’ve had a table of cookies at the back of the room, but in

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keeping with our new nutrition policy, we’ve placed an assortment of nutritious snacks at your tables. Beverages can be found at the back of the room and you should feel free to visit the table at any time during the evening. Washrooms located just outside the main entrance doors.

The Red Deer Public School District was established more than 120 years ago by the members of this community and, all these years later, it continues to serve the community. Tonight, we have gathered more than 220 representatives from all sectors of our community – students, parents, representatives of various community agencies & business interests, teachers, other staff, and trustees - to talk about one of the most

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important functions of any community: the provision of schooling for our young people.

Our purpose this evening is to invite you to think about schools in general and about Red Deer Public Schools in particular. We’re going to do that by engaging you two discussions: the first an open ended discussion in which you will be asked to identify strategies that will enable the school district to do a better job generally and the second focused on how we can do a better job of encouraging and enabling students to enrol in post secondary education opportunities.

Each topic will contain five steps: First, we will provide you with background

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information about the topic. Second, you will be invited to engage in a lively discussion with the others at your table. Third, your group will be asked to share your best ideas with the group as a whole. Fourth, you and your group will have opportunity to discuss the ideas presented by other groups. And finally, we’ll poll the entire meeting, to gain a sense of what the group as a whole thinks.

What about the record sheets? Each table has received three coloured record sheets: blue, green and yellow. One person at each table is asked to be a recorder and keeper of the record sheets. When someone in your group makes a point that seems to capture a lot of support from those at your table, or

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which is understood to be a very important point, please be sure to write it down on the appropriate record sheet. I’ll say more about that in a few minutes.

Before we begin our first topic, here’s Ron Eberts to explain the keypad polling process.

«Ron explains polling process»«Note: Trustees will not have keypads; perhaps group leaders as well»

Topic #1 – Strategies to Address District Goals and Outcomes

Our first discussion this evening focuses on the development of strategies, or action steps, that the District should include in its next Education Plan;

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strategies that will help us do a better job of meeting the needs of our students.

The District’s current priorities are found in the District Education Plan, a copy of which is at your table. The Education Plan is organized around three main goals under which there are ten outcomes. In our first discussion this evening, we’re going to focus on eight of these outcomes. They are:1. Schools provide a safe and caring

environment.2. The education system meets the needs

of all K-12 students, society and the economy.

3. Children at risk have their needs addressed through effective programs and supports.

4. Students complete programs.7

5. Students demonstrate high standards in learner outcomes.

6. Students model the characteristics of active citizenship.

7. The education system at all levels demonstrates effective working relationships.

8. The district demonstrates leadership and continuous improvement.

Within each outcome there are a series of strategies, or action steps, that the District has already committed to undertake. Some of the strategies in our current Education Plan are (those marked with an asterisk are a direct result of last year’s Town Hall meeting):1. Implement year 3 of a project

focused on character development & citizenship.

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2. Consider development and implementation, on a community-wide basis, of a pledge in support of high school completion.*

3. Develop and implement a common district program of early literacy intervention.

4. Implement year 3 of a project on effective assessment practices.

5. Implement a substance abuse intervention program.*

6. Enable students and parents to access student marks via the Internet.

7. Intensify efforts to obtain funding for a new elementary school in the district’s high growth areas.

This evening you are going to have opportunity to identify new strategies – new actions the District should take –

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that will help us accomplish the ten outcomes. We’re looking for your best, most creative, out of the box thinking. Again, please take note that each strategy begins with a verb – an action word – and I would request that you follow this pattern as well when you suggest strategies.

During the discussion period, your group will be assigned one of the ten outcomes. You will then be asked to develop a list of strategies that will help us to achieve the outcome; strategies that you think the District should include in its next Education Plan. Every suggestion, whether it receives a lot of support at your table or not, should be placed on the blue record sheet that each group leader has received.

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You will have a total of about 20 minutes to generate suggested strategies. If your group completes its assigned outcome in less than the allotted time, you are invited to choose one of the other outcomes – any one you like – and to generate strategies for that outcome as well. Be sure to place those strategies on the green record sheet. When you have completed your list, or lists as the case may be, you will be asked to identify your top three strategies overall, regardless of which list they may be on.

If you’re wondering about what strategies may already be included in our Education Plan, just check the copy of our current Plan.

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All right, it’s time to put you to work. Group leaders: Please feel free to begin the discussion.

«After 18 minutes – Give 2 minute warning»

«After 20 minutes»

Thanks very much for that excellent discussion. It’s time now for your group to identify its “top 3” overall priorities, regardless of the outcomes you have discussed, and to rank them in priority order: #1, #2 and #3. You’ve got 3 minutes to complete that task.

«Allow 3 minutes for prioritization»

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Well, it’s now time to find out what all that talk was about, as we capture your ideas and put them up on the screen. Piet Langstraat, our Deputy Superintendent, and I will be coming round to each table to ask you to share your #1 idea with the group as a whole. Please give us your #1 strategy overall, which Ron Eberts will then place on the screen for all of us to see and think about.

If, when we get to your group, your best idea has already been taken, please give us your #2 idea. If that’s also been taken, we’ll ask you for your #3 idea. In the unlikely event that all 3 have been taken, we’ll ask you to pass, but in so doing we’ll understand that your group is obviously a brilliant one, in that you’ve

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come up with the same ideas as everyone else.

«Gather ideas»

Thanks very much for those excellent ideas. In a moment, we’re going to poll the entire group to give each of you an opportunity to express your opinion about each of the suggested strategies. But before we get to the polling, you’ll have a few minutes to discuss the suggestions that are on the screen. This is your opportunity to ask a last minute question or provide helpful clarification to the others in your group. Again, if you’re wondering what will happen to the ideas that you didn’t get to share, they will all be read and consideration

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will be given to each one as the next District Education Plan is developed.

«Allow 5 minutes for discussion»

«Conduct poll #2»

Topic #2 – Increasing the Post Secondary Transition Rate

Our second discussion this evening is focused on increasing the post secondary transition rate. We’re interested to learn what strategies you think would be most helpful in encouraging and enabling more of our young people to continue their studies after completing high school. Before we begin the discussion at

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your tables, here’s Bruce Buruma with some background information.

«Bruce Buruma presents background information»

All right, with that background, it’s time to put you to work. During the next 20 minutes or so, your group leader will lead you in a discussion about this all-important topic. You will have opportunity to identify key strategies, or initiatives, that you think the District should consider in its attempts to improve the extent to which our community is involved and engaged in its schools. Please keep in mind that each strategy should begin with a verb – an action word – that clearly identifies what

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action the District should take to address this issue.

When someone in your group makes a point that captures a lot of support from those at your table, be sure to write it down on a yellow record sheet. At the end of the meeting, we’ll collect the sheets and I can assure you that each idea will be considered as the Board prepares its priorities for the next three years. Then, as we approach the end of the discussion period, each group will be asked to identify its top three strategies in priority order.

We don’t have a lot of time, so let’s get started. Group leaders, please begin the discussion.

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«After 18 minutes – Give 2 minute warning»

«After 20 minutes»

Thanks very much for that excellent discussion. It’s time now for your group to identify its “top 3” strategies and to rank them in priority order: #1, #2 and #3. You have 3 minutes to complete that task.

«Allow 3 minutes for prioritization»

«After 3 minutes»

It’s time now for all of us to hear the strategies that you developed during your group discussions. Piet Langstraat, our Deputy Superintendent, and I will ask the

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leader at each table to present their #1 strategy and we’ll then place it on the screen. If, when your turn comes, your #1 strategy has already been taken, please give us your second choice, or third choice, as the case may be. If all three of your top priorities have been taken, I’ll ask you to pass and we’ll move on to the next table. In that way, we will place as many good ideas as we can on the screen. Then, after all of your best ideas have been posted, you’ll have a brief opportunity to discuss them at your table.

«Gather best ideas, one table at a time»

There you have them, the top ideas from each table. You now have five minutes to discuss these ideas at your table before

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we take our first poll of the evening. This is your opportunity find out more, to influence the others at your table, or to have others convince you of their position.

«After 5 minutes, end discussion»

«Conduct poll #2»

How Input Will be Used

This evening, you’ve had opportunity to share your best ideas, to express your point of view, and to register your preferences regarding District issues and priorities. The outcome of this evening’s discussion will be of great value to the Board as it moves into its annual planning retreat later this month. As I

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stated earlier, all of the ideas written on the coloured record sheets will be read and consideration will be given to each one of them. Group leaders, please be sure that the record sheets have been placed in the envelope at your table.

How can you find out the complete results of tonight’s discussion? Well, as soon as we have completed the official tabulations, we’ll post them on our District website for anyone who wishes to access them. If you don’t have access to the Internet, you’re more than welcome to drop by our central office and ask for a copy of the results; we’ll be happy to provide you with one. I expect it may take a few days for us to have the final results, so you may want to wait just a bit before looking for a copy.

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Before Bill Stuebing comes to share some final thoughts, we have one more poll we’d like to take.

«Satisfaction poll»

«Thanks to Eunice Muzsik, Bruce Buruma, Piet Langstraat, Ron Eberts, group leaders»

Thanks & Closing Comments

Here now for some words of thanks and final comments is our Board chair, Dr. Bill Stuebing.

«Bill Stuebing speaks»

Adjournment22