Council readies for annual assembly

1. Approved, for submission to the 2023 Annual Representative Assembly, the following resolutions:

a) That the Association urge the Government of Alberta to require that instructing, supervising and/or monitoring of student instruction in the areas of career and technology studies, off-campus programming and dual-credit programming be the exclusive responsibility of fully certificated teachers.

b) That the Association urge the Government of Alberta to mandate frequent on-site monitoring and reporting by certificated teachers of all off-campus education programs to ensure student safety and adherence to established standards for delivery of instruction in these settings.

c) That the Association urge the Government of Alberta to provide additional, targeted funding for Career and Technology Studies classrooms and Career and Technology Foundations classrooms to ensure class sizes do not exceed maximums required to provide for student safety and adequate teacher supervision.

d) That the Association urge the Government of Alberta to address shortages of skilled tradespeople by funding the expansion of post-secondary institutions’ capacity to provide access to programs supporting apprenticeship training and trades certification.

e) That the Association assert as a fundamental belief that the purpose of career, skills and technology courses and programming within the primary education system is to provide students with opportunities to broaden their learning and experiences with a well-rounded program of study.

2. Authorized an overexpenditure of up to $18,000, allocated across 2022/23 and 2023/24 fiscal years, from the Diversity Equity and Human Rights Initiatives budget line to facilitate the creation of a new resource to assist teachers in promoting the success in school of Ukrainian students who are immigrants or from families temporarily displaced by the war in Ukraine.

3. Approved Council committee and representation assignments for 2023/24 and appointed Council members to the Interpretation Committee Under Collective Agreement and the Subcommittee on PEC Member Orientation.

4. Approved the Association’s nominees to the Canadian Teachers’ Federation Advisory Committee on the Teaching Profession, Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, Advisory Committee on Diversity and Human Rights and Advisory Committee on Indigenous Education.

5. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of two charges of unprofessional conduct for viewing inappropriate content on a personal computing device that was viewable to a student and for lying to the teacher’s employer about travelling overseas while on medical leave. The hearing committee ordered a penalty of a single letter of reprimand to address both charges, a fine of $200 for charge one, and a fine of $200 for charge two.

6. Approved the draft Association calendar for 2023/24 and provisionally approved for finalization by staff the draft Association calendars for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

7. Amended the School Leaders Issues and Concerns Committee frame of reference by including the duty to promote and discuss services the Association provides for school leaders.