Highlights of the Provincial Executive Council meeting held April 10–11, 2024, at Barnett House, Edmonton.
- Approved in principle (and contingent upon ARA approval of funding) a proposed diversity initiative, which includes the creation of Diversity Equity Networks and a Social Justice and Equity sub-program area within the Professional Development program area.
- Authorized that the creation of a proposed diversity initiative, as part of a comprehensive approach to addressing diversity, be communicated to the 2024 Annual Representative Assembly (ARA) delegates to provide context to resolutions that will be presented at the 2024 ARA.
- Authorized an emergent in-person meeting of the Status of Racialized Teachers (SORT) Subcommittee to be held in advance of ARA 2024 for the purpose of briefing and seeking feedback from the SORT Subcommittee on the proposed diversity initiative and the responses to the SORT Subcommittee recommendations as proposed by Table Officers Committee.
- Authorized an emergent in-person meeting of the Diversity, Equity and Human Rights Committee to be held in advance of ARA 2024 to brief the committee on the proposed diversity initiative.
- Selected Gordon King as executive staff officer, Teacher Employment Services/Regulatory Affairs and Membership Support, with duties to commence at the earliest agreeable time.
- Approved the proposed external competition timeline and appointed members of Council to a selection committee for recruitment of the position of Executive Staff Officer, Teacher Employment Services.
- Approved as interim policy and referred to the 2024 ARA for confirmation a resolution that the Association opposes the use of political party affiliations in Alberta school board elections.
- Approved for presentation to the 2024 ARA a resolution preserving teacher professional judgment on the use of smartphones by students in Alberta classrooms during instructional time.
- Approved for presentation at the 2024 ARA a resolution regarding the administration of mandated literacy and numeracy assessments.
- Amended the 2024/25 proposed budget by changing the full-time teacher count from 34,500 to 34,800; deleting the Teacher Exchange Program estimated at $28,000; deleting the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion audit estimated at $50,000; and increasing the Interest Earnings revenue line by $20,000 to account for the accrued interest of a GIC.
- Authorized that the Alberta School Learning Commons (ASLC) Council be wound up, appointed an official trustee to wind up the affairs of the ASLC, set the trustee’s terms of reference and amended the ASLC constitution.
- Authorized that the Standard Constitution for Convention Associations be amended to the effect that the assigned staff officer and/or district representative must be in attendance for the convention board to have a legitimate meeting.
- Authorized staff support and funding up to $12,000 annually to assist the Alberta Colony Educators with the planning of conferences and other professional development opportunities for members who work in colony schools or Mennonite education programs.
- Authorized staff to consult with members of the Alberta Colony Educators group to identify specific needs and Association supports for members who work in colony schools or Mennonite education programs.
- Amended the 2023/24 program emphases, in response to resolution 2-28/23 adopted at the 2023 ARA, by adding to the Cross-Program initiatives the commissioning of a labour market research and workload analysis focusing on the diverse generational cohorts within Alberta’s teaching profession.
- Removed the Association Instructor and Association Administrator Instructor Corps seminar from future Summer Conference programming and replaced it with an intensive 2.5-day Association Instructor and Association Administrator Instructor Corps summer seminar at an alternative venue, commencing in 2025 on a three-year cycle.
- Awarded the 2024 Alberta Teachers’ Association Doctoral Fellowships in Education, the 2024 belairdirect Scholarship and the 2024 Nadene M Thomas Graduate Research Bursary.
- Amended administrative guidelines to provide a common organizational structure for the ATA Doctoral Fellowships in Education, the belairdirect Scholarship and the Nadene M Thomas Graduate Research Bursary.
- Approved the names of four teachers to the name bank for possible appointment as Indigenous Education PD facilitators.
- Approved the names of 12 teachers to the name bank for possible appointment as Association instructors.
- Amended administrative guidelines pertaining to membership count timelines for student local grants; updates to Summer Conference claims for convention association and specialist council representatives; removal of the Grant MacEwan University Education Undergraduate Society No 11 due to its dormancy; updates to Council attendance at Association-sponsored conferences and events; and removal of outdated language relating to Council elections.
- Rescheduled the May 2025 meeting of Provincial Executive Council due to a calendar conflict. ❚
