The Rocky View School (RVS) Board of Trustees held their organizational meeting on Thursday of last week with the number one priority of the meeting to elect a Chair and Vice-Chair for the 2020-2021 year.  

The person elected to the position of Chair looks very similar to the person who served in that role last year.  Fiona Gilbert was re-elected for her second year in the Chair's seat.  In her first year in the position, Gilbert may have questioned just what she had taken on after schools were shut down in mid-March after COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organization.

In a letter sent by Gilbert yesterday to Rocky View parents, guardians, and staff, she thanked everyone for their part in a successful return to school this fall.  Gilbert called it "a school start-up like no other" but says, because of the efforts of the school community, RVS continues to learn and work in a safe and caring environment for both face-to-face and online learning at home.  

Gilbert says, over the next few weeks, the board will be considering how to best allocate the $9.3 million received by RVS as part of the Government of Canada’s Safe Return to Class Fund. These dollars were earmarked by the government to help cover additional costs for COVID-19 related school measures.

She also said in the letter that, moving into the fall and winter months, the Daily Health Checklist will continue to be one of the most important components of RVS' risk mitigation strategy to ensure that schools continue to be as safe as possible. The division also recently created another tool, the Student "Should I Come to School Today" flowchart, to help families know when to keep their child home and when they can safely return to school. 

Gilbert is also the Trustee for Ward Six representing schools in Cochrane.

The Vice-Chair who was elected is new to that position.  Shali Baziuk, the Trustee for Ward One for the Chestermere area replaces Melyssa Bowen, one of the three Ward Three trustees from Airdrie.

During the organizational meeting, the eight-member board also selected trustees to serve on committees such as Advocacy, Appeals, Labour Relations and School Councils.  You can see a list of the committees and the members for this year HERE.