School Board Cuts, Baked Sausage Pasta & Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Trustees engage their communities in building and maintaining a school system that reflects local priorities, values and expectations.

School trustees listen to their communities, guide the work of their school district and set plans, policies and the annual budget. Reflecting the strength of local representation, boards report back to their communities on how students are doing.

Boards are directly accountable to the people they serve.

British Columbia School Trustees Association

I have been a member of PAC for 7 years. PAC stands for Parent Advisory Council. I have also been on the DPAC (District PAC) for 5 years. I go to the meetings, I vote for the Trustees and I pay attention. I have ALWAYS stood behind our School Board. I stood behind them when they closed the closest middle school to our house, the school that my daughters would have attended. I understood. When my daughter’s Vice Principal got fired for reasons that were not told to staff, students, or parents and transferred to another school, I was upset but had faith in the fact that the people we elected had our best interests at heart. When a teacher at our elementary school got escorted out of the building by RCMP and put on leave and then came back as my daughter’s teacher, I was upset and concerned but looked to our administrators for reassurance that things would be OK. After 2 more principals/vice principals were let go or left (parents have still not been told why) from our school, I went to the meetings asked the questions and hoped that the people that had my children’s futures in their hands, knew what they were doing. I went to every budget meeting held in the past 7 years so that I could SEE for myself what was happening. I stood up at meetings and implored angry parents that the School Board wasn’t to blame for cuts, it was the Ministry of Education that was screwing us over by not funding the divisions enough.

This year we were told that there was a problem with numbers and that we were short enrolment. I point blank asked the Superintendent if there would be cuts and she said, “no.”

Next year we are expecting an even BIGGER drop in enrolment, not even taking COVID-19 into the equation. What will happen now?

I was devastated to hear that the Board has decided to cut the Gifted program and that SBean’s teacher has been let go. This was the last straw. How much can a person get knocked down before they wisen up to the fact that these people are NOT working for the best interest of my children? They asked us to send in our questions/comments to the latest School Board Meeting on May 25, 2020. I sent my letter but it didn’t matter. They voted BEFORE parents were given their chance to voice their concerns!

Unacceptable.

I am sad. I am MAD! On Monday evening, while fighting a fever and a NASTY bug, I sat through a 2 hour meeting via Teams while they all congratulated themselves, saying the word appreciate repeatedly and how they felt “good” about their decisions of how to make $2.5million worth of cuts. They reminded us that we are missing the fact that the teacher’s finally signed a contract and we should be happy! Even though that had NOTHING to do with this Board. One Trustee twisted words like cut and revised saying the Gifted program is not being cut it is being revised. HA! Firing the Gifted teacher and asking the teacher’s to do ANOTHER job that is NOT in their job description is not revised! No wonder nobody trusts them, they do NOT have the kid’s best interests at heart and I am disappointed with everyone of these “trust”ees that have made cuts based on numbers and not based on needs.

I wrote a letter, that wasn’t supposed to be heard until the END of the very long and self congratulatory meeting that highlighted these key points; gifted kids are designated kids with unique needs that deserve support, without the proper support they are less likely to meet their potential, and when programs like this are cut, they are gone for good.

Seeing as how most people left the meeting after the vote on the budget (in section 4) and my comments were not supposed to be presented until section 16, AND, the GLARING fact that they decided NOT to read my letter of concern and instead said VERY dismissively that they would get back to me in a email! SO, I would like to post it here.

Because I promise when the next election comes around that my anger, disgust and disappointment will still be rooted deep inside my belly waiting to be heard and waiting to make a difference!

Hello,

My name is Kristin Maier and I have a question/comment.

Over the years as I’ve watched the budget be slashed, I have noticed that programs that are cut are never brought back into our school division. I am very very worried about the Elementary Gifted program being cut. As it is, the program had funding cuts and was left with only $1000 budget. I realize that the gifted teacher Mrs. Claire Thompson is a teacher that you feel is expendable. I very much disagree. Although my children are no longer in the program, I am worried about the children that need this program in the future. Gifted children are designated children. They have special needs that are not looked at in regular class programming. Some of these children have social issues and the only way they find people like them are in this program. Mrs. Thompson recognizes this and treats these kids the way they should be treated, with a special hand and a compassionate nature. This is exactly what these students need.

I know from personal experience that when my daughter was going through a rough time at her school with budget cuts, part-time teachers, multiple administrators leaving, and a flat out a terrible school year, her gifted class was her safe space. These are designated students and they need this program to meet children like them, to feel safe to express their creative differences and to have a teacher that challenges them.

When the conventional school curriculum fail to stimulate their young brains, leaving them bored and stymied, these kids may get lost in the system. Stats have proven that Gifted students who miss out on accelerated learning opportunities still do well above average, but don’t accomplish as much later in life. It’s a big loss for lots of reasons, including the fact that these kids represent a unique pool of talent for generating new ideas and innovations. And because of inadequate policies, we may be losing opportunities to nurture the next Bill Gates or Marie Curies of the future.

I believe there are many ways to meet these cuts without affecting programs that are needed. Programs that once cut will never be brought back. Programs that will be lost to our children forever. Perhaps we could cut the Assistant Superintendent now that Todd Manuel is leaving that position and taking over duties as Superintendent? Perhaps our schools, especially the ones with barely any students don’t need a principal plus a vice principal? Perhaps we could get rid of some of the school board administrators and staff? Next year you will look at closing schools again. However, even when money is back in the budget, it will go to other places. SD 67 will no longer have a Gifted program. That is sad. Sad for our future, sad for those children, and sad for an amazing teacher. Classroom teachers are not Gifted teachers and do not have the skill set to challenge these special kids to their highest potential. I really hope that you can see that these cuts make a lasting impression on our children. That losing these programs hurt these kids that are already ostracized for their differences and by cutting this program that you are leaving these children vulnerable to falling through the cracks of our system.

Thank you for your time,
Kristin

Sent from my iPhone

This week on How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode 172: Best Laid Plans We had on a special guest, our RADBesty Matt from Reasons Are Debatable to discuss the visit that wasn’t meant to be. Topics: art, Memorial Day, schedules, golfing, home school, & point systems Check it out HERE.

I love pasta. We eat pasta at least once a week. Lately I have really gotten into Italian sausage pasta. I make this one dish that is so easy but SO good, you can find it HERE. This week I was really craving lasagna but I didn’t want to put in the work. Lasagna is expensive to make and it takes a lot of time. I found this recipe that reminded me of my sausage pasta AND lasagna but MUCH easier. It was moan out loud good. You could use a 2 different types of cheese like maybe provolone and mozzarella instead of only mozzarella, I just had fresh mozzarella in my fridge and it is one of my family’s favourite cheeses.

Baked Sausage Pasta
Adapted from Dinner, then Dessert

1 bag dry penne pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 package ground mild Italian sausage
1 jar Marinara Sauce
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

10 basil leaves, thinly sliced

Cook pasta one minute shy of the directions and drain.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add sausage and onions to a large dutch oven and cook until meat is fully cooked on medium high.

Add in marinara sauce and 1/2 the basil and let simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat.

Layer in 9×13 baking dish in order: half the pasta, half the meat sauce, all the sour cream, 1/2 the mozzarella, all of the provolone cheese, the rest of the pasta, the rest of the meat sauce, the rest of the mozzarella, the rest of the basil and all of the Parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered, on a baking sheet, for 30 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

SBean has been baking up a storm! You can tell how much I have been enjoying her baked goods by looking at my brand new Covid-19 waistline 😂. These cookies were a mixture of 2 of my favourite cookies, oatmeal and peanut butter. These were easy enough for my 7 year old to bake on her own (with me watching over) and tasty enough for them to be all gone in less than a week! These cookies are flavourful and chewy in the BEST possible way!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from Just So Tasty

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup oats (I used Quick Oats)

In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugars, and peanut butter until fluffy.

Mix in the egg and vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, carefully beat in the flour, baking soda and salt. Then mix in the oats.

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Form the dough into balls about 1 – 1.5 tablespoons in size. (You can chill the dough at this point or continue on.)

Place 2 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet. Do not flatten. Then bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops are just set.

This was a weird week. Monday was Victoria Day so Ninja was home and we got to spend time together getting ready for the upcoming week and of course we made time to party! SBean set up a nice outside party for us and we played games, danced and listened to music. I started Phase 2, Week 4 of my Beachbody Barre Blend class. It was an ass kicker!

Tuesday was great and we took advantage of the nice day to go for a walk and do a scavenger hunt between learning and dance classes. Wednesday was hard. The Girls were not interested in learning. They were more interested in being mean to each other and to me. At one point I thought that they had officially broken me. There were a lot miserable parts of that day but I’m going to focus on the good parts. My new phone case came in the mail, I had a deliciously healthy lunch thanks to my Sis and how inspiring her healthy lifestyle is, and after a day of tears and yelling we ended it with a wonderful cuddle 💛 .

Thursday was MUCH better and Friday was a day of crafting a dollhouse, doing my makeup for the first time in months 😂, and supporting locally by ordering from a personal favourite of mine, La Casa Ouzeria. Ninja and I ended our Friday evening with a wonderful double date night with our RADBesty and LadyFriend via Skype while the Girls had a slumber party downstairs.

Although we had some rough patches this week we ended it with an important lesson. No matter what happens out there in the world, no matter how angry you get, in our home, you are safe and you are very much loved 💛 .