Here’s a summary of the matters discussed at the February 26 special meeting of the Council of Commissioners. To learn more about the Council of Commissioners, visit the Governance page.
Appointment of a New Commissioner
The nomination of Alain Guy as Chairman of the Board, last month, left vacant his seat as Commissioner for Ward 7. The administration has taken steps to advertise the vacancy and four applications were received. Commissioner Labadie, as chair of the selection committee that was created specifically for the filling of this vacancy, recommended that Mr. Greg Graham be appointed. Council unanimously appointed Mr. Graham as Commissioner. He will be sworn in at the next Council meeting.
Commissioner Greg Graham is the proud father of one current and two future WQ students. He also sits as a member of the council for the Municipality of Bristol, in the Pontiac region.
Presentation on PETES’ Lab-École Project
Principal David McFall and Director of Buildings Pascal Proulx took 20 minutes to update Council on the Lab-École project over at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School (PETES).
It has been a year since Hull MNA Maryse Gaudreault announced that PETES had been chosen as one of only seven schools province-wide to imagine, design and build the school of the future. Since then, six meetings have been held, both at the school and in Québec City, between members of the school community, the Board and the Lab-École team.
Pascal Proulx explained that the team budgeted $10 561 593, 6 279 068 of which go directly towards the construction of four new classrooms, a cafeteria, an additional gym and a holistic room, or hub, to connect the new spaces.
In the coming weeks, the Lab-École team will open an architectural contest (beginning of March), allow a site visit and a consultation with architectural firms and receive propositions (end of March/beginning of April). A jury made out of DG Mike Dubeau, Principal David McFall, a representative from the City of Gatineau and four architects (selected by Lab-École) will then analyze the propositions and select four finalists (mid-April).
These four finalists will be invited to further develop their propositions. They will be invited back to the school for an additional visit and consultation before final propositions be submitted to Lab-École by mid-June. A Technical Committee made out of Director of Buildings Pascal Proulx, Project Manager Luc Carrière as well as teachers, parents and a caretaker, will then analyze each proposition and make recommendations (end of June).
Over the summer, the jury will hold a public presentation and announce the winner of the architectural context. A contract should follow at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year.
Appointment of a Vice-Chair
As the nomination of Alain Guy as Chairman of the board last month left the seat of vice-chair vacant, Council held a secret ballot and appointed Parent-Commissioner Rhonda Boucher as the Western Québec School Board’s new vice-chairperson. Ms. Boucher is the first Parent-Commissioner in the Board’s history to be appointed Vice-Chair.
Vice-Chair Boucher is also Chairwoman of our board’s Parents Committee, as well as Chairwoman of the English Parents’ Committee Association (EPCA), which brings together Parents Committee members from each of Québec’s nine English school boards.
Filling of a Vacancy on the Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is a formal committee that was created by the Council of Commissioners. Certain powers were delegated down to the exec in order to lighten the agendas of regular Council meetings. Powers include decisions on certain HR matters and the approbation of expenses below a set threshold.
As the nomination of Alain Guy as Chairman of the board left a seat vacant on the Executive Committee, Council held a secret ballot and nominated Commissioner Joanne Labadie as its newest member.
Appointment to the QESBA
Together with Québec’s eight other English school boards, Western Québec appoints one of its commissioners to the Québec English School Boards Association. As Alain Guy stepped down from his position at the Association, Council held a secret ballot and appointed Commissioner Pierre Dionne to the QESBA.
This concludes your Council Insider for 26 February 2019.
Disclaimer – This information is provided solely as a short summary of the matters discussed at the Council of commissioners meeting. This summary is provided in the spirit of transparency, and it will in no way replace the official minutes of this meeting, which are usually approved at the following meeting, and made available online shortly thereafter. In the case of a conflict between the information provided here and the approved official minutes, the latter takes precedence.