The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Highlights of the Provincial Executive Council meeting held May 12–13, 2016, at Barnett House in Edmonton

1. Directed that the Association match, to a provincial maximum of $100,000, contributions that locals make to the Canadian Red Cross to aid victims of the wildfires in Fort McMurray. Costs will be charged to the Special Emergency Fund.
2. Set June 9, 2016 as the date for a byelection necessitated by the resignation of Calgary City district representative Kevin Kempt, who has been elected president of Calgary Public Teachers Local No. 38.
3. Approved, for submission to the 2016 Annual Representative Assembly, resolutions on the issues of student learning assessments; the Provincial Achievement Testing Program; Alberta’s planned participation in the 2018 administration of the Teaching and Learning International Survey; Alberta’s participation in future iterations of the Programme for International Student Assessment, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study; enhanced provincial funding for refugee students enrolled in public, separate and francophone school authorities; and co-operation among the education partners to address obstacles relating to the certification, education, recruitment and employment of refugee teachers in public, separate and francophone school authorities.
4. Directed staff to develop a resolution for presentation to the 2016 Annual Representative Assembly on mental health and disaster trauma.
5. Received the report of a hearing committee that imposed the penalty of a declaration of permanent ineligibility for membership in the Association, a recommendation to the minister of education for cancellation of certification and a fine of $10,000 on a member found guilty on one charge of unprofessional conduct for engaging in a sexual relationship with a student, thereby failing to treat the student with dignity and respect and failing to maintain the honour and dignity of the teaching profession.
6. Received the report of a Professional Conduct Appeal Committee (PCAC), to which Council had earlier appealed the order of the hearing committee on the grounds that the hearing committee had imposed an insufficient penalty and had incorrectly cited a precedent case. The original penalty was a recommendation to the minister of education to cancel the teacher’s letter of authority (which served as the teacher’s teaching certificate), a recommendation to the minister of Education to declare the teacher ineligible for certification for one year, and a declaration that the teacher be deemed ineligible for membership in the Association for one year. PCAC allowed Council’s appeal, concluding that the appropriate penalty in this case should be orders for three years (rather than one year) of ineligibility for membership in the Association and a recommendation to the minister of education for three years (not one year) of ineligibility for teaching.
7. Amended administrative guidelines to specify that prospective consultants shall present qualifications parallel to those required for appointment to the Association’s executive staff, including a minimum of five years’ teaching experience.
8. Named district representatives and table officers to serve on Association committees and to represent the Association on the committees of external organizations in 2016/17.
9. Consistent with section 31(2) of the Teaching Profession Act, extended to Dec. 12, 2016, the deadline for the commencement of hearings of the Professional Conduct Committee.
10. Directed that the Association forgive the $6,564.44 remaining on a $23,000 loan that the Association had made to the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education Council in 2010.
11. Approved amendments to the frame of reference of the Economic Policy Committee for Sturgeon School Division No 24.
12. Directed that the Association retain its current agreement with Morgex Insurance, which provides ATA members with preferred rates on home and auto insurance. ❚