The Prince Albert Catholic School Division is entering the final year of their current Strategic Plan.
During the board of education’s regular meeting on Monday director of education Lorel Trumier said they will begin discussions this year on the next step.
“More information will be set out here probably at the next board meeting in terms of some timelines and some processes that would be used for the strategic planning process,” she said.
The strategic plan was initially approved in May 2023. Trumier said that the process for the new strategic plan could begin as soon as the board’s next meeting on Sept. 8.
Trumier said that the division looks forward to what the final year of the Strategic Plan 2023-2026 holds.
“We’re excited about where we are going this year,” she said. “That journey hasn’t shifted. We’re still going to focus on faith and learning and focusing on mental health and well-being as well as Indigenous education.”
The focus for the final year in the faith component is on the five marks of Catholic Education: Grounded in Christian Anthropology, Imbued with a Catholic Worldview, Animated by a Faith-Infused Curriculum, Sustained by Gospel Witness, and Shaped by a Spirituality of Communion.
There will also be a focus on improving outcomes for all students, enhancing opportunities for all learners, enhancing mental health capacity in students and working towards the goals of the Indigenous and Metis Education framework.
Division makes changes to accreditation policy
In April, the province announced it is winding down the Grade 12 provincial examination program at the end of August 2025 as work continues to develop a province-wide student assessment program.
This will not affect students at Ecole St. Mary High School because most teachers are accredited, but the division repealed a policy related to accreditation during their regular meeting on Monday.
Trumier said the Ministry of Education has moved away from an accreditation process that’s required for high school teachers and is now moving toward classroom-based evaluation and assessment instead of a provincial departmental exam.
“I think Saskatchewan was probably one of the last in all of the provinces to have a departmental exam and we know jurisdictions across the country have moved away from it,” Trumier said.
With the policy called “GCLA: Initial Accreditation and Review” repealed it is no longer necessary for the division to ensure teachers are accredited.
However, they have to still register with SPTRB (Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board) and have the necessary classes to teach and to do the work that they’re doing.
“I think this is positive overall for students across Saskatchewan,” Trumier said.
She explained that the process was essentially an important piece of housekeeping in board policy.
“For us, repealing the policy was really just some of the residual effects of removing departmental from the provincial framework,” she said.
The province said in a press release that discontinuing provincial exams will create a more equitable system for Grade 12 students. Saskatchewan is currently the only province where some students are required to write provincial examinations in certain Grade 12 subjects while others are not.
According to the province, the Ministry of Education continues to collaborate with education partners on the Saskatchewan Student Assessment program (SSA) announced in November 2024.
When implemented, SSA will provide parents, students and teachers a snapshot of student performance in Grades 5 and 9 mathematics and Grades 4, 7 and 10 English language arts as well as a common understanding of what it means to be at grade level. The SSA program is being developed as part of the Provincial Education Plan.
The goals of the SSA program are to provide a fair and objective measure of how students are doing, help guide instruction and assist schools, school systems and government in improving student achievement.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
