MOOSE JAW — Trustees with Holy Trinity Catholic School Division received a high-level summary of the organization’s major departmental activities in the 2023-24 year during their recent board meeting.
The Accountability Report contained information about facilities/buildings, faith, fiscal matters, human resources, student learning data, student services and transportation.
Facilities/buildings
Holy Trinity manages 11 buildings with a combined floor space of 28,622 square metres (308,092 square feet), equal to 3.5 Canadian Football League fields with end zones included, CFO Curt Van Parys said while presenting his report. Furthermore, the division spent an average of $3 million to maintain those venues, which range in age from 11 years to 67 years — the average age is 54 years.
“That’s a lot of floor space that we do look after,” he remarked.
It will still be challenging to maintain that aging infrastructure even with a new school opening this fall, although the division’s financial situation should improve once Our Lady of Hope is open and the $7 million École St. Margaret renovation is completed, Van Parys added.
Meanwhile, the division spent $676,933 on utilities in 2023-24, compared to previous years of $684,521, $594,104 and $530,696, the report said. Furthermore, the organization spent roughly $2.7 million on operational and renovation initiatives compared to previous years of $2.8 million, $3.3 million, and $3.1 million.
Faith
All elementary schools received Bibles and had Bible blessing ceremonies in 2023-24, while many students were excited to receive complete books that included the Old and New Testaments, the report said.
Furthermore, division chaplain Lisa Busta met twice with Grade 4 students at St. Michael School to teach them how to use their Bibles, the report continued. She challenged them to learn all 39 books of the Old Testament in order in two weeks, and after returning, she discovered that they knew all the books in sequence — mostly memorized — with correct pronunciation.
Meanwhile, Busta helped create ministry teams at all schools, with 54 students at St. Agnes signing up to be faith leaders in their school.
Ward Strueby, director of education, told trustees that Busta attempts to visit every school in the fall so that winter weather doesn’t delay trips. Moreover, he appreciated that she was full-time instead of being half-time as a chaplain and half-time as a teacher.
The report also noted that Busta, Strueby and trustees attend parish council meetings throughout the division, which creates bonds between churches and school communities and leads to common outreach projects.
Human resources
Recruiting and retaining staff is important, so during the 2023-24 year, Holy Trinity held multiple professional development (PD) sessions for employees and supported teachers pursuing higher education, the report said.
Furthermore, the division increased its efforts to support employees’ wellness by focusing on mental health and stress management.
“As you know, with an increase in enrolment that we’ve seen, our needs in each school have increased immensely as well,” said Dave DePape, HR supervisor. “And finding those specialized people to support those kiddos … is increasingly more difficult.”
Therefore, the division wants to “grow (its) own people” to fill those roles, which is why administration spent considerable time on PD, he continued.
DePape added that recruitment is the biggest challenge Holy Trinity faces, especially for specialized positions or in rural places like Shaunavon.
Learning data
By March 2024, 50.6 per cent of Grade 1 students were at grade level for reading, 63.2 per cent of Grade 2s were at grade level and 64.1 per cent of Grade 3s were at grade level, the report showed.
In comparison, in fall 2023, those numbers were, respectively, 30.5 per cent, 53.8 per cent and 58.1 per cent.
Furthermore, by February 2024, 97.2 per cent of Grade 2s, 91.1 per cent of Grade 3s, 81.5 per cent of Grade 4s, 72.9 per cent of Grade 5s, 65.8 per cent of Grade 6s, 52 per cent of Grade 7s and 63.8 per cent of Grade 8s were at grade level in math.
Mark Selinger, supervisor of learning and technology, said it was exciting to see growth in reading and math levels from the fall to the spring, with reading and math interventionists supporting students with those needs.
Transportation
Holy Trinity transported roughly 1,200 students during 2023-24 using its fleet and those of other school divisions, while 88.2 per cent of its buses — with an average age of 7.6 years — were at capacity and the average ride time on Moose Jaw routes was 28 minutes, the report said.
Furthermore, bus routing software has reduced the daily kilometres that vehicles travel by 32.5 per cent even though buses have transported seven-per-cent more students over the past three years.
Meanwhile, buses travelled roughly 100,000 kilometres last year, the equivalent of driving across Canada 20 times, the report added. However, all that travel means the division must replace its vehicles within the next few years.
