Media Releases

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Transparency and Wi-Fi Key Discussions at Board Meeting

At last night's public meeting, the Edmonton Public Schools Board of Trustees approved a motion to review their meeting practices and policies with the view to reducing in-camera discussions to increase transparency of decision making and good governance. "This Board is committed to being known for its transparency and good governance and passing this motion ensures that our actions reflect that," said Dave Colburn, Board Chair.

While openness and transparency have always been keys to governing public education effectively, Colburn added that , "since this new Board was elected, we have been taking measures to be even more transparent such as webcasting our public board meetings and creating two new Board Committees (Special Needs Task Force and Moratorium Committee) both of which will openly engage the public. We want the public to be as engaged as possible in public education".

To further support the Board's desire to engage the public and demonstrate transparency, at last night's Board meeting, the Board made publicly available a report from administration regarding Wi-Fi and gave parents opportunities to voice their support and concerns over Wi-Fi installation. To this end, the Board will be further analyzing all of the perspectives and available information and declare an official Board position on Wi-Fi at the next Board meeting which will take place on January 25.

A full agenda and reports presented at last evening's Board meeting are available under the Board of Trustees section of www.epsb.ca. In addition, an archived video copy of the Board meeting webcast is available at www.livestream.com/edmontonpublicschools.

Further information, contact:
Cheryl Oxford, Managing Director, Communications
Edmonton Public Schools
780-937-7859 - cell