Vancouver School Board Launches Community Consultation Project
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The Vancouver School Board is launching a new community consultation website called Your Schools, Your Community, Our Future as part of a general sectoral review of all district schools and services.
“The aim of this project is to give our students, parents, staff and community members an opportunity to find all pertinent information around our schools and services in one easy to access place,” says Jordan Tinney, Deputy Superintendent with the VSB. “We wanted to create a one-stop-shop for information about our district and our schools.”
On the site, visitors will find current information listing district, alternative and special needs programs, enrollment information, seismic and heritage rankings, staffing numbers and student catchment charts that are geo-coded for easy reference. The online initiative is part of a multi-stage consultation process that the VSB has embarked on to engage the public about the future of the district’s schools and services.
“The overarching goal is to determine what programs and opportunities we need to provide our students now and into the future,” says Tinney. “This is the community’s opportunity to have a voice in that conversation.”
The Our Future site is the first phase of a multi-phase process which will also include traditional “on the ground” consultations and open houses in the district. The project had its genesis in the VSB’s sectoral review, which was first initiated out of the school closure process in 2010/2011. The Board instructed staff to prepare a report outlining the educational programs and services available in the district. The question of whether the VSB has the necessary facilities and resources to support its programs in all areas of the district will be a key consideration when the final report is presented to the Board in March 2012.
District staff say they are hopeful Our Future will continue to be a community resource long after the sectoral review is completed. Visit the Our Future website here: http://ourfuture.vsb.bc.ca/
PlaceSpeak’s Involvement
As part of the community consultation, the VSB is using PlaceSpeak to host a survey that is gathering ideas and priorities on the future of the Vancouver School Board. The ‘Your Voice’ survey will help the VSB understand what the community value in neighbourhoods and schools across the district. This will help us determine the next steps in the Our Future process, including identifying further opportunities for public input.
Take the Survey
To take the survey, follow these steps. The entire process should take less than 10 minutes. At the end of the survey you will be returned to our home page.
If you already have a PlaceSpeak account,
You can login and go directly to the survey.
If this is your fist time connecting to a topic on PlaceSpeak
You will need to set up an account:
- “Claim your place” by completing the registration form. When the form is submitted, you will be sent a verification email.
- Visit your email inbox that you used to register and open the verification message from PlaceSpeak. If you can find it, check you bulk mail folder). The message contains a link to confirm your email address. Click on that link and you will be returned to your personal PlaceSpeak homepage.
- Select the “Topics” tab at the top of your screen. Scroll down the list of topics until you find “Vancouver School Board-Our Future” link. This page will provide you with relevant details about the Your Voice Survey.
- To take the survey, select ‘Connect to this Topic‘ at the top of the page. Once you are connected to the topic, select the “Surveys” tab and then select the “Our Future – Vancouver School Board.
- You are now ready to start the ‘Your Voice’ survey. Instructions are provided on each page in case you are unsure of how to proceed. The survey will take you approximately 5 minutes.
Please contact Yuri Artibise at PlaceSpeak via email [email protected] if you have any questions about taking the survey.
