Here are your top priorities and Pro-D reminders for the month of FEBRUARY divided by two tabs. We’ve also included a tab to help identify who’s who on the Administrative Support Team!

PRIORITIESPRO-DADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT TEAM

PRIORITY

DETAILS

40th Annual
CATHOLIC EDUCATORS’ CONFERENCE 

February 13 & 14, 2020

I Can Do All Thing Through Christ

Our 40th conference is two weeks away!

A couple of reminders to make this the best conference experience yet:

REGISTER ONLINE
If you haven’t already registered your staff, please do so today. Don’t forget to also register for the Conference Dinner & Dance at the Italian Cultural Centre.

 

DOWNLOAD OUR CONFERENCE APP & START PLANNING YOUR CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE!

We’ve gone paperless! With our conference app you can learn about our speakers, have a sneak peek at session information, and plan which vendors you wish to visit.

Our conference is now being hosted on the EventMobi platform. You can find us two ways:

DOWNLOAD OUR APP:
Search your app store for “Eventmobi”. After downloading, enter “CEC2020” as our event code to access our information on your device.

ON THE WEB: Visit www.eventmobi.com/CEC2020 to see the online version of our app.

We invite you and your staff to create your own personal profile by clicking the “login” button on the top right hand side of the page, and following the instructions given from there.

 

ARCHBISHOP’S SCHOLARSHIP FOR LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Please find the course schedule for the Catholic Core courses for the rest of 2019-2020 on our website. Apply for the Archbishop’s Scholarship through the CISVA website and register for the next course, THEO 501: Foundations of Theology, coming up in winter 2020, from January-March.

Please note, there will be a summer school course in 2020, as well as a professional development opportunity on July 11.

AUTOMATING MICRO PAYMENTS

In an effort to automate various occasional small payments that schools charge families (for field trips, one-off activities, etc.) and the associated effort required to handle and reconcile physical cash, I am recommending the following using Bank of Montreal’s electronic funds transfer function. This is meant to address a longstanding frustration felt by schools in not having an electronic solution for the acceptance of micro payments. It entails the following:

1. That the school obtain permission from the family to debit their account (ideally this should be obtained at registration/re-registration and one annually)

2. That when an occasional fee is levied that the family is notified of the amount and the date that the funds will be drawn from the account (this can be done in the communication to the family when seeking permission for their child to take part in the activity or general letter about the activity itself). It is critical that the family is notified that this will be done for the specific activity and the required amount. Note: this is a notification that you will debit the funds as you will have obtained permission to do so earlier.

3. Once notification has been given, the school can prepare an electronic funds transfer (EFT) where a consolidated single instruction is made via BMO’s Online Banking for Business platform after which the funds are debited from each family’s respective account on the day that has been advised. By batching into a single instruction (eg, a class of 30 is going on a field trip where $25 is debited. The single EFT instruction would include all 30 instructions) automates these payments, provides for easier reconciliation and eliminates the need to collect phyical cash from families. We have also negotiated a reduced EFT rate with BMO for this based on a per instruction charge.

A sample permission has been prepared that schools can use to include in their registration/ re-registration packages.  It has been deliberately worded to say that the school is moving to this method of payment in an effort to automate as the aim is to reduce as much as possible the handling of physical cash.  A set of FAQscovering this process intended for bookkeeping and teaching staff and parents has been prepared to assist with school communications.

Actions

1. Online Banking for Business: Schools wishing to make use of the EFT instruction must have BMO’s online business banking platform. If you do not make use of online banking you will need to contact BMO directly (Quinn Hinch – quinn.hinch@bmo.com) to set this up. Please refer to CISVA’s Policy 200 – Financial Stewardship and Controls in CISVA Schools, section D covering online banking.

2. Permission: Schools should obtain the general permission from families at the time of registration. Please see attached sample to use.

Notification:  Schools must ensure that when debiting a specific amount from the family’s bank account that the school has informed the family of the amount and the date that the funds will be debited from their account.

 

MINISTRY COMPLIANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

We have created a new section in our CISVA intranet that provides links to resources covering various Ministry-related compliance and risk management requirements.  The resources are grouped intuitively and include the requirements that are listed in the Ministry of Education’s External Evaluation Report for Bricks and Mortar Schools,which many of you will be familiar with.  We have also included other non-ministry resources such as a primer on insurance prepared in conjunction with Catholic Mutual, links to the Independent Schools Act and other general resources.   The main groupings of resources are as follows:

  • General
  • Complaints
  • Criminal Records Check
  • Government Funding
  • International Students
  • Insurance
  • Learning Resources
  • Mental Health
  • Occupational Health & Safety
  • Privacy, Student Records
  • Safe Environment
  • Teacher Certification

The grouping of these resources was prepared earlier and formed the basis of a training for new VPs and Principals that the Superintendent’s Office organized in February and July of 2019.  At that time the materials were distributed as an excel document.  Please note that the attached set of screen shots show where these resources can be found in the CISVA intranet.

CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK FORMS

Please be advised that effective immediately, the Superintendent’s Office will no longer accept handwritten Criminal Record Check forms. This is to avoid potential errors with names and other critical information. Incomplete Criminal Record Check forms and paper forms received in the mail will not be processed. All applications / updates are to be completed via fillable PDF document located on the Intranet. The new PDF form can now be signed electronically on most smart phones / computers. Alternatively the typed documents can be printed and signed by the school representative and applicant. Schools are invited to submit forms by scan to info@cisva.bc.ca or fax – 604-687-6692.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who What Contact  
Rob Mascitti Human Resources Administrator rmascitti@cisva.bc.ca  
Krissy Litam Executive Assistant to the Superintendent klitam@cisva.bc.ca  
Angelica Cacatian Job Postings, Professional Development, Continuing Contracts, Website Maintenance acacatian@cisva.bc.ca  
Alexandra Kalewska Education Assistant Contracts, Criminal Record Checks akalewska@cisva.bc.ca  
Eliza Portugal Promotions, Graphic and Website Design, Social Media eportugal@cisva.bc.ca  
Lisa Rumpel Learning Support, Short-Term Contracts lrumpel@cisva.bc.ca