Please find below the meeting minutes from the November 2025 AES PAC meeting.
Meeting info
November 19th 2025
5:30pm AES Library
1. Call to order, acknowledgment, and welcome
Call to order @ 5:36 pm.
We respectfully acknowledge that we are grateful to live, work, and play within the beautiful ancestral, traditional, and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan people, Secwepemc Nation and acknowledges the Métis people who reside here.
Attendance: Aislinn Harmston, Rachel Klassen, Jessica Bosse, Leon Bosse, Samantha Bernhardt, Isabel Frankling, Sandra Picou, Jessie Valstar, Camella Ritter, Nanae Phung, Shane O’Heir, Chloe Hale, Jen Findlay, Anna Sabourin, Terrance Sabourin, Kaitlin Fulljames, Roxanne Landry, Teresa Cauley, Pamela Rennie, Sarah Lane, Jordi Fraser, Cami Monsigneur, MJ Dunford, Heather Beattie, Amber Gale, Pia Pechtel, Melissa Kitchen, Jillian Rintoul, Michelle, Rebekah Krahn, Sarah West, Brad West, Nicole Shore, Heather Denise, Megan Weir (principal), Donna Kriger (superintendent of schools), Jen Findlay (director of instruction early years & elementary)
2. Approve October’s meeting minutes
Approve October’s meeting minutes (all in favour) 1st Chloe Hale 2nd Roxanne Landry
3. Additions to November agenda
Request to move discussion with SD to be moved from the bottom to the top of the agenda. Another parent requested their related item (VP for student wellness re. workshop sexually harmful behaviours) be moved to the top
4. Adopt November agenda
Adopt November’s meeting agenda (approve amendments/ all in favour) 1st Jordie Fraser 2nd Roxanne Landry All in favour
The Chair (Nadine) introduced district guests: Jen Findlay; SD83 Director of Instruction (Early Years & Elementary) and Donna Kriger; Superintendent of Schools.
The Chair reminded attendees that specific incidents, children and families cannot be named during this public PAC meeting due to bylaws and privacy obligations.
5. Reports
Principal: Megan Weir
School Learning Plan goals:
o short survey to collect baseline information around student strategies when something is hard or working through feelings of disappointment.
o School Wide Letter Writing event will be taking place on November 28th from 1-2pm. Family members are welcomed to attend with their child. A letter with more details will be sent home soon.
• Pro D:
o November 10th: Most focused on PHE curriculum workshop (resources to support learning around boundaries and consent), a few who focused on Numeracy, Reconciliation/ Indigenous education with afternoon sessions on Art, Coding.
• Special events/extra-curricular:
o Knowledge Keeper Laureen Felix: Secwepemc Welcome Song workshops
o Skating begins (thank you Aislinn for helping to get skates sharpened)
o No Scholastic Book fair at this time
• Upcoming events:
o Celebration of learning & November Problem Solvers Assembly Dec 5 @ 10:00am
o Restoration and Painting: begins Nov. 26 for Div. 1. Mr. Weeks’ class will be in the music room; Mrs. Normandeau will teach music from library (Mon, Thurs, Fri) and Miss Julie will teach music from the gym (Tues and Wed).
o Come Read With Me (Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Society, LASS) for gr. 1 families: postponed. There was restrictions with available space now and schedule conflicts. Will revisit in the new year.
o Decorating the downtown tree: November 27 (pm) and November 28 (am). Breakdown of when each class is going will be sent to parents via upcoming newsletter
o AES Holiday Hampers: Food drive/collection in December in support of 3-4 families. Letter outline which class is collecting which items will be sent home soon. One parent in the room expressed surprise there were only 3-4 families in need. Heather Beattie reflected stating the teacher keep and eye on kids and their needs and connect with the families. Not all families accept the help. Heather welcomes any families to reach out if they are in need.
Teacher
Heather Beattie (LRT), Cami Monsigneur (grade 2/3), Sarah Lane (librarian)
Kids are excited for the winter activities (skating is the big buzz right now) and preparing for the upcoming winter concert.
President
Nadine Zakoski
Gave thanks to all the effort and support with the fundraisers and advocating for the kids. She is proud to a see a dedicated team this year.
Treasurer
Alex Crowie (not in attendance). Nadine Zakoski read account balances.
As of October 31th 2025
Operating Account $26,581.93
Gaming Account $5,445.00
PAC Introduced themselves and their role to those in attendance tonight.
6. Old Business
Teachers ‘wish-list’ (given during October’s meeting); TABLED for this meeting; will review again in December or January.
Parent Connect: No November meet-up; but stay tuned for a possible date for December. It was suggested that PAC can bring resources to the next meet-up.
7. New Business
Review of Policies and procedures with SD83.
Donna stated she appreciated the time to speak at the meeting tonight and addressed the importance of this being a public meeting and to not speak to details of specific incidents or people, referring to policy 230; no discussion of personal matter, following governing bylaw BCCPAC and board policy.
Donna thanked parents for attending tonight’s meeting and acknowledged there were concerns at the school and SD personally were showing up to address these concerns. Donna recognized the seriousness of the situation and how it has been hard on families and school staff; stating staff feel a heightened response and trepidation of making mistakes moving forward
Discussion of protocols, communication timing, and school district processes
Parents remarks expressed concerns;
• About safety and supervision of students; request for transparency to reduce assumptions from parents.
• Communication; delay in how quickly families were notified. There needs to be communication from school to all parents/classrooms involved.
o District response; parents feel the initial safety plan was not adequate to reflect severity.
• Lack of clarity about district protocols for handling serious student incidents. How do parents hold school accountable if they can’t compare action to a public procedure/policy. Request for SD to post a version of the policy to the public so parents know the expectations of the response.
• A Google search found an unofficial policy that would address these types of situations; however SD83 was unaware of it’s existence until now.
• Whether policies differentiate between single incidents and repeated behaviors.
• Whether appropriate immediate separation should have occurred.
• The perception of delayed, inconsistent, and unclear communication.
• Loss of trust; greater sense of risk due to unsatisfactory response.
• Culture and morel of school is at risk
• Would like a timeline from SD so they can be held accountable for the changes.
• The need for parent education; language for parents to use at home.
Superintendent’s remarks and ACTION items.
• Acknowledgment of concerns, reflection, mistakes and learning. These situations help bring attention and tighten up areas and create lots of conversation. We can do better. We need time to create a plan before reintroduction; unfair to everyone to move too fast. Staff will be more responsive in the future.
• Donna was unaware of an internal protocol (2019) for “concerning behaviors,” maintained by counsellors. She described this as “embarrassing” and a key learning, stating: The district will now ensure every principal and vice-principal is trained in the updated protocol (which is being held internally and not available to the public).
• Additional staffing support and supervision resources will be coming to AES (specific assignments were not yet public)
• Student education regarding health curriculum conversation; teacher have a program to use. Pro-D day training extended.
• Immediate separation will now be standard practice for incidents like these.
• Stated that moving forward, reset days (temporary removal from school setting while assessment occurs) will be used following serious incidents.
• District will strengthen protocols: She agreed the system must learn from the past, update training, and rebuild trust.
• Invitation for further dialogue; Donna committed to being at AES the next morning and returning Friday afternoon. Donna welcomed individual conversations and provided her personal cell number to the PAC President (to be shared with appropriate privacy).
• Provide clearer communication to PAC and parents.
• Connect with principal 1st, then with SD director is concerns still exist.
• Review whether elements of the protocol can be made public and agreed to follow up on what that would look like.
Teacher comments during the discussion
• They didn’t have a clear policy and didn’t feel secure; need for a clear outline to follow.
• They have been working intensely and take matters seriously and feel the weight on their shoulders.
• They have implemented multiple supervision changes and classroom adjustments not visible to parents.
• Staff feel “scared”—not of students, but of making decisions under scrutiny.
• Lots of good information was shared by Pia at recent staff meeting
Meeting with VP for student wellness re. workshop sexually harmful behaviours;
Pia (clinical psychologist) reports she met with the VP of Student Wellness; Tanya Harington to discuss supports and collaboration with the school.
Discussed the need to follow guidelines of recent research and update current policies that align with recent language.
Explained green/amber/red behavior framework and spectrum for child sexual behaviors (curiosity — to harmful).
Emphasized that persistence, power differentials, and intent escalate severity.
Highlighted that clear protocols protect all children and reduce emotional decision-making by staff.
Stressed the need for: immediate safety actions for school to follow then a longer-term tailored safety plan; A clear, accessible flow chart for staff was specifically requested by the psychologist and agreed to by the superintendent
Book Fair; see principals report; This year it has been cancelled.
Skate Sharpening: TABELED as meeting carried over too long.
Fundraiser Update: TABELED as meeting carried over
DPAC and SD83 Advocacy: TABLED as meeting carried over
Next meeting
Next meeting date to finish November agenda items: TBA
Motion to adjourn @ 8:20pm
Respectfully submitted by Aislinn Harmston, Secretary
Continued meeting
Second Half of November PAC meeting
November 24th 2025
PV Blvd Coffee Shop
1- Call to order @ 8:36am
Attendance: Aislinn Harmston, Summer Belanger, Roxanne Landry, Nadine Zakoski, MJ Duford, Michelle Reinhart, Nanae Phung
Old News
Teacher’s ‘Wish list’- table for the new year as PAC needs to review fundraised amounts/expected amounts and overall budget. Our treasurer Alex is hoping to attend Decembers meeting to run through numbers in the books. PAC needs to support Alex and future treasurers by creating a ‘to-do list’ for them to follow throughout the school year (ie. Give $200 to all teachers at the beginning of the year).
UPDATE: On November 25th, Nadine has confirmed that the $200 per teacher ($2800) had not been given out yet. On this day, Nadine wrote out a cheque for Kyla at the front desk to distribute.
Discussion and a suggestion to create a google calendar to attach to PAC’s gmail account as reference for events throughout the school year.
• Parent Connect: Nadine will set a date in December for a morning group. The group can meet at PV Blvd this time
New Business
• Book Fair; AES usually runs a book fair during the winter concert. Aislinn connected with Sarah Lane (Librarian) who stated she was unsure if the books would arrive in time for the concert dates as it is running a lot earlier then previous years, and she had already submitted her dates at the end of last year.
The Library hours have been cut down to 2 days and interior painting is now happening which means the library will be used for other classes. Too many moving parts and lack of supervision of merchandise. Aislinn invited Sarah to request parent volunteer support if needed in the future.
*Update: Aislinn spoke with Sarah who is in the process of disrupting a letter to all AES families to speak on the Book Fair situation as it has been officially cancel and will be re-evaluated next fall.
• Skate Sharpening: Megan pulled all skates that were being borrowed by students this year. Aislinn took them to Brett (a local skate sharpening shop) and had them all assessed. All 25 skates were in bad condition and needed to be flatted down and sharpened. 18 pairs of skates were not used this year. It was suggested to budget next year for those 18 to be sharpened next; resulting in ALL skates being good for a couple years.
Originally the budget for skate sharpening was set at $50.
Nadine motioned to spend $125 to pay for all 25 skates. 1st Roxanne Landry 2nd Michelle Reinhart. All in favor. Motion Carried.
• Fundraising Updates: Pub Night brought in $2,298 was raised. 38 of the 45 tickets were sold. Unfortunately some people had to cancel last minute and were unable to attend.
On November 7th 2025; in the PAC What’s app chat, Nicole motioned to spend $150 for supplies needed for the pub night (50/50 tickets and scratch tickets to be raffled off).
1st Roxanne Landry 2nd Teresa Cauley All in favor. Motion Carried.
Suggestions to revise the advertising poster for next year to include option of ticket sales at door and listing other ways to buy your ticket.
Wrapping Paper fundraiser: Is all set to go. Info will be shared shortly
Discussion regarding a fundraiser to run every Friday like Frezzie Friday; but during the colder months. Ideas: Hot chocolate, chips…Nanae will brainstorm ideas.
Bake Sale during Winter Concert; Jordi and Nanea are organizing and running it. There will be a poster going to all kindergarten and new AES families outlining the Bake Sale (need for baked good donations). Looking for baked good donations for all 3 days.
• DPAC Update: Michelle continues to attend DPAC monthly meetings. On November 20th Corryn Grayston presented confirming SD 83 Board meetings will continue live-streaming and posting recordings. She spoke about the trustee vote and offered to speak with AES representatives after the meeting to gain more clarity on our concerns.
Sylvia Lindgren provided information on CEA and other CUPE staffing issues. DPAC would like to host an information session in Armstrong regarding CEAs and supports in the District. They ask if we can assist in finding a local venue willing to host.
Next Meeting
Next Meeting Date: December 10th 2025
Motion to adjourn @ 9:06am
Respectfully submitted by Aislinn Harmston, Secretary