ST. PAUL - While Superintendent Glen Brodziak's resignation was made official at the March 9 St. Paul Education board meeting, another long-time St. Paul Education staff member will soon be retiring from her position after 36 years in education.
"We've received a retirement notice from Susan Kotowich-Dubrule of Racette (Jr. High School)," said Brodziak during his superintendent's report presented at the March 9 school board meeting.
"Susan started in our division in '86/87 at Racette, she's actually spent her entire career there," said Brodziak. Kotowich-Dubrule moved into the action vice-principal role in 1997, and took on the principal role in 2006.
"She's a very dedicated, kind person. She's been a wonderful steward of Catholic education. We wish her all the best," said Brodziak.
The board also discussed Brodziak's upcoming retirement, and noted that the search for a new superintendent is already in the early stages.
Along with reviewing the policy that speaks to the role of the superintendent during the meeting, a letter from Brodziak was read to the board, by the superintendent.
"The support and encouragement I have received over the years has not gone unnoticed, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for having me as part of the team," said Brodziak, who has also been working within St. Paul Education for 36 years.
"I wish our division all the success and growth going forward."
Earlier in the meeting, Policy 12 "Role of the Superintendent" was included in the agenda, with board chair Heather Starosielski noting the policy was a length document that is now being reviewed by the policy committee.
The reviewed policy is required as part of the recruitment process, which is now in its early stages. Starosielski said an outside consultant has already been hired to help with the hiring of a new superintendent. Brodziak's last day is set for June 30.
Livestream to continue
Nearly two years after shifting to virtual meetings, St. Paul Education has decided it will continue livestreaming its meetings, as public health measures relax, but trustees are expected to be in attendance in-person at meetings.
Last Wednesday's regular school board meeting was the first meeting that included all trustees in-person, although a a handful of attendees viewed the meeting virtually.
During discussions about board meetings, Starosielski noted that having meetings virtually has increased engagement. She noted the school division has also "invested considerably" into the equipment required to host virtual meetings, which is something else to keep in mind.
She asked fellow board members if they were interested in continuing to provide attendees with a virtual format, and also asked how long the board would like to see recordings of meetings posted online.
Trustees all agreed that continuing with the live-feed of meetings would be beneficial. A 48-hour time-frame was also proposed for posting meetings online, from the time of publication, to which the board agreed would be sufficient time for those interested to view meetings.
While there may be instances when trustees could attend meetings virtually, generally, elected officials would be expected to attend meetings in-person, said Starosielski.
A motion to continue with live-streams and post videos for 48 hours was carried.
St. Paul playschool
The St. Paul Playschool Society has decided it will continue to operate as an autonomous organization, separate from St. Paul Education.
In October of 2021, St. Paul Education had agreed to take over operations of the playschool society. The school division also runs playschools in Mallaig and Two Hills.
In a letter sent to the board in February of 2022, the society said it has decided to continue to operate the organization. The main goal of handing operations of the playschool over to the school division was to eliminate the need for a parent board, reads the letter.
The potential loss of the ability to work a casino to raise funds, and uncertainty around an assistant teacher position, were reasons given in the letter.
Starosielski noted that the school division respects the society's decision. The playschool program is hosted in St. Paul Elementary school.
