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The Citizen, 2012-07-12, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012. Bullying survey raises questions with board Board grad numbers better than province Awarded Steve Campbell, right, was presented with the Melvin Jones Award at the Auburn Lions Club’s 35th anniversary ceremony. The award named after Jones, who founded the Lions Club, is the highest award a Lions Club member can receive. Campbell was presented the award by fellow club charter member Charlie Shaw. (Vicky Bremner photo) 35 years and going The Auburn Lions Club held its 35th anniversary meeting late last month celebrating over 30 decades of service to the Auburn community. Current charter members of the club are, back row, from left: Doug Chamney, Marinus Bakker, Bud Chamney and Steve Campbell. Front row, from left: Bob Worsell, Gordon Daer, Charlie Shaw and Jim Schneider. Absent charter members are Eldon Chamney and Walter Marchl. (Vicky Bremner photo) The majority of Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) students feel safe at school, but the board’s school climate survey can’t explain why the minority don’t. Assessment and evaluation co- ordinator Sandy Lee told AMDSB trustees at their June 26 meeting that over 80 per cent of students who took the board’s anonymous school climate survey reported feeling safe at school. The board received 7,271 surveys from AMDSB students in Grades 6 to 12. Lee said the 80 per cent figure is slightly lower than the results of the 2010 survey, but added that the 2012 survey is based on the provincial survey, which has different questions and different choices for answers. She said the changes make comparisons between the two surveys difficult. Trustee Michael Bannerman said the 80 per cent figure means that an average class will have four to five students who feel unsafe. “Did they give reasons at all for why they feel unsafe?” he said. “Is it specifically bullying-related?” Lee said that although the survey had several questions on feeling safe, there weren’t any follow-up questions on the matter. Mike Ash, superintendent of education, operations, said that there was a space for students to add their own comments. He said the board was transcribing those comments and sending them back to the schools the surveys came from. Lee said the survey did ask students why they felt unwelcome. Appearance was the main reason students felt unwelcome (31 per cent), with academic performance second (20.6 per cent). The percentage of students who said they were not bullied or harassed was 27.5 per cent. For students who were It’s hard to pin down the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) high school graduation numbers, but they were more than good enough for vice-chair Randy Wagler. At the board’s June 26 meeting, assessment and evaluation co- ordinator Sandy Lee told trustees that the percentage of AMDSB students graduating within five years of starting high school was 81.7 per cent for 2010-2011, the most recent year for available figures. But Lee and senior staff cautioned that the numbers are unreliable. “School boards that publish their grad rates do so by making a tremendous amount of assumptions,” said director of education Ted Doherty. Doherty explained that the board arrives at their percentage by counting the number of students starting Grade 9 on a specific dateand year and then counting how many eligible students have graduated five years later. But the method can’t take into account students who leave the AMDSB during those five years and graduate somewhere else. It also can’t take into account students who arrive at an AMDSB high school during those five years and graduate. Superintendent of education, curriculum, Kim Black told trustees that the cohort is counted on Oct. 30 of their Grade 9 year. “So we literally could have a student arrive on our doorstep on Nov. 1, have that student for their entire four years, graduate that student and that student would not count in that cohort that we would be able to analyze,” she said. In any case, the 81.7 per cent graduation rate is the “highest it’s been”, Lee told trustees. In the 2006- 2007 year, the graduation rate was 74.4 per cent. The AMDSB graduation rateshave been more or less in line with the province’s over the last several years. Vice-chair Randy Wagler noted that although school boards can’t track the graduation results of students who switch boards over the course of their high school careers, the province can. Earlier, Doherty had told trustees that the province’s graduation rate is the only “real number”, since they are able to track all students regardless of their movement in the province. Wagler said the AMDSB’s grad percentages are usually near the province’s, even though the AMDSB percentage can’t include students who left for another school board during high school. “What I’m saying is, we’re much higher than the province,” he said. Director of education Ted Doherty discussed the compulsory course pass rates for Grade 9 students, something the province asks the board to track as a student successindicator. He told trustees that the 99 per cent pass rate in academic compulsory Grade 9 courses and the 96 per cent pass rate in applied courses is “so dramatically different” from 10 years ago, when failure rates could be as high as 25 to 30 per cent. Doherty said the idea of expecting a certain amount of failures to show that courses have high standards is outdated. “Some people say we have lowered our standards to get those rates, but believe me, if you want kids to graduate on time it is socritical that they are successful at every course they attempt in Grade 9,” he said, calling the work of AMDSB schools “phenomenal”. The AMDSB also has support programs for “at-risk” students in Grades 7 and 8. These students are given extra help and sometimes take part in activities at AMDSB high schools. Superintendent of education, human resources, Jodie Baker told trustees that the creation of Grade 7 to 12 schools has reduced student anxiety about going to high school. BLYTH PRINTING INC. BLYTH 523-9211 PRINTING IS OUR BUSINESS • Colour • Business Printing Forms • Posters • Brochures • Letterheads • Flyers • Envelopes • Carbonless • Business Forms Cards • Labels WE CAN DO IT ALL! By Rita MarshallSpecial to The Citizen By Rita Marshall Special to The Citizen Continued on page 20