Todd Robinson is looking forward to the new school year.
In an interview conducted on September 2, Robinson said the start of the year had begun smoothly, while outlining three main priorities for the Lloydminster Public School Division (LPSD) in the coming months. Robinson serves as the director of the division.
According to Robinson, the first priority for the year will be the reading levels for Grade Three students, with the goal set at bringing them up to reading at their grade level. Robinson said the plan ties into what the Saskatchewan education system is looking to achieve across the province.
“We’ve got some great results in Lloyd Public but we’re always looking to do better, that’s a clear priority,” said Robinson.
The second goal was to improve the graduation rate from Lloydminster Comprehensive High School. Robinson said LPSD has shown significant gains in the last few years, with the division seeking to continue the momentum into this year. The third and final goal was to improve the wellness levels of staff and student, with a focus on both physical and mental health.
As for the amount of students set to fill the public school system in the coming year, Robinson did not have exact numbers. However, the information should become clearer in coming weeks, and a growth factor of one per cent was projected for this year.
“That was based on long term historical trends,” said Robinson.
“How that will play out in today’s economy, it’s hard to say, but it’s a better guess than ‘hey, I think we’re going to have this many students’ so that’s what we built our budget on, and we built in some contingencies in case we don’t meet that number, but that’s the best guess we have at this point in time.”
As for Robinson’s own goals in the coming months, he said wanted to keep clear communication with both the community and LPSD staff about how things are going in the school system. A ‘Director’s Blog’ will also be up on the LPSD website.
“What I’ve heard from staff is that they want to hear from the director a little more often, and that’s fair,” said Robinson.
“In this role, you can get pulled into lots of political pieces. I’m pulled out of town a lot, and that’s part of the job. My first job is to make sure that our staff and our students are well taken care of, and supported.”
Classes have now resumed across the Border City.