Publication & Distribution
To carry out your decision-making responsibilities at Council, you and the teachers you represent need to be well-informed about the decisions to be made at each meeting. With this in mind, the STF has developed policies and procedures to ensure councillors receive timely and complete information with respect to proposed budgets, draft teacher proposals for provincial collective bargaining, the disposition of previous resolutions passed by Council, resolutions and notices of motion submitted to Council and the candidates running for STF office.
The Financial Information and the Elections and Resolutions Information booklets are the major vehicle that the STF has developed to ensure that the necessary information is available to you and your colleagues prior to the Annual Meeting of Council. These booklets are distributed to councillors prior to the meeting and are accessible to every teacher on the STF website. Also, at each Council meeting, you may receive additional information to assist you in your deliberations. Reports, updates and procedures may be provided in this manner.
Whenever possible, however, such information is communicated earlier to councillors through T-mail messages or mailings. For example, at different points in the year you may receive the annual reports of plan administrative boards and other organizations associated with the STF, information about STF policies under development, draft teacher proposals for provincial collective bargaining, the results of major surveys, the reports of ad hoc committees and the annual update on resolutions passed at previous Councils. Since councillors play a vital role in keeping locals and members informed about the STF, it is important that you and your fellow councillors have access to a wide range of information related to the work of the professional organization.
Information booklets are not prepared prior to the Special Meeting of Council in October. However, this meeting is preceded by a Councillor Conference, which gives councillors an opportunity to receive and discuss information related to the decisions under consideration. Since the Special Meeting is limited to a specified agenda, it is possible to organize the conference to support Council decision-making on the agenda items.
At all times the section of the STF website set aside for councillors will be a reliable up-to-date source of information related to your work. All councillors are encouraged to use the website as an effective way to keep in touch with the STF and a valuable resource for learning about the STF and the issues facing education and the teaching profession.