The Board of Directors and Executive host board meetings three times a year to review past and upcoming events, provincial reports and any other business related to CCSTA and Catholic education in Canada. Following are the highlights from the March 3, 2025 meeting.
Justice James Higgins Award
The Board is excited to announce that Colleen Easson is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Justice James Higgins Award. The award is given annually to an individual or group who have made an outstanding contribution to Catholic education in Canada. Colleen has served Catholic education in many capacities, locally as school council member for 24 years and provincially on the Catholic Independent Schools Committee of British Columbia (CISCBC) for 35 years. As a member of the CISCBC, Colleen was elected as BC’s representative for the Canadian Catholic School Trustees’ Association (CCSTA), where she served for 26 years.
Mrs. Easson will be recognized and celebrated during CCSTA’s 2025 Conference Gala Banquet on Saturday, June 7. Further details on her achievements will appear in a subsequent CCSTA newsletter and in the 2025 AGM/Convention program.
2025 AGM & Conference
To date, over 120 people have registered for the 2025 AGM & Conference in Halifax. The early bird registration fee is available until March 31, 2025. Click here for more details and to register.
Finances
- Audited Financial Statements
The auditor’s report and financial statements were received by the board for review at the AGM. In 2024, CCSTA incurred a deficit of $30,304, which was significantly less than the $64,704 deficit that was originally projected in the budget.
- 2026 Budget Proposal
The Board approved a proposed budget for 2026, based on a 2% membership fee increase. The budget proposal will be presented to the membership for approval at the 2025 AGM in Halifax.
- Investment Policy
The Board adopted a revised Investment Policy. The updated Investment Policy establishes a clear framework for managing the association’s financial resources, ensuring investment decisions are aligned with its goals, ethical standards, and risk tolerance.
Communications
The Communications Officer shared the following information:
a) Newly Designed Website
The newly designed CCSTA website launched at the end of January. Each page of the website was redesigned with a focus on creating a warmer, more welcoming experience and highlighting the value of CCSTA.
Following are some highlights of the finished project:
- Created a flow to the website that is more user-friendly and easy to navigate.
- Created an engaging AGM Page for participants to learn more about the conference.
- Created an extra page called “Why Catholic Education?” to communicate the value of Catholic education and host good new stories from other member associations.
b) More Frequent Emails
CCSTA plans to better utilize its email subscriber list. We will begin sending monthly updates to our email subscribers and focus on growing our email list.
c) Communications / Online Marketing Plan
It was decided the Communications Officer will provide an updated Communications / Online Marketing Plan each year in September to keep the communications goals in line with the goals of CCSTA and stay on top of current marketing trends.
New Board Member
CCSTA welcomed its newest Director, Annette Mallay, from the Roman Catholic Independent Schools Association, Atlantic Region (RCISA-AR). Annette Mallay currently serves as the Head of Admin, Ignatian Identity, Student Formation at St. Bonaventure’s College in St. John’s, Newfoundland. We wish to express our gratitude to RCISA-AR’s former representative, Myriam Dobbelsteyn, for her committed service on the Board. May God bless her abundantly with good health an
