|
|
| Shelley Laskin, Trustee
Toronto District School Board
Ward 8: Eglinton-Lawrence & Toronto-St Paul's
416-395-8787
Shelley.Laskin@tdsb.on.ca
|
| | |
|
In this Issue -- Happy Mother's Day
- From OPSBA's Provincial Update
- Bill 98, Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 202
- TDSB Calls on Province to Rethink Elements of Bill 9
- Update - TDSB 2023-24 Budget
- Committee Meetings This Week
- FBEC Report Comments
- PPC Report Comments
- Student Trustees for 2023-3
- Join us this Tuesday – Ward Forum on Developmen
- New Invitations – TDSB Event to Commemorate 90th Anniversary of Christie Pits Riot on Sunday, June 4, 2023; Learn4Life Summer Course
- Worth Repeating – Asian Heritage Month Virtual Celebration; Census 2023; More Joy; Parent/Caregiver Session #3; Legislative Page Program; Budget Ward Forum on June 5; Credit Summer Programs; Secondary Credit Summer School; Elementary Summer School 2023; Continuing Education Programming at the TDSB; Useful Links; No Dogs Allowed; School Year Calendar 2022-23; Approved 2023-2024 Calendar; Community Safety & Support
| |
Happy Mother's Day
"Mother's Day is a celebration honouring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society." Thinking of all those fortunate to celebrate and be celebrated... Hoping all of you have people in your lives to influence and support and love unconditionally... and who give it right back. Happy Mother's Day.
| |
From OPSBA's Provincial Update
Bill 98, Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023
This legislation was introduced on April 17 by Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. The bill proposes changes to the Early Childhood Educators Act, 2007, the Education Act, and the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996.
[Last week], OPSBA Present Cathy Abraham and Executive Director Stephanie Donaldson presented to the Standing Committee on Social Policy. Their timeslot was shared with Skills Ontario and the Toronto DSB. The Ottawa-Carleton DSB also addressed the Committee, as did two individual school board trustees from our member boards. Many other boards sent in written submissions. The OPSBA final submission can be found on our website. Our full remarks and a wrap-up of the Q&A will be available in Hansard at a later date.
Next Steps: OPSBA will continue to monitor and follow the bill as it moves through the legislative process. Bill 98 amendments (if any) were due to the Committee [Thursday] with clause-by-clause review occurring next Tuesday, May 16 – the same day as the feedback deadline for the Ontario's Regulatory Registry posting. Following clausal review, the Bill returns to the House for Third Reading debate.
From the Report -
We have always been in support of any initiatives that improve student achievement and wellbeing, and that also lead to increasing public confidence in our world-class public education system. Our member boards agree that this legislation includes a wide range of potential impacts on Ontario’s public education system and the government’s process of drafting this impactful legislation would have benefitted from more collaborative and collegial consultation, involving all affected partners.
Local school boards play the most direct role in supporting students’ achievement and wellbeing. Strong local governance, with students at the forefront, has been a key part of our 31 member boards’ ongoing success. Local boards are always best equipped to make sound, sustainable, and fiscally responsible local decisions in service of students and the community.
This is why we are concerned about the areas of the Bill that provide the Minister with powers that more appropriately belong at the local level. These areas, which OPSBA is advocating to remove include:
- The power to set provincial priorities for students without input from school boards;
- The power for the Minister to direct the sale of school board property; and
- The power to intervene in the performance assessment of local Directors of Education.
| |
TDSB Calls on Province to Rethink Elements of Bill 98
Tuesday May 09, 2023
Today, Toronto District School Board Chair Rachel Chernos Lin shared the TDSB’s significant concerns about Bill 98 - the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act.
During a deputation before the province’s Standing Committee on Social Policy, Chair Chernos Lin outlined the concerns about the legislation which, if passed, would impact a number of different areas including:
- The legislation appears to remove the very important role of elected boards of Trustees in determining which school board sites should be declared surplus based on the unique needs of each community.
- The Minister is being provided with broad powers to regulate the business affairs of school boards, and specific powers relating to “board controlled entities.” If the Ministry intends to implement changes that impact the Toronto Lands Corporation (TLC) — a wholly owned subsidiary that oversees the board’s real estate, leasing and land use planning — these changes need to be clearly communicated well in advance.
- The legislation appears to suggest the ability of the Ministry of Education to override local priorities in school board Multi-Year Plans. School boards play a vital role in making sure local priorities are reflected in public education. It is critical that the Province continue to provide significant space for this local input.
In addition to the concerns shared with the Standing Committee, the TDSB also has significant concerns with regard to:
- The Minister’s new ability to assign “Support Personnel” to Boards. As Bill 98 currently stands, the Minister would have unlimited discretion in determining when a Board’s progress in implementing its Multi-Year Plan is unsatisfactory. These Support Personnel would have an undefined scope of duties once they are embedded with Boards, and the Bill gives no guidance about how these people will be considered, qualified or selected for their roles.
- Changes to the role of Integrity Commissioner. The TDSB’s own Code of Conduct already provides for the resolution of complaints about perceived Trustee misconduct through an Integrity Commissioner. The role of the Integrity Commissioner should oversee code of conduct issues among all Trustees. Staff – particularly Directors of Education – should not be involved in that decision making process.
- While the TDSB appreciates the need to better standardize design standards for new schools, and the costs that will be saved as a result, flexibility is needed for schools in dense urban areas like Toronto which require unique floor plans and are situated in highly constrained environments.
| |
Update - TDSB 2023-24 Budget
Please note that staff is still determining the actual impacts on our projected budget - as a result, the budget timelines and meeting agendas have changed.
This Monday, May 15th beginning at 4:30 we expect staff to provide us with an updated financial position. Staff will not be presenting their options to balance until the May 23rd FBEC meeting.
Please note that to date, the Chair has not been provided with an urgent meeting with the Minister.
| |
Committee Meetings This Week
We welcome members of the public to bring forward issues and concerns they have through a delegation, which is addressing a committee of the Board of Trustees (by speaking virtually, in person or submitting a written statement). Our Delegation Procedure is designed to set out a consistent and easily understandable process for the public and to manage the process in a fair and equitable manner. https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Leadership/Boardroom/Delegations
Delegates are encouraged to make their needs for accommodation known in advance of the Committee meeting when they send their request by e-mail to delegates@tdsb.on.ca by 4 p.m., two (2) working days before the committee meeting day.
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Finance, Budget and Enrolment Committee - 4:30 p.m. Boardroom - Agenda- 5.1 Alternative Schools Community Advisory Committee April 21 2023 2023-24 Centralized Elementary Alternative Schools Admissions Process: Allocation of Funding and Resources
- 5.2 Inner City Community Advisory Committee March 23 2023 Learning Opportunities Grant Demographic Allocation 2023-24 Equity Funding
- 6.1 Contract Awards Operations
- 6.2 Contract Awards Facilities
- 6.3 Design Consultant Contract Award Addition and Renovations at Elizabeth Simcoe Public School
- 6.4 Replacement of Existing Security Camera Systems
- 6.5 Second Quarter Interim Financial Report 2022-23
- 6.6 Special Education and Inclusion Service Level Data for 2022-23
- 6.7 Vice-Principal Allocation 2023-2024 Update
- 6.8 Aquatic Instructor Reductions: Oral Update
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - Planning and Priorities Committee - 4:30 p.m. Boardroom - Agenda- 6.1 Q2 Business Operations Report
- 7.1 Inner City Community Advisory Committee, April 20, 2023
- 7.2 Black Student Achievement Community Advisory Committee, April 23, 2023
- 8.1 Central Student Interest Programs: Implementation Update
- 8.2 2022 RBC Canadian Open: Permit Use at Richview Collegiate Institute: Update
- 8.3 A Collaborative Approach to School Safety: Report Update
- 9.1 Intentional Enhanced Efforts to Create Improved Levels of Civility (Trustees Maclean and Ehrhardt)
| |
FBEC Reports - Comments
6.7 Vice-Principal Allocation 2023-2024 Update - When the Board approved the reduction in VP allocation based on the fact that the Ministry was eliminating the COVID-19 Learning Recovery funding which included 38.5 Vice Principal positions the Board also moved "That the Director present options to consider adding additional school-based staff in the above categories to support special education, mental health and wellness for children and youth and safe and caring schools and present a report to the Finance, Budget, and Enrolment Committee when the financial information from the GSNs has been received, as part of the operating budget planning process."
Staff are bringing back a recommendation to add 8 Secondary Vice Principals "to better address student safety, engagement and well-being in schools." However, the staff report remains silent on Elementary VPs. I plan to continue to advocate for adding back elementary VPs.
6.8 Aquatic Instructor Reductions: Oral Update - When I, and other Trustees voted on March 29, 2023 on the number of aquatic instructors we did so on the understanding from staff, that this would not affect service delivery of swimming programs in our schools. The Report said the allocation of Aquatics Instructors is determined by the number of schools with active pools and aquatics programs. We have fought this fight too many times over the years in the TDSB for Trustees not to make an actual decision, in public, to either keep the number of aquatic instructors needed to keep all our school pools operating providing programming to students or to change the operations of our pools. The fact that after that vote, staff realized with 80 aquatic instructors, swim program would indeed be reduced at 8 elementary and 12 secondary schools, from my perspective, is not what the Board intended and as a result, I will be asking staff to add back a complement of aquatic instructors to ensure full programming in all schools with pools. And I appreciate the advocacy from students, parents and staff.
| |
PPC Report Comments
8.1 Central Student Interest Programs: Implementation Update - On May 25, 2022, the Board of Trustees adopted the Student Interest Programs Policy (P100). This update provides a snapshot of the first-year implementation of the TDSB’s Central Student Interest Programs application process. This first application cycle has provided staff with new data that allows us to better understand how Central Student Interest Programs operate within the TDSB and how they impact enrollment at local designated schools by address. The data (included as Appendices B through L) provides a more complete picture of who is accessing programs and will be augmented once the 2023 TDSB Student Census is completed and merged with Central Student Interest Program data. Appendix M includes a Literature Review on Meritocratic Perceptions of Public Education and Diverse Learning Opportunities and Appendix N provides a Legal Opinion Regarding Central Student Interest Program Admissions Practices. Please read the full report.
8.3 A Collaborative Approach to School Safety: Report Update - It is of critical importance to again highlight the fact that school and community safety goes beyond the work of any single entity or organization. It is the collective responsibility of all levels of government, community agencies and other organizations, faith-based groups and all Greater Toronto Area School Boards. This Report provides an update on the Action Plan that was received by the Board on December 9, 2022. Significant progress has been made in many of the areas identified within the Action Plan including the hiring of staff, professional learning, the engagement of communities through partnership development, additional programming and school safety infrastructure.
| |
Student Trustees for 2023-34
On April 27 and 28, 2023, students from across the Toronto District School Board voted online to elect their Student Trustees for the 2023-24 school year. Students were able to learn more about the candidates via online campaign videos before casting their votes. This new, modern way of running student elections has continued to result in an increase in the number of students interested in the positions and overall votes.
Congratulations to our new Student Trustees:
Angelika Bell, will be in Grade 11 at William Lyon MacKenzie CI
Yi Kai Zhou, will be in Grade 12 at A.Y. Jackson SS
We are also pleased to introduce Ozaawaamukwaikwe Secord, who will be in Grade 12 at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, as the new Indigenous Student Trustee. Ozaawaamukwaikwe was chosen by the Elders Council at the Urban Indigenous Education Centre. Ozaawaamukwaikwe is a member of the Toronto Indigenous Youth Council.
Welcome Ozaawaamukwaikwe, Angelika and Yi Kai!
| |
TDSB Event to Commemorate 90th Anniversary of Christie Pits Riot on Sunday, June 4, 2023
Everyone is invited to enjoy a free baseball game featuring the Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Club on Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. (rain date is Sunday, June 11, 2023).
This event is one of several initiatives organized by the TDSB’s Jewish Heritage Month Committee and Italian Heritage Month Committee to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Christie Pits Riot, the largest race riot in Canadian history that involved people from Toronto’s Jewish and Italian communities. The riot happened during a baseball game. Now, 90 years later, we invite you to come and show everyone that Baseball Builds Bridges.
From May 9 - June 16, a theatrical performance based on the Christie Pits Riot take place in the park at 10am and at 1:15pm, Tuesday through Friday in Christie Pits park (northwest baseball diamond). These are offered to Grade 8 and Grade 10 students, but as the park is public, you are welcome to attend.
| |
Learn4Life
Learn4Life summer courses are now available to view on http://learn4life.ca Registration starts May 17 at 8:30am.
In our efforts to accommodate learners who are not able to register using the online registration system, the Learn4Life team can make arrangements for in-person registration, by appointment only, starting Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Appointments can be scheduled for learners who do not have a credit card and need to pay by cash or cheque by emailing us at communityprograms@tdsb.on.ca with the subject line: In-person Accommodation.
| |
Asian Heritage Month Virtual Celebration
| |
Census 2023
The TDSB Census has been conducted every five years since 2006. Census data has provided schools, parents and the community with valuable information to help improve schools for the benefit of all students. Extensive input from students, parents/guardians/caregivers, staff and the community informed the Census.
The confidential survey asks students important questions about their school experiences and identities including participation in school activities, safety, well-being, mental health, outdoor learning, etc. It is an opportunity for students to share their voice and provide valuable information to help improve our schools and system.
The TDSB is asking all parents/guardians/caregivers and/or students to consider filling out a census survey online. Based on opt-out and consent information, all Census surveys have been sent to students or families. JK to grade 3 families and grade 4 to 8 families (completing the Census at home) check your emails for TDSBStudentCensus@qemailserver.com.
| |
More Joy
TDSB Community Support Workers (Model Schools) present
MORE JOY!!
A 30-minute after-school family literacy series
Wednesdays from 7:00pm to 7:30pm
From May 3 to June 14
| |
Parent/Guardian/Caregiver Session #3
Tuesday, May 30th, 2023 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM LC1 and LC4
If you require a language interpreter, please send in your request by Mon., May 22nd to
SpecialEd@tdsb.on.ca.
This session will focus on summer transitions and will include ideas to engage students during the summer months such as home activities, library resources and information on how to use Read & Write Gold at home. Information on community agencies will also be shared.
There will be an opportunity for parents/guardians/caregivers to ask
questions about these processes. The sessions will be facilitated by
Special Education and Inclusion staff. Please click the link below to join the
webinar for LC1/LC4:
Zoom Link for May 30, 2023 at 07:00 PM
https://tdsb-ca.zoom.us/j/96753209262
| |
Legislative Page Program
Applications for the fall 2023 term are now open. We are accepting applications until June 15th, 2023.
As we welcome the Pages to the Legislative Building, their health and safety, as well as everyone who has direct contact with them, is top priority. For the fall 2023 period, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Attend school in Ontario and be entering Grade 8 in the fall of 2023 (Note: Students in Grade 6 are not eligible; applicants must be in Grade 7 or 8 at the time of application)
- Have an academic average of Level 4 or 80 % (or higher)
- Students must also demonstrate an involvement in a variety of extra-curricular (in and out of school) and community based activities; leadership skills; responsibility, maturity and commitment; an interest in current affairs; strong interpersonal and social skills; and an ability to get along well with peers and adults.
| |
Budget Ward Forum on June 5
Please Hold the Date for a Joint Virtual Ward Forum on TDSB's Budget with Special Guest Craig Snider, Executive Officer, Business Services - on Monday, June 5th from 7:30-9pm. If you are interested in participating, please Register Online (https://forms.gle/Yg24DuvGQwigKxG4A)
| |
Secondary Credit Summer School
Registration for Secondary Credit Summer School 2023 opened April 18th at 10:00 a.m. for:
- Remote/In Person High School Students Full Credit
- Remote/In Person Adult 18+
- Remote Credit Recovery
- Remote/In Person Grade 8 Reach Ahead
| |
Elementary Summer School 2023
Looking to build your child’s literacy and numeracy skills? Elementary Summer School registration is now open! The focus of the 2023 Elementary Literacy and Numeracy Summer School Program is to continue student engagement through the month of July. Programs, which are developed by the local summer school principal to reflect the local school focus, are offered in-person to students in Kindergarten to Grade 8, from July 4 to July 28, 2023, in various locations around the city. This year, one remote program will also be available. For more information, including a list of schools and online registration forms, visit our summer school program page.
Elementary Summer School at Deer Park
The program includes Kindergarten to Grade 8. Any student registered in an Ontario school can apply. (TDSB and Non-TDSB).
Program dates: July 4 – July 28 Program time: 9:00am - 12:00pm
Families should feel free to complete and send the registration by email or bring it in person to the school office.
Continuing Education Programming at the TDSB
Did you know we offer a wide variety of Continuing Education at the TDSB? I encourage you to explore learning opportunities available for children, families, adults, and visitors - click here for more information on continuing education programs and click here for more information on summer programs.
- African Heritage Elementary Program
- International Languages Elementary Program
- Learn4Life General Interest Spring Program - Adults 18+ and Senior
- Adult ESL Program
- Summer Music & Art Camps
- International Youth Summer Program
| |
We have a Poop Problem!Respect the Rules - No Dogs Allowed on School Grounds
A reminder to dog owners (and I know not all of you have kids at school). Dogs are not allowed on school property at any time. Many people are surprised to learn that TDSB Policy prohibit dogs (leashed or unleashed) being on school property. Section 6.10 PR523 Access to School Premises prohibits canines on our properties “at any time” (except service animals).
Please respect children’s play spaces.
| |
School Year Calendar 2022-23
| |
| Approved 2023-2024 Calendar
| |
Community Safety & Support
If you should you ever see any suspicious activity around school buildings after school hours, please contact 311, Toronto Police Services Dispatch at 416-808-2222, or the TDSB’s 24-hour Call Centre at 416-395-4620.
If you or a family member is in crisis, please contact Kids Help Phone:1-800-668-6868 or get support right now by texting CONNECT to 686868.
| |
|
|
|
|
