December Update – Trustee Sara

We are days away from the start of winter break, and it has been a real pleasure catching up with so many people in our community through the school and community events that have been taking place.

For many in our community, this winter holiday season is feeling heavy. It has also been a heavy time behind the scenes in our schools, which all have reduced resources because of the TDSB deficit situation brought on by provincial underfunding.

I continue to receive so many messages around the need for more classroom supports in particular. This week students at SEED Alternative School shared with me a petition they started to keep an important teacher at their school: https://www.change.org/p/demand-increased-funding-and-support-for-alternative-schools-in-tdsb?redirect=false

I wholeheartedly agree with their request and the others that I am receiving. It is beyond frustrating that our school board had been put in this deficit situation by the province and that the board cannot afford to staff schools the way we know is needed for our young people.

The province’s Budget survey is open until January 31 https://www.ontario.ca/page/2024-budget-consultations , and I would strongly encourage everyone here to complete it and make note in all the places in the survey where you can offer ‘other’ comments that you would like to see increased funding to public education.

In closing, I would like to commend the Pape School community for their ongoing advocacy to keep students protected during Ontario Line construction. Metrolinx has been undertaking noisy work near the school, something the school board is unfortunately unable to prevent. I would also like to thank our MPP Peter Tabuns for bringing these issues to the attention of the Minister of Transportation.

Wishing you and yours all best, take care,

-Sara

Sara Ehrhardt
TDSB Trustee, Toronto-Danforth

Updated Resources:

Mental Health: On November 30, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced a national three digit Mental Health and Suicide Prevention hotline number, 988, you can learn more here https://www.tdsb.on.ca/home/ctl/Details/mid/43823/itemId/208

Coping During War & Conflict: Resources have been compiled by TDSB to offer coping strategies during war and conflict to support the emotional and mental wellness of students, parents/guardians/caregivers, staff, and the broader community. https://www.tdsb.on.ca/affinitywellness

Reducing respiratory viruses: On December 15, Toronto Public Health shared important information with schools on staying healthy this holiday season you can find their message at https://www.tdsb.on.ca/home/ctl/Details/mid/43823/itemId/228

I have requested a report come to board on reducing respiratory viruses in schools, this report should be presented in January, and I expect there will be opportunities for members of the public to delegate.

January 23 Ward forum on school playgrounds

Did you know that the province doesn’t fund upgrades to school playgrounds? Please join me for a virtual ward forum to learn more about school grounds and how school communities might advance school yard updates.

Richard Christie, Senior Manager of Sustainability will join this virtual ward forum, to answer your questions. He will also provide us an update on the TDSB’s Climate Action Plan and what it means for our community.

Tuesday, January 15, 2024, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

To confirm your attendance please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYoNVNGURzhNAWP2gR-VFgMH-8LSGhkaW7MqNq2pbtiVgKKQ/viewform

We will send you the Zoom meeting link via email before the meeting.

Board news

Consultation on Legacy Technical and Commercial Boundaries in January

The TDSB is proposing the dissolution technical boundaries by September 2025, this is part of the Secondary Program review which has been underway for some time www.tdsb.on.ca/High-School/Secondary-Program-Review

Note this proposal would affect admissions to Danforth CTI. The TDSB is organizing public engagement opportunities, to be scheduled for January 2024, more information on these will be made available here more information can be found here: www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Strategy-Planning/Search-All-Reviews/id/189

Climate Action Plan – I’m thrilled to share the board released the 2023 Climate Change Action plan, which you can read here https://pub-tdsb.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=16424 . I am particularly excited that the plan includes a proposal for a ‘deep energy retrofit’ of Withrow school, which is projected to result in a 66% reduction in GHG emissions at the school.

Motion on Cellphone use in schools – TDSB Chair Rachel Chernos Lin and I submitted a notice of motion for the TDSB to develop a policy related to cellphone and social media use in schools. I look forward to this motion being debated in January, and want to thank the many people who have already written in support of the motion. You can find the draft motion here https://pub-tdsb.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=16502 , and you can find some recent media related to the motion here https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/a-cellphone-ban-could-be-coming-to-tdsb-schools-heres-why/article_4e76f320-9529-11ee-8bf0-43c613a2ddb5.html

School Infrastructure updates – The board recently approved several major infrastructure updates to area schools to take place this summer, including significant mechanical updates at Chester, Danforth CTI, Duke of Connaught, Frankland, Queen Alexandra and a roof replacement at RH McGregor. The mechanical updates in particular are very important for improving temperature and air quality in our area schools. You can view the full Capital updates report here https://pub-tdsb.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=16449

Our Schools

I would like to congratulate Jackman School for being finalists in CBC’s Canada Music Class Challenge, you can see their rendition of ‘Flowers Need the Rain’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG9aeFTboYg

Left: Sara with the student robotics team at Riverdale CI during their holiday event

Right: Sara with the famous ‘pocket fairy’ of Equinox School during the school’s winter fair

Our Community

It has been my pleasure to join many community events this past month, including Riverdale Share, events from our Toronto-Danforth area Business Improvement Associations, and the Riverdale Antler Breakfast, to name a few.

It was also an honour to provide opening remarks at TDSB’s English as a Second Language public speaking competition held recently at Greenwood Secondary School.

A reminder that the nomination deadline for the Agnes MacPhail Award is quickly approaching on January 12! The Award is presented to an individual in East York for their volunteer leadership in community-building and social justice issues. More details on the Agnes Macphail Award along with the nomination form are available at https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/awards-tributes/awards/agnes-macphail-award/

Left: Duke’s annual Stuff the Bus event

Right: Sara with Santa at Greektown on the Danforth

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