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Week of February 21, 2016
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Mourning the Loss of Trustee Sheila Ward
Everyone in the TDSB community is sharing a profound sense of sadness and loss with the passing of Trustee Sheila Ward. Our thoughts are with Sheila’s family and friends during this difficult time. Sheila was a tireless advocate for her "riding" and public education in the City of Toronto. A School Trustee for more than 20 years, Sheila represented Midtown Toronto on the former Toronto Board of Education from 1991 to 1994 and has represented Toronto Centre Rosedale since 1997. She served as Chair of the Board between 2003 and 2007. In the days and weeks ahead, we will be looking at how best to celebrate Sheila’s life. The flags at TDSB buildings were lowered to half-staff flast week in her memory and this past weekend I was able to pay tribute to Sheila at the Ontario Public School Board's Association's Board Meeting. Sheila will be laid to rest Saturday. Her obituary has been posted on www.legacy.com.
Parents and community members in Ward 14 continue to be invited to join with Trustee Gershon and me and our communities to attend our Joint Ward Forum on the 29th to hear from Director John Malloy and the TDSB's 2016-17 Budget. Please see the flyer at the bottom of this update.
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St Paul's Summit on Infrastructure
t was a great opportunity to meet the community today at the St Paul's Summit that brought together all the elected politicians in St Paul's - MP Carolyn Bennett, MPP Eric Hoskins, Councilors Josh Colle, Josh Matlow and Joe Mihevc and TCDSB Trustee Jo-Ann Davis. Among the many topics discussed around infrastructure were poverty reduction, senior and youth issues, transit, water, public realm issues, green energy and affordable housing. I challenged the group to think of public schools as urban infrastructure and fund them accordingly and referenced both our revenue and renewal challenges for capital and the need to fund growth - I provided the Fact Sheets we have developed which acknowledge the work of Fix Our Schools. To get a copy of the Fact Sheets, click here.
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Proposed School Year Calendar for 2016-17
On Wednesday, the proposed School Year Calendar for 2016-17 is being recommneded. Regulation 304 requires that there be a minimum of 194 school days between 1 September and 30 June, including a maximum of ten examination days for secondary schools and a maximum of seven Professional Activity (PA) days. It also establishes the dates for the Christmas Break and the Mid-Winter Break. If recommended by the Committee, the Board will finalize the recommendations at its March meeting.
PA days have been designated for curriculum and program review and development, as well as all other professional activities of teachers. Boards are required to include in their 2016-2017 calendars, three PA days in which teachers will engage in professional activities that enhance teacher capacity and maximize student learning in priority areas. The following dates are the PA Days for elementary and secondary schools.
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Other Items on the Program & School Services Committee Agenda - Click here for the complete agenda- Multilanguage Program - At its June 17, 2015 meeting, the Board recommended that the Director present a report on the development of a Multilanguage program. Unfortunately, Ministry of Education policy states that, English and French are the languages of instruction in English-language and French-language schools across Ontario. Staff has checked with the TCDSB on the status of their program. The TCDSB has not been able to move forward with their attempt, announced in the Spring of 2015, to implement a multilingual program as they have not received permission form the Ministry to do so.
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TDSB Practical Handbook for Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Members - As part of ongoing actions to support parent and community engagement, the TDSB Practical Handbook for Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Members has been updated to provide greater clarity regarding the purpose, function and activities of the Board’s Community Advisory Committees. - RH King Academy Modified School Year Pilot Project - Staff are recommending the pilot after extensive consultation with the RH King community - for a one-week break in November and an earlier start to the school year.
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Implementation of the Centres of Innovation for Skills and Technologies, Phase 1, is underway, with programs beginning September, 2016. There are seven large school hubs opening under the banner of the Centres of Innovation for Skills and Technologies (Western Tech, Lakeshore CI, Central Tech, Westview CI, Danforth Tech, Albert Campbell Ci and West Hill CI). Phase 2 and 3 will include smaller school hubs, with implementation to follow in September, 2017 and September, 2018. In total there will be thirty Centres where students will have the opportunity to study within a sector-focused framework through academic and work-integrated learning. The overarching goal is to prepare students to make informed decisions for post-secondary learning, including apprenticeship, college and university. Northern SS is scheduled for Phase 2.
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Revisions to Accommodation and Program Review Policy P068 and Community Planning and Partnerships Policy (formerly Facility Partnerships Policy) P076 Thank you to those who provided input regarding the policy revisions during the policy review consultation period. Staff heard from many of our internal and external stakeholders through email, focus group sessions and public meetings. Based on the input we received, staff have updated the draft policies.
They are as follows:
The policies will be approved by the Baord through the followingl process:
- February 23, 2016: Policy Review Committee
- March 3, 2016: Planning and Priorities Committee
- March 22, 2016: Board
Should you have any final cocmments, please let me know before the Policy Review Committee.
Applications for Parents Reaching Out Grants 2016-17 Now Open
Grant applications for the 2016-17 school year are now open and will be accepted until May 29, 2016. In the 2015-16 school year, the province funded more than 2,200 projects that helped identify barriers to parent engagement and found local solutions to help more parents be engaged in their children's learning. For more information, click on http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/reaching.html
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2015-2016 is Hodgson’s 100th Anniversary year! Hold May 13-14, 2016
Hodgson's 100th anniversary celebration is scheduled for Friday, May 13, 2016 and Saturday, May 14, 2016. There will be more information coming about this event, but we wanted to make sure that you marked the dates on your calendar. #Hodgson100th Brandon.Culakovski@tdsb.on.ca (100th Anniversary Committee Chair).
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Worth Repeating...
2016 Excellence Awards: Nominations Open February 22, 2016
The TDSB will once again be honouring outstanding staff achievement during this year’s Excellence Awards. Nominations open online on Monday, February 22 and close on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 4 p.m.
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School Council Appreciation and Information Evening - Please join us on Thursday, February 25 at Montecassino Hotel, Downsview, for a special evening to celebrate the work and contributions of school councils and parents to the education system. It’s an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful dinner, network with school council members, and participate in round-table discussions. Please see the attachment for details or visit http://www.tdsb.on.ca/parentconference to register.
TDSB Parent Conference 2016: Parents as Partners - April 16, 2016 The Parent Involvement Advisory Committee (PIAC), Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), Mental Health and Well-Being Parent Partnership Committee and Model Schools for Inner Cities’ Parent Academies are partnering to bring one INCLUSIVE conference on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Please click http://www.parentsaspartners.ca/.
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