| Trustee Update Zakir Patel • Ward 19: Scarborough - Guildwood
Toronto District School Board
Tel: 416-395-8787 • Cell: 647-709-7973
Zakir.Patel@tdsb.on.ca |  |
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Mental Health and Well-Being
The Toronto District School Board is committed to providing mental health and well-being support for students, their families and staff. For more information, including helpful resources and coping strategies, please visit the TDSB webpage for Mental Health and Well-Being.
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TDSB Reconvenes Search for Permanent Director of Education
The largest and most diverse school board in Canada, the Toronto District School Board, has officially reconvened the search process for its next Director of Education. Interested candidates are asked to apply by Friday, March 19, 2021.
The search process, which began in the Fall of 2020, was temporarily paused because of challenges associated with the pandemic, including the inability to conduct face–to-face interviews and provide other engagement opportunities between the candidates and the hiring committee. The Board is confident that the new timeline will provide more ideal conditions to improve the process and outcome.
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Addressing Anti-Asian Racism
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Ontario Government Delays March Break
The Minister of Education announced that March Break — originally scheduled for March 15 to 19, 2021 — has been delayed by approximately a month in hopes of reducing community transmission of COVID-19. On the advice of public health officials, the break is now scheduled for April 12 – 16, 2021.
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Board Meeting Notes
The following items were approved or received by the Board of Trustees at the Regular Board Meeting in February:
For a full list of Board decisions, please read the Summary of Decisions.
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Committee Meetings
The Toronto District School Board is committed to developing opportunities for our wider school community to connect and engage in conversations about education issues. Meetings will be broadcast live to the public.
Upcoming meetings for the week of March 1:
The next regular monthly Board meeting will be held on will be held on March 10, 2021 at 7 pm.
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New Indigenous Student Trustee
The Toronto District School Board is pleased to introduce Isaiah Shafqat, a Mi'Kmaq Secondary Student at Riverdale Collegiate Institute, as our new Indigenous Student Trustee. Isaiah was chosen by the Toronto Indigenous Youth Council and joins Firdaus Shallo and Mays Abusaifan as Student Trustees. He will officially be welcomed at the Regular Board Meeting on Wednesday, March 10.
Currently in Grade 10, Isaiah raises awareness about issues that affect Indigenous people in and outside of school, focusing on Indigenous history and the inequality within the justice system, land rights, cultural appropriation, MMIWG2S and Indigenous identity. He also was an active member of Student Senate as LC4 Co-Chair for the 2019-20 school year, where he advocated for student voice.
Following Clarity M. Smoke, Isaiah is the second student to take on the position of Indigenous Student Trustee at the TDSB. The Board decision to establish the position was made at the Regular Board Meeting in October 2019.
To learn more about Isaiah, please read his online bio.
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Universal Screening CCAT-7 & Gifted Rating Scale (GRS) Updates
Now that the emergency closures have been lifted, we are moving forward with the Universal Screening. As has been the case so far this year, plans will need to adapt based on changing public health circumstances so flexibility and adapting scenarios will be required.
Next Steps for In-Person Schools that have not completed the test due to COVID-19 quarantine delays
Schools that were ready to administer the CCAT-7 tests before the winter break, but due to a COVID-19 quarantine were unable to move forward may now proceed.
Next Steps for Virtual School (VS)
Due to COVID-19 restrictions and school closures, students in the Virtual School have not been able to complete the assessment as previously planned. At this time, we are ready to proceed with the virtual process.
All Grade 3 Virtual School students, who have parent permission, will write the CCAT-7 test remotely supervised by their VS teacher. The test will be administered virtually during the week of March 15-19, 2021 under the supervision of the VS grade 3 teacher.
Test sessions will be recorded by the VS teacher to ensure security and validity of the assessment. Parents will confirm with their Virtual School teacher if their child will participate in the CCAT-7 testing. Parents will be required to pick up the test from their OSR school office the week of March 8-12, 2021
This year due to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19 protocols in getting the booklets to Virtual School teachers, the process will not include the Gifted Rating Scale (GRS). The GRS is not an essential component to proceed to School Support Team (SST) and is not used by many other School Boards. Students who have met criteria on CCAT-7 will be considered through the Support Team (SST) for testing by the Board psychologists.
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Update to Asymptomatic Testing
There have been recent changes to the process for asymptomatic testing in TDSB schools. With the return of in-person learning, testing is being expanded to include the asymptomatic testing of staff and students in schools and in high priority neighborhoods. This testing will help with early case identification to inform public health measures and ultimately prevent the spread of COVID-19 within our schools.
Asymptomatic testing will be made available at pop-up testing centres in schools. These school pop-ups will function as hubs that will serve the host school as well as other nearby schools. They are meant to augment the existing testing locations that are available across the city, including COVID-19 Assessment Centres, community pop-ups and pharmacies (https://covid-19.ontario.ca/assessment-centre-locations).
Selection of the school pop-up hubs will be done based on indicators in the COVID-19 Neighborhoods Composite Index (the Quintiles) which helps to identify areas requiring testing. ANY student/staff who is attending in-person school is encouraged to visit a pop-up school site for testing and does not need to be a student/staff at that location. As part of the model that has been developed, both TDSB and TCDSB schools will serve as hubs, with students from either board’s neighbouring schools invited to attend for testing at the hub.
Please note: this information, including the site locations and dates, is subject to change. Once confirmed, school principals (of both hub schools and nearby schools) will receive a letter from the testing partner to share with students and parents/guardians to communicate this information.
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Ward 19 School/Student Councils, Parents/Caregivers, Community Members, and School Staff, please join me at my next ward forum:
Parent Engagement
Monday, March 1, 2021 from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
The meeting will include a presentation by Michelle Munroe, Central Coordinator, Parent and Community Engagement, and a Q&A session. Please send your questions in advance to Zakir.Patel@tdsb.on.ca. You can learn more about engagement with the TDSB at www.tdsb.on.ca/Community/Engagement.
How to Join the Ward Forum
- At the start of the ward forum, click the Join the Zoom Meeting link.
- To join by phone, call 647-374-4685 and enter Meeting ID 960 3527 4344 and Passcode 579969
Opportunities for Feedback and Questions | Attend from Wherever You Are
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Ward 19 School/Student Councils, Parents/Caregivers, Community Members, and School Staff, please join me at my next ward forum:
Student Mental Health & Well-Being During COVID-19
Thursday, March 4, 2021 from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm
How to Join the Ward Forum
- At the start of the ward forum, click the Join the Zoom Meeting link.
- To join by phone, call 647-374-4685 and enter Meeting ID 939 6624 7409 and Passcode 94073
Opportunities for Feedback and Questions | Attend from Wherever You Are
Download the Flyer PDF
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School Year Calendar 2020-2021
The official school year calendar for the Toronto District School Board runs from September 1 to June 30, inclusive and has now been approved by the Ministry.
The last day of class for elementary students is June 29
Secondary Quadmester Calendar
Note: Passover 2021 will begin in the evening of Saturday, March 27 and ends in the evening of Sunday, April 4. Ramadan 2021 will begin in the evening of Monday, April 12 and ends in the evening of Wednesday, May 12.
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TDSB Update
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Follow the TDSB
Join the conversations happening on TDSB's social media communities. You'll find the most up-to-date information about us on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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