Ward 5 Newsletter - November 2021
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In This Update:- Letter to the Minister: Pandemic Funding Support
- Update on TDSB's COVID-19 Vaccinatin Procedure for Employees, Trustees and Other Individuals
- TDSB Reaches Tentative Local Agreement with Maintenance & Construction Skilled Trades Council
- Voluntary Disclosure of Student Vaccination Status
- Toronto Public Health School Immunization Program
- Statement from TDSB Chair Alexander Brown Re: Supreme Court Ruling
- Director's Gender and Sexuality Alliance Awards Applications Now Open
- Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement – Community Consultations
- Grade 8 Virtual Open Houses and Information Nights
- Reminder to call school if your child will be late or absent
- Keeping Children Safe
- Join us for the PIAC Parent Conference!
- Lockdown and Fire Drills
- Heritage and History Month
- TDSB Update
- Follow the TDSB
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Letter to the Minister: Pandemic Funding SupportOn Oct. 22, 2021, Chair of the Board Alexander Brown wrote to the Minister of Education to request predictable and stable pandemic funding and support for school boards, to ensure the health and safety of students and staff. The full letter is now available online.
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Update on TDSB’s COVID-19 Vaccination Procedure for Employees, Trustees and Other Individuals
To ensure that we can continue to support service levels to staff, students and our community, the TDSB will be gradually implementing compliance measures for employees over the next three weeks, starting on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.
For more information, please read the full update that was provided to parents/guardians on Wednesday, October 27.
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TDSB Reaches Tentative Local Agreement with Maintenance & Construction Skilled Trades Council
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has reached a tentative local agreement with the Maintenance & Construction Skilled Trades Council (MCSTC). MCSTC is a trades council that represents approximately 760-1000 permanent and temporary maintenance and construction members as well as affiliated trades unions that perform construction and maintenance projects at the TDSB. This local agreement must still be ratified by the Board of Trustees and MCSTC.
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Voluntary Disclosure of Student Vaccination StatusThe TDSB continues to prioritize keeping schools safe for students and staff and to focus on limiting the number of disruptions to learning as a result of COVID-19. In the event of an interim cohort dismissal related to COVID-19, students who are fully vaccinated are allowed to continue to attend school as long as they have no symptoms. Fully vaccinated staff and students will still have to pass the COVID-19 screening tool each day, confirming they do not have symptoms.
To more effectively manage possible COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in schools, Toronto Public Health has requested that Toronto school boards begin collecting the voluntary disclosure of vaccination status by students born in 2009 and earlier. This is intended to minimize disruption to the students and support a more efficient dismissal process.
For more information, please read the web story.
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Toronto Public Health School Immunization ProgramToronto Public Health is offering free Vaccination Clinics in Toronto for the following vaccines:
- Meningococcal-ACYW to prevent meningitis
- Human papillomavirus to prevent cancers
- Hepatitis-B to prevent liver cancer
All students in Grade 7 and higher who have not received any or all of these vaccines are eligible.
These vaccines will be available Tuesdays through Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the City's vaccination clinics located at:
- Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front St W, North Building
- Scarborough Town Centre, 300 Borough Drive
- Cloverdale Mall, 250 The East Mall
- Mitchell Field Community Centre, 89 Church Ave
- Woodbine Mall, 500 Rexdale Blvd
Meningococcal vaccination is a requirement for school attendance. Your child must be up-to-date with the meningococcal vaccine or have a valid exemption to avoid school suspension.
For information about these vaccines talk to your doctor or call Toronto Public Health at 416-338-7600.
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Statement from TDSB Chair Alexander Brown Re: Supreme Court Ruling
While we are disappointed with today’s Supreme Court ruling on Bill 5, the fact that it was a very close decision supports our Board’s position that the Province’s actions were undemocratic.
Our board took great effort to consult with our communities before finalizing ward boundaries, only to have the Province change them without any opportunity for public notification and consultation. As we said at the time, this is not reflective of reasonable public expectations for consultation, transparency, accountability and the proper administration of government.
We appreciate that the Supreme Court of Canada considered the TDSB’s position in support of the City of Toronto’s case and the people who live here.
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Director's Gender and Sexuality Alliance Awards Applications Now OpenFor the past ten years, the Director's Gender Sexuality Alliance(GSA) Awards have recognized and honoured GSAs across the Toronto District School Board, however during these last two school years (2019-20 and 2020-21) the GSA Awards were postponed due to the pandemic.
But this year, the Director’s GSA Awards is back. We know GSAs have been working hard to support each other while having to pivot to remote learning. During this time, some GSAs transitioned their individual school-based groups online whilst others partnered with grassroots activists and community organizations to connect queer, trans, and non-binary students with even more support. One of the most outstanding initiatives created during the pandemic was the TDSB’s GSA Network, which continues to connect hundreds of staff and students across the school board through incredible broad actions of collective care.
To honour all of this creative work by GSAs to support each other, the TDSB wants to commit to providing the necessary resources for these groups to continue and expand. Therefore, this fall/winter the Director’s GSA Awards will be awarding $1,000 to eight GSAs from across the TDSB that operated during the 2019-2020 and 2020-21 academic school year.
In Spring 2022, four more awards will be announced for GSAs operating during the 2021/22 academic school year.
The application deadline is Friday, December 3, 2021 at 4 p.m.
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Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement – Community ConsultationsThe Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement in collaboration with select community partner organizations are facilitating a series of community consultations. Community members and parents of students who self-identify as Black are invited to register for a virtual session. Upcoming dates are November 9, 16, 17 and November 23 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
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Grade 8 Virtual Open Houses and Information NightsGrade 8 students and families are invited to attend virtual open houses and information sessions (live or pre-recorded) hosted by high schools beginning in November. These sessions offer important information to help make an informed decision when choosing a high school. To learn more about important program and school information, access the pre-recorded information sessions and see the dates/times for information sessions, please visit the Virtual Open Houses and Information Sessions website at www.tdsb.on.ca/OpenHouses.
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Reminder to call school if your child will be late or absentOne measure of keeping our students safe is to ensure we can account for any absences or reasons for being late to school. We would like to remind you that if your child is going to be absent or late for any reason, we ask that you contact the school immediately and report the reason for the absence. If we are not informed about the absence, we will make attempts to contact you through our automated call-out system to determine the reason for the absence.
Please let the office know by calling the school if your contact information, including phone number, changes at any time throughout the school year.
Thank you for your continued cooperation to keep your children safe and accounted for.
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Keeping Children Safe
Drivers are reminded to do their part to keep children safe near school buses.
Drivers should follow these tips:
- Stop and never pass a school bus when its red lights are flashing.
- Leave space around school buses and avoid blocking school bus loading zones so children can enter and exit safely.
- Be prepared to stop for a school bus at any time, not just during school hours.
- Always obey the rules of the road and watch for children, especially in school zones.
- Stop for pedestrians at crosswalks and school crossings.
Parents can also help keep their children safe by reminding them to be aware of their surroundings when they are on or near school buses.
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Join us for the PIAC Parent Conference!Save the date for November 27 and 28 for the PIAC Parent Conference. Bridging the Gap is a two day virtual event with speakers and workshops focused on bridging the gap in our schools in mental health, parent engagement and school councils. Engage with other parents and caregivers from across the TDSB as we learn and share best practices on reconnecting mentally and socially with ourselves, students, schools and communities.
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Lockdown and Fire DrillsAt the beginning of each school year, our students and staff prepare for the year ahead by establishing the foundations for a successful year. One of the ways we know we can help students be successful is to create a safe environment in which to learn. Though no one ever wants to see an emergency happen at a school, it's important for school staff to be equipped to deal with those situations, should they occur.
The safety of students and staff is a top priority at our school and to that end, as with all emergency drills, it is essential that we are prepared and understand the importance of procedures that will help ensure the safety of everyone in our school.
The TDSB has taken steps to ensure your child's safety while in school. Each school has developed emergency preparedness plans that include steps staff will take in the event of an emergency, how staff will get students away from possible dangers, and how students' families will be contacted.
One aspect of emergency preparedness is the lockdown and fire drill. All schools are required to conduct a minimum of two lockdown drills and six fire drills each school year. Lockdown drills, like fire drills, are an essential component to ensure student and staff safety. It is important that all staff and students are prepared and know how to respond in cases of emergencies. The drills last approximately 5 minutes and ensure plans are effective and can also systematically identify any safety concerns.
Communication is also very important in any emergency situation. The emergency contact information kept on file is important in helping this happen. It lists the people who can pick up a student from the school. If you have not yet provided this information to our school office or have updates to the information on file, please make sure our office staff have that information as soon as possible.
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Heritage and History Months
The Toronto District School Board is proud to celebrate the following heritage and history months during November:
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