Hi folks:
I am passing this on
to you at the
request of Doug
Lloyd, Trustee for
Zone 4 (Bay Ward)
for the
Ottawa-Carleton
District School
Board. For more
information on
Ottawa-Carleton
District School
Board activities and
programs, please go
to
www.ocdsb.edu.on.ca.
Alex
First message of
the school year
Hello everyone:
Please pass this on
to your school
councils, community
associations and
other interested
parties,
It was a very
interesting year!
From the time of my
swearing in at the
end of March to the
final day of school
at the end of June,
I managed to visit
every school, and
most of the school
councils. It is my
goal to do the same
again this year. I
want to visit you
all, and meet all
the councils too. I
also want to make a
point of visiting as
many of the
community
associations as I
can given the
pressures of board
meetings and other
visits.
I thought it might
be a good idea to
just review some of
the highlights of
the year before
starting up the
board meetings!
I believe that last
year was an amazing
foundational year
for us all. The
Board set a fairly
aggressive agenda,
and managed to
follow through on
many of the
difficult tasks we
set for ourselves.
In my opinion, we
are much improved,
and the credit goes
to you!
The highlights:
-
We made changes
to our French
programming,
with increased
access to Middle
French Immersion
and a new time
allocation model
across the
district.
-
We continued to
evolve the
delivery of
special
education
supports and
services,
towards earlier
intervention and
identification,
and better ways
of meeting
students’ needs
closer to home.
-
Our assessment
and evaluation
policy is firmly
focused on
assessment to
promote and
support
learning, to
lead our
students to
higher
achievement.
-
We made the
transition to
the new Safe
Schools
legislation, and
we’re taking a
more directed
and supportive
approach to
improving
student
behaviour.
-
After lengthy
discussion,
consultation and
debate, we
arrived at a
framework for
secondary school
programming,
centred on the
community
school.
-
Recognizing the
changing nature
of our community
and our school
communities, we
developed and
adopted a
Diversity
Framework as the
first strategic
step to move
from recognizing
diversity to
ensuring equity
for all.
-
And, because we
believe our
schools and
other facilities
should be good
places for
learning and
working for
staff and
students alike,
we now have a
School Board
Code of Conduct
and a Respectful
Workplace
policy.
-
On the finance
front, we
approved a
budget for this
year in record
time, so that
all of you could
begin your
planning
earlier, knowing
what resources
would be
available to
you. What is
even better, we
were able to
match our
expenditures
with our funding
without any
major new
reductions, and
even with a few
modest
initiatives.
-
As for
facilities, in
addition to the
repairs and
maintenance work
that have kept
our facilities
staff on the go
all summer,
we’ve opened a
new school -
Avalon – and
we’re proceeding
with several
other
much-needed new
schools and
additions in our
highest growth
areas.
-
Sadly, we’ve
also closed some
schools, but the
decisions were
made with the
best interests
of students in
mind – viable
program numbers
mean better
education – and
I know how hard
those of you
involved in the
transition
planning have
worked to ensure
a smooth start
next week.
-
We were pleased
last week to
hear another
funding
announcement
from the
Ministry of
Education,
tweaking the
funding
regulation for
2007-2008 in
several positive
ways, and
clarifying the
government’s
expectations and
funding for
contract
negotiations. I
can assure you
that the Board
will do its
utmost to arrive
at fair and
reasonable
contracts with
all of our
employee groups
– union and
non-union –
within available
funding. Our
priority here,
as always, is
ensuring that
our students’
needs will be
well served.
-
Our preliminary
report on French
programming the
ward and
associated wards
was distributed,
and I look
forward to the
next few months
as the details
are refined.
On a personal note,
I will be holding
another zone meeting
later in the fall,
and I hope to see
many of you there!
Please remember that
I am here to help,
and I am always
ready to listen and
try to assist in any
way I can.
Talk to you all
soon!
Doug
Douglas M. Lloyd
Trustee, Zone 4
613-799-1170 |
doug.lloyd@ocdsb.ca
|
facsimile/télécopieur
613-761-1002
|
|
Copyright © 2009 Alex Cullen
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