Dear Friends of Toronto’s Public Schools,
This update touches primarily on four topics:
April 24 Ward Forum at Wanless PS on helping students make a transition into school and between schools
developments on the criminal background check for volunteers policy
new accountability measures at TDSB
Friday May 16th is the deadline for your school’s application for a PRO grant
As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me.
Howard Goodman
TDSB Trustee, Eglinton-Lawrence
Howard.Goodman@tdsb.on.ca
Twitter: @HowardGoodman
Ward Forum on Student Transitions
April 24, 7pm
John Wanless PS
245 Fairlawn Avenue between Yonge and Avenue Road
This forum will be of particular interest to parents with a child who is about to:
- enter kindergarten
- start grade 1
- move on to middle school, and
- become a high school student
Starting in a new school can be a time of great anxiety, great excitement, or great confusion, sometimes all three. And these aren’t only the feelings of students. As a father of teenagers, I am all too aware of what it feels like to prepare my sons for a new school. Too often my wife and I felt unprepared and unable to provide all the support and assurance that I wanted to give my sons.
The April 24 ward forum that will help give you the sort of information that will make these tough times a little easier, and give your child a better chance of early success in the new school.
Two experts from our central teaching and learning department will describe the challenges, the opportunities, and the preparation that are confronting you for each of the transitions.
I look forward to seeing you there. And please let other parents know about this, even if they aren’t in an Eglinton-Lawrence school. Everyone is welcome.
(Child-minding will be available on request. Please contact Melanie Dickstein at melanie.dickstein@tdsb.on.ca.)
Update on Criminal Background Checks for All Volunteers
At our April 9 Board meeting we voted to have further study on the staff proposal on criminal background checks for all volunteers. The policy proposed by staff would have required that every volunteer submit to a criminal background check, even those who volunteer infrequently and are always under the supervision of a teacher. There was a great deal of public opposition to the specifics of the proposal.
In just 5 days I received more than 100 emails, 95% of which asked that the staff proposal be looked at again. These emails were exceptionally thoughtful and nuanced, many longer than 500 words, and every one different – not cut and paste mass emails in the lot. I thank you for the insight that the writers provided. These will inform the positions that I take during our discussions on this important issue.
The policy will be on the agenda of the Program and School Services committee meeting in either May or June. Public deputations will be allowed. I will let you know when the policy will being coming to the committee.
TDSB Accountability Policies Strengthened
In the wake of the EY forensic audit report, at the April 9 Board meeting we voted to strengthen the accountability of TDSB staff and trustee actions. These measures deal with:
- identifying and reporting conflicts of interest involving both Trustees and staff
- identifying and reporting violations of TDSB and Provincial policies
- more detailed reporting of Trustee and Chair office expenses
- work to define the role and cost of a possible Integrity Commissioner
- reporting to Board of lawsuits involving TDSB
I supported every one of these policies, and initiated three of them.
Deadline for PRO Grant Applications on Friday May 16th
Every year the Ministry of Education provides School Councils up to $1000 under the Parents Reaching Out program. The Ministry describes the goal of PRO grants as “to support school-based initiatives to reach parents who face barriers to becoming involved in their child’s education or school”. Special consideration will be given to projects designed to increase the ability of parents to support student achievement in math.
When two or more schools cooperate on a grant application, each school is eligible for $1000. For more information on the school grants see http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/reaching.html.
There are also regional grants available. For more information on these regional grants see
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/regional.html.
(APA applies each year for the PRO grant)