Education News
News from OPEN
Ontario Opening More Family Literacy Centres
McGuinty Government Supports Early Learning and Parent Engagement
May 1, 2008
Ontario will open 34 new Parenting and Family Literacy Centres
in schools this September. The $2 million investment will help more young
children get a great start on learning.
View full text at:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/nr/08.05/nr0501b.html
Safe Schools and Bullying Prevention A Priority for the McGuinty
Government
Amendments To The Education Act Pass With Unanimous Consent In The
Legislature
QUEEN'S PARK, June 5 /CNW/ --
The McGuinty government's amendments to the
safe schools provisions of the
Education Act will strike a balance between
more effectively combining discipline
with opportunities for students to
continue their education, Education
Minister Kathleen Wynne announced last
night.
"I am proud of this piece of
progressive and effective legislation that
will address the concerns we have
heard," said Education Minister Kathleen
Wynne following its passage in the
Legislature. "These changes show that we
are listening to the people of
Ontario, and demonstrate our government's
determination to address the tougher
issues and make our schools safer places
for students to learn."
Bill 212, the Education Amendment
Act (Progressive Discipline and School
Safety), 2007, amends sections of the
Education Act and replaces them with new
provisions related to the suspension
and expulsion of pupils.
Highlights include:
- Adding bullying to the
list of infractions for which suspension must
be considered
- Supporting a
progressive discipline approach to choose the
appropriate course of action in the
case of inappropriate behaviour.
- Replacing mandatory
suspensions and expulsions for students (except
in limited circumstances) with the
requirement that principals and
school boards respond to all
infractions that occurred in the most
appropriate way
- Requiring that
mitigating factors be considered before students are
suspended or expelled
- Clarifying
decision-making authority for principals to suspend and
school boards to expel students.
To support the changes, the
government has allocated $31 million
annually, beginning in 2007-2008, to
make Ontario's schools safer. This
includes $23 million for programs and
supports to address inappropriate
behaviour and programs for all
expelled students and students serving
long-term suspensions. Training will
be provided to principals and
vice-principals on changes to the act
and ways to apply discipline in a
non-discriminatory manner. The bill
will come into effect February 1, 2008 to
provide school boards with time to
put programs in place to fully implement
the requirements of the new
legislation.
The Safe Schools Action Team, led
by Liz Sandals, Parliamentary Assistant
to the Minister of Education held
extensive consultations around the province.
The team heard from 700 parents,
students, community members and educators who
shared their experience and
expertise, resulting in fair, progressive
legislation that was passed
unanimously.
"The changes offer a better,
fairer, more equitable approach to ensuring
safety in our schools," said Sandals.
"Through our consultations we heard that
there was a lack of focus on
prevention - as well as serious discrepancies in
consistency, fairness and methods of
discipline when it came to the
application of the act. The changes
to the legislation will help address these
failings."
The amendments and funding will
build on the government's current $28.7
million investment to make schools
safer and help prevent bullying. The
current investment includes:
-
$3 million for a three-year partnership with Kids Help Phone to
provide more resources for bullying
and cyber-bullying prevention
support
- $6 million for model
projects to promote positive behaviour
- $7.8 million for
bullying-prevention programs/resources for schools
and boards
- $4.5 million for
bullying-prevention training for up to 25,000
teachers
- $1.2 million for
bullying-prevention training for approximately 7,500
principals and vice-principals
- $3.2 million for
security access devices for schools as part of a
Safe Welcome Program to help staff
better monitor school visitors and
limit points of access into schools
- $3 million through the
OESC Special Circumstances Bullying and
Violence Prevention Fund for schools
facing additional challenges
"The McGuinty government believes
that all students and staff in Ontario
schools have the right to feel safe
at school and on school grounds," said
Wynne. "Our government is committed
to making schools safe in this province to
help ensure that all our students can
achieve their full potential."
Children’s Charter of Rights Endorsed
June, 2007.
-- The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Report Card Coalition on the Well-being of
Children approached the board requesting it to endorse the “Children’s
Charter of Rights”.
Developed by a
number of child-centered communities and organizations, the charter, which is
based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, outlines a
vision to make the district a better place for children and families.
The board
unanimously supported the charter. The goal of the coalition is to have the
charter endorsed by many political councils, community organizations and local
businesses to make a compelling statement about the intent to support and
advocate for the rights of children. For more information contact Jennifer
MacLeod at
jennifer.macleod@wdghu.org
Public board gets first look at 2007-08 budget
June 5, 2007. -- Public school board trustees
have gotten their first look at what they have to work with for the coming
school year's budget.
The Waterloo Region District School Board is currently
spending some $5 million more than it is getting in revenue. It has to cut
about that amount to balance its budget.
Some of the cuts have already been decided.
In April, trustees voted to radically restructure early
literacy intervention by phasing out itinerant teachers who pull out
struggling Grade 1 students for small-group work. Classroom teachers and
special-education teachers will fill the gap to save $1.3 million.
Trustees also voted in a new school year calendar that largely
harmonizes professional activity days for elementary and secondary students in
both the public and Catholic school boards, so buses don't have to go on the
roads those days. That move saved $161,000.
Last night, financial services superintendent Marilyn
Marklevitz presented a draft budget that makes a few more cuts and takes into
account the decisions already made and some new pockets of funding from the
province.
The cuts recommended include:
To change some schools' bell times so a single bus could drop
off students at one school with an earlier start time, then pick up other kids
and take them to another school with a later start time, to save $158,000.
To eliminate the board's part-time liaison teacher for
home-schooled students, to save $45,000
To eliminate the board's part-time equity officer, to save
$44,000
But the draft budget isn't balanced -- it still leaves a $1.5
million shortfall.
Technically, it might be possible to cover that shortfall with
reserve funds.
Although trustees voted to cover last year's deficit by
spending $3.5 million in reserves, nearly $2 million is actually expected to
remain in the bank at the end of August, Marklevitz said.
That's because some savings have already been realized through
instructions to schools to cut costs wherever possible, decreasing the amount
spent this school year.
A one-time grant of some $700,000 has also come in.
Trustees could decide to spend its reserves again this year,
but that would leave a problem for next year, Marklevitz said.
The board's expenditure review committee recently issued a
report recommending a number of other cuts. If all those were implemented, it
would create another $1.465 million in savings, nearly eliminating the budget
shortfall.
Those deeper cuts would include:
Slashing the adult and continuing education budget by
discontinuing a number of programs, such as driver education, available
elsewhere in the community
Imposing user fees on students in the academically challenging
International Baccalaureate program and for musical instrument repairs
Eliminating the Office of Partnerships and Innovation, which
operates a number of grant-based programs not required by the province
Reducing maintenance standards and delaying replacement of
vehicles
Reducing the budget for supply teachers by $400,000
Reducing some school administration staff through attrition
Trustees voted to ask staff to mock up what a balanced budget
would look like and present it at the next meeting.
There will be at least three and possibly up to five budget
meetings.
Members of the public may appear as delegates at school board
meetings the next three Monday nights. If need be, additional budget meetings
may be held on June 13 and June 20. Trustees will be asked to finalize next
year's finances on June 25.
kkawawada@therecord.com
Contact Information
Christina Walsh, Educational Advocate
Back to Basics Educational Services
Tel: 519-925-9164
Email:
Special Education Advocate
| 
