By Pepper Parr
August 20th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Directors of Education from school boards across the province met in Toronto last week to look into their crystal balls and try to determine just what might be in their future.
Spending cuts loomed large in the conversations which was followed closely by the realization that they would not be getting any salary increases this year.
The Directors experienced a seven year wage freeze that was lifted last year and then dropped back into place less than a month ago. They will learn to live on $200,000+
The concern over just how teachers are going to work with a sex education curriculum that is both dated and out of tune with the times is a concern.
Facts don’t seem to impact the province’s decision to use an older curriculum.
The Board’s still don’t have clear directions from the province and many teachers are concerned that the directions they get will clash with what they see as their responsibility to prepare students for the society they are going into.
Consent is a different word today than it was when the curriculum that is to be used was first written. That the difference even exists is a shame on all of us.
HDSB Director of Education Stuart Miller
Stuart Miller the Director of Education for the Halton District School Board said that school boards have been down this path before when the Harris government cut spending on both schools and hospitals. With more pressure coming from the seniors sector than the parents – we can expect more to be cut from education when the cuts come – and they will come.
Miller will be meeting with all his school principals in the week ahead giving them a sense of what lies ahead.
The Mathematics curriculum is under review – the fear is that the Premier will insist that an older approach to teaching math will be brought back. The current government is not seen as all that friendly with advances in education.
Also in the line-up of problems is the number of collective bargaining issues that come up in February and March of next year. The government might see this as an easy place to reduce spending – so what if there are strikes – they tend not to last very long and the savings would be significant.
MMR principal Clair Proteau checking out the design changes being made to her school.
At a more purely local school level – there are concerns about the number of students who are moving with the French Immersion program when it is taken out of Hayden High School and transferred to MM Robinson. Some of the feeder school are very much on side – 100% of the students will move with the program; at another school the number is close to zero prepared to make the move.
The situation was described as a “messaging” problem.
The really good news is that the transfer of Pearson high school students looks as if it will run very smoothly. A lot of work and effort had been put into making the transfer as seamless as possible for the students who will have to change their hoodies.
In Burlington Director Miller has a pressing problem coming his way with the accommodation that houses the Administrative Staff. The building on Guelph Line is not AODA compliant and has to meet the standard by 2025.
Upgrading old buildings is often more expensive than starting from scratch. The Board has land immediately to the south of the existing building that will meet the need – but the current crop of trustees weren’t all that keen on keeping the Administrative building in Burlington. Four of the eleven trustees are Burlington residents; four are from Oakville; two from Milton and one from Halton Hills.
The Milton people do have a bit of a drive, especially in the winter when Board meetings end well after 10 pm. Also the number of trustees from Milton is expected to climb due to their population growth.
The education beat is going to be active.
Gazette Director of Education Article: Aug 20th, 2018
This is an interesting article and brings up a number of points for discussion as outlined below:
1. “Spending cuts loomed large in the conversations …” Halton District School Board and Director of Education spending cuts are certainly deserved due to the closing of two Burlington high schools plus the loss of many students who have chosen to transfer to the Halton District Catholic School Board instead of attending MM Robinson.
Note: Reduced responsibilities i.e. high schools and pupils should require reduced spending.
2. “The mathematics curriculum is under review …” and “The current government is not seen as all that friendly with advances in education.”
Note: The current math curriculum should be under review as the yearly testing of Ontario students has shown math skills are lacking in the children. One is left to ponder how a so called “Advance in Education” leaves children without math skills sufficient to pass a general Ontario exam?
3. “The really good news is that the transfer of Pearson high school students looks as if it will run very smoothly.”
Note: One needs to look to see how many Pearson students have transferred to Notre Dame instead of MM Robinson. Then ask why call this smooth? Remember schools and school boards are funded by how many students are attending. With transfers to Notre Dame there should be a reduction in funds and personnel in the public school board.
4. “In Burlington Director Miller has a pressing problem coming his way with the accommodation that houses the administration staff. The building on Guelph line is not AODA compliant and has to meet the standard by 2015.”
Note 1: Director Miller oversaw and made the recommendation to close 2 Burlington high schools one of which (Robert Bateman) was fully AODA compliant and the other (Lester B Pearson – the second newest high school in Burlington) would have required minimal change to become fully compliant.
Note 2: 12 portables are in place at FJ Hayden high school with more planned plus portables expected for MM Robinson and Nelson. Why not put portables at the HDSB Offices on Guelph Line for a reduced administrative staff as portables are easy to convert to AODA Compliance? Why spend millions on administrative office while maintaining excessive staff and allowing school repairs to be delayed?
5. “Milton people do have a bit of a drive …”
Note: Did the Trustees from Milton not have knowledge of this when they ran for office 4 years ago? Was this information hidden from them? Do most of the people of the GTA not have a “bit of a drive”? Do all the people of the GTA who have a “bit of a drive” have a mileage allowance like the HDSB Trustees for there “bit of a drive”?
Citizens of Burlington please remember three of the Burlington HDSB Trustees voted to close two Burlington high schools namely: Andrea Grebenc, Leah Reynolds and Richelle Pappin. It is now time to vote them out of office and get control of the HDSB through electing suitable and worthy candidates such as Diane Miller to replace Andrea Grebenc, Jason Barlett to replace Leah Reynolds and Margo Shuttleworth to replace Richelle Papin. Plus another splendid candidate Ms. Cheryl Delugt to replace Kelly Amos in Oakville.
We parents, grandparents and citizens have had enough of the HDSB and Directors nonsense in their phony school boundary changes, totalitarian run pupil accommodation reviews (PAR), bad decisions and above article whining .