May 27, 2010

Early Learning Program Update

Following are key points shared during the May 20th meeting of the Provincial Early Learning Implementation Advisory Group:

• Bill 242 has received Royal Assent and regulations will be released in the coming weeks.
• The five regulations currently being developed address the following topics:
• Determining Extended Day fees
• Determining the viability of Extended Day Programs (e.g. the minimum number of children to be registered before a board is required to provide Extended Day service at a particular site)
• Establishing a transition period and the required conditions associated with the delivery of the Extended Day program by a third party service
  
• Establishing the condition under which an ECE may not be required in an Early Learning Program classroom
• Identifying the conditions around letters of permission for a full-time ECE position
• Funding adequacy for the ELP remains a concern for school boards
• The administrative burden associated with implementing this program will be significant for school board staff
  
• Requirements and supports to address the priorities of children with special needs in the Extended Day program
• Monitoring by the Ministry indicates that boards are opening up more ELP classes than they were allocated.
• Decision regarding sites for Phase 2 of the ELP have not yet been finalized.
  
• Regional 3-day training sessions for Teachers and ECE's are being planned for July.
• A professional development session for principals is being planned for the fall.
• A session providing participants the opportunity to observe/walk-through an ELP day is being planned for Directors of Education and will take place June 7.

Meeting with the Minister

On May 17, OCSTA President, Nancy Kirby, Executive Director Kevin Kobus and Director of Legislative and Political Affairs, Carol Devine, met with the Minister of Education, the Hon. Leona Dombrowsky to discuss some of the current priority issues for Ontario's Catholic school boards.

Among the topics discussed with the Minister was the Early Learning Program. OCSTA raised the issue of timing for the approval of Phase 2 sites and allocations and was informed that an announcement regarding capital funding for ELP sites would be made in the coming weeks.

On the issue of curriculum and policy documents, the Minister was encouraged to formally state the rights of Catholic boards in curriculum documents as was done for the Equity and Inclusion Strategy document.

Fall 2010 Regional Meetings:
Getting in Touch with The Word

Fall Regional meetings dates and locations have been set.  A full agenda and registration package will be sent to boards in the next few weeks.  In the mean time please use the information below to mark your calendar for this important meeting with your regional Catholic school board peers.

Date	Area	Boards/OCSTA Region	OCSTA Director / Region #	Host / Location
Sep. 15 9:30am-3pm	West	Brant Haldimand Norfolk (4) Bruce-Grey (4) Huron-Perth (4) London (5) St. Clair (5) Waterloo (4) Wellington (4) Windsor/Essex (5)	Linda Ward (5) Marino Gazzola, Vice President (4)	Windsor-Essex CDSB 1325 California Ave. Windsor
Set. 21 9:30am-3pm	Central	Dufferin-Peel (7) Durham (9) Halton (11) Hamilton-Wentworth (11) Niagara (11) Simcoe Muskoka (9) Toronto (6) York (8)	John Del Grande (6) Catherine LeBlanc-Miller (6) Mario Pascucci (7) Carol Cotton (8) Suzanne Youngs (9) Kathy Burtnik (11) Pauline Houlahan (11)	York CDSB 320 Bloomington Rd. West Aurora
Sep. 23 9:30am-3pm	North East	Huron-Superior (1) Nipissing-Parry Sound (1) Northeastern (1) Sudbury (1)	Colleen Landers (1) Anne-Marie Fitzgerald (3) Paula Peroni,  Past President (1)	Sudbury CDSB 165A D'Youville St. Sudbury
Sep. 28 9:30am-3pm	East	Algonquin & Lakeshore (10) Eastern Ontario (10) Ottawa (12) Peterborough-Victoria- Northumberland & Clar. (9) Renfrew (10)	Suzanne Youngs (9) Andrew Bray (10) Betty-Ann Kealey (12) Nancy Kirby, President (10)	Algonquin &  Lakeshore CDSB 151 Dairy Ave. Napanee
Oct. 1 3-9:30pm	North West	Kenora (2) Northwest (2) Superior North (2) Thunder Bay (2)	Paul Landry (2) Anne-Marie Fitzgerald (3)	Kenora CDSB (in conjunction with the Thunder Bay Diocesan Assoc. Conference) Best Western Lakeside Inn 470 1st Ave. S. Kenora

Early Learning Program Online Discussion Forum

The Ministry of Education has created an area on the Ministry website dedicated to providing questions and answers regarding the Early Learning Program.

Following is the website address for this online resource:

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/earllylearning/feedback.html

Parent Reaching Out Grants Deadline

Parent Reaching Out Grants are now available and applications for the 2010-11 school years are being accepted.

The deadline for applications is June 11.

There are two types of grants:

1. Parent organizations, school boards, non-profit organizations and post secondary institutions can apply for Parent Reaching Out Grants for Regional/Provincial Projects.
2. School Councils only can apply for Parent Reaching Out Grants for Schools

Applications can be downloaded directly from the Ministry of Education website at the following location:

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/reaching.html

Continuing Education: Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies

The University of St. Michael's College (USMC) in the University of Toronto is offering through it's Continuing Education Division a Certificate Program in Youth Ministry Studies.

This program is designed for persons involved professionally or as volunteers with younger (10-14) or older (14-19) adolescents in a parish or school setting.  The primary aim of the program is to promote personal, spiritual, and ministerial growth.

During the Summer Residential Seminar, August 15-19, 2010, USMC will be offering two of the eight mandatory courses for this program: Principles of Youth Ministry and Practices of Youth Ministry.

Tuition Fee: $400 per course (includes course materials, continental breakfast, lunch and snacks).

Accommodation Fee: $300 for duration of seminar.

To obtain course descriptions and more information please contact:

Delores Lanni, MDiv
Program Coordinator
youth.ministry@utoronto.ca
Phone: (416) 926-2247

Catholic Education Week 2010 Highlights



Catholic Education Week took place from May 2 - 7, 2010 and was well received by communities right across the province.

To read and see the highlights from this event as captured by Ontario's Catholic school boards please click on the following link:

http://www.ocsta.on.ca/2010CatholicEdWeekHighlights.aspx

Annual General Meeting and Conference Highlights

This year the overview of events and highlights from the 2010 AGM and Conference were published in the Association's "Good News" blog.  To view the 2010 OCSTA AGM and Conference highlights please click here.

To view video, audio and PowerPoint presentations from the AGM & Conference please visit the OCSTA online Members' Centre (see Centre under the "About OCSTA" menu) and click on "Presentations."  You must have your user name and password to enter the OCSTA Members' Centre.

NOTE: If you do not  have your password, please use the "Lost Password" feature in the Members' Centre to create a new password (you will be required to provide your email address).  If you need assistance please contact Pam DeNobreaga at (416) 932-9460 ext. 234 or email pdenobrega@ocsta.on.ca.

OCSTA in the News

CATHOLIC REGISTER

New OCSTA President seeks equity for Catholic Schools

By Sheila Dabu, The Catholic Register Friday, 14 May 2010 17:28

TORONTO - Nancy Kirby says her first priorities as Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association president will be ensuring “equitable and adequate funding” for Ontario’s publicly funded Catholic schools and tackling the $68-million gap in special education funding for Catholic schools.

Kirby, 57, was elected OCSTA’s president at its annual conference in Thunder Bay April 30.

Kirby said she will also work to ensure funding across the province which allows for flexibility, accountability and “more autonomy,” and funding which meets “local needs.”

OCSTA will also be looking at the province’s new, multi-billion dollar early learning program set to begin in the fall and ensuring that government resources adequately meet the program’s needs. And it will work towards implementing the province’s equity and inclusive strategy which “represents the distinctive nature and mandate of our Catholic schools.”

“Any form of social or cultural discrimination is incompatible with our (Catholic) principles and a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code,” she said, adding that Catholic schools need to “be allowed the freedom” to implement the strategy in accordance with Catholic values.

Kirby has been a Catholic trustee for 16 years at the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario. She’s been OCSTA’s vice president since 2008 and is vice chair of the Eastern Ontario board. She also served on the Minister of Education’s Advisory Council on Special Education and on the board of directors for Curriculum Services Canada.

Wellington Catholic District School Board trustee Marino Gazzola was elected vice president. Colleen Landers of the Northeastern Catholic District School Board was chosen Ontario representative to the Canadian Catholic School Trustees’ Association.

Funding at heart of fight for students;

The Sudbury Star
Mon May 17 2010

By: RACHEL PUNCH

Apartnership that has kept a healthy number of students at Espanola High School is about to come to an end.

For a number of years, the French Catholic school board has rented space in the English public high school.

Without the about 50 French students sharing space, the high school will be on the way to being half-empty.

The Ministry of Education

isn't just looking at approving the construction a new school for 50 students, either. The plan is to build a new school for 250 students, which will be attached to the French elementary school in Espanola.

Lyse-Anne Papineau, director of education at the French Catholic board, Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario, said the Kindergarten to Grade 12 school on one site will help the board retain students.

"If you build it, they will come," she said.

The question is, where will they come from? Espanola only has so many high school-aged students.

This will leave Rainbow District School Board coping with an abundance of surplus space, which takes funds away from programming for students.

It's a scenario that demonstrates the challenges of having four publicly funded education systems fighting for students in the same area.

Papineau said the board is joining high schools with elementary schools in many of the communities it serves, such as Wawa and Sault Ste. Marie.

"It's just better long-term for us to have in those communities pre-(kindergarten) to Grade 12 (schools), just as far as resources go," Papineau said.

"I think you have to understand that it's not a partnership in Espanola. We rent. If you walk into the school, we're kind of mixed and it's not your school," she said.

"You have to ask for everything ... I'm not saying that it's not working as far as OK there is collaboration, but the kids don't have a space really for them," Papineau said.

This will mean difficult decisions for Rainbow trustees in the future.

"It has been a partnership that has benefitted us in terms of the limited number of students in the Espanola area," said Jean Hanson, Rainbow District School Board's education director. "This will leave us with surplus space and we will have to do our planning around that surplus space as we move into the future," she said.

"Empty space is costly for a board."

CHALLENGES

As population trends change and the number of children decreases, the majority of the province's boards -- 57 out of 72 as of 2008-09 -- are experiencing declining enrolment.

Enrolment decreased in Ontario schools by 90,000 students from 2002-03 to 2008-09, according to the Ministry of Education. It is expected to decline a further 56,000 by 2012-13.

Many boards in the province are grappling with the high cost of maintaining aging buildings as funding decreases with the student population.

Hanson said the challenge this creates affects the offering of programs.

"We have many small schools right across the North," Hanson said. "In small schools, particularly secondary schools, it's very challenging to offer the full spectrum of courses that students need to complete their graduation diploma."

It's difficult to offer programs "in a way that they really can design their secondary school program based on their strengths and career aspirations," Hanson said. "That's very hard in small schools."

The ideal utilization rate of a school -- which is calculated by dividing the number of students at a school by the building's capacity -- is between 80% and 100%, Hanson said.

One solution to reduce the amount of surplus space and free up more funding for programs is to amalgamate schools.

For example, Sudbury's two English boards have decided to close eight elementary schools since 2008. During the same time period, trustees agreed to build two new schools.

Despite the amalgamations of schools at all four boards in recent years, Sudbury still has neighbourhoods with under-used schools from competing boards right across the street from one another.

In Coniston, for example, Ecole separee Notre-Dame-de-la- Merci has a utilization rate of 44.5%. Just across the street is St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School, with a utilization rate of 66%.

In Val Caron, Confederation Secondary School has a utilization rate of about 62%. A few kilometres away is Ecole secondaire catholique l'Horizon, with a utilization rate of about 54%.

In Chelmsford, École secondaire Catholique Champlain and Chelmsford Valley District Composite School both have utilization rates in the 50s.

Some school boards, however, have been able to work together to rent out space, as they have in Espanola.

Chelmsford Valley District Composite School, for example, rents space to a French public elementary school.

Greater Sudbury has a high number of schools partly because of its large francophone population.

In the 2006 Census, more than 27% of the population indicated French was their mother tongue and 38.9% identified themselves as bilingual. Provincially, 4.1% of the population declares French to be their mother tongue.

Trustee Jody Cameron, chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, argues having one publicly funded system in the province would not save money.

"We are funded based on per-pupil," Cameron said. "Whether we are four boards, two boards, it's the same amount of funding that still comes forward.

"I'm not sure that there would be a significant amount of efficiencies or savings generated for the upheaval that it would create in the community."

"Bigger is not better," said Sudbury Catholic Trustee Paula Peroni.

"The amalgamation of some of the cities within the province has not saved any money and actually what it has done is created these monstrosities that are not flexible," Peroni added.

"They cannot respond to their communities in a very timely fashion.

"Even the city of Sudbury, people will tell you amalgamation here was not a success."

Officials with Rainbow District School Board, however, see the prospect of amalgamation differently.

The board leaders realize in downtown Sudbury there are four board offices.

"We have four administrative structures, which means four administrative offices, four administrative staffs and human resources, finance and facilities departments," said Hanson.

"The inclusive identity (of one public board) is important to us and we believe that there are efficiencies to be had by coming together under one publicly funded school system," she said.

The Rainbow board is no stranger to amalgamation. The board joined with the Espanola and Manitoulin boards during the board amalgamations of then-premier Mike Harris in 1998.

"We believe it has been an advantage. It certainly has created business efficiencies," Hanson said.

It also provides "tremendous professional collaboration when you have a larger group of professionals coming together, sharing ideas and understanding each other's perspective," Hanson said.

"We are often reminded that this has been a successful amalgamation."

Aside from the business efficiencies and professional collaboration opportunities, bringing together boards may also reduce the instance of schools with empty spaces located kilometres apart from each other.

While Cameron may be right that amalgamating boards might not mean more per-pupil funding, dollars could be diverted from administration and building upkeep and directed toward student learning.

The Sudbury Catholic board maintains it is, in the words of education director Catherine McCullough, "small and mighty."

Peroni does admit, however, providing the same programming at a smaller Catholic board that is offered at a larger public board is sometimes difficult.

"By and large, they do" offer the same programs, she said. "It doesn't come without a challenge or without a struggle at times. For the most part, they are able to offer what the public boards are offering and what the French boards are offering."

It's something proud Marymount Academy student Tessa Steele has noticed. Her friends at public schools do have more variety of classes to choose from, she said.

Despite this fact, she feels Marymount is a great fit.

"Marymount was the school that I thought I would get the best education at," she said.

Academically, the school does fare well on provincial testing. This year, it was in the Top-5 in the province, according to the conservative think-tank, the Fraser Institute.

It has also got spirit, Steele said.

"We all say, 'hi' to each other in the hallway even if we don't really know each other, because we're all a big family," Steele added.

VAST AREAS

Another challenge that results with four separate systems in vast, often sparsely populated, Northern Ontario is serving a huge geographic area.

The problem is especially evident in the French boards, because there are just 12 in the entire province.

"We go from Warren-Markstay all the way to the Manitoba border," said Louise d'Amour, education director at the French public board, Conseil scolaire de district du Grand Nord de l'Ontario.

"Distance is definitely a challenge," d'Amour said. "We do a lot of video conferencing, which helps, but it's not the same as in person."

D'Amour gave an example of the distance creating an issue when a teen in Marathon died.

"It was not one of our students, but it impacted on our students. We had to send a team of social workers and different resource people," d'Amour said. "It takes them a day to get there.

"Those are some of the issues," she said.

The challenges, however, are worth it to have an autonomous and independent French language system, she said.

Technology has helped coping with distances greatly, said Papineau, of the French Catholic board.

"We are not noticing those distances as much because we use a lot of technology like video conferencing," Papineau said "I can really say that we are definitely a big family. "

Before the forming of the French boards, the boards in outlying communities were worried about amalgamation.

"The boards in the outlying areas were very concerned that we were the big board and we would just swallow them up and not service them," said Marcel Montpellier, chair of the French Catholic board.

"I think if you talk to anybody these days, the opposite happened," Montpellier said. "We said we would service them and I think we've done a good job with that."

* On Wednesday, read what it would take to change our public education system, as well as some of the solutions to issues created as a result of our four-board system.

rpunch@thesudburystar.com

- - -

Francophone heritage

The City of Greater Sudbury has a large number of elementary and high schools to serve its population. Part of the reason is because of its large francophone population.

* more than 27% of the population of Greater Sudbury indicate French as their mother tongue (38.9% identify themselves as bilingual);

* about 4.1% of the population of Ontario indicate French as their mother tongue.

Source: 2006 Census

- - -

School numbers

Number of publicly funded elementary and high schools (including alternative schools) in some Ontario cities compared to their populations:

* City of Greater Sudbury, population 157,857, elementary schools 73, high schools 21;

* Barrie, population 128,430, elementary schools 42, high schools, 12;

* Kingston, population 117,207, elementary schools 41, secondary schools 11;

* Thunder Bay, population 109,140, elementary schools and middle schools 41, secondary schools 11;

* North Bay, population 53,966, elementary schools 29, secondary schools 10;

* Sault Ste. Marie, population 74,948, elementary schools 40, secondary schools 10;

* Timmins, population 42,997, elementary schools 24, secondary schools 7;

Sources: Census 2006 and Ministry of Education

© 2010 Osprey Media Group Inc. All rights reserved.

Illustration:
• JOHN LAPPA The Sudbury Star
• Clara, left, and Tessa Steele are pictured outside Marymount Academy, where Tessa is a student.

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Race to recruit students;

The Sudbury Star
Sat May 15 2010 

By Rachel Punch

Reaching minds, touching hearts.

Une place pour tout le monde (a place for everyone).

Creating hopes and dreams through excellence.

L'adventure commence ici! (The adventure begins here).

Behind each of these slick-sounding slogans are four separate, distinct, publicly funded school boards vying to recruit the children of Greater Sudbury.

Catchy radio sound bites, banner advertisements splashed over the bottom of newspaper front pages and flashy websites are all aimed at parents making the important decision of choosing a school system for their child.

The battle for students is actually a fight for funding. School boards in Ontario are funded on a per-pupil basis. The more students they have, the more money they get.

Four boards means four administrations and four sets of school board offices to maintain.

It means some communities have half-empty schools from different boards struggling to stay open just kilo-metres apart from each other.

Proponents of maintaining the four separate systems, such as Catherine McCullough, education director at Sudbury Catholic District School Board, don't think this competition is such a bad thing.

"You have to raise the bar because you have someone competing down the road," McCullough said. "If there was only one school board, then I think there could be some

complacency. I think it's good for all the kids that there is that competition."

Others, such as Rainbow District School Board leaders, view the situation as further evidence the province should move toward one publicly funded

school system. It would be a

more efficient and inclusive system, they say.

"I'll put on the table that I don't think any board shies away from healthy competition," said Jean Hanson, Rainbow's education director.

"The question is, how much energy do you spend in competing for students," she said.

"We want to minimize that energy by the creation of one inclusive system," Hanson said.

HOW WE GOT HERE

While Catholic schools have been around since Canada's roots as a country were first established more than a century and a half ago, the system has not always been fully funded.

Before 1984, Catholic parents had to pay tuition for secondary schools and fundraising was key. Schools relied on help from groups such as the Sisters of St. Joseph and Basilian Fathers.

"Your parents had to really get in there and be part of fundraising and even you, at the school yourself, you had to be really mindful of the fact that you were paying tuition to go to a secondary school," McCullough said.

"There were also subsidies for kids who couldn't afford the tuition," she said. "In many respects, it built a lot of enthusiasm, too, because you knew that your parents were paying for this and you knew it was something that you really had to do your very best at."

In 1984, Premier Bill Davis's swan song was an announcement he would extend full funding to Catholic high schools.

This was a step forward, but it wasn't until 1998 that

Catholic schools were given full funding.

Before then-premier Mike Harris made a great deal of changes to the province's education system in 1998, school board funding was based on a complicated system that involved a combination of government grants and revenue raised by school boards from their local property tax bases.

The system favoured public boards, which had greater access to property tax revenue.

"That really made a big difference in what the public system could provide for their students, i.e. swimming pools, and what the Catholics could provide," said Sudbury Catholic trustee Paula Peroni. "Even playground equipment was difficult."

Bill 160, Harris's Education Quality Improvement Act, took away that unfairness.

"Now it's per-pupil funding in the province of Ontario, whether you are French Catholic, French public, English Catholic or English public," McCullough said. "It's like a level playing field, really."

The province now has more than 600,000 students enrolled in about 1,500 Catholic schools.

Harris also addressed an English and French divide.

Following the extension of full funding in the 1980s, Sudbury had a Catholic system and a public system. Both boards had French and English sections.

"Back then, it was the French and English trustees that made decisions on accommodation (whether to build or close schools)," said Marcel Montpellier, chair of the French Catholic school board, Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario. "Every time we wanted, for example, to build a school, we needed their (the English trustees') permission."

The distribution of resources amongst the English and French schools was also an issue.

In 1998, Harris brought the number of school boards in the province down from 168 to 72. At the same time, he set up separate French boards. The province now has 12 French language school boards -- four public and eight Catholic.

"That provided equality," Montpellier said.

THE RACE FOR STUDENTS

While the funding formula may provide equality, the four boards servicing the Sudbury area now are left to compete for the shrinking number of school-aged children.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board paid a consultant, Watson and Associates, $81,000 in 2008 to help it plan for its future. The consultant examined data about the condition of the board's schools, the region's population and enrolment data.

The report showed total enrolment at all four school boards that service Sudbury, as well as private schools, went from 15,055 in 2002-2003 to 14,289 in 2006-07. The number of live births in Sudbury went from 2,019 in 1994 to 1,379 in 2004.

The preschool-age population in the Greater Sudbury region declined by about 20% from 1996 to 2001, and a further 5.6% from 2001 to 2006.

The declining enrolment situation mirrors trends across the province. The majority of the province's boards -- 57 out of 72 as of 2008-09 -- are experiencing declining enrolment.

The numbers are helping to fuel marketing and communications plans at all school boards across the province.

The Centre franco-ontarien de ressources pédagogiques provides services and resources to support development, growth and the continuous improvement of French education in the province. The organization has been running a program, funded by the federal government, since April 2009 to promote French language education.

The major reason for the campaign is to make parents aware of their right to access French education, said

Madeleine Caron, co-ordinator of the campaign.

"It's necessary to make sure that people know we exist as a system, that there are four systems in the province, two of which are French language," she said. "It is important that they know what that right is and what the consequences are if they don't prevail themselves of that right."

A strong French education system in Ontario is important to maintain French culture, she said.

"The education system for any nation or any community is the basis of their vitality," Caron said. "It's even moreso when you have francophones in a minority setting because school is the one unit upon which society depends for the vitality of the Francophone community."

The advertising and communications campaign is aimed at driving people to a bilingual website, c1plus.ca,to learn about the French system.

Caron said French language education is much different than French immersion, which is offered in English schools.

"In a French school, it's a French experience. Language is like the DNA of the culture," Caron said. "It's language that we are learning, but it's language woven into a whole way of being, a whole way of doing things."

The students who graduate from a French system retain the French language, she said.

"They also attain a very high level of bilingualism because we are all immersed in an English world," she said.

The impact of this English world is evident to Daniel Landry, who sends his seven-year-old son Alexandre to Ecole publique de las Decouverte in Val Caron.

The family spoke only French to Alexandre and he won't start learning English in the classroom until Grade 4. Much to his parents surprise, Alexandre was visiting with an English cousin and he just started speaking English.

"We didn't even know he could speak so well in English," Daniel said. "They pick it up in the school yard."

The campaign to increase awareness about French education has driven more than 55,000 people to the website, Caron said.

"I won't know until next year how that impacted on registration," Caron said.

LOBBYING POLITICIANS

Each of the province's school systems has a trustees association lobbying for its respective group of boards.

Sudbury's own Peroni is president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association.

"We are a service-driven, membership association," Peroni said. "We provide services to the association to help them with, for instance, Catholic education week.

"We do meet on a regular basis with politicians at Queen's Park, our own politicians here in the city and in all of the cities around the province."

Catholic education has been a "success story" for almost 180 years, Peroni said.

What separates the system from the public system "is the fact that our curriculum is rooted in the values of Jesus Christ," Peroni said.

"Every class is viewed through that faith-based lens. Sometimes it's not always that easy to articulate when you are not a member of this faith," she said.

The Ontario Public School Boards' Association's mission is to enhance public education by supporting boards across the province, partnering with groups interested in public education and providing a strong voice on behalf of public education.

During the last provincial election, then-Progressive Conservative leader John Tory put forward the controversial proposal to extend funding to other faith-based schools in the province beyond the Catholic system.

At that time, Rainbow trustees put forward a motion to Ontario Public School Boards' Association to renew its petition to the government of Ontario that there be one publicly funded school system in the province.

The motion was not passed at the time, but "it's a motion that they still have on the books at OPSBA," said Trustee Tyler Campbell, chair of the Rainbow board.

It's an issue that not all members of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association believe in, said the association's president Colleen Schenk.

"In different areas of the province, you find more desire than others," she said.

There is also no will at the provincial government level to change the current system, Schenk said.

"Not one of the leaders of the three major parties in the province supports one publicly funded school system," she said. "Since that is where the decision would be made with regard to that, there is no will, there is no desire to go forward with that," she said. "At the present moment, our hands our tied with regard to that issue."

The association does, however, oppose extending funding to other faith-based schools.

"If you look at education throughout the world you will see different examples of areas where that has happened. What happens is it breaks down the public education system," Schenk said. "You only have so many taxpayer's dollars to go around.

"If you start funding every single system, you will weaken the systems that are in existence already."

* On Monday, read about the challenges our four-board system creates.

Cost savings focus of one board proponents; EDUCATION: Battle of the Boards -- Part 3 of 3;

The Sudbury Star
Tue May 18 2010

By Rachel Punch

Proponents of French-language learning feel the autonomy of their education system is vital to the survival of the Franco-Ontarian culture.

Catholic parents and educators stand by the importance of a faith-based curriculum, modeled after the teachings of Jesus Christ and the gospel.

Parent Sharina Appanna, however, was drawn to the inclusive environment offered by the English public school board.

"I always thought that public education was the best for my family. Mostly, it's a reflection of the real world and it's more reflective of our society as a whole," Appanna said.

"It exposes the students to various cultures and languages. It creates great cooperation.

"Public education creates an interconnected world, which leads to giving students a unique opportunity to see Canada and the world as it is," she said.

Appanna, chair of Rainbow District School Board's parent involvement committee, has a daughter, Nishma, in Grade 11 at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School. Her son, Varun, is a graduate of Lo-Ellen, who now attends Laurentian University. Both took the French Immersion program.

She said she feels public education does not lack morality lessons.

"They focus on character development, building good citizens who can lead us into the future," she said. "I'm really impressed with the inclusiveness. Everyone is welcome regardless of race or religion."

Appanna enjoys the program offerings of the larger, English public school board.

"It's a well-rounded education, with opportunities in arts, athletics and academics," she said. "My son played in the band at Lo-Ellen and also Carl A. Nesbitt Public School. They went on to win many trophies."

She said the board is the most well-equipped to deal with the challenges that will occur due to declining enrolment, which is happening across the province.

"I think they eliminate duplication ... I think they maximize their resources for the benefit of the students," Appanna said.

It's for many of the same reasons leaders at Rainbow District School Board are advocates for the creation of one publicly funded school board.

"We are concerned about the impact on all the boards of declining enrolment," said Jean Hanson, Rainbow's education director.

In March 2007, during the last provincial election, the board passed a motion calling on the Ontario Public School Boards' Association to renew its petition to the government of Ontario that there be one publicly funded school system.

The motion was defeated.

Rainbow's leaders feel one board would reduce spending on administration.

Consolidating schools and services in smaller towns and neighbourhoods would be easier.

Some of the dollars used to maintain half-empty buildings could be diverted to programming.

It would also eliminate the focus on competition to recruit students.

"There is a lot of competition for students. That detracts from our core work," Hanson said.

CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Creating one publicly funded system, however, is more than just a matter of adding up numbers. It would be a costly, massive change requiring a constitutional amendment.

It is a change, however, that has happened in Canada before. In fact, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only provinces who still fully fund Catholic education.

A change would also require a shift in public opinion and a government willing to go up against the strong supporters of French and Catholic education.

The proponents of one public system believe in providing a full spectrum of programs in an inclusive environment, taking into consideration allowances for religious and language differences.

"We are not underestimating the importance of that," Hanson said.

The proponents of the status quo say French culture and Catholicity are woven throughout their respective curriculums.

"If you visit a public school and you visit a Catholic school, there is a difference," said parent Clara Steele. Her daughters both attend Sudbury Catholic schools.

Steele, also a parent involvement committee chair, chose a Catholic school for what she calls the "well-roundedness of mind, body and spirit" the schools provide.

"It's instilling the values and living the Christian values," Steele said.

Parent Daniel Landry chose a French public school for his child, seven-year-old Alexandre.

He said he feels exposure to the language and culture is much greater in a French school, as opposed to taking French Immersion at an English school.

"In this environment, they will celebrate, for example, the Franco-Ontarian flag day on Sept. 25," Landry said.

The students learn about Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day and have a French literature celebration each year called Salon du Livre, where francophone authors visit with students.

French Immersion offered at an English school is based on an English-language learner acquiring the French language, said Louise d'Amour, education director at the French public board, Conseil scolaire de district du Grand Nord de l'Ontario.

The curriculum at a French school is "conceived, developed and implemented according to French language culture," d'Amour said.

Having the option of a separate French school is essential to maintain the Franco-Ontarian culture and the community's growth as a whole, d'Amour added.

Access to both the Catholic and French systems are also enshrined in law.

Canadians have a right to French language education under Section 23 of the Charter of Rights. The Catholic system is entrenched in the Constitution Act of 1867. Provinces who no longer offer a Catholic system required constitutional amendments.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission has ruled, however, Ontario's system is discriminatory, as it funds Catholic schools but no other religious schools.

Public education advocates are against the prospect of extending funding to other faith-based schools. It would take more dollars out of public education and erode the systems already in place, said Colleen Schenk, president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association.

The Ontario Catholic Trustees' Association, however, is more open to the idea.

"We do support funding for other faith-based schools, as long as they have to maintain the same standards and the same accountabilities the rest of the publicly funded systems have to," said Paula Peroni, president of the association and a trustee on the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.

PUBLIC OPINION

Any massive change to Ontario's education system would require a change in public opinion.

The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto has been monitoring public opinion on this issue since 1984. It's part of the Public Attitudes Towards Education in Ontario survey.

"It's a general population survey meant to provide snapshots of where public opinion is at any given time, but also to provide trend lines as to where public opinion has been and where it is going on some key areas," said Doug Hart, coauthor of the survey and a senior research officer at OISE.

It's meant to be an objective tool, not funded by a particular stakeholder group, to contribute to public debate.

The faith-based school question was first introduced to the poll in 1984, following the extension of funding to Catholic secondary schools. Since 1986, when the dust had settled on the decision to fund Catholic high schools, opinion has been stuck in what Hart calls gridlock.

"Opinions have been split between the single public option, the status quo and then a smaller proportion who would extend funding to all private schools, not just religious schools," Hart said. "There is very little support for just extending it to religious schools.

"There is no consensus on the current system, but there is no consensus to move either toward a single public system or toward extending funding to currently private schools."

Hart said a number of factors may contribute to views the public has on the issue.

"The status quo is supported by most Catholics, which is probably not a surprise," Hart said. "What may be a surprise is that most of the people who support the status quo are not Catholics."

In fact, they make up less than half of the group, he said.

"A large number of those people may simply shrink from the cost that would be involved in trying to amalgamate two or four different school systems, particularly in a city like Toronto, where they have been through that."

There are also the constitutional arguments.

"There are issues of parental choice. There are issues of saving money, particularly for those who are proponents of a single public system," Hart said. "There are a number of reasons for holding views. The result is there is no sort of killer piece of rhetoric that sways people."

WORKING TOGETHER

Whether or not Ontario ever radically changes its system, problems associated with declining enrolment and aging buildings need to be addressed.

While leaders from each local board are strong advocates for the system they represent, they have demonstrated an ability to work together on several fronts.

"I think it really is important to emphasize that we do have a high level of respect for our (neighbouring) boards," said Hanson, Rainbow's director of education. "The directors work well together."

For example, the four boards have a transportation consortium, which is responsible for busing.

"That is an incredibly efficient way of managing transportation across the four boards, " Hanson said.

It's a model that has been used in other areas.

"Most recently, the four boards have been working together on the planning of the Early Learning Program," Hanson said.

"There are many more examples of ways that we work well together. We plan a common school year calendar to ensure there is efficiencies on P.A. days for transportation," Hanson added. "There are common opportunities around professional learning."

The boards also have a purchasing consortium to save on supplies.

Working together amongst neighbouring boards hasn't been this successful in other cities.

"One thing that is very good about Sudbury, and I don't know if you will find this everywhere else, is the four boards are very collegial," said Catherine McCullough, education director of Sudbury Catholic District School Board.

"One thing I am very, very impressed with here is the community rolls up their sleeves to say we need this service and we have it here," she said. "That calls upon the four boards. We have to co-operate, but we are also mutually respectful of each other."

"We are always collaborating, trying to always find solutions together to ensure we all, as four boards, meet the needs of our individual communities," added Lyse-Anne Papineau, education director at the French Catholic school board, Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario.

Even when it comes to school buildings, the boards have been successful at sharing space.

For example, Ecole publique Pavillon-de-l'Avenir in Chelmsford shares a building with Chelmsford Valley District Composite School. In Markstay, the French public board rents space in a school for the English Catholic board.

And they are always looking for other ways to collaborate.

"There are areas where there could be more collaboration and we are striving to do that, recognizing that resources are limited," said d'Amour.

rpunch@thesudburystar.com

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By the numbers

Ontario's schools are

administered by district school boards and school

authorities. School boards are divided as follows:

. 31 English public;

. 29 English Catholic;

. 4 French public;

. 8 French Catholic.

School authorities consist of geographically isolated boards and hospital school boards:

. there are 11 school authorities. Source: Ministry of Education

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Catholic education

Here are some facts about Catholic education in Ontario:

. Catholic population in Ontario: 3,611,688 (approx. 33%);

. Number of Catholic District School Boards: 29;

. Number of Catholic School Authorities: 5;

. Number of Catholic trustees: 245;

. Number of Catholic schools: Approximately 1,500;

. Enrolment in Catholic schools: More than 600,000.

Source: Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association