December 10, 2010

Early Learning Program

OCSTA continues to hold monthly teleconferences with the Association's Early Learning Working Group and to bring their input forward to the monthly meetings of the provincial advisory group.

Some issues of concern for boards include:

•    Class size – smaller classes need to be acknowledged and funded
•    Third party providers for extended day programs and the issue of allowing these providers to extend after year 2.

The Association has issued a letter to the Minister in support of maximum flexibility for school boards to maintain programs that are working - including third party programs.

Catholic Component in the JK/K Curriculum:  A team of curriculum specialists from Catholic boards including early years specialists has been formed by the Institute of Catholic Education to develop guidelines for including Catholic components throughout the JK/K curriculum.  The new document is scheduled to go forward to the Bishops’ plenary in the fall of 2011.


For more information, please contact Carol Devine, Director, Legislative and Political Affairs, cdevine@ocsta.on.ca.

Grants for Student Needs

The Minister of Education recently issued a letter that identifies the process and timelines for the upcoming consultation for the 2011/12 Grants for Student Needs (GSN).

The Ministry has expanded the process this year to include reviews of the School Board Administration Grant and School Operations Allocations (consistent with the mandate of the Provincial Discussion Table agreements).

Special Education Grant: The Ministry is planning two dedicated one-day sessions to discuss special education and declining enrolment funding.  Representatives from the education sector will be invited to participate in these sessions.

For the 2011/12 GSN consultations, the Minister has asked the sector to focus on three questions (in addition to topics that each respective stakeholder group would like to bring forward):

1. In light of the province's fiscal challenges, are there measures that could reduce expenditures and/or make the system more efficient and effective?
2. What areas of the funding formula that support the government's student achievement agenda should we focus on for further reforms?
3. Are there changes in reporting that could make the system more transparent and accountable while ensuring that we are streamlining the number of reports boards are required to submit?
   

Responses to the GSN consultations are due at the Ministry by January 31, 2011. Throughout the year OCSTA has received information from member boards regarding GSN priorities and much of that input is reflected in the annual Finance Brief.  The brief was approved at the recent December 3rd Board meeting and will be submitted to the Ministry.

For more information, please contact Paul C. Whitehead, Senior Policy Advisor  pwhitehead@ocsta.on.ca.
 

Legislative Update

Bill 122

Bill 122, the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010, was introduced in October 2010 and affects school boards as broader public sector organizations.  The Bill would prevent school boards from hiring lobbyists and require boards to report on their use of consultants.

The legislation would not prevent CDSBs from being members of the Association but it would prevent OCSTA from using board fees to hire lobbyists.

OCSTA was very concerned about a potential restriction on the Association’s ability to approach the government with concerns about denominational issues.

In its submission on Bill 122 to the Standing Committee on Social Policy, OCSTA requested that a clause be inserted in Bill 122 to ensure that our denominational rights will not be adversely affected.  Such a clause is now in the amended version of the Bill.

Finally, Bill 122 would also enable the Lieutenant Governor to make mandatory the Supply Chain Management guidelines under which boards currently operate.  The Management Board of Cabinet would have the ability to issue directives and guidelines concerning allowable expenses.  Board reporting would also be increased.  All of these points cause concern.

OCSTA has requested to be a part of the consultation process regarding any directive or regulations that are developed in regard to these matters.

Bill 110

OCSTA’s submission in response to Bill 110 – An Act to promote good government by amending or repealing certain Acts – re-iterated the Catholic community’s Constitutional right to locate schools and school programs according to the needs of the community, as is already protected within the Education Act.

The provisions of Bill 110 will be amendments to the Education Act.

For more information please contact Carol Devine, Director, Legislative and Political Affairs, cdevine @ ocsta.on.ca.

Trustee Professional Development
Seminar January 14-15, 2011

All trustees are encouraged to register now for the 2011 OCSTA Trustee Professional Development Seminar, January 14-15, 2011 at the Doubletree By Hilton Hotel – Toronto Airport (655 Dixon Rd.).

This annual seminar is designed to provide all trustees with an opportunity for informative and interactive professional and faith development. This year's theme is Catholic Trustees: Advocates, Guardians & Stewards of Catholic Education.

A new item on the 2011 Seminar program is the Ministry of Education’s certification course for school trustees. The full-day certification course is entitled “Essentials of Good Governance for School Boards” and is the first of three certification courses offered in the Ministry of Education’s new trustee development program.

Please note that the distinctive faith components of our January Seminar remain the same.  We will open our Seminar with Mass on Friday, January 14th, at 8:30 a.m. Sessions for that day include:

• A keynote presentation by former OCSTA and CCSTA president, Regis O’Connor. Regis will speak to this year’s theme: “Catholic Trustees: Advocates, Guardians and Stewards of Catholic Education.”
• An address by the Minister of Education, the Hon. Leona Dombrowsky
• Workshop sessions examining: School Board Communications and the Media; Political Advocacy; Current issues in Education Finance; Understanding Conflict of Interest Legislation; and Parliamentary Procedures for School Boards
• OCSTA’s President’s Report to Members

Where:	Doubletree By Hilton - Toronto Airport 655 Dixon Rd., Toronto
Who:	All Trustees, Student Trustees and Directors of Education
Hotel Rate:	Rates start at $135 per night plus applicable taxes.  Boards are asked to make room reservations directly with the hotel by calling 1-800-668-3656.  Please be sure to place the reservation under the "OCSTA" block of rooms in order to obtain our negotiated group discount rate.

Hotel Reservation Deadline: In order to secure this special rate, rooms must be booked by
December 24, 2010.

To download the OCSTA Trustee Professional Seminar program and registration form click here.

For more information about the program please contact Sharon McMillan, Coordinator
Communications & Media Relations, smcmillan @ ocsta.on.ca/ (416) 932-9460 ext. 232.

Catholic School Boards' Partnership with Catholic University Produces Undergraduate Program that Benefits Students, Boards

A partnership of Catholic school boards and King’s University College (University of Western Ontario) has resulted in the creation of a unique 4-year degree program that guarantees admission to Western’s Faculty of Education while providing graduates with a Bachelor Arts (Honors) in Catholic Studies.  Upon graduating from the Faculty of Education students will also have their Bachelor of Education.

This particular program was created by a partnership that included: London DCSB,   Bruce-Grey CDSB, Brant Haldimand Norfolk CDSB, Huron Perth CDSB and King’s University College

Fourth-year student Nicole Denomy explained that the curriculum content is extremely relevant and inspiring for anyone with an aspiration to teach successfully in any one of Ontario’s distinctive Catholic schools.

“The scope of topics and depth of information delivered in this program is a great confidence builder for a Catholic teacher. I know as a teacher I won’t be able to answer every question, but I believe the more teachers know about our religious tradition the more they can help students to understand their faith,” explains Nicole.

Placement Coordinator for the Catholic Teachers' Program at King's College, Larry Langdon, explains that by the time students in this program get to teachers college they will have 9.5 credits in religion.

Each undergraduate student will also have spent 12 days out of each year in a Catholic secondary school classroom as an observer (beginning in year 2).

As the program gets larger, Langdon sees the program branching out to other Catholic school boards.

“I’ve gained so much knowledge from the program’s curriculum. We’ve covered a variety of compelling topics including the History of Catholic education in this province, Current issues affecting our schools, the Liturgy, the Old and New Testaments, World Religion, Catholic Morality, and Philosophy and Religion,” explains Nicole.

To learn more about King’s University College’s partnership initiative with school boards and the Catholic Studies for Teachers program, please contact Marilyn Mason at the King’s University College – mmason@uwo.ca or (519) 433-3491, ext. 4308.

Stay Connected to CCSTA

To facilitate the sharing of important and timely information from the Canadian Catholic School Trustees' Association (CCSTA) to Ontario's Catholic trustees, CCSTA has requested that trustees forward their contact information including email address to CCSTA to the attention of Jean Montminy jean.montminy@ottawacatholicschools.ca.

Nominations Accepted for 2011 Higgins Award:  The Justice James Higgins Award is presented annually for outstanding leadership in Catholic education in Canada. A Catholic school board, provincial association or the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops may submit a nominee for the award to the CCSTA office by January 14, 2011.