COVID-19 Update

Following a provincial announcement on January 3, in-person learning for students in Ontario’s schools was suspended until January 17, and replaced in the interim with remote (online) learning.

In response, OCSTA released the following statement from President Daly:

“In response to today’s government announcement that the reopening of in-school learning will be delayed for two weeks, OCSTA, on behalf of the Catholic District School Boards we represent, defers to the expertise of the medical health experts arriving at these difficult decisions and we remain committed to supporting Catholic school boards in their priority on the health and safety and well-being of their students and staff,” said OCSTA President, Patrick Daly.

 

“Although we were not consulted regarding recent decisions, we very much regret the disruption this has caused to students, staff and parents,” added Mr. Daly.

 

“We continue to call upon the government to give priority to students and all school staff to receive all of the vaccine doses for which they are eligible and add COVID-19 to the list of designated diseases in Ontario Regulations 261/13 Designated Diseases under the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA).

 

We express deep gratitude to system and school leaders, teachers, support staff, students, parents and trustees for their heroic service and understanding throughout these unprecedented times.”

A formal announcement from the government on the return to in-class learning on January 17 is expected to take place on Wednesday, January 12 at 1:30 p.m. via livestream – https://www.youtube.com/c/GovernmentofOntarioAnnouncements

Pre-budget Submission

The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs will meet to conduct Pre-Budget Consultations in the coming weeks and has released details on the process for participation.

• The Committee intends to hold public hearings via videoconference (Zoom) for the following regions:
• Northwest Region of Ontario on Monday, January 10, 2022;
• Northeast Region of Ontario on Tuesday, January 11, 2022;
• Ottawa Region of Ontario on Wednesday, January 12, 2022;
• Eastern Region of Ontario on Tuesday, January 18, 2022;
• Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area of Ontario on Wednesday, January 19, 2022 and Thursday, January 20, 2022;
• Southwestern Region of Ontario on Friday, January 21, 2022; and
• Central Region of Ontario on Wednesday, January 26, 2022.

For more information on how to request an opportunity to present to the Committee, click here. Written submissions will be accepted until January 26, 2022. OCSTA will send in a modified version of our Grants for Student Needs 2022-23 brief that was sent to Minister Lecce in November, 2021.

To register or send a written submission, please visit the following website: ola.org/en/apply-committees.

Committee hearings will be live-streamed. For the link to the webcast, and to find meeting times, please visit the Legislative Assembly website at ola.org.

Municipal Elections

The next municipal election will be held Monday, October 24, 2022. OCSTA is in the process of updating Catholic Trustee guides and resources to support members. Please note that the 2022 Trustee Determination and Distribution Guide will be released in early 2022 and the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will be creating Population of Electoral Groups (PEG) reports for all school boards in early February. On the Ontario Education Services Corporation is a distribution and determination tool for use/reference.

Accurate Voter Lists

Once again the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation is making available its “voterlookup” tool. By logging into voterlookup.ca, Ontarian’s can update their electoral information and change their school support.

This is particularly helpful for Catholic ratepayers who may be recorded on the assessment rolls incorrectly as public school supporters due to a mechanism in the system that assigns residents as public school supporters by default.

MPAC uses this information to create a Preliminary List of Electors, used by municipalities to produce the final Voters’ List for municipal elections, as well as population reporting for various municipal and school board planning purposes.

To improve the accuracy of these population reports, please share voterlookup.ca with your communities.

Upcoming Events

2022 Catholic Trustees Seminar – VIRTUAL EVENT – January 14, 2022

Media Training Seminar for Chairs – VIRTUAL EVENT – January 28, 2022

Speaker Series – David Wells – “Catholic Education: Communities of Faith & Fortitude” – February 22, 2022

OCSTA in the News

Ontario could reopen high schools before elementary schools, sources say
The Toronto Star – January 7, 2022
As the Ontario government determines how to safely get students back in classrooms, high schoolers could return earlier than children in elementary school due to their higher vaccination levels, sources told the Star.
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