Inside this Issue

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Legislative Update

Ombudsman Report re: Student Transportation

On August 10, Ontario Ombudsman, Paul Dubé released his report, The Route of the Problem. The report reflects the findings and recommendations stemming from an investigation into the Toronto District and Toronto Catholic District School Board’s oversight of student transportation and their response to delays and disruptions at the start of the 2016-17 school year.

The report contains 42 recommendations directed to both Toronto boards and the transportation consortium (the Toronto Student Transportation Group).

The Ombudsman Report

The joint TCDSB and TDSB news release

Transportation Working Groups

In early July the Ministry of Education announced the establishment of two working groups on student transportation issues in July:

1. Transportation Funding Review: led by Joan Green and Michelle Paulin, this group will review the funding formula for student transportation. This follows from the announcement in April regarding GSN consultations and that the Ministry was committed to reviewing the funding formula over the next 18-24 months.

2. Transportation Working group on the Campbell Report: This group is being led by Ministry staff and it includes Catholic school board finance staff. Its mandate is to review the recent report on reforming the Ministry’s procurement process in respect of contracting school bus operators by school boards.

Cannabis Legalization in Ontario:

The Ministry of the Attorney General is co-ordinating the province’s development of a regulatory framework in support of the federal government’s recent legislation to legalize and regulate cannabis (Cannabis Act, C-45). OCSTA has discussed with Ministry staff  the overall approach by the Ministry of Education on this matter and expressed an interest in participating in any forthcoming consultations. Please see the memo from Assistant Deputy Minister Denise Dwyer outlining some of the supports for schools. OCSTA will be developing a submission on the issues impacting school boards later this fall.

For more information please contact Stephen Andrews, Director of Legislative and Political Affairs – sandrews[at]ocsta.on.ca. 

Fall Regional Meetings

Registration information and the program for OCSTA’s fall regional meetings have been shared with all Catholic District School Boards. The date and locations are provided below:

To register online for OCSTA’s Fall Regional Meetings please click here.

Together in Faith

With school set to begin in a few weeks, we encourage Catholic trustees and CDSB staff to invite friends and family to participate in the campaign for Catholic education called Together in Faith.

The purpose of this campaign is to forge stronger connections between Ontario’s highly successful Catholic schools and the parents, students and parishioners across the province who support and rely upon publicly funded Catholic education.

We are pleased that this OCSTA campaign has received the endorsement and support of our partners in education – the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario. To date the campaign has attracted more than 10,000 new subscribers but we know we can double that number this fall…with your help.

If you have not yet added your name to the Together in Faith list, we invite you to do so now by clicking: www.togetherinfaith.ca. You can keep abreast of the news we share about our system by following us on Twitter (@CatholicEdu) and on Facebook.

In the coming weeks we will be announcing an exciting initiative that will be led by our student trustees – stay tuned!

Together in faith Ontario’s Catholic schools will continue to provide successful Christ-centred learning environments as part of this province’s strong education system.

For more information please contact Sharon McMillan, Director of Communications – smcmillan[at]ocsta.on.ca. 

Call for Presenters – 2018 Summit on
Children and Youth Mental Health

As a member of the Ontario Coalition for Children and Youth Mental Health, OCSTA is pleased to share the Call for Presenters for the Coalition’s 2018 Summit for Children and Youth Mental Health.

We hope OCSTA’s members will consider this invitation as an opportunity to share the good work being done in Catholic schools to address children and youth mental health needs.

The Summit will be held April 12 & 13, 2018 at the Toronto Allstream Centre.

Special consideration will be given to presentation proposals that deepen knowledge of:

• Indigenous perspectives;
• Engagement of faith and cultural communities;
• Prevention of Self-Harm;
• Initiatives that showcase:

o   effective cross sectoral collaboration
o   transitioning
o   transformational practice

Hopefully your board will be a part of this important event and if so, please let OCSTA know of your submission.