Weekly Message from Trustee Del Grande

There have been attempts to persuade me from speaking up publicly or responding to the media's requests for interviews. Some would prefer if individual trustees said nothing and stuck to scripted responses, especially when there is controversy or bad news about the board. While it is true that the school board is a corporation and trustees are in fact directors of that corporation, so as good governance practice we should always ensure the viability and success of the system as a whole. As an elected official, however, it is my duty and responsibility to speak out on issues and represent my constituents, stakeholders and students. Dissent and criticism should not always be taken as negative to the institution, the hope is that it brings about changes for the better. The real damage to an institution happens when we refuse to acknowledge issues and put our head in the sand to concerns happening in and around us.  All elected officials need to stand behind their voting record and in the case of senior bureaucrats, their recommendations.

To view previous e-news and published newsletters please visit my website: http://www.johndelgrande.ca/communications.htm

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Upcoming Meeting Agenda Items

Thursday March 24th: Regular Board Meeting  (7:00PM) CEC

Agenda Link >>> HERE

Presentations

On the agenda are three presentations, the first being a monthly verbal update from the Director of Education on the state of affairs of the TCDSB, the second from the Student Trustee regarding student issues and the final being from Superintendent Notten regarding the Long Term Accommodation Plan and program proposals for high schools.

Notices of Motion for Consideration

Trustees Davis & Crawford have sponsored a motion calling for the recognition of Blessed Pope John Paul II Day on the Monday following the second Sunday of Easter. Its a nice gesture, however having a name day only goes so far unless education curriculum and materials are presented with it.

Unfinished Business

Twelve reports, were not able to be dealt with at both the February 3rd and March 3rd meeting, so they have come up this meeting. I again raise the concern, one board meeting a month is not sufficient to raise concerns and prudently deal with items before us.  [I had provided a previous analysis of these reports in my Week 3 & Week 5 Newsletters]

Long-Term Accommodation Program Plan Update

This report updates on all the program implementations being contemplated for high schools across the city. This plan seeks to put some specialties in schools based on program streaming (students bound for different destinations, college/apprenticeship/university). Some ideas are also being looked at to create additional magnet and pull programs to enhance school choice and offerings.

Status of Capital Program

This report lists the current and planned school additions, rebuilds and new buildings. Phase 1 Building Additions (16): Total Value $60.8 million. Phase 1 New Schools (6): Total Value $64.4 million. We have a shortfall of $14 million to finish these projects.

The Board is also planning over the next 4 years, fourteen new additions, replacement schools or new sites. The total value is $133 million and funding sources are being estimated and sourced.

Modified School Calendar

This information report, indicates that almost all major school boards in the province opted for a 2011/12 school year calendar that has the Christmas break running from December 26th to January 6th. The last day of school before Christmas will be Friday December 23rd.

RFP Award for Facilitator

Each school board is required to develop a multi-year plan. Staff is recommending use of a facilitator to assist the Board and solicit input from trustees and senior staff in the process. A grant has been secured from the Ministry of Education for this purpose. What I find odd is that an RFP was already issued by staff and they have already made a recommendation. I need to re-check the minutes, but I am pretty sure when trustees last met on this topic, we did not expect to hear back with a recommendation to hire.

Motions from Special Board of March 16, 2011

The Board of Trustees met in private session on March 16, 2011 to discuss the replacement of the Director of Education. The current Director of Education, hired by the Ministry Supervision team, contract expires on August 31, 2011. The trustees opted to create a "Director of Education Search Committee" compromised of 5 trustees. This committee will regularly report back to the full board and immediately work to issue an RFP for an executive search firm, recommend timelines and a candidate profile.

Video Recording

The Board room was recently upgraded to include four video camera to record public meetings of the Board. Video recording has taken place since December 7, 2011. Staff is working on taking all previous recordings to make available to the public to download. As well live video streaming will start with the May 19th Board meeting. This now negates my need to file a Freedom of Information request to get access to the previous videos.

Draft Equity & Inclusive Education Plan

After some recent controversy on the need for a symposium and guest speakers, the consultation dates have been cancelled and will be rescheduled. The web-based survey continues to be available to stakeholders and parents to comment on the draft policy

Tender Award for Computer Equipment Leasing

Senior staff want the Board to approve leasing deals with values of $3.5 million over five years for notebook computers in classrooms and for administration. No details are provided on the type of computers and other contract details. Trustees are not rubber stamps, and I don't approve recommendations without the backup to support it.

Senator O'Connor Estate Restoration

This report speaks to the refurbishment of the heritage houses on the Senator O'Connor property. In addition to monies the Board will put in, the federal government is contributing dollars as well as the local Irish association. When the property is brought up to standards, it can be used as additional teaching and retreat space.

Capital Priorities Update

The top three needs the Board has in terms of funding for school buildings are: 1) Dante Alighieri (students are spread over two very inadequate campuses) 2) Top of Funding for existing Capital Projects (we are $14million short) 3) St. Margaret. This represents $55 million and we'll see if any budget or pre-election goodies help our cause.

Addition to Father Serra - Award of Construction Tender

For the building addition, we were provided $2.9 million in funding but it will actually take $4.2 million to construct. Other accounts will be used to top up the deficit in this construction project and staff is recommending we approve with the tender award.

Unit Price Request - Portable Classrooms

This report seeks to get unit pricing on portables built and installed on school sites. While portables are supposed to be used for short-term spikes in school enrolment, they end up staying much past their lifecycle and end up being part of the school landscape.

2011-2012 Enrolment Projections

Our planning staff have undertaken great work to get better and better on enrolment projections. Enrolment drives everything for the board, since it is used as a basis for funding grants, staffing models and long term planning. For 2011/12, we are projecting 91,366 students made up of 60,538 in elementary and 30,828 in secondary schools. This represents about a 1% decline from 2010/11.

Establishment of Standing Committees

The Supervisor had previously tasked me with researching and recommending additional standing committees of the Board. I came up with a list of four based on best practice and other boards. Trustees recommended an additional two. The matter was referred to staff for a report. Instead of considering all six, we get back a report with only two committees, and staff seems to have decided themselves the terms of reference and names. The two being recommended as Policy and Student Achievement. At this point two is better than the none we have now. I would like to see a different composition of the committee structure to facilitate better discussion and recommendations.

Delegations Policy

Board staff are recommending that only 5 people be allowed to speak at Board meetings. I think this is an infringement on our parents and stakeholders to address the Board. We often have 5 delegations on a normal evening, so if anything special is on the agenda, people will be denied their "5 minutes".

Development of a Policy on Consultation

Trustees agreed at the beginning of our term that we need to do a better job of consulting with our community. We wanted to establish a policy on when and how we should consult so we have consistency in applying its principals. Some work has been done by a small committee, but I believe they have missed some key elements and foundations. Staff is recommending it be referred to the newly recommended trustee policy committee.

Recent Meeting Highlights