AGENDA

THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES, PROGRAM AND RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Wednesday, March 7, 2007
7:00 p.m.       

1.         Memorials and Prayers. 

2.         Roll Call and Apologies. 

3.         Approval of the Agenda. 

N.B.    Staff would be pleased to walk the Trustees through any report on this agenda at the direction of the Chair.

4.         Declarations of Interest.

5.         Approval and Signing of the Minutes of the Regular Meeting held February 7, 2007 for PUBLIC SESSION.  p.1-p.9

6.         Presentations: 

a)         By the Canadian Parents for French (Ontario) – presentation of a plaque to the Board . 

7.         Delegations: 

a)          Sister McAuliffe, regarding A-Cappella Services for Young Women. 

8.         Trustee Matters:        

  a)    From Trustee Andrachuk regarding the Canadian Food for Children Lenten Project.  p.10

                    Received and referred to staff. 

9.         Unfinished Business:

10.       Matters referred/deferred to this Committee by the Board and other Committees:         

a)         Report regarding Response to Delegation of the Toronto Coalition for Equity in Education.  (Referred to the Committee by the Board at its meeting held February 21, 2007).   [SEE ITEM 11c)]  p.11-p.19 

                        Receive. 

11.       Reports of Officials and Special Committees Requiring ACTION by the Board. 

a)         Report regarding School Year Calendar 2007-2008.  p.20-p.24 

1.         That the following proposed School Year Calendar be submitted to the Ministry of Education: 

Number of school days                            194

Number of Professional Activity Days     6

Labour Day                                 September 3, 2007

First instructional day                 September 4, 2007

Thanksgiving Day                       October 8, 2007

Christmas Break                         December 24, 2007                                                                to January 4, 2008

Mid-Winter Break                      March 10-14, 2008

Good Friday                              March 21, 2008

Easter Monday                          March 24, 2008

Victoria Day                              May 19, 2008

Last day for elementary schools       June 25, 2008 

2.         That the Elementary calendar have two professional activity days for the purpose of conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences: December 7, 2007 and April 4, 2008. 

3.         The elementary calendar have two professional activity days devoted to provincial education priorities: October 26, 2007 and February 15, 2008.

4.         That the Elementary calendar have two professional activity days to facilitate one Day of Reflection and one further Professional Development Day.   

5.         That the Secondary calendar have three locally determined professional development days and one locally determined Day of Reflection.  Consideration for the selection of these days will consider the elementary professional development day calendar. 

6.         That the secondary calendar have two professional activity days devoted to provincial education priorities: October 26, 2007 and February 15, 2008 

7.          That the Secondary calendar include a maximum of 10 days for examination purposes to be scheduled according to the school’s organization of the instructional program.  No instructional days will be scheduled after the end of year examination days. 

            b)         Report regarding Human Resources Staffing Issues.   p.25-p.26 

That the Board approve the immediate posting of the position of acting academic coordinator of Human Resources and that the position be filled in a timely manner. 

c)         Report regarding Response to Delegation of the Toronto Coalition for Equity in Education.  [SEE ITEM 10a)]   p.27-p.40 

                        That the Board approve the following recommendations: 

1.         That all employees and school communities within the TCDSB   receive a printed copy of the newly revised Antiracism and Ethnocultural Equity: Policy and Guidelines by September 2007. An orientation to the document in keeping with system-wide priorities, will be provided starting in September 2007 and concluding by December 2008. 

2.         That writing projects (gr. 4-10) be approved to develop central curriculum resources that speak to various diasporas (i.e., African/Asian-Canadian) starting in July 2007. 

3.         That the Race and Ethnic Relations Multiculturalism establish a website to facilitate communications and enhance community education and parent engagement in the school year 2007-2008. 

4.         That Program Coordinators continue to guide the implementation of an inclusive curriculum through both the resource teachers and secondary department heads in order to impact at the classroom level.  Cyclical reviews of classroom texts and library materials starting in September 2007 will ensure relevancy to student needs. 

5.         That the TCDSB, in the budget process, consider providing funding for in-services and conference workshops for Vice-Principals, Principals and Superintendents to receive current information on issues pertaining to equity and diversity commencing in 2007-2008 with the intention that system leaders champion the delivery of an inclusive K-12 curricula and the engagement of all our students . 

6.         That the TCDSB, in the budget process for 2007-2008, consider providing additional human resources to support the work of the Race and Ethnic Relations Multiculturalism Department in light f emerging  priorities that speak to equity and diversity issues.

7.         That the TCDSB continue to require that teachers applying for the position of Vice-Principal, as well as all newly appointed Vice-Principals and Principals, participate in modules of the Leadership Course in Race and Ethnic Relations, Multiculturalism.  These modules are delivered through the current leadership development framework of three programs – Foundations Series, Issues Series and Succession Series. 

8.         That the TCDSB make available modules of the Leadership Course in Race and Ethnic Relations Multiculturalism as part of the on-going professional development for beginning teachers in the New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP) starting in September 2007. 

9.         That the TCDSB formally invite a representative from the Toronto Coalition for Equity in Education, as well as other interested community representatives, to participate in the forum for dialogue facilitated by the TCDSB Advisory Committee on Race and Ethnic Relations, Multiculturalism. 

10.       That TCDSB continue enhancing the two programs for English Language Learners with resources for students and in-services for staff.

11.       That professional development which focuses on approaches to more successfully engage ELL and ESL learners in all classrooms be provided to the student success teams of all secondary schools within our system in two separate sessions between February and May 2007, and further supported by workshops / in-services provided by the ESL department to selected personnel from all schools.  

12.       That TCDSB lead staff in both the International Languages and Continuing Education departments meet with colleagues at the TDSB to share information and expertise about successful ethno-cultural, school community based programs. 

13.       That pilot projects over the next three years focus on providing students of diverse backgrounds with additional curricular and co-curricular programs which directly relate to their cultural interests, (i.e., Curricular: a) Building a specific pathway comprised of Guidance and Interdisciplinary courses, from grades 9 to 12, that would focus on African Heritage; b) Caribbean Dance; c) Vocal Jazz; d) Non-Traditional Arts – an overview of the art of a region of Africa; all currently being funded/piloted at Archbishop Romero.  Co-Curricular:  Ills Skillz – Exploring Urban Dance, funded at Dante Alighieri, in conjunction with Cardinal McGuigan, Blessed Mother Teresa, Bishop Marrocco and St. Patrick’s Catholic Secondary Schools).  Expansion of the programs will be considered in the budget process for 2007-2008. 

14.       That awareness regarding cultural values and preferred learning styles be woven into in-services regarding differentiation of curriculum and assessment; initial work began in May 2006, will be revisited in February 2007 and will continue thereafter on a regular basis. 

15.       That the TCDSB continue to utilize a wide range of available resources, building partnerships with volunteers and role models from community agencies and outside organizations to support addressing the needs of students considered at risk of not graduating. 

16.       That the TCDSB encourage community organizations to explore sources of funding through grant proposals and city initiatives (i.e., Youth Challenge Fund) to initiate a pilot program that would employ retired educators to act as caring adult mentors.  These mentors are ideally suited to encourage youth leadership and youth community engagement with students considered at risk.   

17.       That discussions continue with representatives of underachieving cultural groups, (i.e., Portuguese/Canadian Educators’ Network) to determine the best methods of engaging not only students, but also parents, so as to build a shared commitment regarding the best strategies to support academic success.  Both the Curriculum and Accountability Team and Student Success are engaged in these discussions with representative groups on an ongoing basis. 

18.       That the TCDSB review recruitment, staffing and promotional policies to ensure that ethno-cultural equity is a vibrant reality at all levels of the organization in the school year 2007-2008. 

19.       That the Human Resources department develop an Employment Equity policy with a clearly delineated implementation plan in the school year 2007-2008. 

20.       That the TCDSB continue to champion the work of Empowered Student Partnership Program (ESP) in all our secondary schools while applying for Ministry grants to support the program. 

21.       That the team of teachers from Msgr. Percy Johnson collaborate with the Coordinator for Race and Ethnic Relations, Multiculturalism to offer a workshop on “Tools for Tolerance” to teams of interested teachers in secondary schools.  

22.       That the Malvern Community Coalition outreach project be explored as a best practice to replicate in other TCDSB communities (i.e., 13 priority neighbourhood areas). 

23.       That the TCDSB establish and implement a Safe and Healthy Schools Advisory Committee comprised of parents, students, trustees, staff and community stakeholders that meets on a bi-monthly basis starting in September 2007. 

24.       That staff in-service all employees of the TCDSB in the application of these two policies (TCDSB Antiracism And Ethnocultural Equity: Policy And Guidelines; Sexual Harassment Policy; The Respectful Workplace: Addressing Harassment and Discrimination –Policy and Guidelines) designed to foster a positive and healthy working and learning community in the school year 2007-2008.  

12.       Reports of Officials and Special Committees for INFORMATION of the Board. 

13.       Approval of Matters for which no trustee has requested debate. 

14.       Communications: 

15.       Inquiries and Miscellaneous: 

N.B.    Private Inquiries must only be related to matters as outlined in the reference to legislation on the inside cover of the Private Agenda. 

16.        Update of Pending List: 

17.              RESOLVE INTO PRIVATE SESSION.