Submitted by Erica Braunovan, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee –
It is hard to believe we are more than half way through the 2018-2019 school year. I wish all the semestered secondary students great success in their second term classes.
The weather might be chilly, but I would like to extend a warm welcome to Camille Williams-Taylor, the new Director of Education at the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. Joining us from Durham District School Board, Camille has spent her first few weeks getting up to speed on all things OCDSB and is a very quick study. I look forward to working with her over the coming years.
On May 18, 2018, the OCDSB proudly adopted a motion to endorse the United Nations Declaration for the Decade for People of African Descent. This was an important commitment to recognizing our history and taking action to effect change. In celebration of Black History month I was pleased to attend the following events; National Black Canadians Summit, Parents For Diversity’s workshop on Addressing Anti-Black Racism in Schools and the Black History Month Gala later in February.
In the coming months the OCDSB will continue to move forward with a process for collecting identity-based data to be used as a tool to better understand and eliminate systemic barriers in public education. Consultation on this important issue will be held April – June 2019. Feedback from the community will be vital to ensuring that we get this right.
The board has undergone an initial consultation regarding our four year strategic plan. Over the coming months trustees will work with members of the senior staff team to develop a draft plan that will be sent out for further consultation in April and May. There has been input from over 6,000 stakeholders to date, including parents, students and staff. Please watch for the draft plan and let me know what you think at Erica.braunovan@ocdsb.ca.
Councillor Jeff Leiper’s office hosted a public meeting regarding the planned addition and renovation at Elmdale Public School on February 21. OCDSB staff heard concerns from several residents and will continue to examine the community feedback and see what possibilities exist to mitigate some of the site plan and traffic flow concerns. Approval of the budget for this project will be on the March 19, 2019 Committee of the Whole agenda, and people can sign up to delegate to Trustees prior to March 14th.
And last, but certainly not least, congratulations to Jim Taylor, Principal at Glashan Public School on earning the Learning Partnership – Canada’s Outstanding Principals Award 2019. Jim is one of 30 Canadian principals honoured this year. On my first visit to Glashan four years ago Jim promised that my visits to the school would be among the highlights of my time as Trustee, and he was right. There are great things happening at Glashan and we are all very proud of Jim.