June 2, 2008 | Vol. 20, No. 19

WHAT'S INSIDE?

20^th AGM & PROGRAM 2008
Meal and Entertainment Tickets are Available for Guest/Spouse
OPSBA’s Core Issue Work Groups to Provide Leadership on Declining Enrolment
Ministry of Education Holds May Partnership Table Meeting
Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Consultation
Ministry of Education UPDATE
Hamilton-Wentworth DSB, The Virtual Blackboard, May 2008
Calendar of Events

20^th AGM & PROGRAM 2008
Thursday, 12 — Sunday, 15 June, 2008

Sheraton on the Falls Hotel and Conference Centre
5875 Falls Avenue, Niagara Falls, Ontario

HOSTED BY OPSBA’S CENTRAL WEST REGION

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER

TWO NEW large plenary sessions:  

• “First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education: Achieving Excellence for All Students”
•  “Leading Education in a Digital World”

NEW workshop:  “iPod Nanos and the Reluctant Reader”

NOTE:  No workshops will be held concurrent with the visit to Niagara College.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to visit Niagara College on Saturday afternoon:
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Hospitality students from both the DSBN and Niagara College will be on hand to tour delegates around the College facility and DSBN students will make and serve delicious hors d’oeuvres sure to please the palate! This is a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the local food, wine and hospitality that makes Niagara such a unique part of the province. This event will showcase the partnership between the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) and Niagara College.

DON’T DELAY IN REGISTERING FOR Dinner at Queenston Heights Restaurant:
FRIDAY NIGHT - dinner on your own OR join your colleagues for Dinner at the Queenston Heights Restaurant (extra cost)
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED (see Registration Form for details).
The maximum number of delegates has been increased.
Transportation will be provided.
here are a limited number of seats left.

HOTEL cut-off date was May 12.  The room block has been increased. If you have any difficulty booking a room at the hotel, please contact Ernesta Graham.

MEAL AND ENTERTAINMENT TICKETS are available for guest/spouse. See list below. 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Dr. MICHAEL THOMPSON — Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys
Psychologist, school consultant, an internationally renowned speaker and author or co-author of seven books.

DAVID WARLICK — Our Students • Our Worlds
This presentation, by 30+ year educator, author, and technologist, will explore some of the changes and challenges in education and arrange them as a set of converging conditions that will provide direction for retooling our classrooms for the 21st century.

NEW!! VICKIE KOMAR — Critical Media Literacy

WORKSHOPS

• Safe Schools
• Energy
• Update on Current Legal Issues
• Suicide Intervention Program
• Research Gender Project
• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities – What Schools Need to Know
• Streaming Video
• Visit to Niagara College – PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED (maximum 150 delegates)
• iPod Nanos and the Reluctant Reader

GOLF:

For those delegates interested in playing golf, please contact Dennis Randall at drandall@niagaraparks.com.  Dennis is CPGA Professional-Golf Sales Manager at Legends on the Niagara & Whirlpool Golf Course, Niagara Parks Commission.  We thank Dennis for generously offering to act as liaison in arranging golf.

NETWORK whilst celebrating our 20th Anniversary!

At the AGM we will determine our priorities and directions for the coming year, elect our officers and plan for the future. This event also includes a comprehensive professional development program of stimulating, challenging, and inspiring speakers and in-depth workshops, as well as abundant networking opportunities for trustees.

Welcome reception:  Thursday, 12 June 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Conference ends:  Sunday, 15 June 2008 at 11:30 a.m.

Watch OPSBA’s Fast Reports for regular updates and future announcements.

The Registration Form and the Program are available online.

For more information: Gail Anderson, Executive Director, ext.109; Ernesta Graham, Events Coordinator, ext.115; or Susan Weinberg, Policy & Professional Development Coordinator, ext.128

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IMPORTANT! Meal and Entertainment Tickets are Available for Guest/Spouse

If you have not yet purchased meal tickets for your guest/spouse, please obtain meal tickets BEFORE the event at the OPSBA registration desk.  

A ticket or name badge is required to participate in the meals.

REMINDER!  If you ordered tickets in advance, please pick them up at the OPSBA registration desk.

For more information: Gail Anderson, Executive Director, ext.109; Ernesta Graham, Events Coordinator, ext.115; or Susan Weinberg, Policy & Professional Development Coordinator, ext.128

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OPSBA’s Core Issue Work Groups to Provide Leadership on Declining Enrolment

The Ministry of Education formally announced its Declining Enrolment Working Group on Friday May 30. While detailed information about the Ministry’s Working Group’s consultation processes and work plan are still to come, trustees from OPSBA member boards have indicated their desire to become involved in the Association’s policy development work on declining enrolment.

The Association’s practice for developing policy relevant to member boards is to utilize two issue-based work groups: the Policy Development Work Group and the Education Program Work Group. These Core Issue Work Groups are elected annually at Regional Council election meetings held in conjunction with the Association’s Annual General Meeting.

It is OPSBA’s intention to use the expertise of those trustees elected to the Core Issue Work Groups to lead the Association’s activities on declining enrolment and to parallel, as deemed useful and appropriate, the work of the Ministry’s own Working Group. The effects of declining enrolment are both operational and program-related. OPSBA intends to hold at least one joint meeting of both Core Issue Work Groups, focused predominantly on the declining enrolment issue.

Membership on OPSBA’s Core Issue Work Groups entails a regional responsibility.  Work Group members are elected by Regional Councils and are expected to consult within their region on issues under consideration at the Core Issue Work Group meetings. Work Group members can call on OPSBA staff for support in this aspect of their Work Team role.

The Regional Council election meetings are scheduled for Saturday June 14, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. Any trustee from any OPSBA member board is eligible to be nominated for membership on the Core Issue Work Groups and nominations can come from the floor of the meetings. Each of OPSBA’s five regions elects two members to each Core Issue Work Group as well as two alternate members. Voting at Regional Council meetings is exercised through the member board’s Voting Delegate, and is one vote per member board (unweighted).

Core Issue Work Groups traditionally hold four Friday meetings throughout the year (September through June) and expenses are reimbursed by the OPSBA office. It should be noted that OPSBA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Information Technology has had very positive experience this year using teleconference meetings and this could be an added option in covering the priorities assigned to the Work Groups.

For more information: Cynthia Andrew, Legislative & Policy Analyst, ext.112; and Dave Walpole, Director of Program Policy, ext.125

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Ministry of Education Holds May Partnership Table Meeting

On May 29, Vice President Catherine Fife attended the Minister’s Education Partnership Table Meeting, hosted by Honourable Kathleen Wynne, the Minister of Education. She was accompanied by OPSBA staff members David Walpole, Director of Program Policy, and Cynthia Andrew, Legislative and Policy Analyst.

The Education Partnership Table is a body of major stakeholder groups formed by the Minister of Education to share information on Ministry initiatives and to gain feedback from education partner groups into policy development at the Ministry level. The Partnership Table includes school board associations, education administration associations, teacher federations, and parent organizations from all four publicly-funded school systems, as well as representatives from First Nation and Métis organizations. The May agenda included three main items: the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy (update); the Declining Enrolment Working Table (update); and the Ministry of Education DRAFT Equity Strategy and Action Plan Update.

Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy
Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Children and Youth Services, is the Chair of the Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction, and attended the Partnership Table meeting to provide an update on the work of the Cabinet Committee to date. Minister Matthews made it clear in her comments that the first investments in poverty reduction would be directed toward child poverty. Both Minister Matthews and Minister Wynne received strong support from the Partnership Table participants regarding the importance of this initiative. More information on the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy is included in the Fast Reports article below.

Ministry’s Declining Enrolment Work Group
Confidential copies of the Ministry-appointed Declining Enrolment Work Group membership, as well as its proposed Terms of Reference, were received by partnership members. Significant feedback was received both on the membership of the Work Group and on the terms of reference. 

With respect to membership, the nine-person work group appointed by the Ministry includes the following representatives from public school boards: Eleanor Newman, Director of Education, Renfrew County (Work Group Co-Chair); Brian Greene, Superintendent of Business, Thames Valley; Barry Peterson, Superintendent of Business, Ontario North East; and Gerri Gershon, Trustee, Toronto. Other members of the Declining Enrolment Work Group are Dave Levac, MPP Brant (Co-Chair); Kathy O’Brien, Trustee, Thunder Bay Catholic DSB; Michel Paulin, SBO, Conseil scolaire de district catholique Franco-Nord; Doug Reycraft, President, Association of Municipalities of Ontario; and Michael Schmitt, Director of Education, Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board.

The proposed terms of reference of the Work Group focus more specifically on operational and economic factors related to declining enrolment, although program-related issues are included as well. The Declining Enrolment Work Group will begin its work in June 2008 and will report to the Minister of Education before the end of the year. 

Ministry’s DRAFT Equity Strategy and Action Plan
In her comments to OPSBA members at the Public Education Symposium, Education Minister Kathleen Wynne indicated her commitment to renewing Ministry focus on an Equity Strategy for the education sector. A draft strategy was received at the Education Partnership Table for discussion purposes only. The Minister received initial feedback on the draft strategy. OPSBA’s comments supported the principle of an equity strategy, but stressed the need for clarity of both terminology and expectations so that school boards can continue to provide special education services in accordance with existing legislative and regulatory parameters.

For more information: Dave Walpole, Director of Program Policy, ext.125; or Cynthia Andrew, Legislative & Policy Analyst, ext.112

Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Consultation

In the Speech from the Throne in November 2007, the Premier struck a Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction, charged with the task of developing an Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy. The goal of this committee is to achieve demonstrable reductions in poverty rates over the government’s four-year mandate.

The Committee has been consulting with individuals and groups as follows:

• 12 stakeholder roundtables across the province led by Committee Chair Deb Matthews (Minister for Child and Youth Services)
• Meetings with sectoral experts led by responsible Ministers and Ministries
• Drop-ins at front-line service agencies
• MPP town halls in their communities
• Web based consultation

The Cabinet Committee will be guided by the following principles: shared responsibility, community action, wrap-around services, evidence-based decision making, and social innovation and entrepreneurship.  

The education sector will be a key player in the implementation of poverty-reduction initiatives. OPSBA has been asked to provide input to the process on the issues of: indicators of child and youth poverty; successful approaches for improving opportunity for children and youth; opportunities to refocus or enhance efforts to improve opportunities for children and youth in poverty; and, better integration of service delivery for children and youth in poverty. 

To make a formal submission to the Cabinet Committee, visit the government’s poverty reduction website (www.growingstronger.ca) and click on the “Have Your Say” button. 

As well, at the Association’s Annual General Meeting in June, OPSBA member boards will be considering policy resolutions regarding the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy. Member boards should be prepared to vote on those resolutions at the Annual General Meeting on June 13, 2008. 

The members of the Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction are:

Honourable Deb Matthews (CHAIR), Minister of Children and Youth Services;
Honourable George Smitherman (Vice Chair), Minister of Health and Long Term Care;
Bas Balkassoon, MPP, Scarborough-Rouge River, PA Health and Long Term Care;
Bruce Crozier, MPP Essex;
Carol Mitchell, MPP Bruce, PA Municipal Affairs and Housing;
Honourable Chris  Bentley, Attorney General;
David Oriazetti, MPP Sault Ste. Marie, PA Northern Development and Mines;
Honourable Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance;
Honourable Jim Watson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing;
Honourable John Milloy, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities;
Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Education;
Lou Rinaldi, MPP Peterborough, PA Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs;
Honourable Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community & Social Services;
Honourable Margaret Best, Minister of Health Promotion;
Honourable Michael Chan, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

See
Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy

For more information on OPSBA’s positions and comments regarding poverty reduction: Cynthia Andrew, Legislative & Policy Analyst, ext.112

See
http://cal2.edu.gov.on.ca/may08.html

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Hamilton-Wentworth DSB, The Virtual Blackboard, May 2008

Calendar of EVENTS