Board Meeting: April 25, 2024

Written By Cathryne Milburn

The Board Meeting for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board took place on April 25, 2024. Within committee minutes, staff brought forward five reports with five recommendations and staff also brought forward one report with one recommendation for discussion.

We heard a presentation from the Parent Involvement Committee (timestamp 2:40).  The Parent Involvement Committee is composed of parents, community members and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board staff. The primary objective is to support, encourage, and enhance parent engagement across the District in order to improve student achievement and well-being. During the presentation, the co-chairs of the Parent Involvement Committee provided an update on their work over the past year.

Coming out of the Committee of the Whole on April 2, 2024, I voted in favour of the recommendations in Report 24-052 for an Elementary Program Review. This report sought the approval of the Board of Trustees to initiate an elementary program review that will commence in Spring 2024. For more information on the Elementary Program Review, please read my blog from April 2, 2024, here. With the approval of the Elementary Program Review, the next step is community engagement. Community members can currently provide feedback on the District’s online engagement tool here. Starting in May, zone meetings will be held with Trustees, senior staff, and community members to gather feedback on the program. Additionally, over the course of the remaining school year, school engagement days will be held across all schools in the District to involve students and families in the review process. I look forward to hearing feedback and ideas about the program review from the community. The recommendations were carried.

I voted in favour of the recommendations in Report 24-013 for Risk Management Policy. This report aims to create a new risk management policy to minimize the risk exposure of the District and the Board, reduce uncertainty, and maximize opportunities for staff and students. Associated with the policy, there will be a living document for the District’s Risk Register which will be updated regularly to respond to the operational environment of the District. This proposed draft was previously brought to the Ad Hoc Policy Committee, Audit Committee, and was posted on the District’s Consultation webpage for public feedback. One of the top concerns heard through the consultation was the use of Artificial Intelligence, and staff are of the view that the risks and opportunities can be incorporated into the Risk Register. The approval of this report will lead to an improvement in the overall governance and decision making and enhance the District’s ability to achieve the strategic objectives of the 2023 to 2027 Strategic Plan through reducing business interruptions and enhancing business continuity. The recommendations were carried.

Coming out of the Ad Hoc Policy Committee on April 4, 2024, I voted in favour of the recommendations in Report 24-050 for Pregnancy and Parental Leave for Trustees. This report outlines that Trustees can take up to 20 weeks of pregnancy or parental leave without the authorization of the Board. The leave must be within the requirement for Trustees to attend three board meetings in-person. This proposed draft was previously brought to the Ad Hoc Policy Committee and posted on the District’s Consultation webpage for public feedback.

Coming out of the Ad Hoc Policy Committee on April 4, 2024, I voted in favour of the recommendations in Report 24-046, Employee Conflict of Interest. This policy includes the different circumstances where employees’ conflicts of interest could arise and how they are managed This proposed draft was previously presented to the Ad Hoc Policy Committee and included updates the policy template, removal of procedural language so it could be captured in a new procedure, alignment to the current Human Rights and equity related policies and procedures and addressing the gaps in the current policy. The recommendations were carried.

Coming out of the Ad Hoc Policy Committee on April 4, 2024, I voted in favour of the amended recommendations in Report 24-051, Changes to the Student Transfer Appeal Process. This report recommends replacing school transfer appeals to trustees with a decision by the school administration. This proposed change is in line with the Education Act and its regulations which do not require school boards to establish a school transfer process nor a mechanism for trustees to hear appeals against administrative school transfer decisions. The proposed changes do not affect the right to appeal a decision made to deny a school transfer request. Families will continue to be able to appeal the original decision made through two avenues: writing to the principal of the receiving school and engaging with the Superintendent. This proposed draft was previously brought to the Ad Hoc Policy Committee and posted on the District’s Consultation webpage for public feedback. One of the top concerns heard through the consultation was that families would have no support from the Trustees as a third-party for advocating for families. This report asserts that families will continue to be able to seek trustees’ support at any point in the process and the removal of the third-party will encourage families to provide all relevant information in their initial transfer request application. Additionally, there were several additional revisions to help simplify the transfer process and better align the policy with current practice. During the discussion, a friendly amendment was brought forward. During the discussion a friendly amendment was brought forward to revise section 3.3 by adding expulsion and safety reasons as eligibility provisions. This is consistent with the Education Act and aligns with the new safe school’s procedure. The amended recommendations for the report were carried.

I voted in favour of the recommendations in Report 24-025 for the Extension of Integrity Commissioner Contract. This report recommends extending the contract of the Integrity Commissioner. The Integrity Commissioner is appointed for a one-year term as per the Board Member Code of Conduct. The role of Integrity Commissioner is to receive, review, meditate or investigate complaints under the Board's Code of Conduct policy. In February of 2024, in the Ministry of Education’s consultation on Bill 98, The Better Schools and Outcomes Act, 2023, amended the Education Act and made changes to the process for appointing Integrity Commissioners. The Bill established a framework for establishing an impartial Integrity Commissioner-led process for resolving code of conduct complaints within school boards. In the interim, between the rollout for the new regulations and Integrity Commissioner’s contract ending, the recommendation is to extend the current Integrity Commissioner’s contract. I think it is imperative to have a third-party available to receive, review, meditate, or investigate complaints under the Board's Code of Conduct policy. The recommendations were carried.

Please note, that the opinions expressed here are entirely my own and do not reflect an official position of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board or the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board of Trustees. Please note answers from staff are paraphrased, the recording can be found here if you would like to watch the entire meeting. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me using my contact form here.

Key links

Cathryne Milburn

By day I am passionate about diversity, inclusion, and communications. By night I am passionate about education, student well-being, and student achievement.

https://cathrynemilburn.com/
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