Board Meeting: March 26, 2024

Written By Cathryne Milburn

The Board Meeting for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board took place on March 26, 2024. Within committee minutes, staff brought forward one report with one recommendation, and trustees brought forward two motions. Staff also brought forward one report and a trustee brought forward a motion for discussion.

Please note the report and motion did not get discussed at the Board Meeting due to the 10:30 PM vote to continue the discussion failing. I voted to continue the discussion past 10:30 PM.

Coming out of the Committee of the Whole on March 5, 2024, I voted in favour of the recommendations in Notice of Motion for the Legislative Ban on Advertisements for Gambling. This motion asserts that the District supports a legislative ban on advertisements for gambling in all Canadian media and that the Chair sends a letter to local Members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Parliament to advocate that legislation be enacted to ban advertising for gambling in all media. These recommendations were added to the consent agenda and were carried.

Coming out of the Committee of the Whole on March 5, 2024, I voted in favour of the recommendations in Notice of Motion for the Distribution of Products to Support Menstrual Equity Program. The Ministry of Education’s 3-year partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart to provide six million products annually to students across Ontario will expire this year. The Ministry of Education has not indicated that this partnership will be renewed. This motion asserts that the Chair writes to the Minister of Education on behalf of the Board requesting that the Ministry ensure menstrual products are procured, distributed and accessible for all Ontario schools on an ongoing basis, free of additional charge(s) to individual boards. These recommendations were added to the consent agenda and were carried.

Academic staffing

I voted in favour of the amended recommendations in Report 24-018 on Academic Staff for 2024 to 2025 back for approval. The academic staffing plan is the first step of the annual budgetary process and represents over 60% of the total operating budget. The staffing timelines are established in collective agreements and are based on timelines necessary to plan timetables and assign teachers for the upcoming school year.

Amendment one

During the discussion, an amendment was brought forward, and I voted against the amendment:

  • THAT Appendix C to Report 24-018 be amended to increase the vice principal allocation by 2.0 FTE to be distributed as 0.5 FTE in the remaining four elementary schools which are highest on the Resource Allocation Index based on Socioeconomics Index and do not have a VP allocation ($263,701.33).

During the discussion, I made the following remarks:

I want to thank staff for their continued hard work on the budget and I truly appreciate the intent of the mover of this motion. As we see the tighter budget allocation from the province for education, we will continue to ask staff to create the best case with fewer and fewer resources and I suspect we will be having harder conversations like this every year which really does sadden me.  

After hearing the responses from staff in conversations with my community, I am struggling to see how additional Vice Principal allocations are what is necessarily needed in these schools. It is with a really heavy heart that I say that because I do have schools in my zone that I know want Vice Principals, but I am really worried a motion like this one would reduce the ability to adjust much needed support further down the budgetary process when we get into non-academic staffing. I will say I would love if the province would give us more money for education. It would be great for all of our schools, and I am really sorry to the mover of this motion. I appreciate the intent, but I cannot support it right now. I am not saying no forever, I am saying no for now.

This amendment failed.

Amendment two

During the discussion, an amendment was brought forward, and I voted against the amendment:

  • THAT the Academic Staffing Plan for 2024 to 2025, as set out in the Addendum and Appendices A, B, and C to Report 24-018, be approved, subject to adjustments related to fluctuations in project and actual enrolment, as amended as follows:

    • THAT the Addendum to Report 24-018 be revised to reflect the commitment of 2.0 1.0 FTE resources to support students who identify as Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and/or Arabic speaking students. 

I believe that both Muslim and Arabic students deserve two separate FTEs to address their unique lived experiences. Two separate coaches can also widen our support and help address the intersectionality of students. This amendment failed.

Amendment three

During the discussion, an amendment was brought forward, and I voted in favour of the amendment:

  • THAT the Academic Staffing Plan for 2024 to 2025, as set out in the Addendum and Appendices A, B, and C to Report 24-018, be approved, subject to adjustments related to fluctuations in project and actual enrolment, as amended as follows:

    • THAT the Addendum to Report 24-018 be revised to reflect the commitment of 2.0 1.0 FTE resource to support students who identify as Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and/or Arabic speaking students and 1.0 FTE resource to support students who identify as Muslim. 

During the discussion of this amendment, a sub-amendment was brought forward for discussion, and I voted against the sub-amendment: 

  • THAT the Academic Staffing Plan for 2024 to 2025, as set out in the Addendum and Appendices A, B, and C to Report 24-018, be approved, subject to adjustments related to fluctuations in project and actual enrolment, as amended as follows:

    • THAT the Addendum to Report 24-018 be revised to reflect the commitment of 2.0 1.0 FTE resource Equity Coach to support students who identify as Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and/or Arabic speaking students and 1.0 FTE resource Equity Coach to support students who identify as Muslim. 

I believe to adequately support our students, we need to allocate one resource, in case in the staffing of the position, we find people whose job title might not be better situated as an Equity Coach. I believe staff have the adequate knowledge to appropriately resource the Equity Team and that the word resources are reflective of our policies throughout the district. This sub-amendment failed.

During the discussion of this amendment, a sub-amendment was brought forward for discussion, and I voted against the sub-amendment: 

  • THAT the Academic Staffing Plan for 2024 to 2025, as set out in the Addendum and Appendices A, B, and C to Report 24-018, be approved, subject to adjustments related to fluctuations in project and actual enrolment, as amended as follows:

    • THAT the Addendum to Report 24-018 be revised to reflect the commitment of 2.0 1.0 FTE resource Equity Coach to support students who identify as Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and/or Arabic speaking students and 1.0 FTE resource to support students who identify as Muslim are identified by the Equity Team. 

I believe to adequately support our students, we need to allocate one resource, in case in the staffing of the position, we find people whose job title might not be better situated as an Equity Coach. I believe staff have the adequate knowledge to appropriately resource the Equity Team and that the word resources are reflective of our policies throughout the district. This sub-amendment failed.

During the discussion of this amendment, a sub-amendment was brought forward for discussion, and I voted against the sub-amendment: 

  • THAT the Academic Staffing Plan for 2024 to 2025, as set out in the Addendum and Appendices A, B, and C to Report 24-018, be approved, subject to adjustments related to fluctuations in project and actual enrolment, as amended as follows:

    • THAT the Addendum to Report 24-018 be revised to reflect the commitment of 2.0 1.0 FTE resource to support students who identify as Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and/or Arabic speaking students and 1.0 FTE resource to support students who identify as Muslim are identified by the Equity Team. 

I believe that both Muslim and Arabic students deserve two separate FTEs to address their unique lived experiences. Two separate coaches can also widen our support and help address the intersectionality of students. This sub-amendment failed.

The main amendment on the table:

  • THAT the Academic Staffing Plan for 2024 to 2025, as set out in the Addendum and Appendices A, B, and C to Report 24-018, be approved, subject to adjustments related to fluctuations in project and actual enrolment, as amended as follows:

    • THAT the Addendum to Report 24-018 be revised to reflect the commitment of 2.0 1.0 FTE resource to support students who identify as Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and/or Arabic speaking students and 1.0 FTE resource to support students who identify as Muslim. 

This amendment was carried and the overall recommendations for Academic Staffing as amended 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

●      Video for the Board Meeting on March 26, 2024

●      Agenda for the Board Meeting on March 26, 2024

o   Post Meeting Minutes for Committee of the Whole on March 5, 2024

▪       Notice of Motion, Re: Legislative Ban on Advertisements for Gambling

▪       Notice of Motion, Re: Distribution of Products to Support Menstrual Equity Program

o   Post Meeting Minutes for Committee of the Whole Budget on March 19, 2024

▪       Report 24-018, Academic Staff for 2024 to 2025

●      Addendum Booklet to Academic Staffing for 2024 to 2025

●      Appendix A, Elementary Staffing for 2024 to 2025

●      Appendix B, Secondary Staffing for 2024 to 2025

●      Appendix C, Principal and Vice Principal Staffing for 2024 to 2025

o   Notice of Motion, Ontario Public School Boards’ Association establish a 2SLGBTQIA+ Trustees' Caucus

o   Report 24-054, Valuing Voices - Identity Matters Student Survey AdministrationPlease 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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Committee of the Whole Budget: March 19, 2024