Committee of the Whole: April 15, 2025
The Committee of the Whole Meeting for the Ottawa-Carleton District School took place on April 15, 2025, with me as chair. Staff brought forward 2 reports, and a Trustee brought forward a Notice of Motion with 1 recommendation for discussion.
I abstained on the Notice of Motion brought forward by a Trustee. The motion directs staff to present Trustees with recommendations for Arch Street Public School, Hawthorne Public School, Featherston Public School, and Charles Hulse Public School that make French Immersion available at each of the identified schools and maintain either a Kindergarten to Grade 6 or Kindergarten to Grade 8 configuration. This motion was brought forward to try and address the inequities of not offering French in all the schools. During the discussion, I tried to seek clarification and asked the following questions (timestamp 1:04:23):
Question: To the mover of the motion, have you heard loud and clear from your community that they do not want Kindergarten to Grade 3 configuration?
Answer: No, I have not heard from the community that they would not be open to a grade configuration of Kindergarten to Grade 3.
During the discussion, staff highlighted that offering French Immersion with the current boundaries would create an unviable number of students in each grade (1 to 4 students per grade). Although the motion was well-intended, the low level of enrollment also made me worry about the quality of education our students would receive with low enrollment numbers. I truly felt that since I was not the representative for this specific area, it was best to abstain and allow the motion from the representative of the area to proceed. The motion failed.
Staff brought forward Report 25-015 on the second report on Student Learning Update on Student Engagement and Well-being, for discussion. This report focuses on updating the Board of Trustees on three items that are aligned with the Ministry of Education's monitoring of student engagement and well-being:
Student Attendance from Grades 1 to 8 requires being present for at least 90% of the instructional days in a given school year. Based on the most recent provincial data, the District’s attendance is at 59%, which is higher than the provincial standard of 55%. This is also an increase of 15% in the District’s attendance from the previous school year.
Students who identify as Indigenous have the lowest attendance rate, but the attendance rate has improved from the previous school year.
Students who are multilingual learners, students with special education needs, students residing in low-income neighbourhoods, and students who identify as transgender, non-binary, or gender diverse fall below the District average.
Students who identify as female have a higher attendance rate than students who identify as male.
Suspensions of Students in Grades 4 to 12. Based on the most recent provincial data, the District’s suspension rate is at 3.2% which is slightly lower than the provincial suspension rate but slightly higher than the previous school year. 73% of students were suspended one-time.
Students with special education needs (excluding gifted) are suspended at almost twice the rate of the overall student population.
Students who identify as Indigenous, males, students who reside in low-income neighbourhoods, and Multilingual learners are suspended at a higher rate than all students.
Suspension rates have increased for Multilingual learners, males, and students with special education needs.
Disproportionalities in suspension rates have decreased.
Awareness of Mental Health Supports: Student awareness of mental health supports is closely aligned with the overall provincial results. In Grade 6, 58.6% of students were aware of mental health supports available, which is the same as the provincial average. In Grade 9, 61.2% of students were aware of mental health support available compared to the provincial average of 61.8%. This is the first year the province and the District are tracking awareness of mental health supports, so this will create the baseline for future comparisons.
Students who identify as Indigenous and students with special education needs (excluding gifted) consistently report the lowest awareness levels.
Multilingual learners and students residing in low-income neighbourhoods fall below the district average, though to a lesser extent.
Students who identified as White, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and/or Hindu, no religious affiliation, and students without any reported disability demonstrated higher awareness.
Prior to the meeting, I sent questions to the staff via email:
Question: On Page 4 of Appendix B, we highlight that progress is being made in reducing disproportionalities for most groups, can you highlight how we are making progress?
Answer: It is difficult to say the exact reason that we have been making progress when it comes to reducing disproportionalities for most groups in relation to attendance. I believe our continued focus on building inclusive school environments where all students feel valued, through relationship-building, culturally relevant resources, and affinity spaces, is key. This has been coupled with enhanced focus on making the curriculum more relevant and reflective of diverse student experiences. Program Services has provided important education for families, students, and staff about varied learning pathways, recognizing the differing learning needs of students. Further, partnering with families using a trauma-informed approach has been critical in identifying and working with them to overcome any barriers students may be experiencing in their learning. We also know that the Indigenous Education Team has Student Support Workers who are doing critical re-engagement and outreach work, as well as the social workers on the Indigenous Education Team who are working to build bridges to schools and classrooms with Indigenous students and families. These are just a few areas of focus, however, as students and families feel an increased sense of belonging and connection to their school communities, we hope to see these gaps in attendance and engagement continue to close.
Question: Is there a webpage on the newly redesigned District website that shows the pathways that students may take to seek mental health support?
Answer: In terms of resources and pathways, we have moved the mental health content over to the new District pages. Below are some useful links. We are just waiting for Communications to finalize our Mental Health in Action pages for Students and Parents/Caregivers, we hope to have those updated pages live in the coming weeks.
Supports and Services at the OCDSB
Mental Health Resources and Contacts
Question: Can you please provide me with up to three programs or initiatives that we need more funding for to ensure we can start serving the communities identified as underserved in this report.
Answer: While needs across various programs are substantial, and additional funding would always be beneficial, we are feeling positive about the current gains with the resources available.
Interdepartmental collaboration has been key in moving this work forward (Equity, Program Services, Indigenous Education, Mental Health, etc) as well as our partnerships with community partners (PLEO, SAPACCY, Centre for Resilience and Social Development, Crossroads, CHEO, Minwaashin Lodge, and so many more). This shared work helps to manage the demands but also highlights the importance of community, collaboration and a holistic approach to supporting student well-being.
Among the initiatives that will be maintained in the year ahead, are our mental health champions initiatives which highlights the importance of student-centred leadership and the attendance and re-engagement pilots which are demonstrating promising results. We will continue to explore creative strategies for enhanced student engagement moving forward.
Staff brought forward Report 25-023, Elementary Program Review: Implementation Planning Overview for discussion. As part of the Elementary Program Review, should it be approved by the Board of Trustees, it will require a robust implementation and change management plan. Throughout the consultation, staff and Trustees heard the importance of these plans, and this report provides a high-level overview of the processes that would be implemented, should the plan be approved. It is important to note, with these operational elements, this is a high-level overview of the implementation plans; individual cases are not captured within these plans.
Work to prepare for implementation is already underway and has included exploring options to modify organizational structures, plans to prepare educators and classrooms, and resources to synthesize key elements of learning, including:
Elementary School Schedules: The proposed model includes maximizing 60-minute learning blocks to increase the time students can focus on a given learning area. Schedules will also focus on creating opportunities to blend students in the Enhanced English and French Immersion programs, specifically during their Language and Mathematics classes. Examples of these schedules in practice can be found in Appendix A, Schedule Comparison.
Teachers for French Immersion: Staff have developed an approach and timeline to confirm the number and condition of teachers in each school to establish a baseline, and have worked on projects based upon anticipated enrolment by program.
Professional Learning: Senior staff have been planning a professional learning program for staff that include Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Differentiated Instruction (DI), Culturally Responsive and Reflective Pedagogy (CRRP), and Indigenous Pedagogies, which can be found in Appendix D, Professional Learning Approaches. This plan will help equip staff with the necessary skills to transition and roll out the Elementary Program Review should it be approved.
Exemptions Process: Rather than providing sweeping exemptions for students to remain at their current school, staff will develop a process, similar to the current cross-boundary transfer process, to allow families to apply for an exemption that would allow them to remain at their current school rather than move to a new school under the proposed changes. Applications will be considered centrally based on clearly communicated criteria. The timelines will be such that families will know whether their applications have been approved prior to the end of the calendar year.
Extended Day Programs: Staff will develop a plan to support families who are changing schools as a result of the proposed changes and confirm whether and how they can be accommodated in the new school as early as possible next year. In addition, staff will work with newly configured sites to identify where new childcare programs may be needed.
Human Resource Implications: Preliminary staffing projections to date indicate no significant shifts in staffing needs, rather, redistribution of resources where required.
Site-Based Renovations: Staff have done work to identify and confirm the small number of sites where renovations will be required to accommodate new grade structures and/or programs. These renovations will be prioritized within the Facilities work plan for next year to ensure the work is completed and the schools are ready for September 2026.
During the discussion staff provided answers to the following questions:
Question (timestamp: 2:37:23): What information is available on Childcare and Extended Day Program at this time
Answer: There is less of an impact on childcare with the revised report. Childcare across the District does look a bit different depending on the partnerships, including with the City of Ottawa.
Question (timestamp 2:44:26): When will the grandparenting information be available and will it be available before the vote?
Answer: Staff are looking to provide as much information as possible on exemptions with criteria and examples. This information will not be available until after the vote.
Prior to the meeting, I sent the following questions to the staff for response:
Question: In Report 25-023 on Page 5, it highlights: “that staff developed an approach and timeline to confirm the number and condition of key learning resources in each school to establish a baseline and are working to identify the number of resources each school will require based upon anticipated enrolment by program,” however no appendix outlining this work is included. What assurances can you give our community that a plan is being worked and will be ready should this review pass? Can you give some insight on the staff consultations that you have been conducting?
Answer: Staff have begun to identify key resources we expect in classrooms that are currently with English instruction, and French instruction, system-wide. Once a decision on programs offered by school is made, staff will ‘survey’ school sites to determine what is in place as opposed to what is needed based on the determined list of resources. This may involve, as well, the shift of resources from one site to another depending on the programming offered at the site. The survey cannot go out until we have a decision on what programs are offered at which sites, as it is tremendously comprehensive work to collect this work.
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 that 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 Committee of the Whole Meeting on April 15, 2025
Agenda for the Committee of the Whole Meeting on April 15, 2025
Notice of Motion, New Elementary Program Review Proposal
Report 25-015, Student Learning Update: Student Engagement and Well-Being
Appendix A, Ministry of Education Student Achievement Plan
Appendix B, Student Engagement and Well-Being
Appendix C, Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy
Report 25-023, Elementary Program Review: Implementation Planning Overview
Appendix A, Sample Revised Schedule
Appendix B, Learning Frameworks
Appendix C, Literacy Framework
Appendix D, Professional Learning Approaches
Appendix E, Collaborative Classroom Support Model
