by Erica Braunovan
OCDSB Trustee, Zone 10
It is hard to believe that there are less than two months left in the school year. At the board table we still have a substantial amount of work to do. Between now and the end of June, we plan on passing a new four-year strategic plan and the operational budget for the 2019-2020 school year.
A draft of our strategic plan was made available on Friday, May 3, as part of our Committee of the Whole meeting agenda package for Tuesday, May 7. I am very interested in hearing back from all of our stakeholders, in particular students, parents and community partners in Zone 10. Please email me at Erica.braunovan@ocdsb.ca to let me know what you think of the draft plan, and to make any suggestions.
I joined Trustee Ellis in hosting a discussion on the OCDSB budget on May 14. This was a great opportunity to discuss next years operational budget with a few local trustees and the chief financial officer of the board in a less formal way than is available to us at the board table.
Due to delays in getting financial information from the Ministry of Education, we have had to delay the start of our budgeting process. We will now receive the staff recommended budget on Wednesday, May 29, at 7:00 p.m., and we will welcome delegations on the budget starting on Monday, June 3. People are always welcome to attend our public meetings or watch the live stream – a link can be found at the OCDSB.ca website.
In last month’s column, I mentioned a motion regarding the examination of mental health supports through an equity lens, specifically for people who self-identify as First Nations, Metis and Inuit, and male students of African decent. We have referred this motion to the board meeting in September so that we can better understand the issue prior to making a decision. We appreciate the work that our Advisory Committee on Equity has put into this motion and we want to make sure that we get it right.
At our April board meeting, we passed a motion to re-establish the ad hoc advocacy committee as a special purpose committee to ensure that important advocacy work continues.
This committee is used to develop an annual advocacy strategy for board approval and advise the chair on specific advocacy issues and key messaging. In the current climate of change of direction on initiatives from the ministry, it is important that we are able to respond to consultation requests and make statements on issues in a timely fashion, and the board table is not always the most effective way for us to have these discussions as agendas are set weeks in advance.
Got shoes?
Cambridge Street Public School is holding their second annual Shoe Drive from April 1 to May 24. Drop off your gently used shoes between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m at the school (250 Cambridge Street N.). They are accepting kids’, women’s and men’s shoes, as well as rubber boots. Please note, however, that winter boots are not being accepted.