Latest news with #Ottawa-CarletonDistrictSchoolBoard
Ottawa Citizen
4 days ago
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
Kaplan-Myrth: Why I resigned as a trustee from the OCDSB
On June 3, I resigned from the position of trustee for Zone 9 (Capital and Alta Vista) at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. 'If you resign, please tell people why. Don't just leave,' said a fellow trustee. Article content So here I am. This is the story of my three years as a trustee. It is a cautionary tale about the ways in which public school boards in Canada are under siege. Article content Article content Article content Following my medical advocacy during the pandemic, I was approached by neighbours in July 2022 to run as a trustee in Ottawa. As a progressive voice in the community, I was tasked by my constituents with the responsibility to keep social justice issues on the agenda, and to advocate for academic supports for students with disabilities, neurodiverse students, 2SLGBTQ students, Indigenous and racialized students. Article content School board trustee is a part-time position with hundreds of hours of work, board or committee meetings, sometimes twice a week, 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. It comes with a $17,000 salary, no support staff, a flood of emails from angry constituents and very little political esteem. It is nevertheless an important position. Trustees develop strategic plans, shape elementary and secondary school programs, oversee budgets (for the OCDSB, more than $1 billion), and develop and revise policies that affect every student and educator in the school district. Most trustees have no background in education, economics, urban planning, management, policy analysis or disability. Article content Article content Article content Sadly, school boards are also particularly vulnerable to political manipulation. In the United States, there is a well-established pattern of MAGA-inspired takeovers of school boards by people whose agendas include banning books, removing topics such as sexuality, gender identity and sex ed from curriculum, and even erasing the science of evolution. In Ontario and across Canada, this is a very difficult time, in general, to run a Board of Education, with chronic underfunding from the ministry, staff shortages, over-crowding of classrooms, unprecedented dysregulation of students, and the concomitant challenge of increasingly radicalized groups that seek to influence us through an avalanche of emails, petitions and disruptions of our board rooms and schools.
Ottawa Citizen
5 days ago
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
OCDSB trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth, a lightning rod for controversy, resigns
The outspoken and divisive trustee at the centre of multiple firestorms at Ottawa's largest school board has resigned. Article content In a scorching notice of resignation filed at the end of an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board meeting Tuesday night, Nili Kaplan-Myrth said it was her responsibility to advocate for students with disabilities and neurodiverse, 2SLGBTQ+, Indigenous and racialized students, but she faced 'a long-standing pattern of dysfunction and a lack of leadership' at the school board and harsh treatment from the public. Article content Article content Article content 'I have done everything that I said I would, to the best of my ability, in the face of vile harassment, defamation, death threats, and disrespect to me and my family,' she said. Article content Article content Kaplan-Myrth, a family physician, was an advocate for masking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Elected as a rookie trustee in 2022, she attracted the ire of masking opponents only weeks later when she filed a motion to make face masks mandatory for students and staff. Article content The meeting attracted a raucous crowd, with protesters chanting 'freedom' and 'shame.' Police were called and everyone was asked to leave the school board building. Article content She was again the target of protests in March 2023 after she cut off the microphone of a parent who had signed up to speak to trustees about bullying, but instead commented about transgender students' use of washrooms. Police were once again called to clear the board chambers, Kaplan-Myrth was the subject of an online petition demanding her resignation, and the school board introduced new security measures, including limiting attendance to 75 people and banning posters and placards from the building. Article content Article content In March 2024, fellow trustee Donna Blackburn asked administrators to reconsider security measures after members of the Muslim community were turned away from a meeting. Article content Article content Kaplan-Myrth frequently clashed with Blackburn. Kaplan-Myrth was the subject of two trustee code of conduct investigations — first, after she sought support for the masking mandate and again for an incident that happened only minutes after she was narrowly found not to be in violation. Article content While seeking support for her mask motion, Kaplan-Myrth sought support from fellow trustee Donna Dickson. When Dickson was reluctant to support the motion, Kaplan-Myrth urged her not to side with 'white supremacists,' prompting the first code of conduct investigation.
Ottawa Citizen
28-05-2025
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
OCDSB 'almost didn't make payroll' as it struggles with budget deficits
Article content The chief financial officer at Ottawa's largest school board has warned trustees that its financial situation is so dire, the board almost didn't make payroll. Article content 'We're overspending over $14 million on special education, and we have a lot of programs where we're overspending,' Randy Gerrior warned trustees at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board on May 27. Article content Article content Trustees have suggested cutting more from administration, and the board has been doing that, said Gerrior. Article content Article content While he didn't provide details, Gerrior's comments came as trustees debated a motion from Trustee Donna Blackburn to rescind a 2016 motion to continue the 17-day Summer Learning Program (SLP) for about 200 students with developmental delays 'until such a time as a community partner can be found' to provide the program at no cost to parents or guardians. Such a partner has not come forward. The program costs $610,000 to run, with money coming from other programs offered during the rest of the school year, said Kate Stoudt, the superintendent who oversees special education. Article content Blackburn said she didn't want to bring the motion forward, but it's not sustainable to run some programs. Article content Article content 'I don't know about what conversations my colleagues have with their constituents, but it breaks my heart every time I have to tell a parent, 'I'm very sorry your child can't go to school all day, every day,' which is their right from September to June, because we simply don't have enough supports,' said Blackburn. 'If we keep running this program, those conversations will continue to happen.' Article content Article content Some trustees defended the SLP, arguing that it is a crucial support for vulnerable students. Article content 'If it were the will of the board, I would suggest that we could, as a group, pen a letter to the Minister of Education asserting that this is something that should be funded, just as we provide summer school funding for other students.'
Ottawa Citizen
19-05-2025
- General
- Ottawa Citizen
Today's letters: Charter schools might be a better solution
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, like others, is cash-strapped these days. Photo by ERROL MCGIHON / POSTMEDIA THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office. Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account. Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office. Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account. Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors The reporter writes that the per pupil funding received from Ontario is $13,834 per year. I did a really quick check to see the cost of a private school in Ottawa. At the low end, there are March Academy and Lycée Claudel. March Academy has a total of 32 students, Grades 1 to 8, 6 to 10 per class and multiple grades per class. Yearly tuition $16,000. Lycée Claudel is a much larger school at 980 students, 20-to-24 per class, primary school to Grade 12. Tuition is $15,000 to $16,000 per year. It boasts of 100 per cent university acceptance rate, 97 per cent for students' first program choice. With the total cost per student being so close between public and private, why has there never been much talk about the charter school system? Charter schools are publicly funded but have a performance contract with the government. The Obama administration strongly supported them. Like any system, there are issues: charter schools and the separation of church and state is before the U.S. courts right now. That really isn't an issue in Canada. The charter system has great potential that can be tailored to the primary focus of educating children. Our current system uses children as leverage to extract funding for education staffing. Not many would say that the current system works well or is improving. Do you really think that more money will fix the current problems? Publicly funded education is beneficial to society as we all reap the benefits. We need a focused system to give youth a well rounded education to start them on the path of a successful life. Politicians of all stripes are falling over themselves screaming for ramped-up housing starts. As usual, they all have it wrong. Sales numbers and prices are already down in Vancouver and Toronto. It is likely that, year over year, 100,000 fewer immigrants and 500,000 fewer foreign students has already quelled the housing demand. As an aside, I would like to see the immigration numbers and foreign student numbers back up to their highs. Both are good for our economy and then, sigh, our politicos would be right to push for housing starts.
Ottawa Citizen
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
OCDSB trustees vote to approve boundary changes, phase out alternative schools
In a marathon meeting Tuesday night, trustees at Ottawa's largest school board voted to phase out alternative schools, keep 26 classes for students with special needs and approve controversial boundary changes. Article content Article content Trustees at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board also voted in favour of a motion that would see exemptions allowed for anyone who is eligible and wants one — as long as the program exists, there are spaces available and the exemption does not affect the viability of programs at both the receiving school and the sending school. Article content Article content Reasons for applying for an exemption could include the student's education needs, child care and keeping siblings together in the same school — or even just because it's the family's preference. Exemptions will be decided centrally and not at the local level. Article content Article content 'Now the threshold is much lower,' said trustee Lyra Evans, who proposed the motion. Article content 'I think we will be better off as a district to keep as many people happy as possible.' Article content The families of hundreds of students may be contemplating moving schools in September 2026 as boundaries change and programs are phased out. Parents have been battling against controversial school boundary changes, arguing that the changes would separate siblings and force some students to travel farther when the stated goal of the review was to keep as many students as possible in neighbourhood schools. Article content The decisions made Tuesday night, to be finalized May 13, are the result of an ambitious review of elementary programs at the OCDSB prompted by concerns about inequities in schools as French immersion programs drew students away from community schools, leaving some English-only schools with barely sustainable populations. Article content Article content There has been discussion about how decisions will be made around 'grandparenting' students whose families want to remain at their current school. Article content Article content The decision to adopt Lyra's motion is 'a step in the right direction,' said parent Shannon Worek. 'But it's insufficient to address a lot of concerns that parents have.' Article content But it was a night for celebration for the families of children in specialized program classes. The original proposal included gradually phasing out 26 specialized program classes and returning the students to mainstream classrooms. Article content 'It was a 'yipee' moment,' said Eevee McOuatt, the mother of Silas, 9, who has autism and ADHD. Silas has been a student in the Learning Language Program, which has eight to 10 students and focuses on verbal and reading skills, as well as responding to social cues.
