Category Archives: Fix Our Schools

TDSB Governance Report Issued (finally!)

December 8, 2015

Submitted on August 19,2015 to the Minister of Education, the TDSB Governance Advisory Panel’s report was finally released on December 4, 2015. The report offers many reasonable recommendations to improve role clarity, accountability and leadership on both the Trustee and Staff side of the TDSB, which the panel believes are root causes of TDSB governance issues.

The panel acknowledges the “potential chaos” that could ensue should the Ministry decide to split up the TDSB and therefore, recommends a one-year opportunity to make improvements before seriously pursuing breaking up Canada’s largest school board.

Taken from the report, here is a complete list of all recommendations:

6. Recommendations

Many concerns and problems at the TDSB are related to size, but not size exclusively. There are several issues that need to be addressed, regardless of the size of the board. At the same time, the panel is very aware of the potential chaos of actually dividing the board. Therefore, our recommendations provide the board with a one-year opportunity to work with the supervisor to implement the various initiatives that we think are needed to allow for more effective and transparent governance. If those changes are satisfactorily made, the board will remain as one board.

We know that our recommendations specific to those needed changes cannot be fully implemented in one year, but we believe that motivated, positive senior staff and trustees working collaboratively with a supportive supervisor can achieve enough to signal meaningful change is underway.

If that is not the case, and early signs of positive change are not evident, then, in spite of the disruption and additional cost that might occur, we believe that the board must be divided into two or more smaller boards.

We have, therefore, made recommendations on a two-stage response that we believe is required to address the significant challenges facing the TDSB. We have also made recommendations on supporting the capacity of trustees to fulfil their role effectively, on ways to improve accountability and transparency, and restructuring the organization of the board to improve connection and engagement with students, parents, staff and the community. Finally, we offer recommendations on the electoral process for trustees and student trustees.

Recommendation Regarding Board Supervision

Recommendation 1: That the Minister of Education immediately take steps to appoint a supervisor to work collaboratively with the board of trustees, the director of education and senior staff to implement the recommendations of this report.

Recommendations Regarding the Board of Trustees

Recommendation 2: That the board of trustees clarify and clearly communicate throughout the board and the community the roles and responsibilities of trustees and of the board of trustees in accordance with legislation and good governance practices.

Recommendation 3: That trustees be required to participate in ongoing professional development throughout their term of office and that in the future all trustees be required to participate in comprehensive governance orientation immediately after taking office.

Recommendation 4: That the board of trustees and the ministry review trustee professional development supports to ensure there are appropriate supports for trustees, including student trustees, to fulfil their role.

Recommendation 5: That the board of trustees engage in regular board self-assessments and measure its performance in relation to the goals set out in a redeveloped and realistic board multi-year strategic plan. As a transition measure, the board self-assessment should be conducted with the assistance of a third party.

Recommendation 6: That trustees serve a maximum of three consecutive terms of office.

Recommendation 7: That the board of trustees develop appropriate criteria for the skills and experience required of an effective chair, including but not limited to governance experience and training, conflict-management and consensus-building skills, and demonstrated experience working on city-wide and/or board-wide issues.

Recommendation 8: That an annual assessment of the chair is undertaken by the board of trustees to measure the chair’s performance in relation to his or her duties and responsibilities as set out in legislation and board policy and in accordance with good governance practices.

Recommendation 9: That the board of trustees expeditiously establish a mandate and structure for the two or more Education Centres, with particular attention to clarity about the roles and responsibilities of the trustees, executive superintendents, and school superintendents in these centres, as outlined in the panel’s report. (Appendix C shows a model of this structure with three Education Centres, for illustrative purposes.)

Recommendations Regarding Accountability and Transparency

Recommendation 10: That the board of trustees establish and adequately staff offices for an integrity officer and ombudsman, reporting to the board of trustees. Further, that the board adequately staff its Human Rights Office, and that the human rights officer report directly to the director of education. The board should establish and communicate across the organization and within the community clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for each office, and provide that all three officers annually report their activities publicly through the board of trustees.

Recommendation 11: That the role of the secretary of the board be separated from the role of the director of education, and that the board hire a person with the requisite governance skills and experience to be the secretary of the board, and who will report to the board of trustees.

Recommendation 12: That there be greater transparency in how members of the senior administrative team are selected throughout the organization, including appropriate job descriptions and consistent processes for responding to job postings, as well as clearly communicated policies that include principles and strategies for performance evaluation at all levels of the organization.

Recommendations Regarding the Position of Director of Education

Recommendation 13: That the board of trustees work to expeditiously review and clarify the roles and responsibilities of the director of education, board secretary and associate directors to reflect the recommendations in this report.

Recommendation 14: That the qualifications for the director of education be broadened to permit candidates who have equivalent academic qualifications from other jurisdictions to be eligible for the position, and that qualifications also include experience in areas of business management, finance and governance.

Recommendations Regarding Parent and Community Outreach

Recommendation 15: That the board restructure its administrative organization to create two or more local Education Centres staffed by not less than one school superintendent for every 20 schools. The Education Centres will conduct all business relating to the supervision of the smaller clusters of schools assigned to each school superintendent. (Appendix C shows a model of this structure with three Education Centres, for illustrative purposes.)

Recommendation 16: That the board expand its use of community outreach workers to assist families to navigate the school system and other community supports for their children. The outreach workers will be hired by the school board and be employees of the board.

Recommendations Regarding Student Trustees and Student Leadership

Recommendation 17: That student trustees have a binding vote on matters before the board, with the exception of those matters that are discussed in closed meetings of the board in accordance with the Education Act.

Recommendation 18: That the board consult with student trustees, on behalf of the student body, and receive their recommendations on student trustee election eligibility; improved representative student trustee election process; student trustee representation by geographic areas; student trustee term restructuring; and SuperCouncil representation and communication with Grades 7–12. The board must give consideration to the recommendations and respond in a timely manner.

Recommendations Regarding Governance Restructuring

Recommendation 19: That following a full year’s operation, the supervisor undertake an assessment of the progress made by the board of trustees and board administration and make a recommendation to the Minister as to whether the board of trustees and board administration have met the following key performance indicators; if not, the ministry is to proceed to stage two of the recommendations of the TDSB Governance Advisory Panel.

  • Trustee Role Clarification: The board of trustees has clarified and communicated their roles and responsibilities as governors, and has established a plan for their ongoing training and professional development.
  • Clarification of Roles and Responsibilities: In the first three months of the work of the supervisor and the director, the roles and responsibilities of the following senior staff positions have been reviewed and clarified: director of education, board secretary and associate directors.
  • Accountability and Transparency: In addition to the integrity commissioner position the TDSB has recently established, create and staff the Office of the Ombudsman, and adequately staff the Human Rights Office.
  • Administrative Reorganization: The mandate and structure of Education Centres has been established, with particular attention to clarity on the roles and responsibilities of executive superintendents and school superintendents. The Education Centres are staffed by an expanded cohort of school superintendents.
  • Strengthened Management and Governance: The director has reported to the board of trustees and the supervisor on any outstanding recommendations from previous board audits and reviews that have not yet been fully implemented, and the action and resources required to give full effect: 2012 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report; Ernst & Young LLP 2013 report; and the 2015 Wilson Report.
  • Strategic Planning: The board of trustees has reviewed its multi-year plan to support student achievement and well-being, and identified key priorities for annual focus and review, with criteria and timelines for measuring progress.
  • Director Performance Appraisal: The board of trustees has established a clear and transparent process for an annual performance appraisal of the director of education, based on the goals set out in the director’s Annual Plan.
  • Board Self-Assessment: The board of trustees has an approved policy in place requiring regular self-assessments as to how it functions and how board members engage in ongoing professional development to enhance their individual and collective capacity to govern effectively.
  • Board Policy, By-laws and Procedures: Board policies, by-laws and related procedures have been reviewed to ensure that operational or political ownership of system responsibilities to support student achievement are clearly delineated. The review process should involve broad system and community consultation and two-way communication regarding changes to existing practice.
  • Board Meetings: An assessment of agendas of board and committee meetings indicates that the board of trustees is focused on governance issues.
  • Student Trustee Engagement: The board has consulted with student trustees and has provided a timely response to their recommendations specific to student trustee election eligibility; improved representative student trustee election process; student trustee representation by geographic areas; student trustee term restructuring; and SuperCouncil representation and communication with Grades 7–12.

Recommendation 20: If stage two is to be implemented, the ministry would take the following action:

  • undertake the legislative and regulatory work required to establish two or more independent smaller school boards with a mandatory shared services corporation as outlined in the panel’s report. (Appendix D shows a model of this structure with two boards, for illustrative purposes.)
  • determine a timeline for creating the new school boards that takes into consideration the timing of the 2018 municipal and school board elections.

Contents

 

Auditor-General’s 2015 Report: Summary on infrastructure planning

December 3, 2015

We’ve copied and pasted the following section on infrastructure planning from Chapter 1: Summaries of the 2015 Auditor-General’s report, since much of the discussion is focused on schools as infrastructure and is of interest to Fix Our Schools:

“Ontario’s portfolio of public infrastructure includes highways, bridges, transit systems, schools, universities, hospitals, government buildings, and a wide variety of other assets. It has a replacement value of close to $500 billion.

The Ontario government oversees about 40% of these assets, either directly or through broader public-sector organizations such as school boards and hospitals.

Much of Ontario’s current stock of infrastructure was built between the end of the Second World War and the 1970s. Infrastructure spending slowed between 1980 and 2005, but picked up again in the last 10 years.

Many infrastructure assets are older. The average age of hospitals in Ontario, for example, is 45 years, while the average of schools is 38 years. More than half of all hospitals and schools in the province are at least 40 years old.

In the last 10 years, Ontario’s largest infrastructure spending has been in the transportation sector, followed by health and education. Over those 10 years, for example, the province spent nearly $20 billion on transit projects, more than $23 billion on roads and bridges, nearly $25 billion on major hospital and other health-care projects, and nearly $21 billion on schools and post-secondary facilities. Infrastructure spending includes preserving or expanding existing assets, and building new ones.

Proper planning is necessary to ensure infrastructure needs are identified and existing infrastructure is adequately maintained and renewed for public use. Such planning must take into account the benefits of infrastructure investment, the risks to the public when needed facilities are not built or are allowed to deteriorate, and the resources required to meet future demand.

The Treasury Board Secretariat (Secretariat), responsible for reviewing infrastructure funding requests from ministries, generally evaluated each ministry on a stand-alone, historical basis, and did no comparison at an overall provincial level to ensure the most pressing needs receive top priority for funding. Some of our significant observations include the following:

• Two-thirds of funding is planned to go toward building new assets and one-third to repairs and renewals of existing facilities, even though the province’s analyses has determined that it should be the other way around in order to adequately maintain and renew existing public infrastructure.

• There are no guidelines for the desired condition at which facilities should be maintained, and there is no consistency among ministries on how to measure the condition of asset classes such as highways, bridges, schools, and hospitals.

• Ontario lacks a reliable estimate of its infrastructure deficit—the investment needed to rehabilitate existing assets to an “acceptable” condition—to better inform where spending should be directed.

• An independent assessment calculated that the Ministry of Education needs $1.4 billion a year to maintain schools in a state of good repair. However, actual annual funding in the last five years has ranged from $150 million to $500 million.

• A similar assessment done for the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care identified annual funding needs of $392 million for the province’s hospitals. However, funding since 2010/11 was just $56 million, and rose to $125 million in 2014/15.

• Existing funding does not address significant pressures faced by ministries for new projects. For example, there are 100,000 students in temporary accommodations (portables) and about 10% of schools in the province are operating at over 120% capacity. Although portables are needed to provide some flexibility to address changes in school capacity, existing funding is not sufficient to rehabilitate the existing portfolio and to replace these structures with more permanent accommodations in some cases.

• The Secretariat did not know how well individual projects were managed. Our review of reports from the ministries to the Secretariat noted that information is generally reported at a program level only, and not on individual projects within a program. Instead, the Secretariat relies on ministries to monitor individual projects.”

 

Auditor-General’s Report confirms gross underfunding of public schools

December 3, 2015

The following excerpt from the summary of the 2015 Auditor-General’s report confirms that Ontario’s provincial government has grossly underfunded public school infrastructure in our province for many years:

“An independent assessment calculated that the Ministry of Education needs $1.4 billion a year to maintain schools in a state of good repair. However, actual annual funding in the last five years has ranged from $150 million to $500 million.”

The $1.4 billion per year that is needed is for maintenance intended to KEEP buildings in good repair; and does not include the funding required to address the $15-billion of outstanding repairs that have been allowed to accumulate under provincial watch and funding for the past two decades.

If only some of the $37-billion that Ontarians have overpaid for electricity since 2006 has gone to repairing and rebuilding Ontario’s public schools, 2-million children would be attending schools that are in much better shape!

 

 

Fix Our Schools – 13 months in and going strong!

December 1, 2015

The Fix Our Schools campaign is a grassroots, non-partisan, parent-led campaign asking for safe, well-maintained Ontario public schools that are funded as an integral part of our public infrastructure – on par with transit.

We believe the 2-million children who attend Ontario public schools deserve safe, well-maintained schools, as do the adults who work every day in these buildings. We believe both students and teachers deserve environments that are conducive to learning and teaching.

We also believe that our provincial government must take responsibility for the unacceptable level of disrepair that has accumulated in Ontario’s schools and take the lead in finding funding solutions to address the $15-billion capital repair backlog in Ontario’s schools. For 2015/16, the provincial government has allocated an amount that is less than 5% of what is needed to address this $15-billion of disrepair. While this is significantly more than in previous years, it is still insufficient and disrepair will continue to worsen in Ontario’s schools.

The Fix Our Schools campaign is building a large, connected network of people in Ontario who share these beliefs and want to work together to effect change. The campaign launched in October 2014 and, in the 13 months since then, we’ve built a network of close to 1,500 people that is growing daily. This network gives us far more collective power than we’d have as individuals so we are working hard to continue to grow our base of support to include people from all areas of the province.

If you value public schools as important infrastructure and believe that these buildings must be repaired and rebuilt – then please ensure you:

“Not looking for marble and gold” – TTC Headquarters

November 27, 2015

Aging, decaying infrastructure is a problem in Ontario. While our focus is on public schools, the November 20, 2015 Toronto Star article entitled, “TTC wants to get out of ‘hellhole” headquarters” focuses on the administrative headquarters of Canada’s largest public transit agency.

While we appreciate the economic arguments presented in this article, surely the health and safety of people working in this building is sufficient reason to move ahead with solutions? Do public schools need to use economic arguments such as “lost productivity” to justify repairing and rebuilding schools for the students who inhabit these buildings for six hours each day? Our hope is that citizens of Ontario could simply agree that everyone in this province ought to work and learn in safe, well-maintained  buildings that provide environments conducive to working and learning!

Does sending another letter really have an impact?

November 24, 2015

Wondering if you should bother taking the time to participate in the latest Fix Our Schools letter-writing campaign? The answer is emphatically YES!

Have you heard the saying, “The squeaky wheel gets the oil”?

Well, the squeaking generated by the Fix Our Schools campaign due to your involvement and activism is getting louder with each week that passes…and that squeaking IS having an impact! Politicians and political staff now know about Fix Our Schools and have started to accept and request meetings with us. They know from the letters you send that we represent a large and growing number of voters.

Since launching in October 2014, we have built a network of over 1400 people in Ontario who all want safe, well-maintained public schools that are funded as important public infrastructure – and this network is growing every day. The real power of a campaign like Fix Our Schools comes when this large network of people all take action (like send a letter!) to ask for the same thing.

So what are you waiting for? Send a letter today to the provincial government and your local MPP. Ask them to increase capital funding to school boards for repairing and rebuilding public schools. We believe this is a reasonable request, given that new infrastructure money is going to start flowing to the Province from our new federal government.  Some of this new money must go towards school infrastructure. This will only happen if we all work together to ensure that we create a very squeaky wheel!

Province mentions schools as infrastructure!

November 23, 2015

In a November 17, 2015 Government of Ontario news release, schools were noted as infrastructure!

“The government is investing more than $130 billion over 10 years in infrastructure such as roads, bridges, transit, hospitals and schools — the largest infrastructure investment in Ontario’s history.”

Fix Our Schools considers public school buildings to be important public infrastructure. We are heartened to see our provincial government agree with us and start to refer to schools as infrastructure! This certainly confirms that the ask in our most recent letter-writing campaign to the Province is valid and reasonable:

“Will you increase funding of school infrastructure, given the promised new infrastructure funding from the federal government?”

If you haven’t yet sent this letter, click here!

Colleges looking to federal Liberals for increased funding

November 19, 2015

Our new federal government’s commitment to increased infrastructure investment in the coming years has piqued interest in many sectors.

We’re certainly calling on the Ontario provincial government to increase capital funding to public school boards, based on the promise of new federal infrastructure money. It seems that colleges across the country are making a direct call upon the new federal government for increased funding.

The November 11, 2015 article entitled, “Colleges to Liberals: we don’t have enough buildings for students”, features the college sector’s requests of the federal government. Aging infrastructure and buildings bursting at the seams are but a few issues mentioned, which require money to address.

Colleges, like public schools, are traditionally under provincial jurisdiction. However, colleges, like public schools, need funding beyond what the provinces are allocating in order to meet the needs of students.  Hopeful the new federal government will provide assistance!

$498-million investment in new schools and renovations – not enough!

November 16, 2015

On November 9, 2015, Kathleen Wynne’s government announced that $498-million would go towards:

  • 30 new schools
  • 26 major additions and renovations
  • 122 safe, high-quality licensed child care rooms, resulting in 2,135 new licensed spaces for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers.

In the 2014 budget, the provincial government committed $11-billion in capital grants to school boards over 10 years. This $498-million investment is a part of that $11-billion commitment and is certainly great news for the communities who will benefit.

However, with $15-billion of disrepair in Ontario’s public schools, this recent announcement is really just a drop in a very large bucket. With this level of investment, the disrepair in our children’s schools will continue to worsen and the urgency of repair items will increase.

The Province must commit to ensuring that public schools benefit from the promised new federal infrastructure funding. If you agree, send this letter to Premier Wynne and your local MPP.

Send a letter to the Province that you want schools prioritized as key infrastructure!

November 10, 2015

On November 10, Fix Our Schools is launching a province-wide letter-writing campaign to our provincial government to let them know that we expect them to prioritize the repair and rebuilding of schools. We want Premier Wynne to “do more and do it faster” … and we want her to include public schools on the list of important infrastructure to be funded!

To send this letter, click here and be sure to include your local MPP and add your name and mailing address at the end of the letter.

You can also simply copy and paste the following letter into an email.

Dear Premier Wynne, Minister Sandals, Deputy Minister Zegarac & Ontario Ombudsman

All 72 school boards in Ontario have a capital repair backlog, for a total of $15 billion of disrepair in our province’s public schools.

The 2 million students who attend Ontario public schools deserve better, as do the countless children who attend childcare/early learning programs in these same schools; the adults who work every day in these buildings; and the community members who rely upon these buildings as important community hubs.

On October 19, Canadians voted for change. We gave the Federal Liberals a mandate to deliver on their promise to increase investment in infrastructure, even if this means running a deficit. In reaction to the majority win by the Federal Liberals, Premier Wynne said:

Now that we have a federal partner with the same priority, we can do more and we can do it faster.         

As a citizen of Ontario, I urge Kathleen Wynne’s government to apply this sentiment to quickly addressing the $15 billion of disrepair in our province’s school buildings. The current commitment of $11 billion in capital grants to school boards over 10 years is insufficient. More public schools in this province must be repaired and rebuilt – and we must do it faster.

So, as those with power over the funding of public schools in this province:

Will you increase capital grants to school boards to repair and rebuild Ontario’s public schools now?

Public schools are a key component of our society’s infrastructure – and must be funded as such. I look forward to hearing back from you with an answer to the question above.

Kind regards,

YOUR NAME

YOUR MAILING ADDRESS

Thanks for helping to fix our schools!