The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has given the required five-day notice for Grand Erie, Trillium Lakelands, Renfrew and Superior-Greenstone school boards in anticipation of a one-day strike on Tuesday January 21.
Meanwhile Education Minister Stephen Lecce has offered compensation for families affected by the strike in terms of childcare costs.
In its first year in existence the Kawartha Lakes Concert Band performed two concerts. The first happened just three months after it formed; the second was for a sold-out audience at the Academy Theatre. “When the band participated in the Peterborough Kiwanis Music Festival, it earned a mark of 93 per cent and went on to win top prize for community bands in province-wide competition. So, as the band prepares for “To All a Good Night,” the Dec. 14 concert that will kick off its second year, the question is, what’s responsible for this success?
Some good fortune for sure: Who knew 74 musicians would answer a call to join, or that there’d be such a good balance of brass, woodwind, and percussion players? (Show me another community band that has 14 clarinets — a core component, clarinets are the violins of a concert band — and two bass clarinets, or three tubas and six trombones).
Trillium lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) has seen a two per cent increase in Grade 3 and a 5 per cent increase in Grade 6 math in recent Education Quality and Assessment Office (EQAO) assessment results.
This is in spite of an overall decrease in math scores across the province. TLDSB also continues to outperform the province in Grade 9 applied math with an increase over last year by 5 percent (13 percent above the province). For the first time in recent years the Board is also outperforming the province in academic math with an increase of 3 percent over last year’s result.
A Lindsay couple whose daughter choked on food at Leslie Frost Public School while there was no adult in the classroom is fighting for more supervision for students.
Meanwhile, a Trillium Lakelands District School Board spokesperson says “students are not left alone unsupervised.”
Neil and Jena-Lyn Westerby say their daughter Lexie, 7, choked on a piece of orange on March 22 which upset her enough that she wanted to call home. She was not allowed to call home, the parents say, although the teacher did notify the parents via a text message after the school day and after Lexie had already told her parents about what had happened.
The widespread cuts to education by the PC government will mean millions of dollars will be lost to the Trillium Lakelands District School Board. However, Director of Education, Larry Hope, says a highly regarded construction program at LCVI can’t solely be blamed on the PC government.
Among other cuts, the board is facing:
Hundreds of students in Kawartha Lakes are expected to walk out of class at 1:15 pm Thursday to protest the PC government’s cuts to education.
While Trillium Lakelands District School Board’s position is they would “prefer students didn’t,” according to Catherine Shedden, district manager of corporate communications, they are “welcome to do so peacefully.”
Shedden says they know area schools are interested in expressing their disagreement with recent announcements from the provincial government on education matters.
By now, most of us with school-aged children have settled into the routines of fall and the new school year. Of course, this means getting up early, packing lunches, driving here and there in our very busy lives and of course hearing about the school day at the dinner table.
If your kids are anything like mine, you likely hear stories about what their friends did that day, who the favourite teachers are and how they’ve done on their assignments. Of course, we always hope the stories are positive and that your child’s experience at school is a good one.
Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) trustees approved the appointment of Tim Ellis as the board’s new superintendent of business services, replacing Bob Kaye who will be retiring after working for 28 years with the board.
Ellis will be responsible for system fiscal management and accountability, as well as leadership of facility and transportation departments.
Local Grade 3 EQAO results from the Education Quality and Assessment Office (EQAO) show a drop in all three assessment areas — reading, writing, and math. Reading and writing results in Grade 6 are holding steady, indicating a slight decline of one per cent in math, just as the provincial results also dropped by one per cent in Grade 6 math.
As the Trillium Lakelands District School Board grapples with a $2 million funding shortfall in expected revenues, it found the solution in decreasing the amount of money it is allocating for teacher sick leave.
Director of Education Larry Hope just hopes it wasn’t a one-time solution, and so has reached out to the local union presidents for support.
