Firehall Fest a Smashing Sunfilled Success - Old Ottawa South

Page 30 The th OSCAR - OUR 36 YEAR
JUL/AUG 2008
OCDSB TRUSTEE REPORT
Balanced Budget, New Director of Education,
and Looking Ahead
By Rob Campbell
This school year was another big
year. Not as big as the previous
one when we came within one
vote of a budget defeat and Provincial
takeover, but still big. It’s said that the
two most important matters a School
Board can deal with is the budget and
Director selection, and this year we
did both.
We passed a balanced budget
without raiding reserves and without
any amendments - a first since the
amalgamated Board formed in 1998.
Our relative ‘good fortune’ this year
has its direct antecedent, however, in
the very large cuts of the preceding
two years. This budget provides for a
10% jump in Secondary VPs, boosts
Elementary in-school special education
support and custodial support,
reinvests in targeted central admin and
provides for more occasional teachers
at schools which will indirectly help
school budgets. The system remains
stretched very tight however and
we still have too few Elementary
VPs, haven’t been able to bring back
Intermediate overlay Arts teachers,
not reversed massive special ed cuts,
have a 22% jump in split Elementary
classes, school budgets remain tight
and so on. So, not a budget with much
wiggle room and not reinvesting so
much in front-line student services but
one modestly refloating several key
‘infrastructural’ budget lines which
have been under chronic stress.
We have picked a new Director
of Education to replace Lorne Rachlis
who is retiring. The Director is the
only employee we pick and who’s
performance we review and who we
explicitly direct. Getting the right
person for the District is key. We
believe we have that person in Lyall
Thomson. We conducted a national
search, and interviewed and referenced
several crackerjack people but there
was consensus Board support for
Lyall. We have high hopes and don’t
think he will disappoint. He starts
officially August 1 but will be acting
unofficially during the summer.
It has also been a big policy year.
A lot of good work was done but there
were a couple of major highlights. At
long last, four years in the making,
we passed the new Secondary School
Framework which asserts the primacy
of the community school while
providing defined leeway and which
will mold Secondary programming
for many years. We implemented
the recommendations of the FSL ad
hoc Committee and decided to phase
out LFI, arguably eight years in the
making. Also, additional Committee
recommendations to stop the standard
practice of ordinarily streaming special
education and ESL students out of
French immersion is now the new law
August 13-16th, 2008
By Carrie Croft
Ottawa will host the Ontario
Summer Games for the second
consecutive time August
13-16, 2008 in the National Capital
Region. The Ontario Games are the
Province’s premiere multi-sport event
and provide sports competition for
youth between the ages of 11 and 22.
The 26 sports will involve
approximately 3,500 participants
(athletes, coaches and officials) from
across the province, as well as over
1,000 volunteers.
The organising committee is
seeking volunteers for all areas of
the games. “There are 26 sports in
the Ontario Summer Games: archery;
athletics; baseball; basketball; canoe/
kayak; cycling; field hockey; lacrosse;
lawn bowling; rowing; rugby; sailing;
shooting; soccer; softball; swimming;
tennis; triathlon; volleyball; water
polo and water skiing, so there is
something for everyone to come out
and enjoy, “ said volunteer Co-Chair
Damien Coakeley.
Pat Reid, Director General of the
of the land relayed to Principals.
We close the year with much else in
progress and a big year to look forward
to next year also. We are looking at
governance issues and the idea of
instituting performance measures.
We have been looking at special
education service models, especially
for Gifted. Next year we will have to
deal with the labour negotiations for
every bargaining group - all groups
are variously in negotiation and the
situation is in flux.
This coming December will be
the midpoint of the current Trustee
mandate. I’m going to be evaluating
what I’ve done against what I said I’d
try to do and look to maximize the next
two years as I can. If there are matters
you would like to see addressed the
next two years, please get in touch
with me.
Have a great summer!
If you have a suggestion or a
concern, or would like to be added to my
electronic newsletter list, then please
don’t hesitate to contact me. I can be
reached via any of 730-8128, rob@
ocdsbzone9.ca or “Rob Campbell,
133 Greenbank Road, Ottawa ON,
K2H 6L3”. Board meeting, budget,
document and delegation and other
info is available at www.ocdsb.ca
Ontario Summer Games Seeks
1000 Volunteers For Events
Games, is appealing to companies and
businesses in the Ottawa area to get
involved with the Games by purchasing
a block of 10 or 20 all-sport admission
tickets, each worth $10.00, and have
the Games donate those tickets to
the 2008 Games official charity, the
Ottawa Big Sisters Big Brothers.
All contributing companies will
be listed in the Official Program of the
Games, and on our website.
Ottawa will benefit immensely
from holding the games again in
2008. Pat Reid, said, “The economic
impact of the Games in Ottawa in
2006 was $1.2 million. This time we
expect that figure to rise slightly to $1.4
million, with the addition to the Games
of the sports of swimming, water polo,
triathlon and lawn bowling.”
Volunteer training sessions
are quickly approaching and the
Ontario Summer Games Organising
Committee is welcoming all interested
parties to visit the Games website at
www.2008osg.ca sign up and support
athletics in Ontario.