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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04 Report 99-228 Draft Letter to RMOC re Regional Directions Paper11 • 1� OTTAWA- CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD 24 November 1999 Report No. 99 - 228 to the Chairs' Committee Re Draft Letter to BMOC re Regional Directions Paper ORIGINATOR: James P. Grieve, Director of Education /Secretary of the Board Janice E. Sargent, Management, Policy and Planning Advisor PURPOSE: To provide to the Chairs' Committee a draft letter addressed to the Regional Municipality of Ottawa - Carleton in response to a document entitled Regional Directions. BACKGROUND: 2. Pursuant to a Board motion of 13 September 1999 THAT staff be directed to prepare a brief commenting on the RMOC's Regional Directions document, a draft letter was prepared by staff for inclusion with the agenda materials for the October meeting of the Chairs' Committee. STATUS: 3. Discussion of this draft was deferred until the November meeting. Input from the Chair and two changes subsequently recommended by Trustee Getty have been incorporated in the revised draft attached as Appendix A. 4. Input from trustees, student trustees and representatives of our employee Federations/ unions, associations and parents is sought at this Chairs' Committee meeting, prior to finalizing the letter for approval by the Board on 13 December 1999. SUBMITTED FOR INPUT /ACTION James P. Grieve Director of Education/ Secretary of the Board /7 ly. • OTTAWA-CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD Bob Chiarelli Chair Region of Ottawa- Carleton Ottawa - Carleton Centre, Cartier Square 111 Lisgar St., Ottawa Ontario K2P 2L7 Dear Mr. Chiarelli Appendix A 25 November 1999 Pursuant to a Board motion of 13 September 1999 THAT staff be directed to prepare a brief conu4enting on the RMOC's Regional Directions document, we wish to make the following points in response to this document as a contribution toward the needed dialogue among partners in this Region who are concerned with the welfare of all our citizens. The draft Regional Directions document received by our Board on 2 September 1999 indicates your top priorities for the future. We regret we were unable to make a presentation during the Region's consultations in October; however, we hope you will accept our comments prior to finalizing this important regional document. A draft of our response has been circulated to trustees and Board stakeholder representatives including teacher, student and parent representatives and approved by the Board on 22 November 1999. As you may be aware, our Board undertook last May to hold a multi- stakeholder conference to discuss the future of our Board's students, with a view to ensuring their success upon graduation in their chosen work and career. From this very successful conference, which included representation from principals /vice - principals, teachers, affiliated and non - affiliated support staff, students and parents as well as from the wider community including the Government of Canada (Learning and Literacy Directorate), the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, post - secondary institutions (Carleton University, University of Ottawa, and Algonquin College), business (Nortel, OCRI), health and social service providers (CHEO, Children's Aid, the Ottawa- Carleton Regional Police, and the BMOC Child Care Division) emerged seven action themes. Several of these themes clearly coincide with those of the Region as expressed in your Regional Directions document, for example: ➢ The School as Hub in the Community New and existing financial resources in our community are limited, therefore, increased efficiencies through co- operation are required. Schools can provide a "hub" in the community to serve the needs first of students and then of other community members. To achieve this vision, help will be needed from many agencies as well as local communities. ➢ Volunteerism There was agreement among conference participants that there should be a focus on parents' involvement in their children's education, ranging from at -home activities such as reading with each child, to at- school activities such as meeting with teachers for interviews, helping in the classroom, and becoming involved through school councils in a wide range of activities in support of students. In addition, the involvement of the wider community in children's education is sought as highly necessary to the success of our students. ➢ Safe Schools Objectives include ensuring a continuum of programs from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 which address 'kids caring for kids' on a daily basis, and which provide a support model for students at high risk for recidivism. .2 F] 117, A strategic plan is presently being developed to build upon these conference themes which articulate priority issues for the Ottawa - Carleton District School Board. In recognition of the fact that we share many goals with the Region, we wish to state our Board's support for your initiatives in the following areas: Funding /Delivery of Health and Social Services We agree that the 'downloading ' of provincial responsibilities has severely affected local governments. Increased or new revenue sources are urgently needed in order to meet the needs of all our citizens -- and specifically in our Board's case, the needs of our students. Your goal of negotiating a new partnership agreement with the Province of Ontario with respect to service delivery and funding for shared programs such as social services and health to achieve a stable, sustainable future is a goal of our education system as well. [AC] With respect to specific priorities, we would urge the Region to include in its health and social services priorities funding for projects related to children and, in particular to youth. As the draft Statement indicates on page 7, the "baby boom echo group" of children aged 5 to 14 will require a "temporary" increase, over the next 5 years, in the services available to teenagers. As a consequence of the new provincial funding model, which provides fewer funds for non - classroom services such as social workers, psychologists, youth workers, etc., school boards will be forced to do less and many of the needs of youth will not be serviced unless we - Boards and the Region - develop new collaborative initiatives. [AG] Over the years, Boards of Education have become the default providers of such services, using extremely scarce education tax dollars to bolster such services and programs that should be funded 100% through the social services and health envelopes. Success by Six Program We fully agree that conditions experienced in the first six years of a child's life have a lifelong impact on health, well-being and productivity. Interventions to prevent abuse, increase stimulation, improve school readiness and parenting will dramatically improve outcomes for young children and their families. The OCDSB strongly believes that programs for children in this age group are an essential investment by society in its future that will have an enormous preventative impact in years to come. We are proud to play a primary role in active partnership with the Region and other stakeholders in this program. We also see an ongoing role for our Board and our schools. Once again, using schools as hubs for the delivery parenting centres and early learning opportunities would strengthen linkages and make prudent use of existing community investments in facilities. Public Safety We applaud the high priority you have placed on safety in your Community Vision. Like you, we support preventive measures and agree that safety is not the sole responsibility of the police. We fully support the new Community Policing model, in which we are active partners. We share your goal of developing strong links among our Board, police, health, social services and other community agencies with a view to ensuring the safety of all Ottawa - Carleton citizens. We share your goal of actively working with community organizations and the private sector to create opportunities for youth at risk to develop their talents. We also share your goals and support initiatives to reduce alcohol - related injuries among youth and young adults, and innovations to enforce traffic regulations and improve road safety to reduce injuries and deaths. Improvements to OC Transpo Service Levels One of your stated objectives is the increased effectiveness of OC Transpo consistent with Regional Official Plan objectives and requirements. We agree with the target initiatives you have listed, namely of C, enhancing reliability by improving schedules, service control and vehicles available, and of improving accessibility to OC Transpo services. ...3 'IPA Given the decreased provincial resources we anticipate in coming years, we support initiatives to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of CC Transpo, and urge that you make students, who increasingly must rely on OC Transpo when travelling to and from school within the Urban Transit Area each day, a high priority. You have stated that your community- focused priorities include achieving increased ridership by improving customer services and reliability, and focusing service where and when it will be best used, as well as improving safety and security for passengers and staff. We fully support your initiatives and directions in this regard, especially as they benefit our students. Economic Growth of Ottawa- Carleton We agree that the Region needs to build a strategy for its long -term investment in economic development. Strengthening such economic sectors as advanced technologies, bio- technologies and life sciences and identifying new emerging sectors as a high priority goal will assist in promoting the economic health and renewal of the Ottawa - Carleton Region. Along with our regional partners, we support: • a comprehensive Economic Development Strategy with broad stakeholder participation; • co- ordination of initiatives in advanced technologies, life sciences, tourism and in other sectors identified in this Strategy; • development of programs to increase the employability of the unemployed; • better workforce planning to tailor training to needs of the economy; and • social service delivery tailored to increase workforce participation. School boards can play a direct role in achieving these goals. First, the quality of a region's public schools is often a determining factor in the decision - making of both mobile firms and highly mobile employees. It is therefore essential that Ottawa - Carleton be clearly identified as a national leader in the provision of public education. Under the new funding regime, this is a challenge that will require strong OCDSB leadership and the full support of the Ottawa - Carleton community. Collectively, we will need to convince the Province that the economic success of our region does depend on the both the quality of the education we provide and the " quality of life" of the students themselves. On this latter point, the OCDSB has urgently requested that the province permit the use of Economic Development Charges to provide new pupil places in our growth areas so that our Board can construct much- needed schools. We trust that we can count on your support in this area, as the construction of new schools is essential to the health of new and growing communities in the Ottawa - Carleton Region. Finally, our Board can assist the Region in achieving its objectives of increasing the employability of the unemployed and tailoring training needs. In particular, we believe that our Adult High School is an excellent and cost - effective means of assisting adults to complete their secondary education and prepare themselves for either jobs or further training. Regrettably the province's funding formula also threatens the future of this contribution to our community. We thank you for this opportunity to comment on the important initiatives for the future of Ottawa - Carleton contained in the draft Regional Directions document. We ask your support for our Board's initiatives to benefit the children and youth of this region. In turn we look forward to working with you and the Region to strengthen Ottawa - Carleton. IAGI Recommends removing final sentence, since the outcome of the present provincial review by Mr. Shortliffe is unknown. Yours sincerely, Albert Chambers Chair James P. Grieve Director of Education/ Secretary of the Board