HomeMy WebLinkAbout03 Student Trustee Report June 2018 (1)
Student Trustee Report
June 2018
Overview
❖Student Senate………………………………………………. 3
❖Student President’s Council ………………………………… 5
❖The Ontario Student Trustees’ Association ……………….... 5
❖Provincial Advocacy - Advocating for What Matters…….….7
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Introduction
As academic year 2017-2018 draws to a close Student Trustees MacDonald and Ramotar are
pleased to present this report to the board to update them on the progress they have made over
the course of the year in their roles within the Student Senate,Student Presidents’Council as
well as Executive Council members within the Ontario Student Trustees’Association -
l’Association des élèves conseiller/ères de l’Ontario, (OSTA-AECO).
Student Senate
This year the Student Senate chose to focus on the OCDSB’s Exit Outcomes as the Senate
Initiative.After taking into account the feedback received from last year’s Day with the Director
and after extensive discussion and debate at the annual Senate Retreat held in October,the
Student Senate worked through the final months of 2017 developing a plan to explore the
meaning of the Exit Outcomes.The end goal was to help students discover the five skills and
five characteristics,encourage the exploration of what the Exit Outcomes mean to students,how
they can relate to various aspects of student life and finally to support secondary student leaders
to bring the Exit Outcomes back to secondary sites in order to support the development of these
outcomes while reaching every OCDSB secondary student.After extensive planning and support
from staff, the Student Senate was able to accomplish their goals with tremendous success.
The initiative began by analysing the data collected at last year’s Day with the Directorevent
held in May 2017.At this event,students were encouraged to discuss challenges and concerns
that they were facing in their school communities and brainstorm potential,goal-oriented
solutions with other students from across the district.The outcome was a clear list of student
concerns and suggested solutions,grouped into thematic areas,that the Student Senate could use
this year in developing the strategic initiative for academic year 2017-2018.At the Senate
Retreat,this data was studied and it was discovered that many of the thematic areas addressed by
students at the Day with the Directorrelated very closely to the Exit Outcomes.As a result,the
October,November and December Student Senate meetings were devoted to develop the
strategic initiative for 2017-2018.
Over the last three months of 2017,a clear step-based plan emerged as the timeline for the
initiative was finalized.The goal was to devote the months January,February and March 2018 to
developing workshops led by the Student Senators regarding the five skills and five
characteristics,to be run at the Student Senate Symposium in March 2018 attended by the
student leadership teams from each secondary site.Following the symposium,local student
leadership teams would run their own events in their own school communities that embodied the
Exit Outcomes and promoted their development.After extensive discussion between Student
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Senators,two things became clear.First,that the workshops and events hosted at the Senate
Symposium had to be engaging for students,and promote hands-on interactive activities that
student leadership teams could use to model their own local Exit Outcome activity.Secondly,
Student Senators stressed the importance of engaging all secondary students district-wide,and
voiced their commitment to ensuring that special efforts would be made to support the local
leadership teams in the implementation of their own local Exit Outcome initiatives.
As a result of these discussions,it was decided that in April and May 2018 Student Senate would
act as a forum for discussion,encouragement and the sharing of best practices in order to support
Student Senators and their local leadership teams in the development and implementation of the
Exit Outcome activity.Additionally,Student Senators built mechanisms into the symposium
agenda (Appendix A) to support local leadership teams in a variety of ways.
●The local leadership teams of five students,excluding the Student Senator,were split into
five different groups.In the first time slot,each of the five groups,consisting of one
representative from each school,attended a session run by Student Senators regarding the
five skills, and in a subsequent time slot, the five characteristics.
●
●While the students participated in the Senator-led workshops,accompanying staff were
invited to attend an Exit Outcome session of their own facilitated by staff from
Curriculum Services.
●
●After a brief networking lunch,the students and staff,together,attended a workshop
hosted by two members of the communications department,Diane Pernari-Hergert and
Nathalie Rodriguez that explored ways to successfully plan an event,and that facilitated a
discussion around best practices to engage students.
●
●Following the event planning session,students and staff were given time to brainstorm
possible local Exit Outcome events as a local school leadership team.
●
●The Symposium ended with each school developing a plan of action for their local event
and sharing what they discussed.
After a very busy day,Senators ensured,through the meticulous development of the agenda and
workshops,that all attendees were able to explore the Exit Outcomes in a variety of engaging
ways and that school leadership teams were equipped to implement an Exit Outcome Activity in
the months to follow.
Throughout April and May 2018,discussions were had at Student Senate to support school
leadership teams in the implementation of their local initiatives,and descriptions of the local Exit
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Outcome activities were collected and compiled (Appendix B)to share the success of the Student
Senators and the incredible students that form their teams.
When Student Senate began the year in the October 2017,the hope was that through open
communication and critical thinking,as well as by being creative,resilient,goal oriented and
collaborative,the Student Senate and local leadership teams could work together to engage
secondary students and promote the OCDSB exit outcomes across the district.Thanks to the
unwavering support of Mr.Lehman and Ms.Conrod our staff advisors,the valued input from our
Trustee members of Student Senate,Trustees Ellis,Braunovan and Scott,as well as
Superintendent Baker and the Exit Outcome team at Curriculum Services and of course thanks to
the tireless efforts of the OCDSB Student Senators,the Student Senate was able to accomplish
that goal with tremendous success.Looking ahead,and in welcoming our incoming Student
Trustees Isaac Glassman and Samantha Lin,Student Trustees MacDonald and Ramotar are
confident that there are indeed excellent things to come in 2018-2019,and that Student Senate
will continue to tirelessly and successfully execute its mandate for the betterment of all students
across the district.
Student President’s Council
Student Trustees Ramotar and MacDonald have found their time on President’s Council this year
to be very insightful and educational.As student leaders within each of their respective schools,
the presidents have brought a unique perspective on issues to the table and were continually
willing to share their opinions on various issues.This significant contribution has helped Student
Trustees Ramotar and MacDonald to promote student voice within the board.The President's
Council ran their OCDSBs Got Talent event on May 10th in the auditorium at Sir Robert Borden
High School.The event was a talent show which featured performances from students attending
various schools who competed to win.After the audience vote,the group NJB consisting of
Noah Reichstein,Joey Smith and Ben Spilg were successful.This event required much time and
organisation from the President's Council,including the chairs,Ezequiel Garcia and Mohammad
Amadou,the event would not have been possible without their dedication.Following the event,
the Presidents Council created a transition plan for the incoming Presidents who have been
elected,and met with them at the transitional meeting in June 2018 to begin the transition
process.
Ontario Student Trustees’ Association (OSTA-AECO)
Student Trustees Ramotar and MacDonald attended the the OSTA-AECO Annual General
Meeting (AGM)which occurred during the month of May.The conference is an important
professional development opportunity for incoming Student Trustees,but also provides the
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outgoing Student Trustees with skills that can be applied to further endeavors.These
opportunities included an alumni panel to discuss post secondary pathways,media workshops
and inspiring speakers,such as Marc Kielburger from Me to We.The Annual General Meeting
allows the incoming Student Trustees to directly learn about their new roles from the outgoing
Trustees,which extends to learning best practices before they enter the role.The months prior to
beginning the role of Student Trustee are crucial for a proper transition,therefore the incoming
Student Trustees,Samantha Lin and Isaac Glassman,had time to discuss best practices and begin
drafting a plan for the year with their colleagues across the province.Furthermore,the
2018-2019 Executive Council was elected with Amal Qayum from the District School Board of
Niagara as the President of OSTA,Ryan Brown from the Bluewater District School Board as the
President of the Public Board Council and Sophia Trozzo from the York Catholic district School
Board as the President of the Catholic Board Council.Isaac Glassman,the Student Trustee Elect
from the OCDSB,was appointed to the position of Media Design Coordinator,and Alex
MacDonald will be continuing in his role as Chief Financial Officer.
Student Trustee Rita Ramotar,the current President of the Public Board Council spent the AGM
board council breakout reviewing the roles and responsibilities of the cabinet members as well as
giving a general update of the projects and partnerships of the Public Board Council.This is an
important time for reflection so a portion of the session allowed the outgoing Student Trustees to
reflect on their year with a SWOT (strengths,weaknesses,opportunities and threats)activity.
Moreover,the incoming Student Trustees sat through a panel with outgoing Student Trustees
which reviewed board governance and the role that they play at the board table.The session
concluded with a debate activity to promote civil conflict negotiation.
Recently,Student Trustee Ramotar spent several months planning a Public Student
Empowerment Day in collaboration with Me to We,which is a social advocacy organisation.
The purpose of the conference was to act as the pilot project for the annual Public Board Council
(PBC)initiative.Moreover,the Student Trustees recognised that students were not as involved in
the community as they could potentially be,so various activities were planned to ensure that
students were empowered to support a cause.Students of the Greater Toronto Area gathered at
the We Global Learning centre and listened to a keynote by Spencer West,who spoke about
persevering despite facing troubles.There were also several table group activities that allowed
the students to work with other students from different boards to reach a common goal.
The Ontario Public School Boards Association has been working closely with the Public Board
Council of OSTA-AECO this year.The participation of Shirley Seward,Alex Johnstone and
Laurie French in the OPSBA discussion panel at OSTA-AECO’s Board Council Conference has
allowed the Student Trustees to have a greater knowledge of the work that they do and their focal
issues this term.This also includes PBC involvement within OPSBA and attendance at their
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meetings.The establishment of the OPSBA-OSTA-AECO relations committee will also allow
for this partnership to remain productive in the future and will see that OSTA will sit on the
education program and policy development work teams,present to the OPSBA Board of
Directors and OPSBA will be subsidizing the costs for 4 students attending,which allows for
students from northern or rural boards to attend.
Provincial Advocacy - Advocating for what Matters
Throughout his term as Chief Financial Officer of OSTA-AECO, Student Trustee MacDonald
has been very fortunate to participate in provincial advocacy at various levels. In addition to
participating in provincial and federal budget consultations as well as contributing to engagement
sessions with the Ministry of Education on transportation inequity for students, student
involvement in Pupil Accommodation Reviews, the funding formula, Indigenous education and
La Francophonie, Student Trustee MacDonald undertook his own advocacy project with the
support of the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association (OSTA-AECO) entitled OSTA Supports.
OSTA Supports was designed as a solution to the unpredictability of the association’s funding
model, as well as a way to ensure equity of opportunity for all of Ontario’s Student Trustees.
OSTA-AECO runs all conferences on a cost recovery basis, and therefore the membership fees
the association receives at the beginning of each academic year must cover all of the
association’s operating expenses. Unfortunately, because membership fees are completely
voluntary, many Student Trustees face challenges in persuading their board to purchase a
membership and as a result, membership figures can vary greatly year to year making it difficult
to budget and sustain long term continual investment. Additionally, a common theme that
emerges among Student Trustees at provincial meetings is the lack of equity in terms of
professional development budgets and the availability of resources for Student Trustees. This
disparity makes it very difficult for Student Trustees to gain the necessary professional
development required to best represent their students.
After exhaustive consultation and review, the first public draft of the OSTA Supports report,
including the two primary recommendations, was released to our provincial partners for
feedback and review. The recommendations included in the report were designed to address the
two overarching issues, and present two corresponding proposed solutions.
First, to address the lack of Student Trustee involvement in professional development, the report
recommended that Ontario school boards give Student Trustees adequate line of sight into their
own professional development budgets and allow Student Trustees to have input into how their
budgets are spent. Across the province there are many Student Trustees whose professional
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development budgets are arbitrarily withheld, or who are denied access to this budget, and
denied the right to these funds. The rationale behind the recommendation was that in denying
access or line of sight to funds that other municipally elected Trustees are able to manage, there
was a violation of Section 55 (7) of the Education Act, which dictates that Student Trustees have
the same status as board members with respect to access to board resources.
The second part of the OSTA Supports report addressed the massive disparity in professional
development funding that exists between Student Trustees. To address the systemic issue of
professional development underfunding for Student Trustees, the second recommendation in the
report called on the Ministry to increase the funding allocated to Student Trustees’ by taking into
account the costs associated with Student Trustee attendance at, not only OSTA-AECO
conferences, but also the conferences of OPSBA and OCSTA as well as the membership amount
associated with an OSTA-AECO membership. Although OPSBA memberships do not come out
of Trustee’s professional development budgets, in many cases, Student Trustees have their
membership to OSTA-AECO taken from funding that should be allocated to their professional
development rather than provincial Trustee association membership fees. In order to successfully
represent the students of a school district, Student Trustees should be given adequate funding to
engage in meaningful professional development themselves, while attending meetings of their
municipally elected Trustee colleagues. From the perspective of the association, this change will
likely see an increase in membership revenue and consistency, putting the association in a sound
and stable financial position.
After meetings with OPSBA, OCSTA and the Ministry School Board Governance Branch, as
well as the Minister’s policy team, the final draft of the report was released in February 2018 and
a meeting with the Minister of Education was set. Finally, in March 2017, a delegation from
OSTA-AECO met with the minister to discuss the two recommendations included in the report.
After fulsome discussion and negotiation, the Minister committed to assisting OSTA-AECO in
empowering Ontario’s Student Trustees to have input into their budget. OSTA-AECO is
optimistic that through the relentless advocacy of our Executive Council and the direction of our
Chief Financial Officer, the remaining recommendations will be accepted, and with the support
of our valued partners, increased sustainable funding for Ontario’s Student Trustees and
OSTA-AECO at large, will become a reality.
Conclusion
In summary,Student Trustees Ramotar and MacDonald are extremely grateful for all of the
incredible experiences and learning opportunities that they have been able to participate in over
the course of their terms.As Student Trustees Ramotar and MacDonald move into their
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post-secondary careers they will continue to confidently and respectfully advocate for students,
and student voice at a broader level both in their communities and across the province.
Alex MacDonald
Student Trustee
Rita Ramotar
Student Trustee
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Appendix A - Student Senate Symposium Agenda
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Appendix B - Local Exit Outcome Activity Descriptions
“For our follow up to the symposium, we made special awards at our annual Oscars with special
prizes which honoured each of the exit outcomes. Because of this event, people strive to achieve
awards which highlight the exit outcomes and encourages such behaviours in students. About
200 students attend the Oscars”
- Sophie Clow, Student Senator from South Carleton High School
“This year, Earl of March organized an initiative named the “Butterfly Effect”, which happened
during last two weeks of April, coinciding with the annual Wellness Week. The objective of this
event, was to get each and every student and staff at EOM a positive, caring message written to
them by another individual at the school.
Students were encouraged to not only write to their best friends, but to people they didn’t know
as well at school. This is where critical thinking skills came into play, as the students needed to
think about thoughtful messages to say, and to think of any peers that positively affected them
at school. When all was said and done more than 1500 messages were written, sorted and
delivered. As such, this meant that certain methods of organizing the workload was necessary.
Here, innovative/creative characteristics were demonstrated - students took on the challenge to
make the process of sorting more efficient and streamlined.”
-Andy Ren, Student Senator from Earl of March Secondary School
“We held a brain games session at lunch and joined with another group called: Students For
Change. There was a table set up in the main lobby where people would freely come and try out
the brain games, consisting of fun riddles and hard puzzles. The exit outcomes that related to
this event were critical thinking and collaboration, as people needed to think critically to play
the brain games and were able to work in groups to solve them. This activity raised awareness
on the exit outcomes, and helped students take their mind off of school and play fun brain
games!”
-Farah Nasser, Student Senator from Ridgemont High School
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