Latest news with #Ottawa-CarletonDistrictSchoolBoard
Ottawa Citizen
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Justine Bell the third OCDSB trustee to resign in less than a year
Justine Bell has become the third trustee to resign from Ottawa's largest school board in less than a year. Article content In a letter to residents in Zone 10 (Somerset), Bell said the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board table 'was often a difficult space, and at times, a toxic one.' Article content Article content Her resignation is effective June 30. Article content 'There are a number of reasons why I'm resigning,' Bell, who has been a trustee for five years, said in an interview. 'The most important is my family.' Article content Article content Bell recently adopted a three-year-old girl from her husband's hometown in Mexico and for the past year and a half has been dividing her time between Ottawa and Mexico, sometimes attending school board meetings via Zoom. Article content Article content Bell said when she's in Ottawa, she spends time visiting schools in the city and remaining in contact with principals and superintendents, and has always answered questions by email immediately. Article content 'I went above and beyond some trustees who were present,' said Bell. Article content Being a trustee is not supposed to be a full-time job. But during a controversial elementary program review that started in the spring of 2024 and continued into this year, being a trustee became more than a full-time gig, she said. Article content 'There are so many ways a trustee can make a difference. For that, I'm really sad that I'm stepping down,' she said. 'The demands on a trustee are full-time. If you want to do it right and do it with heart, it can be a challenge.' Article content Article content The OCDSB's Code of Conduct complaints process has been weaponized and has taken up a lot of time and energy, said Bell who said she has worked hard to improve the environment at the board table, including advocating for respectful dialogue and pushing for a conflict resolution practitioner. Article content Article content 'Let's remember that we're here for the students and not the petty fighting. The entire board allows this to continue. We have to focus on the kids.' Article content Meanwhile, Bell said she's concerned about the next round of reviews, set to begin this fall, which may include changes to continuing education and adult education. Adult high school is one of the few avenues of real integration for newcomers to Ottawa, helping them make social connections get help finding a job, she said.
Ottawa Citizen
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Mault: New Ottawa French-language high school still faces challenges
The grass is freshly cut on the soccer fields, but nobody plays. No students are performing in the auditorium. The gym could play host to school tournaments, but alas, it sits empty. Article content This is the case of the Adult High School at 300 Rochester St., a purpose-built high school in Little Italy, with a capacity of 1,300 students. In fact, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) is sitting on three similar school assets, all within a 5-km radius, with a combined enrollment of 56 per cent. Article content Article content Article content Last year, I wrote in the Ottawa Citizen about the urgent need for a French-language high school in central Ottawa. Since then, there's been encouraging news: the government of Ontario has committed $40.8 million to build a new French-language public high school, which is currently expected to be located at LeBreton Flats. Article content But that school is very unlikely to open this decade, and is certainly many years away because of site complexity and a myriad of decision-makers. For francophone families in Ottawa Centre, the need is immediate. Students within the system have been living with this crisis for years. Students entering public high school this fall cannot wait all these years. For them, the need is urgent. Article content Last year, when a grassroot coalition of parents ( proposed the Adult High School as a temporary location — because of the physical attributes and the under-utilization of this asset, we were basically told 'hands off' by an OCDSB school trustee. Article content Article content Article content Much has changed since our 2024 proposal. First, provincial funding has now been secured for a new French-language public high school in Ottawa Centre. Second, the OCDSB recently revealed that it has 17,000 empty seats in its schools and is facing a $20-million budget shortfall for the 2025-26 school year. To close the gap, the board considered major cuts: selling off surplus buildings, eliminating programs like gifted education and outdoor learning, and even charging families for busing to specialized programs. In fact, several reports confirmed that the Adult High School was being studied as a potential cost-saving measure. Article content The timing is serendipitous. The Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario (CEPEO), which delivers public French language education in Ottawa, is seeking a temporary solution to house students in Ottawa Centre while the long-awaited new school is being built. Leasing part of the Adult High School facility to CEPEO would allow today's francophone public high school students to stay in French-language education while generating valuable revenue for the OCDSB.
Ottawa Citizen
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Bell High School valedictorian defended by advocates after pro-Palestinian remarks
A part of Bell High School valedictorian Elizabeth Yao's speech mentioning the war in Gaza initiated a call from her principal, asking Yao to stay home the following Monday. Article content Now, some advocates are showing support for Yao and demanding that the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) issue her a public apology. Article content Article content 'I think people are using the platforms they have to make important statements. That, I think, is totally legitimate,' said Sam Hersh, a member of Independent Jewish Voices Ottawa. 'Touching on politics and the commencement speech and talking about what students and younger generations are going to face is probably appropriate and contextual for the times that we're currently living in.' Article content Article content Yao's Valedictorian speech largely focused on the memories she made after four years at Bell High School. Article content Article content In videos and a written copy of her speech circulating online, Yao reminisces about preparing 200 waffles with her peers for a fundraiser. She thanks the custodial staff for their reliance and speed, and the front office workers for supplying students with forks to eat their lunch. Yao also mentions her fellow students, saying their participation in school events made them 'the heart of our high school experiences.' Article content 'As a commitment to truth and reconciliation I must acknowledge colonial and genocidal atrocities today, including the massacre of more than 17,000 Palestinian children in Gaza,' the speech reads. In videos of Yao's speech, her comments are met with cheers and applause from the audience. Article content Article content 'I refuse to stand on the side of history that allows the repetition of crimes against humanity,' she continues. 'It is my hope that every single one of you present today consider my speech and my desperation for a free Palestine.' Article content Article content In an email addressed to parents and guardians, Bell High School principal Jane Conrod apologized for the speech's 'unexpected and unapproved' comments. Article content 'The content of the remarks, which touched on deeply sensitive global events, was not part of the pre-approved speech,' the email reads. 'We deeply regret that this occurred and are truly sorry for the harm that has been caused.' Article content In a statement, OCDSB spokesperson Diane Pernari said Conrod would not be available for an interview. But Pernari said the goal of their commencement ceremonies is to 'create a joyous celebration of student achievement.' Article content 'Our schools provide appropriate forums within the school year to engage thoughtfully with a wide range of issues that impact our community. These settings are designed to facilitate respectful, safe and supportive discussions,' the statement said.
Ottawa Citizen
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Today's letters: Ontario is being simplistic about hospital parking fees
Article content Article content The reasons Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth have given for her resignation as a trustee from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board reinforce the growing knowledge that board employees will not be protected from extremist intimidation and threats (depending on who is making the threat and who the target of the threat is), nor from years of administrative abuse of power. Article content Kaplan-Myrth's story is another example of a public school system that has run amok due to years of not having to be accountable to its taxpayers. Its financial mismanagement is just the tip of the iceberg. Article content We truly need the Ontario government to ensure our children and youth are being properly educated for the 21st century and to demand that the school boards committed and hard-working employees get the support and protection they need in the face of administrative indifference and the multifaceted extremist ideologies that infuse our culture and threaten our children's future. Article content Article content I was struck by news coverage of homes destroyed by wildfires and tornadoes and by how vulnerable wooden homes are. That, plus the rise of homelessness and the recent tariffs on Canadian steel, makes me think that now is the time for Canada to develop its own modular, pre-fabricated steel homes. Article content This would create a local demand for Canadian steel and aluminum products, while providing easily deployable, strong, durable structures resistant to the natural disasters. They could be transported by truck or rail, then dropped on site as needed to address emergency/temporary and long-term housing needs. The walls themselves could then be reinforced and insulated locally with poured concrete. Article content
Ottawa Citizen
04-06-2025
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
Kaplan-Myrth: Why I resigned as a trustee from the OCDSB
On June 3, I resigned from the position of trustee for Zone 9 (Capital and Alta Vista) at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. 'If you resign, please tell people why. Don't just leave,' said a fellow trustee. Article content So here I am. This is the story of my three years as a trustee. It is a cautionary tale about the ways in which public school boards in Canada are under siege. Article content Article content Article content Following my medical advocacy during the pandemic, I was approached by neighbours in July 2022 to run as a trustee in Ottawa. As a progressive voice in the community, I was tasked by my constituents with the responsibility to keep social justice issues on the agenda, and to advocate for academic supports for students with disabilities, neurodiverse students, 2SLGBTQ students, Indigenous and racialized students. Article content School board trustee is a part-time position with hundreds of hours of work, board or committee meetings, sometimes twice a week, 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. It comes with a $17,000 salary, no support staff, a flood of emails from angry constituents and very little political esteem. It is nevertheless an important position. Trustees develop strategic plans, shape elementary and secondary school programs, oversee budgets (for the OCDSB, more than $1 billion), and develop and revise policies that affect every student and educator in the school district. Most trustees have no background in education, economics, urban planning, management, policy analysis or disability. Article content Article content Article content Sadly, school boards are also particularly vulnerable to political manipulation. In the United States, there is a well-established pattern of MAGA-inspired takeovers of school boards by people whose agendas include banning books, removing topics such as sexuality, gender identity and sex ed from curriculum, and even erasing the science of evolution. In Ontario and across Canada, this is a very difficult time, in general, to run a Board of Education, with chronic underfunding from the ministry, staff shortages, over-crowding of classrooms, unprecedented dysregulation of students, and the concomitant challenge of increasingly radicalized groups that seek to influence us through an avalanche of emails, petitions and disruptions of our board rooms and schools.
