OCSTA President’s Report Presented by Patrick J. Daly April 2017

Annual Meeting of Ontario’s Catholic School Trustees

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. “The more deeply we are enlivened in our faith, the more confident we become of its truth and the better prepared we are to be the witnesses that Jesus tells us we must be” Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. Read from slide

Labour Negotiated 2-yr. extensions to 2015-17 centrally negotiated agreements Ongoing dialogue with Principal and VP Associations, trustee associations and the government re: possibility of extending terms and conditions OCSTA advocated strongly for full Crown funding of class size requirements

Labour OCSTA continuing to advocate for adequate funding to accompany regulatory changes to the FDK program and grades 4-6 class size caps. Human Resource Transition Supplement – a result of OCSTA’s efforts to assist boards in the implementation of new extension agreements. Read from slide

Key Finance Issues - Advocacy OCSTA continues to meet with key government officials and MPPs to share recommendations related to our education priorities, including: Reviewing the special education funding formula Advocating for a comprehensive review of the student transportation funding model Enhancing support for the Broadband Modernization Strategy and restoring IT infrastructure funding for boards Examining the rural and remote school funding structure Read from slide

2017-18 GSNs 1.5 % increase in salary benchmarks for unionized and non-teaching staff - $257.2M $85.7M for professional development Local Priorities Funding - $218.9M to inject net new special education staffing positions into the system Employee Health & Benefit Trusts – updated to reflect inflation protection increases, projected staffing and board shares of the benefit costs derived from the 2014-15 benefit costs for school boards. 3% increase for Community Use of Schools ($0.8M) Human Resource Transition Supplement - $10M Read from slide

2017-18 GSNs JK-SK class size cap of 90% of classes less than or equal to 30 with no more than 10% of JK-SK classes up to 32, only if following exceptions are met: If purpose-built accommodation is not available If program will be negatively affected (i.e. French immersion) Where compliance will increase FDK/Grade 1 combined classes Boards whose regular gr. 4-8 average class size exceeds 24.5 will be required to reduce the grades 4-8 maximum average class size to 24.5 within the next 5 years. Read from slide

2017-18 GSNs $1B allocated to school boards to address significant backlog in school renewal needs (School Condition Improvement program) Additional $40M for School Renewal Allocation Enveloping of per-pupil allocation of the Indigenous Education Grant – plus boards must spend at least $84K on a dedicated Indigenous Education Lead $31.4M to support boards with increases to electricity, transportation, and non-staff operations Read from slide

Consultations Rural Schools – spring engagement/ consultation process regarding new approaches to supporting education in rural and remote communities School Board Governance – topics: Access to an integrity commissioner and trustee code of conduct Trustee honoraria Electronic participation in board meetings The student trustee election process Broadening director of education qualifications

Consultations Student Transportation: Plans for a 12-18 month multi-stakeholder engagement process Seeking input and feedback on the vision for student transportation OCSTA has consistently advocated for a review of the transportation funding model

Executive Compensation Regulation 304/16 requires boards to create an Executive Compensation Framework. 4 trustee associations working together – Steering committee working with Mercer consultants with advice from the Treasury agreed to create: A common provincial framework, compensation plan content and implementation tools; A compensation philosophy; and A simple communications, posting and consulting strategy OCSTA hosted information session on April 26th to review the framework, the template for local use, and supporting guidelines and other resources.

Legislative Update Bill 68: OCSTA’s recommendations presented at hearing on April 10 address concerns regarding proposals to: allow “any person” in Ontario to apply to a judge to determine a potential breach of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act – would invite higher number of frivolous and vexatious claims against councillors and school board trustees change the term start date from December 1 to November 15 require trustees to file written conflict of interest statements for each board meeting where the trustee declares his or her financial interest require school boards to create and manage a public registry of written declarations of a financial conflict of interest for its trustees. OCSTA included a recommendation in support of a proposed change concerning pregnancy and parental leave policies and added that the amendment be extended to school boards as well as municipal councils Read from slide

Legislative Update Bill 92: School Board Collective Bargaining Amendment Act, 2017 Joint brief presented at hearings by OCSTA president Patrick Daly and other trustee association representatives Trustee recommendations emphasized critical need for sequenced bargaining without which there is a risk of continuous and simultaneous sanctions within the education sector at both the central and local levels.

Community Hubs OCSTA and other trustee associations will be participating in the province’s upcoming Community Hubs Summit OCSTA president Patrick Daly, OPSBA president Laurie French, representatives from the French public and Catholic trustee associations, and a municipal representative will be examining the issues, opportunities and key perspectives with respect to community hubs in operating schools.

Separate School Assessment Joint letter sent from all four trustee associations to the Minister of Finance indicating support for proposed legislative changes to the electronic registration regulation under the Land Registration Reform Act to require property owners to designate school support. OCSTA continues to advocate for these regulatory changes. Several meetings held with Ministry of Finance staff on this issue – meeting with the Minister of Finance is being planned.

Together in Faith Campaign Update: Ontario’s Bishops and OECTA officially support the TIF campaign – we now have the opportunity to directly connect with large segments of Ontario’s Catholic community. We encourage all trustees to add their names to the campaign at www.togetherinfaith.ca Read from slide Toronto CDSB students

Visits to CDSBs Kenora CDSB Read from slide Nipissing-Parry Sound CDSB

Catholic Education Symposium Catholic Education Symposium – November 14-15, 2017 in Toronto. “Exploring the Critical Role of Catholic Education in Contemporary Society” http://iceont.ca/news-and-updates/renewing-the-promise/

Questions Read from slide