Over the summer I spoke with thousands of residents who expressed the need for a new attitude at the school board. In addition to a trustee who knows the issues and shares the St. Paul’s vision for strong, inclusive public education, residents want a trustee with a “can do” attitude, instead of tired, old excuses for why we can’t do better. I believe my record of achievement is one that embodies such an attitude, as does the platform I present to you below.
Based on what I’ve heard from residents, I developed three top priorities: community hubs, professional learning for teachers and funding formula reform.
But while priorities are important I intend to represent all St. Paul’s residents and want a true mandate to speak on behalf of our neighbourhoods. In that spirit, I have developed a platform that includes my position on the great diversity of issues that you have told me also matter to you.
If you want to share your thoughts or find out where I stand on an issue not addressed below, please e-mail me at adam@adamcf.ca.
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Table of Contents
Priority issues:
Community Hubs – Creating Stronger Communities and Financially Sustainable Schools
Professional Learning for Teachers – Improving Outcomes for Students
Funding Formula Reform – Achieving Local Priorities
Alphabetical Order:
Arlington Middle School – The First Community Centre for the Former City of York
Arts Education – Fostering Creativity through Partnerships
Budget – Saving Money and Making Money
Bullying – Helping Victims and Breaking the Cycle
Communication with Constituents – Partners in Local Democracy
Community Hubs – Creating Stronger Communities and Financially Sustainable Schools
Community Use of Schools – Opening Up School Pools, Gyms and Classrooms
Early Learning – Giving Children the Best Start in Life
Eliminating Poverty – Opportunity for Every Student
French Immersion – Access to Both Official Languages
Funding Formula Reform – Achieving Local Priorities
Greener Schools – Generating Power, Money and a Better Environment
Healthier Schools – Setting the Right Example for Our Students
Optional Attendance Policy Reform – A Fairer Approach
Professional Learning for Teachers – Improving Outcomes for Students
Role of a Trustee – How I View the Job of Trustee
School Closures – Ending Unnecessary School Closures
School Repair Backlog – Nursing Our Aging Buildings Back to Health
Special Education – Getting Students the Right Help at the Right Time
Specialty and Alternative Programs – Making Evidence-based Decisions . . .
Arlington Middle School – The First Community Centre for the Former City of York
In June 2010, trustees voted to close Arlington Middle School. Although the closure process was deeply flawed and the Accommodation Review Committee’s hands were tied, preventing it from making the best decision for the community, we must move on. The question now is: “What will happen to the building.” Here is the plan I have worked on with Councillor Joe Mihevc with the support of our MPP the Hon. Dr. Eric Hoskins:
- The City of Toronto purchases the property from the TDSB.
- Lease portions of the building out to various community organizations to provide much-needed community services to the neighbourhood.
- Maintain the gymnasium and cafatorium for community/recreational use and explore opportunities for the cafatorium to house a music program for the surrounding K-8 elementary schools.
- This model emulates the successful Wychwood Barns and would see the City paying no or minimal operating costs for the site while the TDSB would only pay for the cost of using the cafetorium for music programs if such a plan came to fruition.
Though this plan has political backing, it is still in its infancy and will be subject to consultation with the surrounding community.
Arts Education – Fostering Creativity through Partnerships
Art plays a vital role in the lives and development of so many young people and yet it’s seen as a frill. Whether visual arts, theater or music, the arts is a tool to engage students in other subjects like the three R’s, enhance students’ capacity to learn and help students work through challenges in their personal and social lives. The arts is also an important economic engine for Toronto so participating in the development of young artists is one way for the TDSB to support that pillar of the City of Toronto’s economic development strategy.
I will:
- Work with local arts organizations like the Toronto Arts Council, Art Reach and No. 9 Contemporary Art & the Environment to build partnerships and leverage resources that are not otherwise available within our schools. This will ensure that every arts dollar the TDSB does spend is stretched as far as possible.
Budget – Saving Money and Making Money
Anyone being honest with you will agree that given eight years of cuts under the Harris/Eves government that left the TDSB short $350 million followed by seven years of largely sweatered funding from the McGuinty government (money the TDSB is obligated to use for government-defined purposes, including most employees’ salaries) means that while there are efficiencies to be had within the TDSB’s budget, they aren’t such that the Board could find the hundreds of millions of dollars more our schools need each year. However, there are places that the TDSB can and must do better to create efficiencies and create opportunities for new revenue so funds needed for vital and underfunded programs can be made available.
I will:
- Support tighter controls on budgets so the bureaucracy does not have the ability to spend surplus money at the end of the fiscal year on unbudgeted items;
- Support streamlining student registration, facilities bookings and other similar processes by developing an internet-based system;
- Be clear with senior TDSB staff that vanity projects like the quarter of a million dollar rally at the Air Canada Center will not be tolerated;
- Push for generating revenue by creating community hubs through leasing empty, unfunded space to appropriate agencies which enhance the school community;
- Push for generating revenue opportunities through permit fees by changing the TDSB culture so community use of school facilities like gyms, pools and classrooms is encouraged and widely promoted; and
- Work with organizations that will install solar power cells on school rooftops and share profits with the TDSB.
Doing all we can with the resources the TDSB has right now is the key to convincing the provincial government that our schools can’t truly succeed under the current funding formula. Drawing on my experience balancing the Toronto Public Library budget, I can tell you that providing high-quality services while demonstrating fiscal responsibility is what persuaded the City of Toronto to increase its investment in libraries.
Bullying – Helping Victims and Breaking the Cycle
Every student has the right to learn without fear of bullying or harassment. Sadly, I have heard numerous heart-wrenching stories of children who have been traumatized by the effects of such behaviour. This has to end.
I will:
- Insist that the rigorous policies and protocols of the TDSB are applied in all cases of bullying. Often bullying gets out of hand when teachers and principals aren’t applying Board policies; and
- Work with the community and interested stakeholders to improve the support system for children with mental health issues so those who have suffered bullying can receive the help they need. Access to mental health services is also important for bullies, as it is often the case that bullying is a cry for help. Assisting both the bullied and the bullies will break this cycle of harassment.
Communication with Constituents – Partners in Local Democracy
My promise to all school communities and ratepayers is that I will be accessible to you and will engage you as partners when decisions are to be made about our neighbourhoods and education system.
As of this writing, I have knocked on over 10,000 doors to introduce myself and my ideas to residents. For many of you, it was the first time you had seen or heard from a trustee or trustee candidate. That dedication to communicating with members of the community will continue should I have the opportunity to serve as our trustee.
I will:
- Return e-mails and phone calls within two business days;
- Visit each school within 60 days of being elected;
- Hold monthly Ward Council meetings, which convene representatives from each school council plus all other interested people;
- Attend at least one school council meeting per semester at each St. Paul’s school;
- Upon request, promptly schedule meetings with residents, residents’ associations and other community groups; and
- Work with trustees in neighbouring wards to resolve issues that cross ward boundaries. Schools like Wilcox, McMurrich, North Toronto, Oakwood and Vaughan are near the border of St. Paul’s and have many St. Paul’s residents and many non-St. Paul’s residents attending.
Community Hubs – Creating Stronger Communities and Financially Sustainable Schools
Integrating new services into schools to make schools into “community hubs” is a win-win. Schools experiencing under-enrollment will become financially viable by leasing space to community service organizations. And much-needed services will be closer to the communities that use them. Potential services to integrate into schools include: childcare, literacy centers, public libraries, youth employment services and many others.
I will:
- Create a framework for community hubs in partnership with organizations that represent the types of groups that could participate in a community hub. This template for community hubs could then be adapted for use in individual communities through local consultation;
- Continue working with the City of Toronto to resolve zoning and other issues related to community hubs;
- Insist that the viability of a community hub is examined for each community that is threatened with school closure due to under-enrollment; and
- Always ensure that services proposed for a community hub are appropriate for the needs and desires of each neighbourhood by engaging the community as a full partner in such decisions.
Community Use of Schools – Opening Up School Pools, Gyms and Classrooms
The TDSB needs to be a better, more welcoming neighbour. Right now it is too hard for residents to take advantage of the pools, gyms and classrooms that commonly sit empty on evenings, weekends and over the summer.
I will:
- Use the successful St. Clair West Aquatics Club model that saved the Winona school pool by creating community-based school user groups that will take a leadership role in offering the programs desired by communities (for example: indoor soccer, swimming, book club or Spanish lessons);
- Advocate a policy that gives less discretion to principals to deny community use of their school just because they don’t like their school used after hours;
- Seek to reform the office that manages school permits to make it more responsive and efficient through the use of online bookings; and
- Encourage the use of schools’ outdoor space during non-school hours.
Early Learning – Giving Children the Best Start in Life
Great change is coming to early learning as the provincial government rolls out full-day learning for four- and five-year-olds. St. Paul’s is also in need of preschool learning opportunities to ensure children get their best start possible and to provide parents with the opportunity to earn income.
I will:
- Where space permits, support adding childcare centers to schools to reduce the shortage of preschool spaces in St. Paul’s and across Toronto;
- Work to see that St. Paul’s schools have access to full-day learning (kindergarten) for four- and five-year-olds at the earliest possible date;
- Work with local organizations like Mothercraft to develop opportunities for before- and after-school programs that reflect the goals of Dr. Charles Pascal’s visionary report on early learning, as commissioned by the provincial government; and
- Advocate for the provincial government to implement and fully fund Dr. Pascal’s early learning vision.
Eliminating Poverty – Opportunity for Every Student
Education is one of the fastest ways to break the cycle of poverty. But while the public school system is intended to give every child the same opportunity to succeed, not every child comes to school as ready to learn as their peers for a variety of reasons. It is the TDSB’s responsibility to assist students living in poverty to overcome the barriers that they face so they can achieve their dreams.
I will:
- Support the TDSB’s Inner City Schools program that dedicates additional resources to schools that are most in need, as determined by in depth research. I support this evidence-based approach and would like to see it expanded so that all schools receive the support they need to address the unique challenges faced in their community.
- Support the TDSB’s meal program, which aims to provide students from low income families with nutritional support that allows them to learn. I will be a dedicated supporter of the Toronto Foundation for Student Success (the primary funding source of meal programs) in assisting its fundraising efforts and will liaise with the City of Toronto to ensure the resources it dedicates to such programs are approved each year.
- Work with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Children & Youth and the Ministry of Health to reintroduce supports like youth counselors, who assisted young people falling through our social safety net until they were cut in the last decade.
- Support and advocate for strong, universal early learning programs that allow every child, regardless of their family’s means, to get the best possible start in life.
French Immersion – Access to Both Official Languages
While I am thrilled that Humewood is likely to receive a French Immersion program in one year’s time, St. Paul’s will still have more demand than the TDSB can service.
I will:
- Work with interested communities to create more immersion streams in coordination with the local and board-wide French as a Second Language advisory committees.
Funding Formula Reform – Achieving Local Priorities
How our schools are funded by the provincial government is fatally flawed. It doesn’t meet our needs nor does it take into consideration local priorities. The funding formula needs to be reformed and the sooner the better.
Promising to change the funding formula was one of Premier McGuinty’s promises in 2003. But seven years on, Premier McGuinty hasn’t fulfilled his promise.
I will:
- Unrelentingly work with all residents and stakeholders to press the McGuinty government to keep its 2003 promise;
- Develop an issue-based advocacy campaign for the 2011 provincial election to bring attention to public education issues and seek specific funding commitments that we can follow-up on after Election Day.
Greener Schools – Generating Power, Money and a Better Environment
St. Paul’s is full of enthusiasm for doing what is right by our environment. Home to citizen-led groups like Green Neighbours 21, Not Far From the Tree and Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests, as well as champions of the TDSB’s EcoSchools initiative, green truly is our colour. I want to build on our legacy and tap into the wonderful experience and enthusiasm that runs deep in the roots of St. Paul’s to make our community and city even greener, and create another generation of eco-conscious students.
I will:
- Develop partnerships with green energy organizations to use TDSB property to generate power (for example, solar panels on school roofs) and, as a result, green profits;
- Use profits from green power endeavours to invest in environmentally sound retrofits of schools;
- Support the existing EcoSchools initiative;
- Advocate for locally grown produce to be used in school cafeterias;
- Spearhead an active transportation policy and program to encourage students to travel to school by foot, bike or other form of active transportation;
- Work with local organizations like Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (LEAF) to plant more trees on TDSB property;
- Support student-led environment clubs that work on school- and community-based projects; and
- Seek partnerships with local non-profits like LEAF and Not Far From the Tree to teach students about local ecosystems.
Healthier Schools – Setting the Right Example for Our Students
For the first time in history, a generation is on pace to live shorter lives than their parents. Part of reversing this trend is to help our students develop healthy habits at a young age. Instead, at present, the TDSB is literally profiting off of the poor nutritional choices made by students through financially insignificant cold drink and cafeteria vending contracts.
I will:
- Advocate for the TDSB to model healthy nutrition in schools by replacing low-quality items like French fries and soft drinks with nutritionally sound choices in appropriate serving sizes;
- Demand that every St. Paul’s principal meet the Ministry of Education guideline for at least 20 minutes of physical education per day;
- Create an active transportation policy and program that encourages students to walk or cycle to school;
- Work in partnership with the City of Toronto to see that upgrades are made along walking and cycling routes around schools so students can safely participate in active transportation programs; and
- Work with local organizations like The Stop Community Food Center and Not Far From the Tree to enhance food-related education and encourage school communities to plant edible gardens and trees.
Optional Attendance Policy Reform – A Fairer Approach
St. Paul’s is divided between the former City of York and the former City of Toronto. The result is that we have catchment area boundaries that make little sense, particularly in the Bathurst and Eglinton community. Until the Board shows the intestinal fortitude needed to redraw these archaic boundaries, an interim proposal will be our best bet for short-term change.
I will:
- Support reform of the Optional Attendance Policy to give priority to those students who live closest to a particular out of district school. This approach would not apply to schools that are designated as having open boundaries (ie, Etobicoke School of the Arts or Ursula Franklin Academy); and
- Work with TDSB staff on a proposal to eliminate the artificial pre-amalgamation catchment area boundaries all across Toronto.
Professional Learning for Teachers – Improving Outcomes for Students
Beginning with the principle that an investment in our teachers is an investment in our students, I am a strong supporter of increased investment in professional learning. This is particularly important given that professional learning was cut by one-third in the 1990s, a cut that has never been restored.
While curriculum is largely the domain of the provincial government, it’s up to school boards to ensure that teachers are equipped with all the right tools to successfully teach that curriculum. Through a renewed investment in ongoing professional learning, we can ensure our students are learning from the most well-prepared teachers.
Professional learning should not take the form of a $125,000 pep rally at the Air Canada Center, as the TDSB decided to do earlier this year. Instead, professional learning should be oriented toward practical lessons that can be used in the classroom.
I will:
- Vote to use the professional learning budget for practical learning opportunities that are relevant to the day-to-day work teachers do in their classrooms; and
- Develop partnerships with Toronto-area teachers colleges as a means of sharing the best information available with TDSB staff while reducing the need for high-paid consultants.
Role of a Trustee – How I View the Job of Trustee
I believe there are three equally important pillars of an effective school board trustee:
- Good Governance: setting strategic priorities for school board staff, policy for how our schools will run and the $3 billion annual budget is what generally comprises the work trustees do in the boardroom. Done properly, this work sets the TDSB, its staff, students and communities on the path for success.
- Advocacy: trustees must be strong advocates for the communities they represent to ensure their voices are heard at the TDSB; strong advocates for individual families that need help accessing the TDSB services their family needs to succeed; and strong advocates for public education at all levels of government so that we can secure the funding and partnerships needed to improve our schools. The best advocates listen to and engage with the communities they represent as well as speaking on those communities’ behalf.
- Community Building: Trustees must be part of facilitating the activities that make our schools vibrant gathering, meeting and recreational places. The trustee is an individual who can bridge communities to help them work together, learn from one another and develop new programs and skills to benefit their schools. The trustee is also someone communities can turn to when looking to foster partnerships with local businesses and other organizations.
School Closures – Ending Unnecessary School Closures
Even though we’ve already lost one school to closure in St. Paul’s, it doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. For the TDSB to balance its budget based on school closures it would need to close 100 (1 in 5) schools across the city. Given that the Cedarvale-Humewood-Rawlinson-Wilcox family of schools is still under-enrolled, going down this road could mean another closure process. The first closure process was hard enough on our community.
I will:
- Oppose all school closure processes that do not evaluate every option for maintaining schools. That the TDSB would not consider making Arlington Middle School into a community hub is why that school was needlessly shutdown.
- Develop a model for under-enrolled schools to be turned into community hubs so the cost of operating the school building can be shared with other neighbourhood service providers like daycares, libraries, youth employment programs, literacy centers and others; and
- Only vote for school closure as the last resort.
School Building Repairs – Nursing Our Aging Buildings Back to Health
A school that has been maintained in strong condition is an inspiring environment in which to learn. Yet the TDSB has almost $3 billion in its capital repairs backlog – the equivalent of a full year’s budget for all TDSB programs. This means vital infrastructure like roofs, walls, pipes and playgrounds are being neglected. The backlog continues to grow as trustees see adding, in the case of the 2010-2011 budget, $30 million to the backlog as a suitable accounting trick to balance the budget. Let’s be clear: when there’s still $3 billion worth of work that is unfunded, even if all the numbers add up on the bottom line, that budget still isn’t balanced.
I will:
- Put student safety over the path of least political resistance by prioritizing work on the most needed capital repairs;
- Vote to dedicate funds raised through green energy initiatives to retrofitting components of buildings that are already in need of repair and to reinvest operational savings from having more energy efficient schools into eliminating the capital repair backlog;
- Advocate for the province to renew its Good Places to Learn grant that funded capital repair projects; and
- Advocate for the provincial and federal government to make school boards eligible for future stimulus or other infrastructure repair programs. School boards were unable to tap into the same funds as municipalities for the federal government’s Canada’s Economic Action Plan.
Support for Special Education – Getting Students the Right Help at the Right Time
The right intervention at the right time can be the difference between a child moving successfully through the education system and a child struggling badly. For some families the challenges are more complex when dealing with conditions like autism.
I will:
- Insist that St. Paul’s schools to take advantage of the training offered by organizations like Surrey Place and Geneva Centre to assist teachers in supporting, and identifying students that need to be assessed for, learning challenges;
- Advocate for more resources to cut down wait times for learning assessments;
- Bring families with special education needs together to learn from one another and offer mutual support so families just beginning their journey through the system can avoid some of the frustrations felt by more experienced families; and
- Provide improved information on the TDSB web site so families can see which programs are available to their children.
Specialty and Alternative Programs – Making Evidence-based Decisions
I support alternative and specialty programs that are accessible and inclusive of all interested students and believe that they are one tool the TDSB can use to retain current students and attract new students from other school systems (private, separate, etc.)
I will:
- Cast my vote for proposed alternative programs or specialty schools that do not intend to include all students (single gender, elite athletes, etc) based on academic research, empirical evidence gathered from other school boards and the views expressed by constituents; and
- Support communities that are interested in developing an alternative program or specialty school through the winding maze of TDSB bureaucracy so their proposals can be properly considered.
