Upper Grand to replace report cards with promotion letters for elementary students

MEDIA RELEASE
June 15, 2015

GUELPH, Ontario – The Upper Grand District School Board will issue Letters of Promotion for elementary school students replacing the Term 2 Ontario Provincial Report Card for the 2014-15 school year. As part of their legal province-wide strike, teachers are not electronically entering student marks into the report card.

“This decision was made after we examined all the options available to us” said Mark Bailey, Chair of the board. “We do recognize and respect that our teachers are participating in a lawful job action, but it includes not inputting marks or comments into report cards. The promotion letter is an acceptable option to the Ministry of Education and will become part of the Ontario Student Record (OSR).”

Directing principals and vice principals of 64 schools, some of them large, to do this data entry is not considered a viable option. Due to privacy laws, student information including student numbers cannot be made available to anyone without significant due diligence adding other layers of complexity to the process.

Bailey added, “The board shares the disappointment of parents and students who find a report card that sums up the year’s information and includes grade placement for the coming year to be valuable and important. However, we know that our teachers are professionals and they keep parents up-to-date on student progress throughout the school year.”

Parents who have questions about a student’s achievement are invited to contact their child’s teacher to discuss progress prior to the end of the school year. The letters will be sent home on June 22, 2015.

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For more information:

Maggie McFadzen, Communications Officer
519-822-4420 ext. 725
[email protected]

Mark Weidmark, Administrative Officer – Communications
519-822-4420 ext. 544
[email protected]

Categories: News