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Board Meeting Highlights for March 2021

For Immediate Release
March 24, 2021

GUELPH, Ontario – The March meeting of the Upper Grand District School Board was held on March 23, 2021. The following provides highlights from the meeting.

De-Streaming Grade 9 Courses

Staff gave a comprehensive presentation on the work being done in de-streaming Grade 9 courses. In July 2020, the Ministry of Education announced that the province would move ahead with ending Grade 9 streaming into applied and academic courses, beginning with Grade 9 Math.

During the meeting, UGDSB staff explained that streaming is an example of systematic racism and exclusion, where students who are Black, Indigenous, have Special Education needs and are from low-income families are disproportionately represented in Applied and Essential courses. This unfairly impacts their ability to earn credits, graduate high school and apply to postsecondary education.

A committee made up of staff from across the UGDSB currently involved in the work of de-streaming are working to: phase out Grade 9 Academic and Applied courses and phase in Grade 9 de-streamed courses; dismantle the systemic discrimination associated with streamed Grade 9 courses that has contributed to the marginalization of some students, and; remove barriers and support more students to graduate from secondary school and pursue post-secondary education pathways of their choice. Staff outlined the goals of de-streaming as well as their immediate next steps in this work.

For more from this presentation, visit the board website.

2021-22 JK FI On-Time Application Overview

Staff provided preliminary information on the number of applications received for Junior Kindergarten (JK) French Immersion (FI) for the 2021-22 school year, as well as a comparison with previous years’ on-time application information.

The on-time window for applications to attend JK FI in 2021/22 opened on January 5, 2021 and closed on January 22, 2021 at 4:00pm. The on-time window was extended by one week due to the pandemic.

The Board approved JK FI caps for the 2021/22 school year in November 2020. JK FI caps remained unchanged from the last year. Where the number of on-time applications to a school offering JK FI does not exceed the JK FI cap imposed, applicants were placed directly into JK FI.  Where there are more JK FI applicants than spaces available, a random selection process was required.

The report presented to Board outlined the JK FI Application Summary for the 2021-22 school year, the random selection process, how late applications and out of area/out of district applications are handled, as well as information on siblings of students already enrolled in FI applying to FI for the 2021-22 school year.

For the full report, please visit the board website.

Elementary Vice-Principal Transfer and Appointment

The following elementary Vice-Principal transfer and appointment are effective March 23, 2021:

Policy Update

Trustees approved the following board policy: Policy 314 – Duties and Responsibilities of the Director of Education.

Policy 519 – Indigenous Education (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) was approved to be released for public consultation. To provide feedback on this policy, please visit the board website. The deadline to provide input is April 22, 2021.

To view all UGDSB policies and procedures, and to provide feedback on draft policies, visit www.ugdsb.ca/policy.

The next regular monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday April 27, 2021. Meeting details will be posted online at https://www.ugdsb.ca/board/board-meetings/board-and-committee-meetings-2020-2021/.

About the Upper Grand District School Board

The Upper Grand District School Board serves more than 35,000 students through 65 elementary schools and 11 secondary schools in the City of Guelph, County of Wellington and County of Dufferin. The UGDSB covers the ancestral and traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Six Nations of the Grand River, and Saugeen Ojibway Nation Territories. Student success is the goal of over 4,000 dedicated teaching and support staff who are aided by the contributions of caring volunteers and community partners.

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