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Board Meeting Highlights for March 2022

For Immediate Release
March 23, 2022

GUELPH, Ontario – The March meeting of the Upper Grand District School Board was held on March 22, 2022. The following provides highlights from the meeting.

Updates to Masking Requirements

Earlier in March, the province announced it was lifting mask requirements for Ontario schools, beginning on March 21. At that time, the UGDSB immediately sought out consultation on whether school boards were able to continue to enforce mask mandates in schools. Those consultations concluded that once the province lifted its masking requirements, the school board does not have the independent authority to prescribe public health measures in response to an infectious disease, such as COVID-19. 

At the March Board Meeting, trustees expressed their desire to keep mask mandates in place, while acknowledging that the Board does not have the independent authority to do so.

Trustees passed a resolution that the Board strongly recommends masking in UGDSB schools and workplaces and that the Board works with its education stakeholders and partners to communicate this message widely.

Also at the Board Meeting, Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum, Associate Medical Officer of Health at Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, gave a presentation on the current COVID-19 situation. Dr. Tenenbaum highlighted the collaboration between the UGDSB and WDGPH throughout the pandemic. He also reinforced the importance of the many layers of protection in place at UGDSB schools, including enhanced ventilation which includes more than 2,500 HEPA filtration units placed throughout the board in all classrooms, hand sanitization and respiratory etiquette, daily COVID-19 screening, and staying home when you feel unwell. Dr. Tenenbaum also stressed that masks remain strongly encouraged, and explained the recent provincial legislative changes that do not allow for local Public Health Units and/or school boards to continue to enforce mask mandates at this time.

Secondary eLearning in 2022-23

Staff gave a presentation on eLearning opportunities that will be available to UGDSB secondary students in the 2022-23 school year.

eLearning provides online courses to secondary students, offering flexibility to students as they work toward their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Many students will already be familiar with eLearning, as it was the standard format of online learning prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the 2022-23 school year, the UGDSB will expand its course offerings for students, offering 62 eLearning courses, which is more than three times the number of courses currently available. A diverse range of courses will be offered, based on student choice and opportunities, and teacher expertise. Students taking eLearning courses will continue to be enrolled with and supported by their home school, as well as supported through central Technology Enabled Learning staff.

The expanded eLearning offerings will offer flexibility to students, particularly when looking to resolve a timetable conflict, and will offer greater choice to students across the system, especially students in smaller schools.

Over the past several years, UGDSB schools have been transforming their libraries into Library Learning Commons, which will provide space for students who would like to complete their eLearning course work from their home school.

The eLearning courses will be eligible to count toward the two online learning credits required by the province for students to earn their OSSD and graduate. Staff explained the online learning graduation requirement as well as the opt-out process in place.

Students who are interested in online learning for 2022-2023 school year should contact the Guidance Department in their home school.

2022-23 Student Trustees

Student Trustees for the 2022-23 school year were announced. Julia Elmslie is a grade 10 student at John F. Ross CVI in the French Immersion program, representing urban schools. Brooke Hartley is a grade 10 student at Wellington Heights Secondary School, representing rural schools. Julia and Brooke will start their term as Student Trustees this summer.

Student Senate is a link between the students and school board. The Senate is composed of one dedicated student representative from each of the board’s secondary schools selected by the student government of each of the secondary schools. Alternatives may be chosen at the discretion of the schools. Each senator attends a meeting once a month to share events taking place within their school, to present ideas or concerns, and to address and provide student voice on important issues. This is one of the places where student voices are heard! Each year, two students are elected to serve as Student Trustees for the upcoming school year. To learn more, visit the UGDSB website: https://www.ugdsb.ca/students/student-senate/

Trustee Distribution and Determination

The province sets the number (determination) of trustees of a school board based on the numbers that were in effect in 2006, unless a board wishes to reduce that number or there is significant demographic growth. The board is responsible for distributing the number of trustees geographically according to the number of electors in each municipality, attempting to achieve balance among the trustees. 

According to the trustee determination guidelines, the UGDSB is entitled to 10 trustees based on population, enrolment, area and other factors. Given the geographic area of the Upper Grand District School Board there is no advantage to designate any of our municipalities as low population areas. In order to provide the best representation for the areas in the jurisdiction of the UGDSB it is appropriate that the Board continue with 10 trustees for the October 2022 election.

Trustees approved the following recommendations, that:

  1. The report entitled Trustee Determination and Distribution for the Upper Grand District School Board for 2022 dated March 8, 2022 be received.
  2. The Upper Grand District School Board approve the determination of 10 trustee positions for the board, the same number who were elected to the board at the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018 regular elections.
  3. The Status Quo (Option A) trustee distribution, as outlined in Appendix C of the report entitled Trustee Determination and Distribution for the Upper Grand District School Board for 2022 dated March 8, 2022, be approved and submitted, no later than April 4, 2022 to the Ministry of Education, the election clerk for all municipalities within the board’s jurisdiction; and the secretary of every other board that is wholly or partially within the board’s area of jurisdiction.
  4. The Board approve that no areas in the jurisdiction of the Upper Grand District School Board be designated as low population areas.

Secondary Principal and Vice-Principal Transfers and Appointments

The following secondary Principal and Vice-Principal transfers and appointments are effective March 21, 2022:

Also, effective February 22, 2022:

Policy Updates

Trustees approved the following board policies:

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 26, 2022. Meeting details will be posted online at https://www.ugdsb.ca/board/board-meetings/.

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