Equity and Inclusive Education

As an educational community we have a responsibility to identify and describe racism and oppression and then work to dismantle it. The Upper Grand District School Board is committed to disrupting systemic racism and oppression in all of its forms. We will implement ongoing mandatory anti-racism and anti-oppression training for all staff, review our protocols and policies, including our hiring practices, and be fully transparent and accountable to all Upper Grand students, staff, families, and stakeholders in an ongoing manner.

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Equity and Inclusive Education

Education and Community Partnership Programs (ECPP)

Education and Community Partnership Programs (ECPP) is the new name for CTCC (Care and-or Treatment, Custodial and Correctional Facilities) also known as Section 23 Education Programs

Introduction

As directed by the Ministry of Education, the education of school-aged pupils must not suffer if they are required to attend government approved facilities for care and/or treatment, custodial or correctional needs. As far as possible, these pupils should attend regular or special education classes in local schools. However, in cases where pupils are not able to attend local schools because of their exceptional needs, suitable educational programs that recognize the primacy of care and/or treatment, custodial or correctional needs may be provided by the school board within the facilities.

The following documents are taken from the UGDSB Board Website.  These documents are under review as there have been changes made by the Ministry of Education to the guidelines for programs and also to the programs available in the UGDSB.

• P.10 Section 23 Education Programs (Care and-or Treatment, Custodial and Correctional Facilities) Protocol
• P.10-Appendix A Facilities

 

First adopted: February 2014
Revision history: 

Inclement Weather Procedures for Youth Options

There may be times during the school year when it is necessary to cancel student transportation services due to bad weather. In some cases, the decision may be made to close schools.

School bus delays and cancellations

Transportation to and from school is provided by Service de transport de Wellington-Dufferin Student Transportation Services (STWDSTS). STWDSTS has inclement weather procedures for school buses which are common for all five school boards in the Wellington-Dufferin region.

The decision to cancel buses is made by STWDSTS after consultation with the Bus Operators. The school board does not make the decision to cancel buses.

The STWDSTS website contains the most up-to-date information on school bus delays and cancellations. Cancellations will also be tweeted @stwdsts. An email will be sent to those subscribed to STWDSTS delays and cancellations.

STWDSTS will post information on bus cancellations on the STWDSTS website by 6:30 a.m. Information on school closures due to bus cancellations (i.e. schools that are dependent on bus transportation) will also be posted to the STWDSTS website.

PLEASE NOTE: The school board does not post information about bus delays or cancellations on the school board website or social media. Please follow STWDSTS for information on school bus delays or cancellations. 

STWDSTS defines four divisions across Upper Grand for transportation services and notifies the public of delays and cancellations by division:

• Division One (Yellow) – “South Wellington and the City of Guelph”
• Division Two (Blue) – “Centre Wellington, the Town of Erin and the Town of Rockwood”
• Division Three (Pink) – “North Wellington”
• Division Four (Green) – “Dufferin County”

Information on transportation cancellations due to severe weather is also made available through local radio stations.

In a situation where school buses are cancelled but schools are open, parents should always assess weather and road conditions and make their own decision to send their children to school, or not. Parents are not expected to drive their children to school in bad weather.

School closures

In the early morning, if the Transportation Consortium feels that it is too dangerous for students and staff to get to work, the STWDSTS Manager calls the Directors of the co-terminus boards to provide Directors with a report. The report contains information on buses as well as a recommendation on whether or not to close some or all of the divisions of the school boards.

The recommendation and therefore the Directors, take into account many things including:

• Temperature and wind chill factor
• Blowing snow or reduced visibility
• The forecast for the day, whether conditions are expected to improve or deteriorate
• The warmth and safety of students and staff
• Other factors like exam schedules
• Parents’ needs (e.g. child care, commuting to work)

The Directors consult with each other and make a joint recommendation about school closures. Then, each Director speaks with the Chair of their Board to review the recommendation. Once consensus is reached, the final decision is made and is communicated with the Transportation Consortium.

If the decision is made to close schools, an alert will be posted on the board and school websites, information will be posted on the UGDSB Twitter page and UGDSB Facebook page, and local media will be alerted.

Bus cancellations and school closures due to extreme cold weather

Each morning, the general manager of STWDSTS will assess the temperature in all four divisions of Upper Grand District School Board using Environment Canada’s Wind Chill Index by 5:15am. If the temperature is forecasted to reach -35°C or colder with wind chill at 7am, STWDSTS will inform the school boards’ Directors of Education or designate.

STWDSTS will make the decision to cancel buses by 5:30am and, if buses are cancelled, will post the announcement to the STWDSTS website by 6:30am. Buses may or may not be cancelled, and the decision is made by STWDSTS based on a number of factors.

When the 7am forecasted temperature is -35°C or colder with wind chill, schools may or may not be closed. The decision to close schools is a joint decision of the Directors of Education of the Upper Grand and Wellington Catholic District School Boards with Board Chairs.

If the decision is made to close schools, an alert will be posted on the board and school websites, and local media will be alerted.

Extreme weather during the school day

The Upper Grand District School Board has additional extreme weather procedures in place for its own schools. The board’s Senior Administration provides direction to principals to deal with isolated weather incidents, as required. For additional information on extreme weather conditions speak to your school principal.

UGUmbrella: The quality of being thankful – this November we celebrate Gratitude

GUELPH, Ontario – This October, we introduced students, staff and community members to The Umbrella Project.

The Umbrella Project, founded by Dr. Jen Forristal, will have monthly themes, activities and curriculum links to support students and staff as they focus on wellness.

The theme for November is Gratitude. Gratitude is the quality of being thankful. It is an essential skill that helps us keep our focus on what we have, instead of what we do not have. This skill is especially important at a time when there are so many restrictions in place at school, home and in the community.

By helping students and staff focus on gratitude, we will balance out some of the fear, anger and negativity we are seeing and will keep the positives in the forefront of our minds.

Some of the ways that you can practice gratitude skills are:

• Create a gratitude wall with things you are thankful for
• Write post cards/letters/or virtual letters of thanks to people
• Create a gratitude jar full of inspirational sayings
• Create a collage of things you are grateful for
• Using your umbrella graphic, write down what you are thankful for and display it in your classroom or home

Let us know about the ways you are practising gratitude during the month of November by tweeting using the hashtag #UGUmbrella.