Boardroom Briefs

Boardroom Briefs is intended to provide highlights of presentations, reports and decisions made at the regular meeting of the Limestone District School Board of Trustees. These briefs do not serve as the official record of the meeting. Please refer to Board minutes which are approved at the next regular meeting. Community members are also invited to follow along during live tweets of regular Board meetings using the hashtag #LDSBmtg.

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The Limestone Student Achiever Awards recognize outstanding achievements of secondary students whose exceptional accomplishments merit recognition beyond the separate categories of awards at the school level. Ten graduating secondary students were recognized for demonstrating exemplary achievement in all three categories of:

• Leadership
• Positive attitude, energy and school spirit
• Academic standing

Front (left to right): Alex Zhou, Bayridge Secondary School; Rheanna Watson, Ernestown Secondary School; Jude Normile, Granite Ridge Education Centre; Ailsa Kerr, Kingston Secondary School; and Hannah Upshall, Frontenac Secondary School

Back (left to right): Naomi Xu, Loyalist Collegiate & Vocational Institute; Alexus Wagner, North Addington Education Centre; Ella Rickard, Napanee District Secondary School; Cole Brunet, La Salle Secondary School; and Silka Olvet, Sydenham High School

May is a very busy month for students and staff alike across our district. It is so great to see the number of students and staff participating in school extracurricular activities and opportunities happening across Limestone.

The first week of May is Mental Health Week. On behalf of Trustees, I would like to thank and extend appreciation to Laura Conboy and the Educational Services Well-Being team for the number of school resources they provided throughout the week, as well as an opportunity for schools to participate in a district-wide art project to express how compassion connects us all. Learning opportunities like these along with best practices help to strengthen supports for our students, staff, and school communities.

National AccessAbility Week is coming up at the end of the month. Students and staff across Limestone will support Red Shirt Day on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. The upcoming week also allows us to draw attention to the local Inclusive Play Project (IPP). This group is raising awareness and funds to support the development of a fully inclusive playground in the Kingston area. Many schools are participating in a school challenge to bring awareness to the need to have a fully inclusive playground for students and caregivers who could benefit from it. As well as an opportunity to reflect on Limestone’s efforts to become a better, more accessible, and more inclusive school board.

On a solemn note, last week, our Granite Ridge Education Centre school community in Sharbot Lake experienced a profound loss following a tragic car accident. The shockwaves of this loss reverberate throughout our educational community, leaving us grappling with grief and profound sadness.

Alex Cryer was an integral part of the Granite Ridge Education Centre and surrounding community. His absence leaves an indelible void in our classrooms, hallways, and school community. As we mourn, we must also recognize the broader impact on the entire surrounding community of Sharbot Lake. Across Limestone, we must rally together, offering solace, empathy, and understanding to those affected.

In the days ahead, let us honour Alex’s memory by strengthening our bonds. We must create spaces for open dialogue, encourage kindness, and ensure that no one walks this path of grief alone. Together, we can navigate this difficult journey and emerge stronger, united in compassion.

It is hard to believe that it is already the middle of May and only six weeks remain in the 2023-2024 school year. As everyone knows, this is a very busy season in schools across the board. The annual science fair and heritage fair occurred in recent weeks. A full range of secondary athletics’ seasons are underway and now all elementary schools are in the thick of a very hectic track and field season. Thinking back to where we were only three and four years ago, it is wonderful that the wide range of student activities and experiences are alive and well in Limestone. We know these types of activities and experiences are critical for student well-being and engagement.

As Trustees know, it is also a busy season for us as we prepare budgets for the 2024-2025 school year, and there are several upcoming budget meetings as part of our annual budget process. I think it is fair to say we do have some concerns based on our analysis of the budget and implications for Limestone. As Trustees know, transportation funding and special education funding have been two areas of concern in recent years, and both areas will continue to be pressure points moving into the next school year. I would also add another increasing pressure exists with unfunded statutory benefits. While we have seen salary increases for most labour groups through more recent negotiations and the Bill 124 remedy, funding has changed with regard to CPP and EI benefit increases. This places an additional budgetary strain that will only increase if it is left unaddressed.

As Trustees are also aware, based on the OPSBA budget analysis, while there has been an increase in overall total dollars in education, there has been a decline when you take into account inflation. A good example to illustrate this point is that the CPI was 3.9% for 2023, the increases to funding to cover facility operation increases has not kept pace. Consequently, we will continue to feel a strain and tightening of our financial resources and flexibility to make any local, funding decisions.

Tonight’s award celebration of the Limestone Student Achievers is yet another reminder of the important work we do to support the education of local children and youth, and placing focus on the students we serve. The 10 students we honoured this evening are exceptional young people that we can expect to see phenomenal things from in the next chapters of their lives. While it is wonderful that we annually honour the Limestone Student Achievers in May, we also will be honouring almost 2,000 Grade 12 graduates at the end of June. Before those end-of-year graduations, we will have an opportunity at the June 5 Education, Policy, and Operations Committee meeting to celebrate and honour the Skills Ontario Competition winners. As a short preview, Limestone had 38 secondary students representing eight schools compete in the provincial championships last week. In addition, we had 16 elementary students representing four schools also attend. As usual, Limestone students received some hardware: a gold and bronze in auto paint and a gold in outdoor powered equipment. And a team of Grades 7/8 students from Southview won a bronze for construction. Also of note, two former LDSB grads who took part in the post-secondary competition came away with a silver in forestry and a gold in auto collision repair.

I would also like to highlight that early in May, over 150 Limestone students and staff took part in the One Earth, One Chance ECO-Conference at Bayridge SS. Over 25 workshops were offered and the event had Limestone’s own Dan Hendry and former LDSB employee Cedric Pepelea as the keynote speakers.

While writing my monthly director’s reports for this meeting, like all others, I am reminded of the many, many fantastic things happening in schools to help support Limestone students. This does not mean things are always perfect, but taking a step back and seeing what is occurring in schools every day for the benefit of students is an important perspective to maintain when we see challenges.

Speaking of challenges, just as the Chair commented, I do have to mention the tragedy that struck the GREC school community and the greater Sharbot Lake area late last week. It is tragedies like this that put everything in perspective and force us to value the simple things that we frequently take for granted in our busy lives. I think I speak for all of us in saying our thoughts are with the impacted families and the wider community during this difficult time.

In closing, I would like to highlight a few upcoming events: LDSB will again be participating in the Greater Napanee Pride Parade June 1, and the Kingston Pride Parade on June 15. We are encouraging LDSB families, students, and staff to walk with us again. We need to continue our journey to have everyone see themselves in Limestone. We still have much work ahead of us, but events like this are important steps on that path. And finally, Trustees should have received an e-mail earlier today with graduation dates and times in the last few school days of June for planning purposes.

The Student Trustee’s Report Presented by Student Trustee Wang

In our May Inter-School Council meeting, most schools were present to share insight on their updates and past achievements of respective student councils. Trustee Eckloff and Trustee O’Keefe chaired the meeting to receive updates on schools with their position for the upcoming board-wide spirit week.

In order to increase incentive, the Trustees will ensure posts to be made and displayed on the social media. Each school is organizing varying events. For example, KSS is hosting a BBQ whereas LCVI is running a carnival. The winner with greatest percentage of school body participation will win a handmade trophy.

Additionally, Trustee O’Keefe organized a brainstorm session to formulate a calendar to familiarize future incoming student council members with ideas of past spirit day ideas and dance themes.

Trustee Eckloff finalized the meeting by leading a discussion of strengths and weaknesses of Inter-School Council and what incomings should know to succeed in their positions. Additionally, many schools pointed out an area of focus for next year, which is the allyship responsibility of Inter-School Council representatives and support at events in various schools.

Presented by Superintendent Silver (Pages 20-23)

Purpose/Link to Strat Plan: To update Trustees on the Student Success Operational Plan, and how the operational plan supports the goals of the LDSB Strategic Plan.

Supports Strategic Plan Goals:

• Improve graduation rates and preparedness for future success for all groups of students
• Improve student well-being/sense of belonging, participation/engagement in class time, and time focused on learning
• Improve literacy learning and achievement for every student

Background: Ontario’s Student Success Strategy is a collection of initiatives that began in 2003 with the goal of helping secondary students graduate with their high school diplomas. Each secondary school has a student success team, which includes a combination of an administrator, student success teacher(s), guidance counsellor(s), special education teacher(s) and Adolescent Care Worker (ACW). Student Success teams play an integral role in the school, by providing ongoing support and regular communication with staff, students, and families. Student success teams monitor student achievement and well-being and provide extra attention and support for students as needed.

Student Success initiatives offer options for learning through Expanded Opportunities programming such as co-operative education, Specialist High Skills Major, Dual Credit Programs, School Within A College (SWAC), Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), and online learning.

Current Status:

Improve graduation rates and preparedness for future success for all groups of students:

Student Success Leads from each school meet regularly throughout the school year. The focus of Student Success meetings is to build capacity in leads and teams, to support collaboration between schools and across the system, and to ensure coherence across schools.

Meeting goals for 2023-2024 include:

• Building monitoring capacity by using data dashboards;
• Monitoring student credit accumulation, especially in grades 9 and 10;
• Supporting student credit accumulation through credit rescue initiatives and credit recovery;
• Building awareness of system and community supports for students;
• Identifying and creating plans to support students who may struggle to graduate in 4 or 5; and
• Celebrating successes in student achievement.

Improve student well-being/sense of belonging, participation/engagement in class time, and time focused on learning:

Student Success teachers play a key role in the Grade 8 – 9 transition process, meeting with Grade 8 feeder schools, and supporting students and families as they prepare for Grade 9. Student Success teams create opportunities for grade 8 students to visit secondary schools, engage in learning with Grade 9 teachers, and learn more about how to access supports at the school, how to participate in

extracurricular activities, and how to navigate secondary school.

In recent years, Student Success meetings have included a focus on supporting students and staff in destreamed classrooms, understanding the many expanded opportunity options that exist for students, and building understanding of the new Mature PLAR process (PPM132) and how it can be used to support student pathways to Graduation. By supporting students’ success in Grade 9, they have a strong foundation for choices in Grade 10. Exposure and understanding of pathway options and expanded opportunities starting in Grade 8 allows students to see a pathway forward that is engaging and relevant to them.

Improve literacy learning and achievement for every student:

Student Success strategies in secondary schools strive to improve student literacy levels by creating structures and supports within the timetable, and by building educator capacity. Some strategies are broad and are focused on effective teaching and learning strategies in all classrooms (Tier 1), whereas others are targeted to specific pathways or initiatives required to meet the needs of a specific group of students (Tier 2 &3).

Tier 1 supports include:

• Supporting the development of strength-based student profiles for the purpose of implementing responsive Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices in the classroom to meet the diverse needs of students;
• Supporting the capacity building of classroom teachers to interpret Dibels universal screening data to plan next steps to support growth in cross-curricular fluency and comprehension skills; and
• School-based literacy committees supporting and aligning educator practice, supporting student preparedness for, and implementation of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT).

Tier 2 supports include:

• Collaborative Learning for School Teams focus on increasing understanding of student learning needs using school and classroom data, and student voice, and building more inclusive and equitable classrooms using strategies that support learning for all students;
• Collaborative Learning for School Teams that includes the routine administration and interpretation of Dibels screening data to determine appropriate subsequent reading diagnostics and to inform programming options for students that includes consistent opportunities for literacy interventions in grades 9 and 10;
• Supporting professional learning to build Educator capacity in using diagnostic assessments and improving student literacy skills in GLE/GLS (Learning Strategies), ELS (Literacy Skills: Reading and Writing), and Locally Developed Classes (Grade 9 and 10); and
• Piloting the use of Rewards – Reading Intervention Program to support student literacy levels.

Tier 3 support include:

• Capacity building with LPS teachers to provide intensive reading interventions, in the context of a resource space, to those students with complex profiles that are not within Rewards or Empower programs; and
• Supporting Empower in all secondary schools

Next Steps and Communication Plan:

Monitoring of the Student Success Operational Plan happens in various ways: (a) feedback and data gathering at Student Success meetings, (b) monitoring of schools Student Achievement Plan, and KPI’s, and (c) through monitoring visits to each secondary school with the School Supervisor and Secondary Admin Team to gather feedback at a system level. School visits are almost complete, and the information gathered will be consolidated to provide input into the Student Success Operational Plan.

Presented by Superintendent McDonnell (Pages 24-27)

Purpose/Link to Strat Plan: To update Trustees on the Early Years Leadership Strategy Operational Plan, and how the operational plan supports the goals of the LDSB Strategic Plan. Supports Strategic Plan Goals:

• Improve responsiveness and service to families, staff, and community partners
• Improve student well-being/sense of belonging, participation/engagement in class time, and time focused on learning

Background

The Ministry of Education provides funding to support integrated early years and childcare systems in which district school boards, Consolidted Municipal Service Mangers (CMSMs), childcare, before and after school care providers, and EarlyOn Child and Family Centre professionals work in partnership to provide seamless, high-quality programs for children and their families. The Superintendent with the Early Years Lead position is expected to develop an annual early years’ plan that reflects the three goals of the strategy. This plan is developed in consultation with CMSMs and aims to support and coordinate responsive, high quality, accessible, and integrated early years programming and services that dismantles barriers and results in systemic change.

Current Status: The following goals are identified by the Ministry of Education for the 2023-2024 school year:

Goal #1a: CMSMs and Community Partner Engagement: Building Trusting Relationships:

The Early Years Lead will actively engage with the CMSMs, childcare operators, community partners, and families to ensure coordination, collaboration, and support of a system of responsive, high quality, accessible, and increasingly integrated early years programs.

LDSB goals for 2023-2024 include:

• Meeting with CMSMs a minimum of four times per year to enhance trusting relationships, share information, and planning to make data driven decisions that positively impact students and families;
• Establishment of LDSB Childcare Advisory Committee consisting of the CMSMs, SO with Early Years portfolio, and providers of childcare in LDSB buildings to meet a minimum of three times per year to problem solve and be solution focused, to share strategies for continual improvement, and to identify areas of need for capacity building and professional learning; and

• Participation on the St. Lawrence College ECE Program Advisory Committee to build knowledge and understanding of early years programs and services within the community and focus on collaborative community-based solutions.

Goal #1b: CMSMs and Community Partner Engagement: Supporting Children with Special Needs:

The Early Years Lead will actively engage with the CMSMs, childcare operators, community partners, and families to ensure coordination, collaboration, and support of a system of responsive, high quality, accessible and increasingly integrated early years programs by developing and implementing strategies for transition to school planning, and before and after school programming supports for children with special needs.

LDSB goals for 2023-2024 include:

• Community Transition to School Process for students with special education needs has been developed with community partners to support the transition of students with special education needs from home to childcare. The transition process allows for early understanding of student strengths and needs, including accommodations to the environment and instructional program, use of assistive technology, and resource support; and
• Creation of a Consent Process between CMSMs, the SO with Early Years responsibilities, and childcare providers to ensure a seamless day for children 4-12, including portability of assistive devices as appropriate.

Goal 2: Developing a Shared Culture in Schools:

The Early Years Lead will collaborate with the CMSMs to build capacity with school administrators, Kindergarten educator teams, and early years partners to create a culture in schools that welcomes children and families and reflects the diversity of children and families in the communities served, and that promote equity and human rights.

LDSB goals for 2023-2024 include:

• Partnership with St. Lawrence College (SLC) to support ECE placements in LDSB schools in Kindergarten classrooms to ensure high quality school-based placements and opportunities for ECE accreditation and a strong employment stream. These placements will also build understanding between ECEs and teachers as it relates to roles and responsibilities, and cooperative approaches to a shared culture;
• The utilization of Principal meetings to provide regular and ongoing communication with school leaders to inform, share and promote, strategies and practices that support quality early year programming including highlighting the Working Together in a Shared Space Guide, to guide school Principals in building and nurturing a shared culture in schools for all children, families, and educators, and EDI data when available. The CMSMs will present to admin on licensing/legislative perspectives as it relates to the provision of early years services by community partners within school settings; and
• Resource Sharing between the school board, CMSMs, and early year providers, as it relates to school board supports and resources available to newcomer students and families to create a shared culture in schools and early years programs, that welcomes responds to, and reflects the social identities of the families served.

Goal #3: Early Years Professional Learning:

The Early Years Lead will collaborate with the CMSMs to support differentiated professional learning opportunities for administrators, board staff, and early years staff including equity based learning and human rights.

LDSB goals for 2023-2024 include:

• Professional learning offered by the CMSMs or providers, will be shared with school staff for participation as appropriate, and professional learning offered by the LDSB will be shared with CMSMs and providers for participation as appropriate;
• Focus of professional learning in LDSB will include:
1. a Kindergarten Learning Series in Spring of 2024 (focus on literacy, numeracy, mental health and wellness, and Indigenous Education in Kindergarten);
2. sharing of Early Development Index (EDI) data once available; and
3. Human Rights and Equity Training will be offered to providers by the LDSB Human Rights and Equity Officer (pending interest from providers).

Next Steps and Communication Plan:

Monitoring of the Early Years Leadership Strategy Operational Plan happens in several ways. The plan is submitted to the Ministry of Education in December of each year with implementation of goals determined collaboratively by the Early Years Lead and CMSMs, on a scale to 1-4. The Early Years Lead and the CMSMs meet 4 times per year to review the implementation success of the goals. The Early Years Lead also reviews the plan annually with the Ministry of Education through a face-to-face meeting to gather feedback and next steps. Staff, families and community members also provide need-based feedback through school-based surveys, and annually the board monitors access to before and after school programming.

June 5, 2024 EPOC

June 19, 2024

The Board serves more than 19,000 elementary and secondary students in 60 schools and 8 education centres covering a geographic area of 7,719 square kilometres. To get in touch with your trustee, visit Meet Your Trustees.

Email: communications@limestone.on.ca
Website: www.limestone.on.ca
Location: 220 Portsmouth Avenue, Kingston, ON, Canada
Phone: 6135446920
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