Latest news with #Ottawa-CarletonDistrictSchoolBoard
Ottawa Citizen
a day ago
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Bell High School valedictorian defended by advocates after pro-Palestinian remarks
A part of Bell High School valedictorian Elizabeth Yao's speech mentioning the war in Gaza initiated a call from her principal, asking Yao to stay home the following Monday. Article content Now, some advocates are showing support for Yao and demanding that the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) issue her a public apology. Article content Article content 'I think people are using the platforms they have to make important statements. That, I think, is totally legitimate,' said Sam Hersh, a member of Independent Jewish Voices Ottawa. 'Touching on politics and the commencement speech and talking about what students and younger generations are going to face is probably appropriate and contextual for the times that we're currently living in.' Article content Article content Yao's Valedictorian speech largely focused on the memories she made after four years at Bell High School. Article content Article content In videos and a written copy of her speech circulating online, Yao reminisces about preparing 200 waffles with her peers for a fundraiser. She thanks the custodial staff for their reliance and speed, and the front office workers for supplying students with forks to eat their lunch. Yao also mentions her fellow students, saying their participation in school events made them 'the heart of our high school experiences.' Article content 'As a commitment to truth and reconciliation I must acknowledge colonial and genocidal atrocities today, including the massacre of more than 17,000 Palestinian children in Gaza,' the speech reads. In videos of Yao's speech, her comments are met with cheers and applause from the audience. Article content Article content 'I refuse to stand on the side of history that allows the repetition of crimes against humanity,' she continues. 'It is my hope that every single one of you present today consider my speech and my desperation for a free Palestine.' Article content Article content In an email addressed to parents and guardians, Bell High School principal Jane Conrod apologized for the speech's 'unexpected and unapproved' comments. Article content 'The content of the remarks, which touched on deeply sensitive global events, was not part of the pre-approved speech,' the email reads. 'We deeply regret that this occurred and are truly sorry for the harm that has been caused.' Article content In a statement, OCDSB spokesperson Diane Pernari said Conrod would not be available for an interview. But Pernari said the goal of their commencement ceremonies is to 'create a joyous celebration of student achievement.' Article content 'Our schools provide appropriate forums within the school year to engage thoughtfully with a wide range of issues that impact our community. These settings are designed to facilitate respectful, safe and supportive discussions,' the statement said.
Ottawa Citizen
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Today's letters: Ontario is being simplistic about hospital parking fees
Article content Article content The reasons Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth have given for her resignation as a trustee from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board reinforce the growing knowledge that board employees will not be protected from extremist intimidation and threats (depending on who is making the threat and who the target of the threat is), nor from years of administrative abuse of power. Article content Kaplan-Myrth's story is another example of a public school system that has run amok due to years of not having to be accountable to its taxpayers. Its financial mismanagement is just the tip of the iceberg. Article content We truly need the Ontario government to ensure our children and youth are being properly educated for the 21st century and to demand that the school boards committed and hard-working employees get the support and protection they need in the face of administrative indifference and the multifaceted extremist ideologies that infuse our culture and threaten our children's future. Article content Article content I was struck by news coverage of homes destroyed by wildfires and tornadoes and by how vulnerable wooden homes are. That, plus the rise of homelessness and the recent tariffs on Canadian steel, makes me think that now is the time for Canada to develop its own modular, pre-fabricated steel homes. Article content This would create a local demand for Canadian steel and aluminum products, while providing easily deployable, strong, durable structures resistant to the natural disasters. They could be transported by truck or rail, then dropped on site as needed to address emergency/temporary and long-term housing needs. The walls themselves could then be reinforced and insulated locally with poured concrete. Article content
Ottawa Citizen
04-06-2025
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
Kaplan-Myrth: Why I resigned as a trustee from the OCDSB
On June 3, I resigned from the position of trustee for Zone 9 (Capital and Alta Vista) at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. 'If you resign, please tell people why. Don't just leave,' said a fellow trustee. Article content So here I am. This is the story of my three years as a trustee. It is a cautionary tale about the ways in which public school boards in Canada are under siege. Article content Article content Article content Following my medical advocacy during the pandemic, I was approached by neighbours in July 2022 to run as a trustee in Ottawa. As a progressive voice in the community, I was tasked by my constituents with the responsibility to keep social justice issues on the agenda, and to advocate for academic supports for students with disabilities, neurodiverse students, 2SLGBTQ students, Indigenous and racialized students. Article content School board trustee is a part-time position with hundreds of hours of work, board or committee meetings, sometimes twice a week, 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. It comes with a $17,000 salary, no support staff, a flood of emails from angry constituents and very little political esteem. It is nevertheless an important position. Trustees develop strategic plans, shape elementary and secondary school programs, oversee budgets (for the OCDSB, more than $1 billion), and develop and revise policies that affect every student and educator in the school district. Most trustees have no background in education, economics, urban planning, management, policy analysis or disability. Article content Article content Article content Sadly, school boards are also particularly vulnerable to political manipulation. In the United States, there is a well-established pattern of MAGA-inspired takeovers of school boards by people whose agendas include banning books, removing topics such as sexuality, gender identity and sex ed from curriculum, and even erasing the science of evolution. In Ontario and across Canada, this is a very difficult time, in general, to run a Board of Education, with chronic underfunding from the ministry, staff shortages, over-crowding of classrooms, unprecedented dysregulation of students, and the concomitant challenge of increasingly radicalized groups that seek to influence us through an avalanche of emails, petitions and disruptions of our board rooms and schools.
Ottawa Citizen
04-06-2025
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
OCDSB trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth, a lightning rod for controversy, resigns
The outspoken and divisive trustee at the centre of multiple firestorms at Ottawa's largest school board has resigned. Article content In a scorching notice of resignation filed at the end of an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board meeting Tuesday night, Nili Kaplan-Myrth said it was her responsibility to advocate for students with disabilities and neurodiverse, 2SLGBTQ+, Indigenous and racialized students, but she faced 'a long-standing pattern of dysfunction and a lack of leadership' at the school board and harsh treatment from the public. Article content Article content Article content 'I have done everything that I said I would, to the best of my ability, in the face of vile harassment, defamation, death threats, and disrespect to me and my family,' she said. Article content Article content Kaplan-Myrth, a family physician, was an advocate for masking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Elected as a rookie trustee in 2022, she attracted the ire of masking opponents only weeks later when she filed a motion to make face masks mandatory for students and staff. Article content The meeting attracted a raucous crowd, with protesters chanting 'freedom' and 'shame.' Police were called and everyone was asked to leave the school board building. Article content She was again the target of protests in March 2023 after she cut off the microphone of a parent who had signed up to speak to trustees about bullying, but instead commented about transgender students' use of washrooms. Police were once again called to clear the board chambers, Kaplan-Myrth was the subject of an online petition demanding her resignation, and the school board introduced new security measures, including limiting attendance to 75 people and banning posters and placards from the building. Article content Article content In March 2024, fellow trustee Donna Blackburn asked administrators to reconsider security measures after members of the Muslim community were turned away from a meeting. Article content Article content Kaplan-Myrth frequently clashed with Blackburn. Kaplan-Myrth was the subject of two trustee code of conduct investigations — first, after she sought support for the masking mandate and again for an incident that happened only minutes after she was narrowly found not to be in violation. Article content While seeking support for her mask motion, Kaplan-Myrth sought support from fellow trustee Donna Dickson. When Dickson was reluctant to support the motion, Kaplan-Myrth urged her not to side with 'white supremacists,' prompting the first code of conduct investigation.
Ottawa Citizen
28-05-2025
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
OCDSB 'almost didn't make payroll' as it struggles with budget deficits
Article content The chief financial officer at Ottawa's largest school board has warned trustees that its financial situation is so dire, the board almost didn't make payroll. Article content 'We're overspending over $14 million on special education, and we have a lot of programs where we're overspending,' Randy Gerrior warned trustees at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board on May 27. Article content Article content Trustees have suggested cutting more from administration, and the board has been doing that, said Gerrior. Article content Article content While he didn't provide details, Gerrior's comments came as trustees debated a motion from Trustee Donna Blackburn to rescind a 2016 motion to continue the 17-day Summer Learning Program (SLP) for about 200 students with developmental delays 'until such a time as a community partner can be found' to provide the program at no cost to parents or guardians. Such a partner has not come forward. The program costs $610,000 to run, with money coming from other programs offered during the rest of the school year, said Kate Stoudt, the superintendent who oversees special education. Article content Blackburn said she didn't want to bring the motion forward, but it's not sustainable to run some programs. Article content Article content 'I don't know about what conversations my colleagues have with their constituents, but it breaks my heart every time I have to tell a parent, 'I'm very sorry your child can't go to school all day, every day,' which is their right from September to June, because we simply don't have enough supports,' said Blackburn. 'If we keep running this program, those conversations will continue to happen.' Article content Article content Some trustees defended the SLP, arguing that it is a crucial support for vulnerable students. Article content 'If it were the will of the board, I would suggest that we could, as a group, pen a letter to the Minister of Education asserting that this is something that should be funded, just as we provide summer school funding for other students.'
