Halton School Board Trustees Want to Hear from Community on Class Size

Trustees of the Halton District School Board have planned three local Education Action meetings to gather feedback from parents/guardians, students, and community members to include in their submission to the Ministry of Education’s consultations on class size, mandatory e-learning courses and hiring practices.  The Ministry’s proposed changes include an increase in average class size of one student in Grades 4-8 and an increase in average class size in high school from 22 to 28 students.

The meetings will take place at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at three schools across the region:

• Thursday May 2, Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School (3040 Tim Dobbie Drive, Burlington)
• Wednesday May 8, Abbey Park High  School (1455 Glen Abbey Gate, Oakville)
• Monday May 13, Milton District High School (396 Williams Avenue, Milton)

The agenda will be interactive, with Trustees briefly setting the context followed by participants working together to provide feedback around key areas including class size, e-learning and hiring practices. Participants are asked to bring a Wi-Fi  enabled device (phone, tablet or laptop) to assist in the feedback-gathering process.

“It is critical that Trustees hear from the community on these important issues,” says Andréa Grebenc, Chair of the Halton District School Board.  “As Trustees, our mandate as set out by the Education Act is to maintain focus on student achievement and well-being, to assist the Board in delivering effective and appropriate education programs to its pupils and to bring concerns of parents, students and supporters of the Board to the attention of the Board.  Holding these meetings will assist us to meet these responsibilities in an informed way.”

To learn more about the Ministry’s consultations and the Education Action meetings, visit www.HaltonEducationAction.ca. To indicate interest in attending a meeting, find a map to meeting locations, or to request a copy of the final submission for the consultations from the Board of Trustees to the Ministry of Education, please refer to the website.  Confirmation of attendance is requested for planning purposes. All are welcome to attend.