Features

Catholic education celebrates the Spirit

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 10:26:56 -0500

TORONTO - Catholic schools will be “celebrating the Spirit” when the annual celebration of Catholic Education Week arrives in May.

The theme for this year��Ƶapp week, May 1-6, borrows from St. Paul��Ƶapp letter to the Romans: “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

New bill brings code of conduct for Ontario trustees

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:39:21 -0500

TORONTO - Critics are predicting a provincial bill on student achievement and school board governance will change the face of Ontario��Ƶapp school boards when newly elected trustees take office in December.

Rather than leave it to school boards to always act in the best interest of students, as has been the case historically, Bill 177 legislates boards to “promote student achievement and well-being” and “ensure the effectiveness of the board��Ƶapp resources.” Trustees are also legally bound to “entrust the day-to-day management of the board to its staff through the board��Ƶapp director of education.”

Brother André school name changes on hold

vanessa@catholicregister.org (Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic Register) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:42:55 -0400

There are no set plans to incorporate Brother André��Ƶapp sainthood at schools named in his honour at the present time, though one school board has already vowed to name its next school after Canada��Ƶapp newest saint.

“It��Ƶapp the community��Ƶapp prerogative,” said Jim Nicoletti, principal at Brother André Catholic High School in Markham, Ont.

“The superintendent was waiting for direction from the trustees to come out and meet with our parent council to get the ball rolling,” said Nicoletti, adding that because it��Ƶapp an election year, “it��Ƶapp not happening too quickly.”

Catholic school boards need anti-homophobia policies

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:03:48 -0400

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - A “courageous conversation” needs to happen at Ontario��Ƶapp Catholic schools to combat homophobia as boards implement the provincial government��Ƶapp new equity policy, says a prominent educator.

Kevin Welbes Godin told a symposium that “silence is no longer acceptable” when it comes to the absence of anti-homophobia policies in some Ontario Catholic boards.

But other comments during the workshop upset some teachers who said Welbes Godin and co-presenter David Szollosy were misinterpreting the position of the Ontario bishops and that their views on gay support groups were not in keeping with Church teaching.

School board trustee acclamations down across Ontario

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:45:04 -0400

TORONTO - Close to 40 per cent of the 230 seats for Catholic school trustee across Ontario have been filled by acclamation.

But the says this represents a drop in acclamations — down from 45 per cent in 2006 to 37 per cent this year — and is a potential silver lining to what��Ƶapp happened at the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

Nancy Kirby, the association��Ƶapp president, told The Catholic Register that the drop in acclamations is encouraging and may have been sparked by the events at the Toronto Catholic board.

Toronto school board candidates explain their platforms

crstaff@catholicregister.org (Catholic Register Staff) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:01:19 -0400

On Oct. 25, Catholic ratepayers will be electing trustees for the .

Toronto trustees stand on their records, react to 'unfair' smear from parents' group

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 10:46:53 -0400

TORONTO - It's “unfair” and “irresponsible” for a Toronto Catholic parent group to ask electors to vote for anyone but the incumbents in the Oct. 25 election for Catholic school trustees, say some of Toronto's sitting trustees running for re-election.

made the call Oct. 12 for voters to oust the trustees who sat on the board for the last four years. The board has been under provincial supervision for more than two years after their refusal to balance the board budget as provincial legislation demands and trustee spending scandals came to light.

Censorship claims mar Toronto candidate meetings

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:26:57 -0400

TORONTO - Two Catholic education organizations are voicing criticism of election candidate meetings for school trustees that, they claim, are tightly controlled sessions that offer little opportunity for debate or direct questioning of candidates.

Penny Boyce-Chester of the attended the Oct. 6 meeting for Ward 8 at Cardinal Leger High School in Scarborough.

“This is a very censored meeting,” she charged. “The moderator decided which two questions he was going to ask from the box and his interpretation of how he was going to word these questions. That really bothered me.

A litany of Toronto trustee indiscretions

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:16:26 -0400

TORONTO - Two Toronto Catholic trustees have been removed from the board, another could soon follow and many others have been embroiled in a spending scandal that has engulfed the Toronto board for almost three years. Below is a timeline of the major events.

Dec. 2007: Catherine LeBlanc-Miller is acclaimed board chair and, following several media reports about trustee misspending, she asks the provincial government to examine trustee expenses.

Anyone but incumbents, Toronto voters urged

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:05:09 -0400

TORONTO - A newly formed group of retired principals and educators is urging Toronto Catholics to vote the current crop of trustees out of office. They want voters to cast ballots for anyone but the incumbents.

At an Oct. 12 press conference following noon Mass at St. Michael��Ƶapp Cathedral, Bob Dixon, chair of , called for a clean sweep of the scandal-plagued board.