Monday 4 May 2015

...and we're into May!!!!





Greetings from the main office...

I'll start with an update on the ongoing Labour discussions.  I wish I had more information to share however I am waiting to learn the fate of negotiations much like all of you.  To date OSSTF District #20 has not made any announcement re: a possible strike date for Halton schools.  As you may be aware there is a notification period of 5 days that must be given ahead of any work stoppage.

Currently the HDSB and District #20 have negotiation dates set up to and including the 14th of May.  While a notification may be issued ahead of the 14th that date has been set for some time as the final publicized meeting/negotiations date.

All of us here at school are as 'on edge' as I'm sure parents are.  As soon as any notification is given we will be communicating as quickly as we can with our parent community.  In the meantime please check in with the HDSB website if you have any questions or concerns.  They have a Labour Update/News link on their main page ( www.hdsb.ca ) in the top right corner.


Other possible Labour Related questions:

While we will receive direction from both the Ministry of Education and the School Board in the event of a strike notification here are some things I can share:

a) PROM is ON !!!  In the event of a strike we will still coordinate a school sponsored PROM.  Administration and security personnel (Police and Security company) have already been booked and our Parent Council has offered to provide additional parent supervision for the evening.

b) Graduation/Commencement - Depending on whether or not a strike is called, and the duration of any work stoppage, we may need to consider re-scheduling a graduation ceremony.  If this becomes necessary a FALL date would likely be chosen.  Any decision around this is quite premature however do know that we will be looking at this should the need arise.

c) College and University applications/courses/classes/etc.  This is an area where the Ministry of Education will determine a final decision (in concert with Colleges and Universities).  Please know that mid term grades have been sent to OUAC and admission decisions are most often based upon these grades.  We will proceed as usual (course work; assessments and evaluation; etc.) assuming that we will not go on strike.  If there is a strike notification then we will follow the instructions and directions of the Ministry and Board as required.


d)  That's it for now.....hang in there.


School wide happenings....

The nice weather is a welcome sight for all of our spring teams.  Our Rugby teams are again leading the pack with a series of huge wins to their credit already and our Soccer Teams are competing strongly against all other Halton competition.

Track is back at OTHS !  Good luck to all of our track athletes as they take on the best from around the region.  The GHAC championships are a couple of weeks away and our athletes are training hard.

This week our RDC is coordinating fundraising to support assistance for those directly impacted by the earthquake in Nepal last week.  Thank you for encouraging your son/daughter to participate wherever they can.

Congratulations to our School Reach team who have moved on to the Provincial Championships in Toronto!  Well done to all team members.


Key Dates Ahead

Monday, May 18th   Victoria Day
Wed. May 20th         PROM
Friday, May 29th      Relay for Life Event
Thurs. June 18th       First Day of Final Exams
Thurs. June 25th       Commencement




No comments:

Post a Comment