Four years is how long students spend in high school, and the current draft of the OCDSB 2019-2023 Strategic Plan suggests that they, and younger students, are going to have four more years of the same old. The draft lacks signs of fresh thinking and gives little hope that significant progress will be made on pressing issues over the next four years. The OCDSB needs to return to the drawing board with a renewed determination to produce a plan that gives hope our students will see better days.
There are people in the board with the vision and desire to make a difference, but they need public support to amplify their voices. They need parents and other stakeholders to invest time to learn about the current draft plan, to formulate their opinions about it, and to provide the board with their feedback. My response, linked here, that I recently shared with board leaders could help others to clarify their thoughts on the draft.
School boards have a major impact on society. Abraham Lincoln said the philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next. It is not only the philosophy that schools affect. They impact the health of a nation, its people’s sense of well-being and their readiness to participate in the decisions that affect them. For this, people need to make their voices heard, and because children learn from what they see, they need to see adults exercising good citizenship.
The board wants to drive cultural shifts in the areas of innovation, caring and social responsibility. Its draft strategic plan suggests that it also needs to drive a cultural shift at head office. By telling our school board trustees, board executive, principals, teachers, school council members and their OCASC representatives what we think about the board’s draft plan, we are acting in the interests of children and youth and a secure future.
For those who know our schools need to be different for today’s students, it is a time to rally, a time to stand up for children and youth.
These links are to OCDSB information on its draft strategic plan: