Grand Erie District School Board Not Issuing Term 1 Report Cards to Elementary Students as a Result of ETFO Job Action

Due to operational challenges associated with ongoing job action by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Grand Erie District School Board will not be issuing Term 1 Report Cards or the Kindergarten Communication of Learning.

Grand Erie parents/guardians were set to receive the Kindergarten Communication of Learning and Term 1 Report Cards (Grades 1-8) in mid-February. As part of their ongoing job action, ETFO members are not completing Term 1 Report Cards. Instead, they are providing school administrators with a class list of marks for the various subjects or strands taught and one brief comment per frame for the Kindergarten Communication of Learning.

“We greatly respect all of our staff and value their work with our students,” said Brenda Blancher, Grand Erie’s Director of Education. “We also respect ETFO’s right to work-to-rule. During job action, however, our Principals have to take on, or perform, a wide range of additional duties and responsibilities. We simply cannot add inputting marks and preparing Term 1 Report Cards to their plate.”

“At all times, and particularly during job action, the main focus and priority of our Principals as well as our Board is the safety and well-being of our students. With added duties and responsibilities for Principals during job action, we don’t want to compromise student safety or well-being. Not completing Term 1 Report Cards is a difficult decision to make, but one that must be made at this time.”

Grand Erie’s expectation is that communication regarding a student’s progress has been ongoing throughout the school year between teachers and parents/guardians. This includes progress reports in the fall, ongoing feedback and, where appropriate, daily updates on a student’s activities.

“As always, if parents/guardians have questions or concerns about their child’s academic achievement or well-being, they are welcome to contact their child’s teacher,” said Blancher.

“While Kindergarten Communication of Learning and Term 1 Report Cards will not be issued, it doesn’t diminish the great work that our elementary students have done over the first five months of the school year,” continued Blancher. “We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and these efforts will help them build on their knowledge as they move into Term 2 and the rest of the 2019-20 school year.”

For the latest labour updates, visit: www.granderie.ca or follow the Board on Twitter (@GEDSB).

We are an Eco-School

Did you know our school is an eco-school? Well we are, and that means that our school is making efforts every day to stay green. Some of the things our energy efficiency group is doing include implementing eco-friendly browsers, starting lights out lunches every Monday and Friday, creating signs for lights and monitors, and adding important information to our school website about being eco-friendly. We're also having a fun sweater day where we’re lowering the temperature of the school by two degrees and we will all wear sweaters. We’re also adding Ecosia to all our browsers. Ecosia is a company that plants a tree for every forty-five searches on the internet. Students are also making fifteen signs and posting them around the school, to remind people to turn off lights and monitors. Sweater day will be held on the 29th of November, and the 16th and 17th of December. Remember to check the school website for more cool information about how we are going eco-friendly, and the steps to become a platinum school, and to watch a video about implementing eco-friendly habits. Always remember to stay green!

From,

The Energy Efficiency Team of École Confédération