Letter from the Broadview School Council Chairs

I'm posting the below just in case you have not seen it elsewhere.  Important issues are being raised about Broadview school and the state of the City's schools generally.  The issues are important for both present and future Broadview parents but also for all other OCDSB schools, students and parents as well as the community at large.
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Dear Broadview Community,

Many of you have probably seen the recent media coverage of the campaign to rebuild Broadview. This is a result of the OCDSB’s Business Services Committee meeting from March 28 where Jennifer McKenzie requested an amendment to move us from our current position on the capital priority list as a $4 million renovation to a rebuild. After a lengthy debate of more than four hours, 7 of the 12 Trustees voted in favor of a rebuild for Broadview, giving us a majority vote. Unfortunately, the meeting was adjourned before the vote was ratified. Trustee Donna Blackburn in particular has been criticized for her support of the Broadview rebuild.

The critical state at Broadview remains unchanged. Feedback from the community has consistently been in favor of a rebuild. The facts are:

The OCDSB identified in their own reports a need for repairs in the amount of $7.5 million.

To accommodate full day kindergarten, a seventh addition onto our school at a cost of $1.5 million is being proposed by the Board.

$4 million proposed in repair funds for Broadview would still leave the school, by the Board’s own assessment, in a “critical” state.

It’s an 85-year old building that has been neglected for years.

The Broadview School Council and the Build a Better Broadview subcommittee will continue to work closely with MPP Yasir Naqvi and Trustee Jennifer McKenzie in the best interests of our students and teachers. We look forward to creating a long-term vision for Broadview that supports the needs of our growing community.

How You Can Help!

The next OCDSB meeting is Monday, April 30 in the Trustees Committee Room, 133 Greenbank Rd. The vote to move Broadview to the capital priority list for a rebuild will take place at this time. Please make time to attend this meeting and support our school!

Full-Day Kindergarten

Full day kindergarten remains scheduled for Broadview for 2013. The current OCDSB plan is to invest $1.5 million to add on a seventh addition to the school. While no plans have been finalized with regards to how full day kindergarten will be implemented in 2013, the School Council feels that the full day kindergarten plan should be part of a long term vision for Broadview. A community meeting will be scheduled in May looking for your feedback. Please attend and help us create a long term vision for Broadview.

We are continuing to update the Build a Better Broadview website with new information. However, please do not hesitate to contact us with questions or to get involved.

Thank you for your continued support.


Liz Burgess and Claire Todd
Co-Chairs, Broadview School Council

Build a Better Broadview website: http://broadviewparents.org/rebuildbroadview
follow our group on Facebook (Build a Better Broadview) and Twitter @Build_Broadview

Please Help with this Broadview School Fundraiser!

If you want to know why you should support local school initiatives (currently those of both Broadview and Woodroffe elementary schools) to fundraise for yard play structures see my post below at http://kitchissippikids.blogspot.com/2012/01/parent-councils-struggle-to-raise-funds.html.

$5 of every $10 ticket, as well as 50% of concession sales, will go directly to the school and that's huge!  The extra dollar above door price includes the convenience of the advance ticket, the knowledge that you're really helping a great cause, and BEST of ALL, the chance to win TWO level 200 Sens tickets or a skating and pizza party at McKellar Park.

To purchase tickets contact yard@broadviewparents.org, the school office, any of your friends and neighbours who have children at Broadview, or me at kitchissippikids@hotmail.com (I have a grade 5er, a grade 3er and an eventually-to-be JKer at broadview.

Equally, a big shout-out for the Ottawa Family Cinema for being such a great local place for our kids (and us!) to watch movies.  Thank you!

Parent Councils Struggle to Raise Funds for New Play Structures

This article originally ran in the December edition of the Kitchissippi Times.
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Broadview Avenue Public School is the latest of the Kitchissippi neighbourhood schools to begin a quest for play structure funding. Liz Burgess and Claire Todd are co-chairs of the Council and hope to raise $150,000 this year. Even if they meet their goal, the money “won’t buy us a Cadillac,” Burgess stresses.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board will remove the junior play structure at Broadview Avenue Public School by September 2012 and won’t replace it. They will give the school just $7,500 towards a new one.

“That’s about enough to buy a slide” says Burgess, who has already invested a significant amount of time researching options. She found that almost $60,000 is required to deal with drainage and grounds issues alone.

In a similar situation, the Board removed Woodroffe Avenue Public School’s primary play structure this past summer, leaving the 300 students in Grades 1 to 3 with nothing but empty areas of sand, grass and pavement.

For Woodroffe and Broadview, as for any other school, a complex web of funding must come together before anything else happens: the City will match the Board’s $7,500, Dovercourt Recreation Association has pledged $5,000, the Council is applying for numerous private grants, and fundraising activities will be held throughout the school year.

Another hurdle: although the Board does not provide much funding, it does control the installation process.

“The money must be in the bank before the Request for Proposal process begins,” says Todd, “and installation will not take place for an additional six months after that.”

“We initially thought we could accept donations of services,” adds Todd, “but that will only be possible if the people in question are insured and become certified by the Board.”

Contracts for work at the schools must be sourced through the OCDSB and Board safety standards are higher than those of even the City public playgrounds. Essentially this means schools must purchase “top-of-the-line” equipment, says Burgess.

The Broadview Council co-chairs are both experienced project managers previously employed in the high-tech sector; they know this isn’t a playground project for the faint of heart. Burgess and Todd each spend approximately 30 hours a week on Council matters, the bulk of which are yard and fundraising related. While they agree that parents shouldn’t be asked to personally fund such a basic component part of their children’s education, in the short-term they are worrying less about the big picture and more about just getting the work done.

School Councils were mandated in 1997 by the Ontario government. While described in Ministry documents as serving an advisory function, they are more clearly fundraising bodies that supplement tax dollars to augment children’s education experience outside the classroom. Council documents from neighbourhood schools indicate that a Council budget is typically between one-quarter and one-half that of a school’s annual operating budget.

Yasir Naqvi, the area’s Member of Provincial Parliament, stresses that the Ontario Liberals increased funding to schools by 40 percent over the last eight years while enrollment has decreased by 8 per cent.

That being said, Chair of the OCDSB Jennifer McKenzie points out that most of the budget increases were dedicated to salaries and the costs of decreased classroom size, full-day kindergarten, and a variety of other special projects. McKenzie pointed out that the Board receives approximately $10 million annually for renewal projects across 150 schools. The Board has discretion in how it spends that money but roofs and boilers necessarily take priority over play structures, said McKenzie.

For details on Broadview’s and Woodroffe’s fundraising initiatives, visit www.broadviewparents.org and http://www.wapscouncil.org/.

Awesome Ideas from Your Neighbourhood Schools

Back to school and with that comes a new round of student council meetings at many Ontario schools. 

The current role of school councils was established by the Ontario government in 2000-1 when it took steps to ensure that parents, through their school councils, would have greater influence in their children’s education. Regulations confirmed the advisory role of school councils and stated that their purpose is to "improve student achievement and enhance the accountability of the education system to parents." (see Ontario, Ministry of Education, School Councils: A Guide for Members, at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/council/council02.pdf)

The exact role of Councils is open to debate and ranges from fundraising to school-parent communication.  What is clear is that they have a role and, depending on the school,  may be quite active, vocal or both.  On this topic see the recent article by Ottawa Citizen reporter Mike Pearson at http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/School+councils+communication+with+parents+should+trump+fundraising+report/3760680/story.html

I read other school's newsletters and websites - they keep me up-to-date on what's happening in the neighbourhood - they're typically posted on school websites.  While I know there is a large umbrella organization - the Ottawa Carleton Association of School Councils - I prefer to take an approach that is direct and closer to home. 

What are school councils in our neighbourhood doing?  What is your school Council doing that you really like?  There are some great ideas out there and many parents who work really hard to make our schools a better place. 

I'd like to initiate a bit of a dialogue about what Councils can do.  To kick-off, I'm going to share a few of the ideas I've found.  I'd love to receive from feedback from parents of children at the other schools in the neighbourhood.

Have a Snowball Target

I love this idea though the photo doesn't appear on the current school web site so I'll have to check if the target's still there!

The rationale for the targets is simple, but to the point "Hilson school has two new snowball targets. Students take turns throwing snowballs at them. Why did they put them there? For the students to throw snowballs at. The two snowball targets are on the south fence. Students are only allowed to throw snowballs at the targets for safety reasons."


Schlockey

Parents at Broadview donated a Schockey game several years ago.  Never heard of Schlockey?  Check out this website from Canadian Intramural Recreation of Ontario:  http://www.ciraontario.com/content/schlockey2.pdf.  Not only does it provide the background and rules of the games but it also provides directions on how to build both a regular and a mini Schlockey set.

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Aim for a Representative Council and High Parent Attendance

Sounds obvious but....in many schools less that 1/10 of families have even 1 parent in attendance.  

To address the challenge Devonshire's council decided to host a pizza and movie night for kids on the same night as school council meetings.  Older children help babsit and far more parents are available to attend.  Brilliant!

Make sure Children Have Food

Again, sounds basic but....Devonshire keeps cereal, milk, toast etc. on hand in case any children come to school in need of breakfast - this can happen for a wide variety of reasons and parents can let the school knows if their child might require the extra nutrition.  This is particularly important for schools with very early starts.

Make sure Children eat their Food!

Have children from the older grades act as lunch moniters. 

Both my school aged boys have gone through periods when they haven't eaten anything for lunch during the day (and a variety of parents, particularly of boys, commented on similar experieinces).  When asked, the boys told me they "didn't have time" - not true of course, but.....When I went into my son's grade 1 class at lunchtime I realized why he wasn't eating.  It was loud, everyone was talking, no one was sitting in their seats and it just wasn't a "mealtime" environment at all.  While a teacher was floating from class to class, it wasn't enough supervision. 

I've talked with a few parents at a variety of other schools (Devonshire (again!) and Hopewell) and they say the lunch moniter program works well.  The older student calms things down, the younger ones tend to look up to the lunch moniter and enjoy the company of an older student.  If something really critical (I have heard allergic reactions mentioned) or outrageous happens there's someone who can call the teacher.

Host Fabulous Fundraisers

Some examples (a few of which are very new) include:

• the Gingerbread house fundraiser at Devonshire,
• the Hilson Fall Foodie Fest,
• the Chuchill School "Kidzone" shopping experience,
• the Much Music Dance-a-thon at Broadview 

It's easy to stick with tried-and-true but branching out can bring more dramatic success!

Find other ways to raise money:

Partner with a local business for mutual benefit.  If you mention Devonshire Public School at the Collected Works bookstore on Wellington, they will give 10% of your purchase to the school in support of the school's refurbishment of the primary yard.  Collected Works hopefully gets more people buying locally at their store as a result.  Win-Win.

Apply for a Green Apple Grant worth $1000 from Metro Stores http://www.greenapplegrants.ca/.  A variety of other Ottawa schools have already participated and details of their projects can be found on the Green Apple website.

Reach Out

School's are not islands on to themselves but part of our very vibrant and family oriented communities.  They don't have to go it alone, nor should they.  If there are synergies to be gained from partnerships with external service providers, take advantage of them.  Before, after or lunch-time activities held directly at a school reduce traffic, maximize time and encourage both fitness and extra learning.  This isn't at the expense of the schools and doesn't take precedence over school activities but can be a welcome addition to broaden some otherwise great offerings by our teachers.

• Dovercourt Recreation Centre runs a twice-weekly "Power Hour" of fun physical activities at Broadview for the primary students.  This supplements the variety of teacher-led extracurricular activities that are also available.  The classes are low-cost and are particularly popular through the coldest winter months when there are fewer yard activities.
• Yoga classes and a chess club are offered at Devonshire by external service providers.  Fees are low and students sign up for 8-week sessions.
• Several Ottawa organizations have programs specifically designed to be run in schools - either before, after or during the school day.  These include Radical Science (a branch of Ray's Reptiles), Mad Science and Starr Gymnastics.
• Baobab Tree on Piccadilly is open to discussing group drum lessons with schools.  http://www.baobab.org/.
• Photography (from providers such as Dovercourt which have cameras readily available from their own programming) and art classes for primary students are other options that seem particularly suited.

Update on Broadview School (Infrastructure)

Last week Broadview Avenue Public School was closed for a day when the boiler backfired.  It brought to the fore the issue of urban school funding and the (sometimes sad) state of our urban schools.   The school administration worked diligently to ensure the closure was as short as possible.  Council was instrumental in bringing the issue of school funding before the media and both CTV and CBC had excellent coverage. 

A few events / discussions are coming up in relation to this and I'll hi-lite what I know here:

• On January 12th the OCDSB Business Services Meeting will examine a recommendation from staff that 6 core schools, including Broadview, should undergo major renovations between 2010 and 2015.  For more detail on the meeting agenda and to see the Plan itself, see http://www.ocdsb.ca/Lists/Board%20Meeting%20Calendar/DispForm.aspx?ID=41&Source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eocdsb%2Eca%2FPages%2Fdefault%2Easpx

• On January 20th there will be what I understand is an open meeting at Devonshire Avenue Public School with Yasir Naqvi to discuss the balance between urban and suburban school funding.  I don't think anyone begrudges funding to suburban schools - or to any schools frankly - but the question of balance is an interesting one and some parity willl hopefully be forthcoming.  A number of schools in kitchissippi have been previously renovated or rebuilt - Hilson and Churchill to name two - but others (such as Broadview and Devonshire) are much in need.  I hear the bathrooms in both are comparable...in a bad way! 

• One other useful piece of information - and, as I find again and again, another reason why I have an almost limitless respect for Dovercourt and its Director John Rapp - if your school closes, Dovercourt can be ready to take in kids on very short notice.  For the one day that Broadview was closed they took in 14 or so but could have handled 30-40.  They are a responsive and pro-active organization that does a lot for our community when needed.  Kudos to them.

Broadview School Closure

My kids aren't going to school today because there is no heat.  Trevor Jones the school council president well describes the state of the school below.  Surely this should not be the state of education infrastructure in 2011.

"On Monday our basement music room was flooded when water burst out of a corroded steam pipe. This is the 7th time our music room has been flooded. Then early Wednesday morning both our boilers went out of commission, and now we're waiting at home while the board does its best to patch them up.

Broadview has 775 students in grades K-8 and serves one of Ottawa's oldest suburbs. We are blessed with a hardworking and inspired staff who deliver outstanding programs. The building, however, dates back to the 30's and is inadequate. The washrooms are grotesque. Stairwells are narrow and the school is not accessible in the least. The steam boilers, when they're working, have two settings - on (in October) and off (in the spring). Most of the time it is ridiculously hot. We have fans to hot air from the roof of the intermediate wing. And since heat is radiated, the air does not get circulated and is incredibly fetid by the end of the day.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board has, since amalgamation a decade ago, been focused on building new schools outside the greenbelt while letting its urban schools rot. Today's closure of Broadview Avenue Public School highlights the need to get serious about addressing this imbalance. "