{mosimage}Editor's note: the following is a letter dated May 27 from Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins to the trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
Dear Trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
One evening not long ago I joined a gathering of devoted Catholic educators in the room where you deliberate, to celebrate the publication of Dr. Robert Dixon's new history of Catholic education in Toronto, We Remember, We Believe. It is a story of many difficulties, but also of the dedication, competence and self-sacrifice of the religious sisters and brothers, and of the laity and clergy who for over 160 years developed Catholic education in our community. We have much of which we can be proud in the past and in the present.
{mosimage}TORONTO - The chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board says chances are “pretty slim” the elected trustees will not be replaced by a provincially appointed supervisor June 4.
Catholic student helps Canada's Olympic soccer hopefuls
By Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register{mosimage}AJAX, Ont. - Candace Chapman's Olympic journey to Beijing began on a soccer field in Ajax when she was just eight years old. She is one of 57 athletes from the Greater Toronto Area at this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.
Her parents Gerard and Margaret say they're proud of their daughter's accomplishments. Aside from being part of the first Canadian women's soccer team to qualify for the Olympics, Chapman played on the Canadian team at last year's FIFA Women's World Cup in China and helped Notre Dame University win an NCAA title while attending the university on a scholarship. The 25-year-old defender and mid-fielder has earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and computer applications at Notre Dame.
{mosimage}TORONTO - Peter Cmorej, just three years removed from his Slovakian homeland, achieved the highest marks of any student graduating from a Toronto Catholic high school this year.
{mosimage}TORONTO - Declining student enrolment will be a key issue this coming school year for Ontario Catholic school boards, says the president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association.
“There are quite frankly less children and I think, with the exception of four or five boards experiencing some growth, the rest are in declining mode,” Paula Peroni told The Catholic Register.
{mosimage}TORONTO - Parents and student councils should be consulted before the Catholic school board assigns police to about eight high schools, says a Toronto-based parents’ group.
{mosimage}TORONTO - Michael Baillargeon, a former candidate for a seat on the Toronto Catholic District School Board, is taking Oliver Carroll to court alleging Carroll improperly influenced the board’s budget process to prevent his daughter from being laid off from her teaching job with the board.
{mosimage}TORONTO - Eight police officers will be stationed at Catholic high schools across Toronto starting this October.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board said police officers would be placed at Archbishop Romero, Bishop Marroco/Thomas Merton, Cardinal Newman, Don Bosco, James Cardinal McGuigan, Mary Ward, Michael Power/St. Joseph and St. Patrick Catholic High Schools.
{mosimage}TORONTO - Eight police officers will be stationed at Catholic high schools across Toronto starting this October.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board said police officers would be placed at Archbishop Romero, Bishop Marroco/Thomas Merton, Cardinal Newman, Don Bosco, James Cardinal McGuigan, Mary Ward, Michael Power/St. Joseph and St. Patrick Catholic High Schools.
{mosimage}TORONTO - In an effort to regain the public’s trust and confidence, the Toronto Catholic District School Board will be making large cuts to trustee expenses and reducing the board’s overall budget deficit by $8 million, according to a new report by provincial government-appointed supervisor Norbert Hartmann.
In an Aug. 26 report, Hartmann said the board’s accumulated deficit will be less than $10.2 million next year compared to $18.8 million last August.
More...
The report by Ernst & Young, which did not identify trustees by name, said $914,013 of the $943,783 in trustees' total expenses from Dec. 1, 2005, to May 28, 2008, were deemed eligible. Eligible expenses included Internet connection charges, office furniture, charitable donations and advertising expenses, the report said.
One pet peeve, she said, is when the television is on even if no one is watching because it’s an energy waster.