{mosimage}TORONTO  - The Ontario government’s proposed bill on student accountability would diminish the powers of democratically elected school trustees, says the president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association.

Paula Peroni told The Catholic Register that if passed in the Ontario legislature, Bill 177 would increase the provincial government’s control over school boards.

Catholic teacher hiring policy taken to rights tribunal

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{mosimage}Hiring only Catholic teachers at publicly funded Catholic schools is “unfair” and discriminatory, says a Guelph-area teacher who has recently taken the Wellington Catholic District School Board to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

“It’s unfair for a large organization to accept large taxpayer dollars, including my own, and then not being interested in hiring everybody from whom those tax dollars come from,” Jesse Lloyd told The Catholic Register in an interview from Guelph.

Halton board celebrates 40 years

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{mosimage}BURLINGTON, Ont - Alice Anne LeMay recalls playing the role of “hot dog lady” at a basketball game for special needs students in the Halton Catholic District School Board .

LeMay, whose son has a hearing disability, said it’s activities like these which highlight the Catholic and “inclusive” spirit of the Halton board over the past four decades.

St. Joseph's Morrow Park gets three-year reprieve

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{mosimage}TORONTO - St. Joseph’s Morrow Park High School students can breathe a sigh of relief — at least for the next three years.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board is finalizing a deal with Tyndale College, which has been leasing the property to the board since 2006, that would allow students to remain at the school temporarily. Tyndale bought the 20-hectare property from the Sisters of St. Joseph three years ago. 

Some Ontario Catholic boards already run full-day kindergarten

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Full-day kindergarten is an investment in the future and a “courageous” decision during a time of economic downturn, says the head of the Catholic teachers' union.

But it's also not unfamiliar to Catholic schools, James Ryan told The Catholic Register, given that eight Catholic boards have some form of full-day kindergarten.

Toronto Catholic board won’t expand single-gender schools

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{mosimage}TORONTO - In the wake of calls to open all-boys schools by the Toronto public system, the Toronto Catholic District School Board said it has no plans to follow suit.

There are four all-boys schools in the Toronto Catholic school board right now, one — St. Michael’s Choir School — which is open to elementary school-age children.

Toronto Catholic school board shut put surplus back into schools

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Fixing up schools, having more special education teachers and fully restoring the controversial Arrowsmith program should be some of the projects funded by the projected budget surplus of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, say education groups.

Murielle Boudreau, chair of the Greater Toronto Catholic Parent Network, says the board is falling behind in its maintenance of schools.

Dufferin-Peel board to set book guidelines

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{mosimage}MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Trustees at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board will review a proposal Nov. 24 that would have all novels pre-approved for use in the classroom by a central committee.

“We conceptualized the need for such a proposal in the last couple of years and have been doing a lot of work for what makes sense for our system and how we develop a proposal that’s going to honour the professionalism and the local decision making that we want our teachers and administrators to continue to do,” said superintendent of program Marianne Mazzorato.

Henry Carr's field of dreams shy $500,000

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Fr. Henry Carr High School supporters hope to build a $1.5 million “field of dreams” for their students and neighbourhood community.

Right now they’re about $500,000 shy of achieving that dream but hope to bridge the gap with the help of famous Carr alumni like former NHL star Pat Flatley, CFL/NFL veteran Kerry Carter and TV personality Enrico Colantoni.

Two more Toronto Catholic trustees face conflict-of-interest allegations

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{mosimage}TORONTO - It's déjà vu all over again, says the head of a Toronto-based Catholic parents' group, as two Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees are being hit with conflict-of-interest allegations.

“Here we go again. I mean, when is it going to end?” Murielle Boudreau, chair of the Greater Toronto Catholic Parent Network, told The Catholic Register.

Boot camps set up for trustee candidates

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{mosimage}TORONTO - The countdown for next year’s province-wide Catholic trustee elections begins with two upcoming trustee training workshops in Toronto.

Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Rob Davis plans to run a free “trustee boot camp” on Nov. 21 at the Catholic Education Centre. St. Augustine’s Seminary’s Institute of Theology will conduct trustee workshops starting in January.