The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board is promising significant enhancements to its chaplaincy operations by the start of the next school year, envisioning a more united community of faith. 

The Religious Education and Adult Faith Formation department is set to go through with a restructuring plan of its chaplaincy services across all schools within the board. 

Through the revised service delivery model, each secondary school will continue to have dedicated full-time chaplaincy support. But effective Sept. 1, chaplaincy positions will no longer be represented by the secondary teachers’ union, which limits them to servicing secondary students. As a result of the changes, while the chaplain will continue to be physically based at a secondary school, they will also be able to support adult faith formation and other faith initiatives at the school. 

Additionally, chaplains will be able to support feeder schools by organizing occasional retreats for Grades 7 and 8 students and providing a level of pastoral support not available under the current model.

There is no chaplaincy job loss in this revision of the role of chaplain, the board said in a statement to The Catholic Register, though not all parties are sure that is true. An online petition titled "Save The Chaplains" has surfaced and garnered close to 2,400 signatures as of March 5. It describes a situation where the DPCDSB decided to remove teacher-chaplains entirely and says the board has not provided ample information to chaplains and that the decision was made “without input from secondary students.”

Some people requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding the issue have reached out to The Catholic Register with concerns over the decision regarding the availability of chaplains within each school, if teacher-chaplains will still be able to minister as chaplains and who was consulted in the decision-making process. 

The DPCDSB seems to be aware of the current response, pointing out inaccuracies with how the plan is being perceived and how it is intended to be carried out.

“Regrettably, inaccurate information is being conveyed by some about the upcoming changes. These inaccuracies include allegations of chaplaincy job loss and the removal of chaplaincy services to secondary schools. This is simply not true,” the board’s statement said.

“Change is difficult for some to accept; however, we are confident that the upcoming changes will continue to benefit our secondary school communities as well as provide access to chaplaincy services that are not currently available to our elementary schools.” 

The board’s message reaffirms its commitment to high-standing Catholic education, regardless of potential misinformation. 

“Our Catholic identity is the cornerstone of our mission, providing the spiritual and moral foundation upon which DPCDSB was built. Chaplaincy Leadership Services have long been an integral part of our secondary schools’ faith experience,” the statement reads. 

The board is still in the process of developing the new service delivery model, and as such, is unable to expand further on the changes. However, it was confirmed that the pending changes have been driven by operational considerations and not fiscal issues.

Further intricacies are expected as the board further develops the chaplaincy changes in the coming months.