Latest News from Ward 7
- Jan 31, 2012 the Ward will be hosting a Math Curriculum night, to help parents understand the current methods of teaching math to elementary students.
- In order Jan 30, 2012: Check out this this 26-page information booklet from Irene Atkinson’s office on a number of current issues: Good News at Schools, fundraising, marijuana use stats among grade 8s and much more.
Concerned about Overcrowding and Underfunding? Read about and participate in Council’s 2011 letter-writing campaign — helping parents voice concerns over these issues.
Get Involved: Runnymede has two Ward 7 reps – parents who attend Ward 7 meetings to get informed about the issues facing our schools and the TDSB and to communicate back to the Runnymede community. While only the two designated Ward 7 Reps can attend Ward 7 meetings, if you are interested in the issues facing our schools and the TDSB or in mobilizing parents to take action on specific issues, the Ward 7 reps would appreciate your ideas and involvement.
Contact the Ward 7 reps by emailing the council for more information or to be added to the distribution list for Ward 7 email updates.
Ward 7 Archives – Previous Updates Posted to this Page
- Help keep Toronto pools open! Trustee Irene Atkinson urges parents to get involved in the Aquatic Working Group, which is meeting on Monday, September 12th from 5:00 to 7:00pm at the Metro Central YMCA (20 Grosvenor Street). Read the full notice from the group to find out how you can get involved in keeping Toronto pools open.
Some additional background: - The Ministry of Education does not fund the use of school pools in the Funding Formula (the formula they use to determine how much money we get).
- The City of Toronto currently leases 33 pools and each time the lease comes up for renewal they review it and determine and which pools they will continue to fund (the last review resulted in the City reducing the lease from 47 pools down to 33).
- The current mood at City Hall seems to indicate that we should be extra concerned for the fate of pools on the list of 33, Swansea PS, Parkdale PS and Runnymede CI are all under review at the moment.
- All-Candidates meeting for 2011 provincial elections: don’t miss the important event on September 20, 2011, co-hosted by our trustee, Irene Atkinson, and her Catholic board counterpart, Barbara Poplawski. The candidates will present their party’s position on Education matters and answer questions.
- Consultations on Fundraising to End in August 2011: The Ministry of Education wants your input on new Ministry of Education fundraising guidelines, but time is short to have your say. The new guidelines may result in significant changes to the kinds of fundraising allowed in schools – going well beyond the usual fundraising for arts enrichment and sports teams, to allow fundraising for some capital projects and a variety of improvements to school buildings and grounds. The consultation ends on August 30th and it’s easy to submit either your personal feedback or feedback from your school. Just send your ideas to Fundraising@ontario.ca.
- City Recreation Programs – Are they At Risk? The City of Toronto is looking for your input on its recreation programs and services. Concerned parents are encouraged to attend the Etobicoke York public consultation meeting: Monday, May 30, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Etobicoke Olympium – Gym (590 Rathburn Rd at Renforth). To register, email or call 416-338-6608. Visit the city’s Recreation Service Plan web page for more information.
- At the March 24 council meeting, Ward 7 rep Jessica Bell told the group about the most recent Ward 7 meeting. One of the key topics of concern is overcrowding and underfunding; this continues to be discussed at length.
- Our trustee, Irene Atkinson, has issued a survey for parents to fill out and send to elected officials, expressing concern
- To address overcrowding, one possibility is to move catchment area boundaries to redistribute some of the population to less crowded schools. The superintendant said they were looking at the system as a whole.
- In order to address the underfunding of schools, a private members bill has been introduced that would allow a school board to levy a local tax of up to 5% of their budget.
- Please review the March 24 school council meeting minutes for much more detail.
