September 4, 2018
Tod Dungey
Superintendent of Education,
School and System Operations,
Plant and Planning
Dear Colleagues,
The Board of Trustees and the Senior Team have worked collaboratively with our community to renew our Strategic Plan. As a leadership team, we have aligned the Director’s Annual Plan and Board Improvement Plan to meet the priorities and goals outlined by trustees. Additionally, we have successfully put into routine practice the Minister’s Directions. In short, our leadership team is poised to align our efforts and work, to collaborate with precision and diligence to ensure positive outcomes are met for students, families and staff.
As Superintendents of Schools, you are responsible for the supervision of schools including student achievement, safety of all stakeholders and the daily operations of sites.
To enhance our alignment of purpose, I am asking that you work on the following specific priorities during the 2018-2019 school year that complement your role as Superintendent of Schools.
- Restructure the Plant Services Department, paying particular attention to leadership roles
- Analyze options, budget and implementation requirements to advance our ability to provide “all access” washrooms
- Develop a capital plan for site renewals that includes analysis of accessibility requirements in order to ensure AODA compliance
- Develop a renewal strategy for providing air-conditioning in schools over a 3-year window
- Facilitate the School Name Process for the new elementary schools in both Markham and Vaughan
- Develop a parallel School Names process in order to create a new Board approved short-list of proposed school names
- Engage in a review of our current French Immersion program with the goal to create a Board report of recommendations
- Engage in a review of the Field Trips policy #642
- Initiate the Emergency Preparedness committee and establish working groups on identified topics eg. Evacuation Sites
- Create an Administrative Facility Lockdown and Hold & Secure Procedure and the implementation at each Administrative site
- Facilitate the staffing processes for both elementary and secondary
- Work with Health and Safety, Student Services and the Federations to implement the OT Handbook and Safety Plans communication protocol
- Create and implement a School Closure procedure as part of the Inclement Weather policy
- Collaborate with all Associate Directors and other Supervisory Officers to implement the actions of the Director’s Annual Plan, Board Improvement Plans, and related action plans.
- Participate in training provided related to conducting investigations, human rights and equity. Embed and apply the effective practices shared at these sessions within your leadership practice.
- Engage with school leadership teams and staff during School Improvement Planning sessions to deepen your awareness of school plans and actions and how your leadership may enhance them.
- Seek out evidence and data to understand your schools’ profile so that you may differentiate your resources to support teaching and learning.
- Collaborate with school leaders to ensure all students are able to read by the end of grade one; achievement gaps reduce for underperforming and underserved students and graduation rates for at-risk youth increase.
- Be highly visible within your schools and work to develop a positive and supportive relationships with all stakeholders.
- Collaborate with colleagues to ensure your Family of Schools meetings support the learning needs of administrators, are highly valued by them and support system success.
- Effectively use the Community Board Interaction Management Tool (Resolve) to conclude issues in a timely manner that keeps students’ best interests at the center of the solution.
- Embed evidence gathering and monitoring in all elements of your practice.
I ask you to consider the above priorities and develop an implementation plan that includes timelines, outcomes and performance indicators. In our meetings, I will ask that you provide updates to progress as appropriate.
Thank you for your leadership and I look forward to working alongside you in the 2018-2019 academic school year.
Sincerely,
Clayton La Touche
Associate Director of Education,
Schools and Operations