Etobicoke Collegiate Institute

School Council Meeting – May 14, 2008

Minutes & Business Arising:

 Sandy advised that Minutes of the March 26th meeting were available via e-mail and
anyone who may not currently be on the distribution list could be added if a request
was made.

Student Council Report:

 General: Rob Dart outlined general activities and indicated that there is a new ECI
mascot and 3 new representatives to represent ECI at various activities; FAT will be
on May 22nd with extended lunch times for all to attend; SAC is hosting a thank you
breakfast for teachers; New SAC candidates will be delivering speeches on May 16
and the voting will be held on the 20th
 Athletic Executive: Meagan Brown outlined all activities being run: Track & Field,
Girl’s Softball, Cricket, Ultimate Frisbee, Soccer, Girl’s Football (1st year offered),
Lacrosse, Boy’s Baseball; Athletic Banquet will be on May 29th at ECI; applications
for Executive are out and being distributed
 Social: Grad Banquet is June 4th, Slide presentation is being compiled at ECI;$150
has been allocated towards celebration by the parent School Council
 Music: Lawrence Kwok indicated a very successful Opus this year; the teachers are
considering next year’s candidates for Music Executive

Breakfast Program – B. Wagner-Heim:

 B. Wagner-Heim outlined the need and desire for this program with results of a
survey conducted; she outlined all the steps she has taken to begin this program and
described the pilot project that will be implemented on May 22/23
 The program will service 75-100 students and will be posted on website
 A teacher committee has been formed (10 teachers) and donations have
been accumulated (i.e. toasters) – connections through teachers are being
established
 Meeting with the Council of Councils to access funds for pilot project and
recruiting student volunteers
 Ms. Wagner-Heim is approaching retailers in the community for donations
 There is a need for a fridge to keep the food for the program – donations are
welcome
 Program to welcome everyone and will not differentiate between students in
need and students taking the opportunity for breakfast due to an early start at
school for other events

School Council Chair Report - Sandy Brown:

 Shared newsletter and upcoming seminars that maybe of interest to School

Council members and the parent community
 Circulated article about special education requirements as well as two copies of
the School Advocate
 Announced John Campbell’s final constituency meeting on May 26th at 7:00 p.m.
Sandy indicated that everyone was welcome to attend.
 The last Ward meeting shared a special presentation for dance programs aimed
at the Junior Middle school level
 An additional $500 has been granted to School councils – usually dedicated to
extra programs and/or parent information sessions
 New website www.etobicokecollegiate.com – starting to build a calendar of event;
link to TDSB must be corrected to direct to new website
 New School Council representation needs to happen for next year – Sandy
Brown announced her “graduation” and has offered to help get things started at
the first one or two meetings
 Sandy has tentatively created a new meeting schedule for next year – although 4
meetings are required, ECI usually holds 6 (Suggested September 16, October
22, November 25, January 21, March 24 and May 20)

Teacher Representative Report - Jim O’Reilly:

 Mr. O’Reilly indicated that the summative season is upon us and it is very stressful
for the students
 Consists of in class exercises; presentations; exams; project assignments
 Extra curricular activities are all winding down and try & work best around the
summative schedules
 Credit Rescue is in place – attempting to get students that are close to getting their
credit to step up to the plate and hand in their last assignments to bring their marks
up
 Credit Recovery is being put in place now through summer school
 10 days of exams in June

Principal & Vice-Principal Report – Gordy Stefulic, Sam Iskandar & Jinah
Park

 Indicated that there would be 170 TDSB schools next year and the most recent
projection was there will 65 schools by 2020
 This will be a result of immigration, demographics and declining enrolment
 Consultants have done an original analysis but everything is not presented yet
 With declining enrolment for the next school year, ECI has had to cut back 7
teachers based on seniority and subject need; those affected may still be placed
based on promotions, transfers, etc.
 Projected enrolment is 1261 which is still over capacity
 ECI will hold their own with enrolment as it is a highly desirable school and has an
excellent reputation
 There is a staffing committee that makes all the staffing decisions although it is very
difficult and challenging
 This decline was projected and predictable; Option sheets from the students predict
how the scheduling is done for next year
 Support Staff will remain the same for next year; Custodian/Caretaking will remain
the same for next year; Hall Monitors will be increased by 1 whole position
 All teacher/support worker’s collective agreements will expire on August 31st;
Provincial Ministry will negotiate $; Local unions will negotiate working conditions,
extra curricular, etc.; talks will begin in September - work to rule could potentially
happen again although ECI in the past under these circumstances has been less
impacted than other schools thanks to great staff
 Director of Education is departing as is the Associate Director; there are 6-7
candidates for the Director position; may be announced by end of June
 TDSB has been given the challenge of reorganizing itself or be reorganized; the
reasons for this change are the TDSB has been a big lumbering organization and
has had growth problems
 Several of the arms may stay the same (i.e. purchasing/budgeting)
 Pool closures have been on everyone’s mind – doesn’t affect ECI or other Etobicoke
schools
 Indicated that there is a 4.5% reduction in the budget this year which equates to
approximately $14 per student to cover $74 million shortfall
 Exams begin June 9; individual exam timetables will be handed in May; June 6 -
last day of classes
 June 23 – Contact Day – students receive marks and asked to be respectful towards
any teachers they may have disputes with
 June 24 – Guidance Day for students requiring summer school; guidance counselors
have been very proactive and have spoken to these students about summer school –
they have reserved spots for them where it appears evident they will need it ….can
be cancelled if results improve
 June 5 – EQAO Day – Math grade 9 ONLY

New Business

 Explanation of exam schedule was requested specifically regarding students having

multiple exams on one day; explained that due to the number of students and exams
there are some circumstances where this exists…wherever possible Grade 12
students are not impacted this way
 An inquiry about a music credit earned outside of school was directed to follow-up
with Guidance
 Walt Skobel, on behalf of the School Council and parents, thanked Sandy for all her
leadership, support and participation over the last few years as School Council Chair
and wished her the very best

Next Meeting: scheduled for Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30 pm in the Library.