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| Lorne at Hopewell all trustee candidates meeting |
The school council at Hopewell Avenue Public School hosted a meeting for zone 9 trustee candidates at the school at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, October 12. Four of the five candidates named on the ballot were present and about 40 people were in the audience. Brian came to show support as did former school trustees Bill Gowling and Norm MacDonald. My opening and closing remarks are attached below.
We went from Hopewell directly to the renovated city hall / community centre at Hawthorne and Main Street where a Catholic school trustee and another OCDSB candidate addressed 20 people, who had waited patiently after hearing from five city councillor candidates.
LORNE'S INTRODUCTORY REMARKS AT HOPEWELL CANDIDATES MEETING
I have spent my adult life helping children learn and helping teachers help children learn. I will continue to do so as your school trustee. These are my priorities as your trustee:- I will be accessible and available to listen to your concerns and to advocate on your behalf; and in return I will provide you with timely information on matters that will affect you, and I will help with your efforts to navigate the system and affect board decisions.
- I will work collaboratively with other trustees to ensure that the decisions we make are always based on what is best for children. These decisions must be, rational, fiscally responsible and fair.
- I will work with other trustees to increase provincial funding to our district, so that grant revenue more closely meets the needs we have in Ottawa. Parents should not have to fund raise or spend money on school basics. And because there is never enough revenue to meet student needs, I will work to develop partnerships such the ones I helped established with OCRI that funds the breakfast and volunteer programs, with the police and their School Resource Officer program, with OCISO and the Multicultural Liaison Officer program, and with substance addiction prevention centres.
These are my priorities here in zone 9:
- I will work with you to resolve the overcrowding in our schools – especially but not only at First Avenue. This will require area wide studies since what happens at one school affects the schools around it. These studies must have reasonable timelines, have access to relevant data, and encourage meaningful community input.
- I will work to review the many program options that have been placed here at Hopewell and threaten to overcrowd the school.
- I will work with the City on traffic congestion and student safety around this building. The walking school bus concept is a good idea but not a complete solution. When the new building was being planned, I attempted to have traffic on Hopewell Avenue restricted, and that is an idea whose time may now have come.
- As your school trustee, I will work to ensure that the Board maintains a continuum of service for special education students, ranging from total integration with some help, such as a modified curriculum or occasional extra help, through partial integration, perhaps with the aid of an educational assistant, to special classes, with occasional withdrawal into the regular program. Of course, teachers must receive training and adequate resources when integrating students – the needs of all students in the classroom must be addressed. This refers to gifted classes as it does to remedial classes
- I support our alternative schools. I will assist them as they address and seek new ways to meet the needs of students who learn best in an environment that provides a student-centred, non-competitive, multi-age, teacher/parent-partnered approach.
- I believe that the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of a 3Rs only curriculum in the elementary grades and it is time to return to a more balanced approach that includes context for the 3Rs in the arts, music, science, and social sciences.
- Glebe Collegiate is my vision of a comprehensive, welcoming high school that promotes excellence and I will work to ensure it remains that way
I am a proud advocate for public education. I am the only educator running for school trustee in this district. I have roots in the community and a record of community service. I believe this combination will make me your choice for school trustee.
LORNE'S CLOSING REMARKS AT HOPEWELL CANDIDATES MEETING
I would like to thank the organizers of this event – this is the only all trustee candidates meeting in zone 9 in the entire election campaign. You deserve this opportunity to compare the candidates in person. I am a lifetime educator and a lifelong learner. I have been a classroom teacher, a school administrator and a district administrator. I know what classroom teachers and schools need to provide an excellent learning environment for our children. I am also a parent, and my three children are graduates of Ottawa public schools.
As your trustee, I will provide you with service at three levels:
- my first priority will always be to listen to your concerns and advocate on your behalf.
- my second priority as your trustee will be to work at the board table for collegial debate and decisions, based on facts, that always place the needs of students first, decisions that are fiscally responsible and fair, and promote excellence. My first priority will be the eight schools in zone 9 but as a school trustee I have a system perspective based on first hand knowledge.
- and my third priority is to work with other trustees to increase provincial funding to Ottawa public schools to reflect the true costs of meeting student needs here.
As your trustee, I will promote 2-way communication – I will be available and accessible in person, on the telephone, and on the internet to hear your concerns and suggestions and in return will provide you with timely information and assistance.
On October 25, vote for mayor, city councillor, and me, Lorne Rachlis, for your school trustee.
