Dear Parents/Guardians,

I wanted to provide you with an update with regards to ongoing job action by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), which is currently in negotiations with the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA) to achieve a new collective agreement. Since November 2019, ETFO members have been engaged in legal job action, which includes sanctions related to report cards. As per the sanctions, teachers will not:

• complete Term 1 Report Cards – teachers will provide the school administratorwith a class list of marks for the various subjects/strands taught, or one briefcomment per frame for the Kindergarten Communication of Learning;
• undertake the role of report card administrator;
• file the Progress Report, the Term 1 Report Card or the Kindergarten Communication of Learning.

As teachers will not be entering marks, learning skills and/or comments electronically, we are not able to produce Term 1 report cards or the Kindergarten Communication of Learning. I want you to know that this difficult decision was made after careful consideration and a thorough review of all options. However, it is not possible to produce accurate report cards for the TDSB’s approximately 174,000 elementary students given the significant resources and time required to do so.

We regret that report cards will not be produced as we know they are an important measurement of student progress. It is important to note that teachers are still expected to assess and evaluate students and respond to your inquiries. Should you wish to speak with your child’s teacher, you may do so during the school day. Parent-Teacher interviews scheduled for Friday, February 14 are also expected to continue as normal. For students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs), they will continue to be updated during this job action.

We thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. Should you have any further questions about report cards or your child’s IEP, please speak with your school Principal.

Sincerely,

John Malloy

Director of Education