Dear Elementary Parents/Guardians,
As you are aware, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is currently engaged in legal job action that involves both work-to-rule (selected withdrawal of services) and full strike action. As always, learning continues in classrooms across the TDSB, and teachers remain committed to supporting students and keeping parents/guardians informed of their child’s progress. Current job action has resulted in the following changes:
Individual Education Plans
Teachers will continue to update Individual Education Plans (IEPs) with goals and expectations. For students who are on alternative expectations, teachers will provide a comment to administrators for each of the expectations. For students with IEPs who have accommodations and/or modifications, a mark will be reported to administration, with an indication that they have an IEP for that subject. IEPs will be updated, but will not be provided to families at this time. Parents/guardians can contact their child’s teachers directly to learn about their progress.
Elementary Report Cards
Teachers will continue to evaluate and assess students but will not enter marks and/or learning skills electronically. Due to the significant time and resources required to input accurate marks and learning skills for the TDSB’s approximately 174,000 elementary students, the TDSB is not able to produce Term 1 report cards. This difficult decision was made after careful consideration and a thorough review of all options.
We know that report cards are an important measurement of student progress. However, it is important to reiterate that teachers will continue to assess and evaluate students and respond to parent/guardian inquiries about student progress. See below for more information about parent-teacher interviews.
While teachers will be providing school administrators with a class list of marks and learning skills, at this time, we will not be able to provide marks to parents/guardians. Beyond the significant operational and logistical challenges associated with this, marks alone, without comments or context, do not provide a complete picture of a student’s progress. As always, parents/guardians can contact their child’s teachers to learn about their progress.
Kindergarten Communication of Learning
Kindergarten teachers will write one brief comment per section for the Kindergarten Communication of Learning, and will not input it electronically. As a result, the TDSB is not able to produce Kindergarten Communication of Learning for students at this time. Should parents/guardians have questions about their child’s progress, they can contact their Kindergarten teachers and/or designated early childhood educators directly.
Parent-Teacher Interviews
Elementary parent-teacher interviews scheduled to take place during the PA day on Friday, February 14 will continue as normal. Teachers continue to evaluate and assess students and are committed to keeping parents/guardians informed. Parents/guardians are encouraged to contact their child’s teachers directly to make arrangements to receive a progress update on their child.
In addition to the PA day, parents/guardians can also contact their child’s teachers to set up an interview/phone call as long as it falls within the reduced workday as per ETFO’s sanctions (30 minutes before the start of the instructional day and 15 minutes after the end of the instructional day). As always, if teachers have concerns about a student’s progress/achievement, they will proactively contact parents/guardians to discuss.
I want to reiterate that learning continues in classrooms across the TDSB and all staff continue to support the achievement and well-being of all students.
Sincerely,
John Malloy
Director of Education