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Explore OPSBA updates, media releases, and recent instances of OPSBA spokespeople lending their expert point of view to the news.
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November 13, 2024The 2025 Public Education Symposium
Registration and Program Now Available!
Registration for the 2025 Public Education Symposium (PES), taking place January 24 and 25 at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto, is now open. We recommend booking early to secure your spot.
PES is OPSBA’s premier professional development experience. This year’s theme is The Time is Now! Today’s education world is incredibly complex – strong and skillful leadership is more important than ever. Join us at PES 2025 for the tools, insights, and professional learning you need now to lead with confidence and govern effectively.
Program highlights:
- An intimate discussion about the essential role of strong governance in Ontario’s education system with Giselle Basanta, Assistant Deputy Minister, Education Equity and Governance Secretariat, and Chief Equity Officer
- Remarks and Q&A with Ontario Education Minister Jill Dunlop
- A keynote address on Nationhood by Indigenous Leader Ovide Mercredi
- Learn about the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Action Plan to tackle anti-Black racism in Ontario’s education system presented by Chief Commissioner Patricia DeGuire
Hear from Ontario’s Education Critics as they share their priorities and their party’s approach to education. Then join us for a follow-up discussion where political strategists and pollsters will dig into what the critics and Minister Dunlop had to say, while discussing education priorities as we look towards the next provincial election.
There will be 15 professional development workshops to choose from focusing on topics such as Core Education Funding, Trustee Code of Conduct, Parent and Community Engagement, Advocacy, Director’s Performance Appraisal, Jordan’s Principle, Understanding Unconscious Bias, Healthy Democracy, and more.
Finally, PES includes unparalled trustee networking opportunities at regional meetings, networking breaks, receptions, and the annual gala dinner and awards ceremony.
View the full program and register
For more information, please contact the PD Events Team
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October 31, 2024
OPSBA statement on the Fall Economic Statement
“Ontario’s 2024 fall economic statement, released yesterday, is projecting stronger revenue and economic growth than was expected in the 2024 Budget.
The investment of $750,000 over three years for the Scientists in School Program is encouraging. This money will help expand expert-led science, engineering, and technology workshops in elementary school classrooms, giving students more training and support as they prepare for the dynamic and evolving STEM fields that will shape Ontario’s future.
We were expecting an update on the implementation of the National School Food Program in Ontario after advocating for this much-needed investment since it was initially mentioned in the 2019 federal budget.
OPSBA remains hopeful, especially considering Premier Ford’s recent supportive remarks, that Ontario will collaborate effectively with the federal government to establish this essential program. Such a program promises to reduce barriers to learning by ensuring every student has access to nutritious meals, enabling them to better focus, engage, and achieve their full potential.
Analysis from the Coalition for Healthy School Food shows that the Ontario government’s funding of student nutrition is lagging many other Canadian jurisdictions. That’s why we continue to urge the Ontario government to build on a school food agreement with the Government of Canada by providing additional provincial funding to ensure every student has a full stomach at school.
A universal, responsive, and sustainable school food program will have lasting benefits for Ontario’s students and communities, and we urge swift action to bring it to life.”
– Kathleen Woodcock, President
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