Simcoe students take home the grades
When report cards come out on the last day of school June 25, elementary students will receive grades but no comments.
With elementary school teachers currently in work-to-rule job action, the formal end-of-year reporting process has been disrupted.
Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) administrators will be inputting marks in order to send final grades home at the end of the year.
“The SCDSB feels that strong communication between parents/guardians and the school is key to achieving our mission and vision. This would typically include a clear and fully documented final report card,” said Annie Chandler, trustee for Clearview Township and Collingwood. “Due to current labour actions as part this strike action, the SCDSB will be sending home a condensed version of report cards for elementary students. They will include only grades with no associated comments or learning skills.”
A lack of reporting has caused a stir in other school boards, prompting students to protest in some urban areas.
“There is no clear explanation as to why school boards like Toronto, Peel and York Region can’t issue report cards as other boards are doing,” said Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario president Sam Hammond. “These boards may be larger but they have proportionately as many administrators within their system to handle the task of issuing report cards.”
Chandler said discussions about how to get the marks inputted happened at the board staff level when job action was announced in May.
“Right from the get-go, SCDSB has been committed to assisting the elementary schools in sending reports home. Our non-unionized staff, such as superintendents have been going into the schools to help input marks. Students will receive report card marks, without comments on the last day of school,” said Chandler. “SCDSB has led the charge on this issue, as we now see some of the bigger boards following suit.”
