Waterloo region public schools to talk sex-ed for second time in 2 weeks
With a directive from province, it's time to 'discuss our next steps,' board chair says
Changes to the health and physical education curriculum will again be the topic of a special meeting of Waterloo Region District School Board trustees Wednesday night.
It's the second time in two weeks trustees have met to talk about the changes to the curriculum.
This meeting comes a week after the province's Ministry of Education issued a new directive on what can be taught in the classrooms.
The high school curriculum will not change, but elementary students will be taught the curriculum that was put in place in 1998.
"Now that we have the directive from the ministry that came last week, it's a good opportunity for trustees to get together again and discuss our next steps," Scott McMillan, the chair of the Waterloo Region District School Board board of trustees.
Wednesday's meeting is set to begin at 6 p.m. in Kitchener.
Vote to support teachers who deliver 2015 curriculum
During the Aug. 20 meeting, trustees passed a 6-2 vote in favour of teachers delivering the 2015 sex education curriculum when school starts again in September.
Ted Martin, the vice chairperson of the board, told CBC K-W at the time that staff had been expressing concerns about what they'd be teaching.
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There are eight people signed up to speak to the board Wednesday night, the maximum number the board allows.
Need for snitch line?
Last week, Premier Doug Ford also announced a website where parents can report concerns about teachers who aren't following the curriculum, which has been dubbed a "snitch line" by union officials.
That's one subject McMillan expects will generate a lot of discussion.
Speaking for himself and not the board, McMillan said he didn't see a need for it.
"We've got processes in place for people who have issues, concerns with things that are happening in the classroom. Parents should always feel free to call their teacher, and if they can't come to an agreeable resolution, they should feel free to contact their principal or their superintendent and, maybe not as a last resort, they always have in their back pocket they can call their trustee," he said.
"When you're politicizing teachers and politicizing our classrooms like that, I really think it's overstepping the bounds of the Ministry of Education."