Make Kids First

"Make Kids First"

As a School Trustee and father, I feel strongly to "Make Kids First".

In all that I do, I put our children at the forefront to ensure that decisions are made to promote the best available education; and guarantee that students in the Peel School system will flourish within the financial constraints imposed by the Provincial Government. "Making Kids First" is my mandate!

I have worked with the School Board and School community to improve our schools through the planning and creation of new schools and additions to our existing ones.

Schools   Opened	2003 - Ruth Thompson Middle School 2004 - Artesian Drive Public School 2005 - Oakridge Public School 2005 - Oscar Peterson Public School 2006 - Stephen Lewis Secondary School
Additions Completed	2005 Erin Mills Senior Public School 2006 Oakridge Public School (Early Years Hub) 2006 Credit Valley Public School 2008 Sawmill Valley 2008 Brookmede 2008 Garthwood
Additions Planned	Ashgrove (on hold)

School Safety

My first priority is to have a safe learning environment for our children, an environment which allows them to flourish to the best of their abilities. I want parents to be confident that their children are protected.  I work with the School Board and all schools to ensure Board policies are followed and reviewed. In addition, I work with parents and school councils to review these policies to determine if improvements can be made.

Key items implemented

• Visitor sign-in and identification requirement (Badge)

• Staff Identification Badges

• Locked school doors during in-class hours

• Police and Principals working together to coordinate safety protocols

• Street Proofing presentations to our children by the local Community Officers

• Information nights by the Community Officers for parents concerning gangs, drugs and child violence.

All Day Kindergarten

Brookemede and Thornlodge will now serve our communities with the first All-Kindergarten program. I am really excited how our this new program will serve our community and most importantly our children.

Oakridge Readiness Hub

One of my proudest accomplishments was working to establish the Early Years Readiness Hub at Oakridge. This program introduced 5 years ago in Peel, provided 4 communities the opportunity to prepare both parents and children for the transition to school and parenthood. The establishment of the Hub with the fantastic work provided by the Peel Staff and Administration has proven to be a wonderful asset for the Oakridge Community.

Class Size Reductions

Elementary class sizes have been reduced from an average size of 24.5 students 3 years ago, to approaching 20.5 students. During my previous term, my goal was to achieve the class size reduction to 20 by 2007 which we accomplished. This change as you may have been aware, has lead to many split grades in the smaller schools, an unfortunate outcome of the initiative which has been passed on to the Government.
 

Elimination of Portables

In my first term, I worked with our administration to remove 5 Portable. During my recent term, 6 more portables were eliminated, leaving only 4 in Ward 8 (Credit Valley). There are still more challenges ahead, combining Wards 2 & 8, means I will expand my goal in the next term to eliminate all portables.
 

Advocate of Parents

I have worked as a Parent Advocate to ensure each child receives the highest level of education available in the award-winning Peel School Board. I have found through experience that each child's needs are different. It is therefore imperative to keep this focus when making any decisions concerning their future.