CDSBEO Board of Trustees passes motion supporting Bill 191

Tonight, the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario passed unanimously the following motion brought by Trustee and SEAC Chair Sue Wilson.

We, the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario, move that a letter signed by the SEAC Chair Sue Wilson and the Board Chair Todd Lalonde be sent to Education Minister Indira Naidoo-Harris encouraging her to bring Bill 191 forward for a second and third reading as soon as possible which would amend the Education Act to require Ontario School Boards to promote awareness and understanding of FASD including best practices for students impacted by FASD and facilitate collaboration with local parents and FASD Support Groups in the undertaking of this promotion.  
We also move that this letter be sent to all provincial Special Education Advisory Committees, the Ontario Catholic School Trustee Association and the Ministry's Advisory Council on Special Education.  
Then as an amendment, it was moved the letter be sent to all MPP's whose ridings are contained within the CDSBEO catchment.

In the following discussion, CDSBEO Trustee chair and Ontario Catholic Trustee Association Regional Director Todd Lalonde http://www.ocsta.on.ca/ocsta-board-of-directors/ also stated that he will be meeting with the OCSTA Board of Directors this coming Friday and will begin a discussion involving it.  

The letter will be written in the next two weeks by Superintendent of School Effectiveness for Special Education Dr. Donaleen Hawes and then brought forth to the CDSBEO SEAC meeting on Jan. 31 before being sent to the aforementioned organizations and people as well as all schools in the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario.

In the following discussions, the letter will now be sent to Education Minister Indira Naidoo-Harris.  I know there is currently discussion about what the latest cabinet shuffle means for Bill 191.  Our new Education Minister Indira Naidoo-Harris is on record as being in support of the work the Halton FASD is currently doing.  “The Halton Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Collaborative provides important support for many Halton families facing challenges in their lives. This Ontario Trillium Foundation grant will help them expand their vital services and take care of the unique needs of local children and families affected by FASD. I’m so pleased our FASD community is getting this help.” – Indira Naidoo-Harris, MPP for Halton  http://haltonfasd.ca/  When you consider that MPP Hunter, MPP Granville Anderson and now MPP Naidoo-Harris are still with the Ministry of Education, Bill 191 is not dead.