In this School Board Update, Hicks Morley’s Michael Hines and Brittany Bates review the recent decision in Avon Maitland District School Board v Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, where Arbitrator Robert Herman concluded that standard class size maxima pursuant to the collective agreement still apply even when mainstream classes include special needs students expecting to receive less than full credit.
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School Board Update
On March 5, 2021, Arbitrator Susan Stewart released an award (Award) between the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (Board) and ETFO dealing with preparation time (prep time) for remote learning elementary teachers in its virtual classes during the current 2020-21 school year. The grievance alleged that the Board had failed to provide prep time in…
School Board Update
For 20 years, beginning in 1997, school boards and teachers’ federations agreed that class size limits pertaining to elementary school students needed to be met only by and on a “determination date” identified in the first half of the fall term. Following the negotiation of its 2017 Extension Agreement and an associated Letter of Commitment from the Crown, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) challenged this mutual understanding in two related arbitrations. Two arbitration awards and one judicial review later, the issue has now been definitively resolved – in favour of the school boards’ interpretation and the continuation of the historical compliance system.