English Montreal School Board

EMSB joins QESBA in challenge to education cuts

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By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The English Montreal School Board voted unanimously to join the Quebec English School Boards Association’s legal challenge to the CAQ government’s budget constraints.

From last fall to late last spring the Quebec government slashed a combined $570 million from education. Then, in July, they announced $540 million in “investments” in education. But those investments came with conditions that EMSB Chair Joe Ortona says are not only not feasible, but put education in Quebec in jeopardy.

Ortona recalled the government-imposed measure to cut $10.6 million from the 2025-26 budget, along with a measure threatening $10.4 million in penalties “if we cannot meet an unrealistic staffing cap.” He added that schools are “barred from accessing $7.8 million of our accumulated surplus, funds that could protect vital programs.”

“The resolution before us mandates our board to join the QESBA’s legal challenge, led by (law firm) Power Law, to contest the Quebec government’s 2025-2026 budgetary rules and seek a stay of their application.”

The EMSB is inviting other boards, including French school service centres, to join the litigation, “despite Bill 40 constraints.”

“This fight extends beyond our board,” Ortona said. “French school service centres face similar barriers, and through the “Ensemble, unis pour l’école” coalition, we stand united.”

When asked why the board decided to join the QESBA’s lawsuit, Ortona said there was no other choice. Without a stay of application, he said, “we would have to make harmful cuts that would have a detrimental impact on the future of the students.”

The cuts that boards could be forced to make would affect any number of services and staffing. “I think of support services for special needs students. I think of music programs, arts programs, sports concentration programs, extracurricular activities, breakfast programs. All of these things,” Ortona emphasized, “are in jeopardy all throughout the province.” Families whose children would be affected by these cuts “are outraged,” Ortona told reporters, “and they have every right to be.”

He fully expects the government to fight back, which Ortona says would be shameful. “What the government should have done is just reverse the cuts that they tried to implement before.” n

EMSB joins QESBA in challenge to education cuts Read More »

NDG school for Indigenous boys gets support from EMSB

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By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The English Montreal School Board is joining forces with an alternative school in NDG that provides support for Indigenous students at risk.

Ulluriaq has been in the neighbourhood for about six years. Its students are boys from Nunavik and communities in and around the Ungava Peninsula, and operates under the Ungava Tulattavik Health Centre. The unit has two components. One is a detention facility. The other is a high school that provides education to at-risk and neurodivergent teens in a setting that prioritizes cultural connection and hands-on learning.

The EMSB will be providing the school’s educational component.

Life in the north is hard. Suicide rates are high. And life expectancy, at least at one time, was no longer than 21 years. The thinking behind setting up Ulluriaq was that, rather than send people to northern communities, it would be better to bring at-risk kids to the city where they might experience a bigger world. The mission has changed somewhat, says head teacher Ophir Benjacob. Now Ulluriaq – which means “star” – takes in kids who might either be in youth protection, or in the justice system. Their home communities don’t have the tools to give them the help they need. So they send them to Ulluriaq.

The partnership between the school and the EMSB means that the board will provide educational support – teachers who will be going into Ulluriaq. That comes with challenges. Many of the boys at Ulluriaq have never been to school, Benjacob tells The Suburban. Those who have, he says, might have come out traumatized. There are cultural and linguistic differences to overcome. Many of the boys at Ulluriaq speak only Inuktitut. They are disconnected from their homes and communities. The teachers will have to learn about where these boys come from, about their culture. And they will need to have the teaching and communication skills necessary to help the boys overcome their challenges.

Last fall the EMSB hired two new teachers as project development officers for Indigenous support. Raymond Johnson-Brown and Kurt Kerschl work to ensure a safe environment for Indigenous students at schools in the board. The two will work as liaisons with Ulluriaq. Johnson-Brown knows what it means to grow up in the care system. “I felt an immediate pull when I learned that we provide education services to children in a facility that is locked down,” Johnson-Brown says. “It’s such a surreal and disorienting experience to be taken from your home, your culture, and your language, and then placed in an environment where you can’t even begin to process what’s happening to you.”

Benjacob explains that the partnership will give Ulluriaq “the capacity to expand on the program beyond the basic academics that are conventional for a high school” to encompass elements of the Inuit culture.

At Ulluriaq, “we are not just teaching, we are building a foundation for resilience, self-sufficiency, and cultural pride,” says Benjacob. “By meeting our students where they are, both academically and culturally, we are proving that education can be a tool for empowerment, not a barrier to success.” n

NDG school for Indigenous boys gets support from EMSB Read More »

School boards discourage Friday’s planned student anti-cellphone ban strike

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by Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The Suburban recently reported that there was mixed reaction to the Quebec government’s school cell phone ban, particularly among students. So much so that some are planning on staging a walkout tomorrow (Friday, May 9) to protest the ban, leading the English Montreal School Board to put out a message discouraging the action.

Word has been spreading about the strike via TikTok

“We would like to remind all students and families,” the message reads, “that students are expected to be in school during the regular hours.”

The board points out that schools are “in examination mode and disruptions to classroom teaching and exams will not be tolerated.”

The cellphone ban is based on the recommendations of a multi-party committee who recommended that, despite whatever policies individual schools have, starting in the next school year all elementary and high schools must enact a ban on cellphones and other electronic devices for the duration of the school day.

Education Minister Bernard Drainville, who officially enacted the ban after hearing the committee’s recommendations, has also discouraged the walkout. Speaking in the National Assembly, Drainville said that students can find several other ways to express themselves concerning the ban, “but missing school should not be one of them.” And he is asking parents to be on board with making sure kids stay in class.

The EMSB said in its message that “the safety and security of EMSB students and staff remains our priority at all times.”

That sentiment is echoed by the French side by the Centre de services scolaire de Montreal.

While some students are defiantly planning to strike, others are saying a strike goes too far.

School boards discourage Friday’s planned student anti-cellphone ban strike Read More »

EMSB tables motion to save F.A.C.E. School

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By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The English Montreal School Board has tabled a motion to help save F.A.C.E. School. The arts core education school serving both Anglophone and Francophone elementary and high school students is facing an existential crisis after the CAQ government went back on its promise to fund urgently-needed renovations, thereby keeping it open.

Instead, the education ministry announced last month that the planned renovations to the heritage building have become too costly. The work was originally estimated at $243 million. But the government says the actual costs have risen to $375 million. As reported in The Suburban last month, the government has opted, instead, to separate the elementary school and high school, and house them in two different locations – École Christophe Colomb and École Saint-Urbain.

With the school’s fate all but decided, the EMSB has tabled a motion at the April 29 Board of Commissioners, “calling on the government to keep F.A.C.E. school.” The motion was tabled by EMSB Chairman Joe Ortona and by Ward 4 commissioner Maria Corsi, who commented at the meeting that “the F.A.C.E School community, both on the CSSDM side and the EMSB side, was blindsided” by the ministry of education.”

Ortona agrees. “While we were well aware that the F.A.C.E. building is in need of significant renovations, the possibility of this building closing as a school permanently was never raised,” Ortona said, calling the ministry’s decision “disgraceful” and “shameful.”

“For the Minister to just announce this late on a Friday afternoon (April 4) left everyone with more questions than answers,” Ortona added. “The Minister has an obligation to consult, even in the French sector. It’s a disregard of our rights.”

The decision to withdraw funding for the renovations, Corsi said, essentially spells “the end of the highly successful and unique F.A.C.E. School cohabitation model and program.” Corsi points out that the government made its decision without consulting the communities that will be affected.

Corsi highlighted, as did Geneviève Gueritaud, a mom of F.A.C.E. students who spoke with The Suburban last month, that the locations proposed by the government are inappropriate to F.A.C.E. School’s arts-core education. They don’t have the facilities required, or the space, to accommodate its arts-core curriculum.

The motion is calling on the government to consider alternatives to the rehabilitation project that would “reduce costs to allow F.A.C.E. School to return to its current location without impacting the safety and security of students and staff.”

The motion also suggests as an alternative, if retaining the current F.A.C.E. location is rejected, the site of the former St. Raphael School at 8735 Henri Julien “for the construction of a new, state-of-the-art facility specifically designed for the arts, to house elementary and high school students of the CSSDM and the EMSB together.”

F.A.C.E. is the only school in the city that houses students from both the CSSDM and the EMSB. The CSSDM owns and manages the building.

If the government’s decision stands, Corsi argued, future students will no longer have access to the educational benefits and advantages of F.A.C.E. School’s cohabitation model. “It is incorrect and disingenuous,” she says, “for the minister to say that the F.A.C.E. program would remain the same in two separate buildings. So, it’s imperative, and the school community expects, and in fact demands, that the minster reconsider this decision, and that the costs of the F.A.C.E renovation project be reevaluated and that all options be considered to ensure the integrity of the program, and that the students remain together in one building.”

The motion was passed unanimously. n

EMSB tables motion to save F.A.C.E. School Read More »

Ortona, team sweep EMSB election

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By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Joe Ortona was re-elected chairman of the English Montreal School Board by a wide margin and his entire team was elected, defeating challenger Katherine Korakakis and her team. The voter turnout was 22 percent and observers feel it would have been higher had registration rules not been changed in mid-campaign by the returning officer and Elections Quebec.

The election was contested vigorously, with some barbs at times as seen on social media. Volunteers called potential voters as late as this past Saturday night.

“Thank you to everyone who came out to vote today,” Ortona said Sunday night. “Your support means everything to us, and we’re proud to continue advocating for the needs of our English-speaking community. The journey to protect our schools never stops, and we’re honoured to have your trust. Here’s to a brighter future for the EMSB, our students and our community. Together, we’ll keep building something great.”

Ortona touted the board’s success rate of 95.9 percent graduation, and talked about the political battles the board is waging against the Quebec government over Bill 96, Bill 21, and Bill 40 – the contentious bid by the government to abolish school boards, as they did for the French sector (which some have blamed for the Ecole Bedford fiasco).

Ortona says the results send a strong message to the CAQ in terms of the community being in control of its own schools.

The results were:• For chair:Joe Ortona, Team Joe Ortona 13,289

Katherine Korakakis, Team Katherine Korakakis 4,674

• Ward 1 (Ahuntsic-Cartierville–Montréal-Nord)

Susan Perera , Team Joe Ortona 916

Franco Mazzariello, Team Katherine Korakakis 425

• Ward 2 (Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce)

Chelsea Craig, Team Joe Ortona 1,039

Howie Silbiger, Team Katherine Korakakis 631

• Ward 3 (Côte-Saint-Luc. Montreal West, Hampstead)

Paola Samuel, Team Joe Ortona 1,607

Samara Perez, Team Katherine Korakakis 1,110

• Ward 4 (Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve–Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie–Plateau-Mont-Royal–Anjou–Montreal-Est)

Maria Corsi, Team Joe Ortona 1,121

Viktoriya Grosko, Team Katherine Korakakis 333

• Ward 5 (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce)

Sharon Nelson, Team Joe Ortona 1,132

Joseph Lalla, Team Katherine Korakakis 853

• Ward 6 (Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles)

Pietro Mercuri, Team Joe Ortona 2,248

Tony Aversano, Team Katherine Korakakis 340

• Ward 7 (Saint-Laurent)

James Kromida, Team Joe Ortona 974

Vicky Pololos, Team Katherine Korakakis 471

• Ward 8 (Saint-Léonard)

Mario Pietrangelo, Team Joe Ortona 1,681

Antonio Zaruso, Team Katherine Korakakis 521

• Ward 9 (Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension–Mont-Royal–Outremont

Paula Kilian, Team Joe Ortona 938

Joanne Charron, Team Katherine Korakakis 310

• Ward 10 (Westmount–Sud-Ouest–Ville-Marie)

Julien Feldman, Team Joe Ortona 1,243

Shalani Bel, Team Katherine Korakakis 752 n

Ortona, team sweep EMSB election Read More »

The EMSB Election: The Ortona Team

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By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

This year’s English school boards elections will take place on November 3. The English Montreal School Boards elections are contested. Incumbent chair Joe Ortona is seeking reelection, but is facing an opponent after being acclaimed in 2021.

Ortona was Vice Chair under former Chair Angela Mancini. Ortona, a lawyer, is also the president of the Quebec English School Boards Association.

Under Ortona, the EMSB has been fighting the province’s language and secularism laws, and fighting against the move to abolish English school boards.

His leadership is being challenged by Katherine Korakakis, president of the English Parents’ Committee Association of Quebec.

Ortona is running for chair with a full slate of candidates for commissioners.

Ward 1 – Ahuntsic-Cartierville–Montréal-Nord

Susan Perera, a political science student at Concordia University

Ward 2 – Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

Chelsea Craig is Director of Operations for Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather, and a board member of the Quebec Community Groups Network.

Ward 3 – Côte-Saint-Luc, Montreal West, Hampstead

Paola Samuel is a former broadcast journalist who is active in Montreal’s Sephardic Jewish community.

Ward 4 – Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve–Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie–Plateau-Mont-Royal–Anjou–Montreal-Est

Maria Corsi has been a parent volunteer in EMSB schools, and on the EMSB Parents’ Committee.

Ward 5 – Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

Sharon Nelson is the 1st Vice President of the Jamaica Association of Montreal and Assistant Director for the Executive MBA Program at the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University).

Ward 6 – Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles

Pietro Mercuri is an educator, having taught both English and French before transitioning into the corporate world.

Ward 7 – Saint-Laurent

James Kromida has been a school board commissioner since 1998, and is the current vice-chair of the EMSB.

Ward 8 – Saint-Léonard

Mario Pietrangelo retired from the Montreal police force in 2016 after a 30-year career that earned him the Police Exemplary Medal.

Ward 9 – Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension–Mont-Royal–Outremont

Paula Kilian is a stay-at-home mom who dedicated time to the Family Association and the governing board at Dunrae Gardens, and to the EMSB Parents’ Committee.

Ward 10 – Westmount–Sud-Ouest–Ville-Marie

Julien Feldman is a former journalist who has served on the governing board at Bancroft School, a board member on the Royal West Academy Foundation, and on the EMSB’s Council of Commissioners.

More information on the Team Ortona platform can be found at teamjoeortona.ca n

The EMSB Election: The Ortona Team Read More »

St. Laurent, Montreal devote $1.5 million for school safety

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By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The borough of St. Laurent and the City of Montreal have invested $1.5 million to ensure safety around local schools for students, school staff and motorists as the new school year begins.

The work includes eight curb extensions — similar work was done this and last year in Côte des Neiges-NDG and other locales near schools; the raising of three pedestrian crossings and two intersections, the installation of 30 speed bumps, work on 1.6 km of sidewalks and a safety awareness campaign.

The latter includes traffic signs on residential streets around schools, including those “taking the shape of a student holding a placard that reads “Attention à nos enfants!” (“Watch out for our children!”).

“These signs represent an awareness measure that has proved effective for the last two years,” says a borough statement.

The awareness campaign around schools also involves an already existing collaboration between St. Laurent, the SPVM, the City of Montreal, the Centre de services scolaires Marguerite-Bourgeoys and the English Montreal School Board.

“The aim of this campaign is to encourage all those who travel in school zones – children and their parents, motorists, pedestrians and cyclists – to adopt safe behaviours when doing so,” says the borough statement. “To achieve this goal, the partners have created various tools to raise awareness, including brochures that are handed out by the police teams from the SPVM’s Station 7 in front of approximately 15 schools in St. Laurent.” n

St. Laurent, Montreal devote $1.5 million for school safety Read More »

New provisions of Bill 96 demands more French on signs

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By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The Quebec government has announced that new sign law provisions of Bill 96 will take effect next June 1, and it focuses on the size and prominence of French on outdoor commercial signs, including in relation to store names trademarked only in English.

On the other hand, the aspect of Bill 96 requiring more French content on engraved markings on appliances has been delayed.

“In Quebec, when Quebecers and tourists stroll through the streets, it must be clear, Quebec is a French-speaking nation,” French language minister Jean-Francois Roberge said last week.

The legislation says French on signs must have a greater impact “in the visual field” than English, and take up two-thirds of the space on the sign.

More specifically, the law says, “where texts both in French and in another language appear on the same sign or poster, the text in French is deemed to have a much greater visual impact if the following conditions are met —the space allotted to the text in French is at least twice as large as the space allotted to the text in the other language; the characters used in the text in French are at least twice as large as those used in the text in the other language; and “the other characteristics of the sign or poster do not have the effect of reducing the visual impact of the text in French.”

The new regulations also tighten up the pre-Bill 96 requirement that a French descriptor accompany a trademark that is only registered in English, such as Best Buy, Winners and Subway, amongst many others. The Quebec government has complained that not all businesses with English trademarked names are respecting the existing regulations. Bill 96 is now requiring that the French aspects of these signs have a greater visual impact, rather than just a “sufficient presence” under the current rules.

Currently, many descriptors, such as “Électroniques” for Best Buy” and “Mode” for Winners, are less prominent than the English-language business name. For instance, the Best Buy descriptor is smaller in font size and is white, while the Best Buy logo is more prominent — not only larger in size but in more visible colours, yellow and black. The “Mode” descriptor is much smaller than the trademark name “Winners” and is below the store name.

Now, the French presence on such signs has to be twice that of the English. A graphic provided by the Quebec government provides two ways the law applies — one is that the descriptor of the store, such as “clothing”, is twice as large as the store name; and the other is that there is more French content, not only a general descriptor, but further descriptions of what the store sells, such as “shoes” and “fashion for everyone.” These do not have to be larger than the English-trademarked name.

Michel Rochette of the Retail Council of Canada has contended that the sign changes will cost businesses between $20 million and $25 million to comply with the law 11 months from now, as opposed to the Quebec government’s estimate of $7 million to $15 million.The Retail Council had called for the law to take effect three years after its publication, as originally promised, and the organization is also calling for financial aid for its members. n

New provisions of Bill 96 demands more French on signs Read More »

EMSB tops province in grad rates

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By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

The English Montreal School Board has secured the highest graduation success rate in the province. According to the latest education ministry numbers, from 2022-2023, the EMSB’s graduation rate stands at 95.9%, up from 92.7% the year prior.

While most students graduated within five years, the Ministry allows for a two-year extension to ensure students have ample opportunities to earn their diplomas or obtain their initial qualifications. The province-wide success rate of this seven-year cohort including public and private school results, stands at 84.2%. (The public system’s average is 81.7%, while the private sector reaches 93.5%.)

EMSB chair Joe Ortona said the numbers are particularly impressive given that this cohort was affected by the pandemic. “The province reinstated uniform exams in June 2022. It is reassuring to note that student achievement has remained stable in the courses required for graduation, and academically, COVID does not appear to have had a marked effect on these students.”

The board actually exceeded the overall average, and the private networks as well, added EMSB director general Nick Katalifos. “The pandemic years were extremely challenging for all of us. Everyone rose to the occasion. The results stem from a collective effort — our teachers, in-school administrators, support staff, and professionals from all of the departments at the board.”

The results continue to improve and far exceed the francophone school service centres — surpassing the Centre de services scolaire de Marguerite Bourgeoys which posted Montreal’s highest French sector rate at 90.4%, (the Centre de services scolaire de Montreal at 81.5%). This, as the board continues to lead the fight against the CAQ scheme of abolishing school boards and replacing them with said service centres.

Last summer a Superior Court judge ruled that much of Bill 40 infringes on the English-speaking community’s constitutional rights to manage and control its education institutions. With more than 35,000 adult and youth sector students, the EMSB is Quebec’s largest English public school board. n

EMSB tops province in grad rates Read More »

New court victory for EMSB on Bill 96

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By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) is pleased with two Court of Appeal rulings issued Friday pertaining to Bill 96.

Justice Geneviève Marcotte rejected the government’s challenge to an April Superior Court decision that gave the EMSB a partial stay of Bill 96 and Charter of the French language provisions, which also benefited other English language boards and the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA).

In addition, the court also granted the EMSB’s request to appeal the same decision that declared English-language school boards to be “school service centres” like their French counterparts and will be heard once the Superior Court has ruled on the rest of the EMSB’s Bill 96 challenge.

“The fact that the Charter of the French Language requires English school boards to communicate exclusively in French when interacting with other English-speaking community organizations, including the QESBA and the English Parents’ Committee Association of Quebec, never made any sense,” stated EMSB Chair Joe Ortona. “I am pleased to see this injunction remain in place while we await a trial on the merits of the case.”

In the April ruling, the Superior Court concluded that the term “school service centres” in Bill 96 applied to English-language school boards, but school boards are not subject to Bill 40 and therefore are not school service centres. Bill 40, An Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance, would have transformed school boards into English-language school service centres but the nine boards were granted a stay from Bill 40 in 2020, confirmed by three Court of Appeal judges. Last August, the Superior Court declared various provisions unconstitutional and an appeal on the merits will likely be heard next year.

“We are English school boards, not school service centres like the French sector,” said Ortona. “It was important to once again make this abundantly clear. Even the Office québécois de la langue française and the Attorney General of Quebec’s lawyer acknowledged that there were legal inaccuracies in the judge’s analysis on the question.”

The EMSB’s constitutional challenge to Bill 96 has been joined with challenges of other parties and is progressing through the court system and expected to be a lengthy process. “This is partly why winning a stay is an important development, in order to avoid suffering irreparable harm while we wait,” said Ortona.

The EMSB is challenging Bill 96 notably on the basis that it violates the English-speaking community’s right to management and control of its educational institutions under s. 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. n

New court victory for EMSB on Bill 96 Read More »

EMSB heads to Supreme Court on Bill 21

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By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

The English Montreal School Board is heading to the Supreme Court over Bill 21.

The school board is asking the country’s highest court to hear an appeal of the Quebec Court of Appeals February judgment that the Act respecting the laicity of the State is constitutional.

The Legault government’s Bill 21 came into force in 2019 and prohibits certain state employees such as police officers, judges and teachers from wearing religious symbols on the job. The EMSB challenged some of its provisions, claiming that they violate minority language education rights guaranteed under Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as gender equality, protected under Section 28.

The Quebec Superior Court had earlier agreed that the law violated section 23 by preventing English-language school boards from hiring teachers wearing religious symbols. That ruling was struck down by the Appeals Court.

“We maintain our original position that Bill 21 conflicts with our values and our mission and with those of all Quebecers as expressed in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms,” said EMSB Chair Joe Ortona. “Its very adoption was contrary to our societal goal of promoting our peaceful co-existence in a pluralistic Quebec.”

Ortona also said the law prohibits future primary and high school teachers, school principals and vice-principals from wearing religious symbols in the exercise of their functions, while limiting the career advancement of current employees. “It prevents the EMSB from hiring teachers- including French teachers- in the context of a teacher shortage. Most importantly it sends a message of intolerance and exclusion to our students and their families.”

At a special council meeting convened Wednesday night, the elected and unelected members of the board’s council of commissioners voted to mandate the Power Law firm to file an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In February, the board slammed the appeal court ruling, noting the law’s particularly disproportionate effect on “Muslim women with university teaching degrees” and said the ruling tacitly allows “the provincial government to continue chipping away at the last bastion of the English-speaking community’s autonomy in our province.” n

EMSB heads to Supreme Court on Bill 21 Read More »

EMSB proposes new school for students with disabilities

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By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

The English Montreal School Board has launched a consultation process to open a new school for students with different disabilities. The board is proposing to house the new school at Nesbitt Elementary School in Rosemont for the 2025-26 academic year, coinciding with the closure of St. Raphael Elementary in Park Extension.

St. Raphael presently welcomes students with severe socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties and is at full capacity with a waiting list. The new location will serve neurotypical and neurodivergent students with severe behavioural difficulties and provide specialized resources and space to address the needs of both groups. The school would welcome 112 students overall, with each class having from six to eight students.

Over the last five years, the EMSB has opened numerous self-contained classes in mainstream schools to address the needs of students with specialized needs, causing overcrowding in some schools and extended resources across the system. As the EMSB has limited numbers of self-contained classrooms due to lack of space, students with complex needs are often placed in regular classes. Moreover, some students need specialized services that self-contained classes in regular schools cannot offer.

EMSB Chair Joe Ortona says the public hearings to take place in September 2024 will explore the need to consolidate resources in one location and create a centre of expertise to better serve students with different disabilities. “Having the students with exceptional challenges in a building where there is an existing school with joint activities, such as concerts, carnival days, welcome back festivities, just to name a few, would help facilitate the integration of neurotypical children into a regular setting,” he said.

“The integration of students with particular needs into a regular setting offers equitable opportunities and improves the learning outcomes for all children.” n

EMSB proposes new school for students with disabilities Read More »

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