School board tells parents about its ‘ambitious goals’

WATERLOO REGION — Engineering graduate Marcel Cameron figures his two young children will need a strong education to thrive.

“If you don’t have it, then it’s more or less a struggle,” he says.

He’s pleased to hear that the Waterloo Region District School Board plans to improve its low math scores and raise its mediocre graduation rate.

Alysse Hastie’s two children are good students. But she worries about aspects of their French immersion program.

“I want to be sure the school board is doing everything that it can to support them in their education.”

Joe Ortiz, with one child in high school and another recently graduated, wants parents and the school board to communicate more.

“If parents are involved with their children’s education, their children are more able to be more successful.”

These three parents were among more than 60 who attended a public meeting Tuesday, hosted by the public school board to explain how it plans to do better.

The board has been drifting. Elementary students currently score six points below Ontario across reading, writing and mathematics, by standardized tests. This compares to a decade ago when students scored two points below Ontario.

High school students currently score at or below Ontario across math and literacy, and graduate at a rate in Ontario’s bottom third. That compares to a decade ago when they scored well above Ontario.

By 2019 the public board is pledging to graduate 85 per cent of students, to match the current Ontario graduation rate. It plans to raise math scores on standardized tests by 24 percentage points, in Grades 3 and 6 and in Grade 9 applied math.

The board plans to get there by narrowing top priorities to graduation rates, the well-being of staff and students, and math. It plans to use evidence such as test scores to assess if teachers are consistently implementing strategies. It will also focus on student mental health.

“Let me be clear. This process is a shift for us, as an organization,” education director John Bryant told parents.

Chair Scott McMillan said the school board is committed to being accountable even if it falls short.

“I think we’re much better off setting ambitious goals, and dealing with the heat of coming up just short, than setting nominal goals and reaching them, and having people disappointed right from the start that we weren’t willing to try and be all that we could be,” he said in an interview.