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Woo-hoo! East View! (4 photos)

It was a day of celebrating expansion at an existing school and the opening of a new school.

It was a day of celebrating expansion at an existing school and the opening of a new school.

Liz Sandals, Ontario education minister, accompanied by Sault MPP David Orazietti, toured provincially-funded infrastructure improvements at the Algoma District School Board's (ADSB) East View Public School in the city's east end Tuesday morning.

Then came a tour of the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board's (H-SCDSB) new, soon-to-open St. Mary's College on Second Line East .

Earlier this year, MPP Orazietti announced $630,000 for an expansion at East View, which includes a 1,200-square-foot addition known as a Common Area, along with renovations to the main office, library and a Cultural Room for indigenous students.  

"The addition to the exterior allows us to eliminate some portables so with the school population growing this was a great project for us, and the Ministry of Education saw it as well and helped us fund it," said Joe Santa Maria, ADSB superintendent of education.

The ADSB used $300,000 to $400,000 of its capital money, apart from the provincial funding, for the improvements, Santa Maria said.

The Cultural Room is a room that is welcoming to East View's indigenous population.

Connie Traves, East View principal, estimated approximately 250 East View students are aboriginal (200 from Garden River, 50 from Batchewana), with about 330 students in total.

Chief Lyle Sayers, Garden River First Nation chief, was on hand for Tuesday's tour.

Renovations should be done by mid to late September, the addition done by mid-December, Traves said.

Speaking to reporters, Sandals said she is hopeful tentative new collective agreements with two major teachers unions will be ratified by their members.

Sandals also expressed hope agreements with two other unions can be worked out, thereby avoiding work to rule sanctions and possibly a full-blown teachers strike.

"I'm quite optimistic we'll be able to come to agreements."

Tentative agreements have been worked out with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA).

Teachers with the English Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) sat down again with the province Tuesday morning.

Negotiations are also going on with the province's French language educators.

There are many issues at stake, and pay is one of them.

The province has stated it will not fund any salary increases until it gets rid of an $11.9 billion deficit, which the government hopes to eliminate by 2017-2018.

"We're in a net zero bargaining situation," Sandals said.

"It doesn't mean teachers will necessarily get zero, but if there are any increases in compensation then that has to be offset with something else within the collective agreement, and with OECTA and OSSTF we were able to do that, we were able to work out agreements that respected that net zero framework."

"We'll continue working with the school boards and the unions on a net zero agreement," Sandals said. 

The unions have also protested what they consider unfair hiring practices, increased class sizes, decreased classroom support (educational assistants) and decreased opportunity for teachers to use their own professional judgment to determine how students are assessed and evaluated.

The new contracts, if ratified, would be in effect for three years retroactive from September 1, 2014 to August 31, 2017.

Classes for Ontario elementary and secondary students begin September 8.

(PHOTO: Education Minister Liz Sandals on a tour of East View Public School accompanied by ADSB Chair Jennifer Sarlo, ADSB Director of Education Lucia Reese and Sault MPP David Orazietti, September 1, 2015. Darren Taylor/SooToday)


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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