Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 25 prior to 1999^[4]) refers to both the institution responsible for the operation of all English public schools in the city of Ottawa, Ontario and its governing body. Like most school boards, the OCDSB is administered by a group of elected trustees and one director selected and appointed by the Board itself. Additionally, annually, two student trustees are selected per provincial regulation.

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
Location
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Coordinates	45.3322°N 75.7800°W / 45.3322; -75.7800
District information
Chair of the board	Lyra Evans
Director of education	Pino Buffone
Schools	113 elementary schools 25 secondary schools 5 secondary alternative program sites[1]
Budget	CA$974.3 million (2018-2019)[2]
District ID	B66184
Other information
Student trustees	Emma Hong Malaika Kamanzi[3]
Website	www.ocdsb.ca

Every four years, within the context of the Ottawa municipal elections, an election is held within each of Ottawa's twelve trustee electoral zones to elect each trustee. Following election and annually thereafter, the board of trustees holds its organizational meeting, where the Board membership elects two of its members to the positions of chair and vice-chair of the Board. Chairs and membership of each of the Board's committees are also determined as part of the organizational meeting. In addition to the twelve trustees, two student trustees are elected by their peers, providing opportunities for the student body to become informed and involved in Board governance.

History

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board was created on 1 January 1998 in accordance with Ontario provincial government legislation including merging of the former adjacent Carleton Board of Education and the Ottawa Board of Education. The headquarters of the amalgamated school district is located at the former headquarters of the Carleton Board of Education at 133 Greenbank Road, Nepean.

Historically, and to this day, the OCDSB is one of the very few school boards in Ontario with an advisory council on the arts providing input and annual reports to the board of trustees.

In 2009–2010 the OCDSB tried to shut down the Alternative program. A group of students and parents from Lady Evelyn Alt teamed up with a trustee and won the Review.^{[citation needed]}

In 2017 a family was awarded approximately $3,000 after winning a lawsuit against the OCDSB over the board's failure to take a student's complaints about bullying seriously.^[5]

In 2018 two former students filed lawsuits against the OCDSB for failing its "legal duty to provide for the safety of its students".^[6]

In 2019 an investigation was launched to look into what ultimately resulted in three sex offense charges against OCDSB teacher Majed Turk in July 2020. The alleged incidents occurred between September and November 2019.^[7]

As of 2020, there were ongoing lawsuits filed against the OCDSB for the sexual abuse of its students by now deceased teacher and Bell High School basketball coach, Donald Greenham.^[8]

In 2022 a disciplinary panel with the Ontario College of Teachers found former OCDSB teacher Peter Des Brisay guilty of professional misconduct after sexually abusing a former student in the late 1990s.^[9]

Schools and programs

The OCDSB has 147 school sites (117 elementary, 25 secondary including the Adult High School, plus five secondary alternate sites). Schools within the OCDSB provide English with Core French, Alternative, Early French Immersion, Middle French Immersion, Late French Immersion, Special Education, IEP's and gifted program.^[10]

Finances

The OCDSB has an operating budget of $784.8 million for the 2010–2011 school year. In 2007, the school busses belonging to the OCDSB and the co-terminus catholic school board were taken over by a new corporation: The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (See external link, below)

Demographics

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is the largest school board in Eastern Ontario, serving students within the City of Ottawa, covering an area of 3,760 km² (1,450 sq mi). The OCDSB is the seventh largest district by school population in the province of Ontario. Enrolment as of 31 October 2007 totalled 72,388 students (47,099 elementary and 25,455 secondary).^[1]

The District has 2,711 full-time equivalent (FTE) elementary teachers and 1,337 secondary teachers, as of 31 October 2007, with 238 principals and vice-principals. In addition to the full-time teachers, approximately 2,494 teachers are on the district's occasional teachers list. The OCDSB also has 2,059 administrative and support staff of whom 1,817 work in the schools.^[1]

The chair of the OCDSB is Lyra Evans.

Trustees

The following is a list of trustees elected to the school board since its creation.

Election	Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5	Zone 6	Zone 7	Zone 8	Zone 9	Zone 10	Zone 11	Zone 12
1997	Lynn Scott	Jim Libbey	Norm MacDonald	Alex Getty	Patty Anne Hill	Russ Jackson	Pam Morse	Sheryl MacDonald[a]	Lynn Graham	Albert Chambers	Andrew Lam	Cynthia Bled
2000				Margaret Lange[b]	Myrna Laurenceson					Joan Spice	Brian Gifford	David Moen
2003					Alex Getty	Bronwyn Funiciello	Greg Laws[c]				Riley Brockington
								David Primeau[a]
2006		Cathy Curry[d]	Alex Getty[e]		Pam FitzGerald			John Shea	Rob Campbell	Jennifer McKenzie
			Mark Fisher[e]	Douglas Lloyd[b]			Pam Morse [c]
2010			Donna Blackburn	Theresa Kavanagh			Mark Fisher				Shirley Seward	Katie Holtzhauer
		Christine Boothby[d]
2014					Anita Olsen Harper	Chris Ellis		Keith Penny	Shawn Menard	Erica Braunovan[f]		Sandra Schwartz
2018				Wendy Hough	Rob Campbell		Jennifer Jennekens		Lyra Evans		Mark Fisher
										Justine Bell[f]
2022		Alysha Aziz[g]		Suzanne Nash	Amanda Presley	Lyra Evans		Donna Dickson	Nili Kaplan-Myrth		Matthew Lee	Cathryne Milburn
		Julia Fortey[h]

Notes

1. MacDonald resigned to run in the 2006 Orléans Ward by-election and was replaced by David Primeau in January 2006.^[11]
2. Lloyd replaced Lange who was appointed as the Canadian Trade Commissioner in Buffalo in March 2008.^[15][16]
3. Morse replaced Laws who moved to Toronto in December 2008.^[12]
4. Boothby replaced Curry who resigned in 2012.^[13]
5. Fisher replaced Getty who died in 2009.^[14]
6. Bell replaced Braunovan in February 2020.^[17] Braunavon resigned 31 December 2019.^[18]
7. Aziz announced her resignation due to personal reasons July 2024^[19]
8. Fortey was appointed on October 29, 2024, replacing Aziz^[20]

See also

• Ontario portal

• Schools of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
• List of schools in Ottawa
• Ottawa Catholic School Board
• Ottawa-Carleton Educational Space Simulation
• List of school districts in Ontario
• List of high schools in Ontario

References

1. "2019-2020 Director's Annual Report to the Community". OCDSB.ca. Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
2. "2018-2018 Director's Annual Report to the Community" (PDF). OCDSB.ca. Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
3. "Student Trustees".
4. "Ontario Regulation 107/08". e-Laws. Government of Ontario. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
5. "Family who successfully sued school board over bullying claims shares story | CBC News". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
6. "Former students sue board over alleged abuse by music teacher | CBC News". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
7. "OCDSB teacher charged with sex offences | CBC News". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
8. Ireton, Julie (8 July 2020). "Ontario school board found 'vicariously liable' in sexual abuse case". CBC News. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
9. Ireton, Julie (27 May 2022). "Retired Ottawa teacher sanctioned for sexual abuse of student in 1990s". CBC News. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
10. "Strategic Directions – A Report to the Community – Fall 2007" (PDF) (Press release). Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
11. "School board chooses new board member". Ottawa Citizen. 17 January 2007. p. B3. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
12. "Former trustee resumes Zone 7 seat". Ottawa Citizen. 3 December 2008. p. C5. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
13. "Huge turnover at school board". Ottawa Citizen. 13 September 2004. p. A3. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
14. "Anyone's race to win in Zone 3". Ottawa Citizen. 22 October 2010. p. C3. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
15. "Lloyd picked as school board trustee". Ottawa Citizen. 19 March 2008. p. C2. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
16. "Douglas LLoyd Obituary (2016)". ottawacitizen.remembering.ca. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
17. "New trustee appointed to Ottawa-Carleton District School Board". ottawamatters.com. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
18. "School trustee Erica Braunovan announces resignation". Ottawa Citizen. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
19. "OCDSB trustee Alysha Aziz announces she is resigning 'for personal reasons'". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
20. "Julia Fortey sworn in as OCDSB's Kanata North/Kanata South (Zone 2) Trustee". OCDSB. Retrieved 20 December 2024.

External links

• Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
• Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA)