Dear Parents,							October20th, 2004

On Monday, October 4th, a General Assembly was held to address the issue of a Kindergarten 
class being closed and inform the parents as to what was going on. The 3 existing 
Kindergarten classes where combined to make 2 classes of approximately 22 students in each 
class. As you probably well know by now, as a result we have lost Mr. Mark Sankoff, our 4th 
grade teacher, and Mrs Alexandra is now teaching the 4th grade.

At the meeting several parents strongly voiced their concerns to Mr. Don Reid, Deputy 
Director General at the EMSB. Although he tried to explain that the EMSB's decision to do 
this was because of several factors including low registrations, money, collective 
agreements and so forth, the consensus was that our children and their well being where not 
being considered. In fact, Mr Reid was asked, "Are our children being treated fairly?" and 
to this question, we never received a reply. 

A petition was presented that night which in summary gave the Governing Board a mandate to 
fight this policy that allows the EMSB to make these changes so late in the year. I thank 
you for the support you gave us through the signing of this petition. This petition will be 
sent to the EMSB, as well as each commissioner on the Council of Commissioners, along with 
a letter from myself explaining our position.

I know that for some of you we are not moving fast enough and you would like to see more 
aggressive measures be taken (such as calling the media) but I believe that the proper 
steps needed to be taken in order for us to have any kind of impact. The media is a great 
vehicle when used properly but it can also have a detrimental impact on the reputation of 
our school, as we don't want negative publicity.  The administration as well as the teachers 
in the school cannot back us in any way as they are employees of the EMSB and their jobs 
would be jeopardized. The Governing Board did try to do everything not to lose Mr Sankoff 
but unfortunately the time factor worked against us. However, we need to band together to 
make sure this does not happen in the years to come.

Our work behind the scenes has somewhat paid off but the fight has just begun. At the 
Council of Commissioners meeting on October 27th (to be held at 7:00pm at EMSB headquarters 
on Fielding Ave), our Commissioner, Mr Agostino Cannavino, will be presenting a resolution 
to the effect that the EMSB can not close any classes after the school year has begun. 
Mr Cannavino needs our support at this meeting. We need to show the commissioners how 
affected our children are by these class closures 5 weeks into the school year. I urge all 
of you to attend this meeting and submit your questions and concerns, which will be 
addressed at question period during this meeting. You must submit your questions in advance,
to the EMSB,  by faxing them at 483-7324. It is imperative that we show up at this meeting 
in support of the resolution being presented. The media will be there and this is the time 
for us to voice our concerns.

The reason you are receiving this letter by mail or email is because Mr Turchyn has been 
instructed not to circulate, through the children, any letters from me to the parents 
concerning this issue. He is only doing his job. An email has been established so that we 
can create a communication line. Please send your email address to -
	
	policy_change@hotmail.com.  

We will keep you abreast of the developments as they happen. 

Thank you,


Kathy Magi
Chairperson
Governing Board