LTO and Permanent Hiring; Days Needed to Stay on the List; Important Deadlines;

 TVDSB Hiring Process Announced for the Summer

By now, you have read the information about summer hiring to LTO and permanent positions that was posted by TVDSB in Outlook this week. 

The Union agrees with the many members who have contacted us that with the loss of a path to permanent hire, this is a huge step backwards. Unfortunately with the Ford government's revocation of Regulation 274, Boards are free to develop their own policies so long as they meet the expectations set out in the Ministry's Policy/Program Memorandum 165 and they adhere to any pre-existing terms in Local Collective Agreements. 

As the TVOT Local concluded bargaining in June 2020, five months before the Regulation was revoked, our next opportunity to affect change in hiring will be sometime after August 2022. That being said, the TVOT Collective Agreement does provide that all LTOs must be post-probation and that TVOT members have priority in hiring to permanent positions and LTOs over external hires.

For your information, here is the link to PPM 165 - 

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/extra/eng/ppm/165.html

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Required Number of Days to Remain on the TVDSB elementary OT List

Information was also posted this week by the Board which reduced the number of days needed to remain on the OT List, from 10 days to 7 days for 2020-2021. 

Our Office has heard from many OTs who did not request a full year Leave of Absence, in hopes of being able to get back to in-person teaching some time during this school year.  The Local urges concerned members to complete their mandatory online training, and to participate in the paid PD opportunities that are still available and can be completed at your leisure up until June 29th. If after this you are still short of days then we encourage you to email HR with your rationale after June 30th.  Please send your emails to Jessica Grison Roeder at j.grisonroeder@tvdsb.ca and be sure to include:

• First name
• Last name
• TVDSB employee number 
• Rationale

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It's Up to You

Not only is it a condition of employment that TVOT members must keep their contact information updated in the Employee Portal (Article L6.08 e), but the Local uses this same information to send out our large September mailout. This large mailing includes our newsletter with lots of important information for the coming school year. It also contains your annual Pocket Calendar which provides an at-a-glance list of schools with their contact information and whether they are on a regular or balanced day schedule, your pay dates, important contacts, deadlines etc. 

Please make sure to keep your personal information accurate.

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Deadline is almost here for - 

• Mandatory Online Training
• Offence Declaration etc.
• Paid PD Opportunities 

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Summer Holidays - 

Just a reminder to TVOT members that the Local Union office is funded according to the school year calendar.

Your TVOT President monitors the office email and phone messages on a weekly basis during the holidays but in cases of an emergency, we recommend members contact the ETFO Provincal Office at 1-888-838-3836. 

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This is our last Wednesday Blog until September 2021 so stay safe and keep well everyone!

 

Columbia Sportswear Invitation; ETFO Summer Academy; Where to find your Collective Agreement; Last day of LTO

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- 13 school days remaining and LTOS are expected to attend June 29th 

(further details at end of Blog)

- 13 school days to complete TVDSB Annual WHMIS Review / Offence Declaration / I.T. Declaration / Privacy Declaration (MANDATORY)

 - 13 school days to complete the 15 online training modules in the Employee Portal > Employee Training (MANDATORY)

- 13 school days to take advantage of online PD sessions offered by TVDSB that count for all purposes as teaching time. (These can also be done on evenings and weekends until June 29th.) EARN WHILE YOU LEARN

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Register for these virtual sessions at 

ETFO Summer Academy

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TVDSB Everyone Belongs: Staff Survey

As set out by the Ministry of Education's Equity Action Plan 2017, this survey is to assist TVDSB in better understanding who is working for them in hopes of better supporting their employees and removing barriers. Participation is anonymous. You can find the survey at TVDSB Equity Survey

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ETFO TVOT Occasional Teacher Collective Agreement 2019-2022

Members can now access our TVOT Collective Agreement on our website at ETFOTVOT Local Website . 

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Do LTOs attend school on June 29th?

Yes LTOs attend and will be paid on grid do so long as the permanent Teacher you are replacing is not returning that day because under the terms of new Collective Agreement -

L20.03 A Long-Term Occasional Teacher who is scheduled to work when there is a Professional Activity Day will be paid for the day and will be required to participate in the scheduled professional activity sessions, pro-rated according to the FTE of the assignment. This includes any Professional Activity Day scheduled the last day of school in June provided the permanent Teacher being replaced does not return to work that day.

Have more questions regarding your employment? Contact your ETFO TVOT Local at etfotvot@gmail.com

Islamaphobia in London; TVDSB Job Postings; Ministry Math Proficiency Test

Islamaphobia Lives in London

By now, most in our area are aware that 

Salman Afzaal (46), his wife Madiha Salman (44), their 15 year-old daughter Yumna Afzaal and Salman's mother Talat Afzaal (74) were murdered by the driver of a speeding truck, as the family enjoyed an evening stroll on Sunday.  Their 9 year-old son, Fayez remains in hospital in critical condition.

Words cannot convey our deep sorrow after this horrific act but as London Mayor Ed Holder said at the mosque vigil Tuesday evening: "This was a terrorist attack, an act of mass murder and a grotesque expression of hatred rooted in Islamaphobia. All of us now must confront the question - in what kind of community, what kind of city, and what kind of country will that recovery take place, both physically and spiritually?"

For information on how you can offer support, click on Moving Forward

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UPDATE: TVDSB Job Postings     

Unfortunately, not all the details are yet confirmed, however we can say that TVDSB expects permanent positions to be posted at the end of June and possibly into early July.

LTOs for September will be posted following these, with some Principals requiring interviews and others allowing Human Resources to fill their assignments. Additional positions will be posted mid-August.

TVOT members are encouraged to check their Outlook accounts and this Wednesday Blog for more information about hiring, once the details become available. 

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Getting More Out of Outlook

TVDSB communicates with its staff via Outlook. Occasional Teachers should make a point of checking the Occasional Teacher Group in Outlook on a regular basis. In fact, you can even set up your account so that you receive notices directly to your Outlook inbox. TVDSB Staffing Specialist, Jessica Grison Roeder offers members the following information - 

Where to find LTO Postings:

 SharePoint in Job Postings

OR

Employee Portal, on the right side you will see a link to internal job postings.

 

 

 E-Mail Alerts: Email alerts can be set up on the SharePoint page for new job postings

https://tvdsbo365.sharepoint.com/teams/JobPostingsSite

 

How To Apply:  Apply electronically via your Employee Portal < HRS Applications < Job Applications < Teaching < Select LTO posting you wish to apply, complete the OT Application Form and click “SUBMIT”

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UPDATE: Deadline Extended - Math Proficiendy Test (MPT)

The Ministry of Education has announced that Ontario-trained Teacher candidates who need to pass the Math Proficiency Test/MPT in order to meet their certification requirements, now have until December 31, 2021 to take that test. Once finalized, further information about the extended test window will be available on the Math Proficiency Test  website. 

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Remember - 

If you want to teach for TVDSB next school year, you must complete the Annual WHMIS Review/Offence Declaration/IT Declaration/Privacy Declaration (in the Employee Portal, left hand side).

You must also complete the mandatory online training modules found there on the right hand side under "Employee Training".

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Being Paid on Grid; Summer Academy Registration; ETFO AQ Courses; Infectious Disease Emergency Leave

 

Don't Miss this Deadline to be Paid Appropriately!

Whether you are in a posted LTO or a position that has evolved after replacing the same Teacher in the same assignment, in TVDSB you are entitled to be paid according to your QECO rating and previous post-certification teaching experience. The onus is on you however, to ensure that these documents are submitted to HR prior to July 31st for retroactive adjustment for any long-term assignments that took place that school year.

Please be aware that the QECO application process can take several weeks. Click QECO and follow the instructions or call them at 1-800-385-1030 to request a form. Submit the results to TVDSB Staffing Officer Jessica Grison-Roeder before the end of July or forward a copy of the QECO confirmation card to show that your application is in progress. 

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Register at ETFO Summer Academy

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A reminder that this valuable website is closing - 

For a last chance to access these resources, click on Edugains .

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June is Pride Month - a time for all to make sure our practices include everyone.

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About ETFO AQ Courses

As the Union representing 83,000 educators in Ontario, ETFO has gained a reputation as one of the foremost providers of Teacher professional learning within Canada. ETFO courses are developed by educators who are active in today's classrooms. Course content is practical and well-grounded in effective practice with an appropriate balance between theory and practice. Courses are reviewed regularly to ensure that the key learning, course activities and resources remain current. 

As required by the Ontario College of Teachers/OCT, ETFO AQs require 125 hours of study. With the exception of FSL, course registration is $675 (FSL requires a Second Language Proficiency Test which costs an additional $75.00)

For more information check AQs for Teachers by Teachers .

Registration has already opened for some courses.

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Daily OTs and access to Paid Infectious Disease Emergency Leave:  TVOT members are encouraged to check out the memo sent by TVDSB on May 31st via Outlook regarding 3 days of paid sick leave for absences related to Covid between April 19/21 and September 25/21. As LTOs have access to paid sick leave under the provisions of our Collective Agreement, they are not eligible.

Book Rebate; More Paid PD; TVOT Executive 2021-2022; Defamatory Websites and Social Media...

Only 5 More Days!

Did you know that all ETFO TVOT members with member accounts at the TVOT Local Website are eligible to receive up to $50 per year to assist with the purchase of books related to their elementary teaching needs? 

Applications must be received by May 31st so act quickly if you are interested.

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More Spaces Added - Paid PD Session Repeated 

Thank you to our ETFO Presenter who has agreed to on take additional participants for the after school session - "Fun and Inclusive Health and Physical Education While Teaching Virtually".

This workshop will be held from 4:30-7:30 PM on June 3rd with registration via the TVDSB Employee Portal. This is a paid PD event so participation counts as a half day of teaching for daily OTs or those in a LTO of .5 or less.  

Further details are available in the Portal under the heading "Conference Session Registration" > "Elementary Occasional Teacher PD 2020-2021."  

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TVOT Executive for 2021-2022 

As determined at the TVOT Spring General Meeting:

• President and Chief Negotiator - Terry Card
• First Vice-President - Kevin Utley
• Second Vice-President - Vivek Nath
• Treasurer - Sean Cousins
• Secretary - Sharon Pinylo
• Health and Safety Officer - David Griffith
• Executive Members at Large - Farida Makhani, Krisanne Nunes, Nancy Springer, Cindy Webb

Congratulations!

We look forward to serving the needs of our membership.

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What you should know about "Defamatory Websites and Social Networking Pages"

from ETFO Provincial PRS 

Many websites offer social networking services and/or act as public message boards that cater specifically to students. Some of these websites, such as   www.ratemyteacher.com, encourage students to comment publicly about the teachers in their school.

These websites do not monitor or filter the content or comments posted by the students that use them. Further, these services offer students a level of anonymity that may lead to a diminished sense of culpability.  The result is that some of the comments and/or content posted on these websites is rude, hurtful, and even defamatory.

Historically, when a person was the subject of an offensive and/or defamatory publication, that person could sue the publisher and the author of the defamatory content. Today, the Internet has added a new level of complexity to this course of action.  Many websites are run from servers located outside of Canada and the operators can be very difficult to locate. Nevertheless, victims of offensive or defamatory postings have avenues of recourse aside from civil litigation.

Most reputable websites and social networking services, such as Facebook and MySpace, have policies in place to ensure that any offensive or defamatory postings can be removed as soon as they are brought to the attention of the service operators.  Postings on other websites, like ratemyteacher.com, can be more difficult to remove. This type of website actively encourages students to post comments about their teachers and their policies state that they will remove comments only in extreme cases. Also,   www.ratemyteacher.com does not offer an easy to use content removal procedure. However, despite these variances between website policies, it is generally understood that offensive or defamatory content should be removed once discovered and brought to the attention of the appropriate managers.

Even though offensive content may be removed from these websites once discovered, this does not mean that it is expunged from the Internet. Search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, store snapshots of billions of websites in their databases to provide fast search results. Consequently, offensive content from these websites may get caught and stored in these databases.  As a practical matter, search engines must also be contacted directly in order to have all of the offending content removed from the Internet.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Monitor your online reputation.  Action can be taken quickly to remove the offending content. Also, be mindful of your “online footprint” and carefully consider the information and pictures you post on the Internet so that you can minimize the chances that someone will use your own information and/or pictures to harass you.

Periodically search your own name in various search engines to ensure nothing offensive or defamatory is posted on some or all of the following websites:

•   www.google.com

•   www.yahoo.com

•   www.msn.com

•   www.search.com

•   www.live.com

•   www.webcrawler.com (this searches several different services at once)

•   www.ratemyteacher.com

•   www.youtube.com

•   www.flickr.com

•   www.facebook.com

•   www.myspace.com

If you find something offensive and/or potentially defamatory, note the date, time, and web address (i.e. http://www.ratemyteacher.com/school/teacher/...) of the offending web page, along with any other potentially useful information.

Contact your ETFO local president or staff in PRS for additional advice.

Protect your “online footprint” by minimizing the amount of personal information you publish about yourself on the Internet:

• check your privacy settings on Facebook, MySpace, MSN Messenger or any other similar service that you use to ensure your page can be accessed by only those whom you have invited;

• DO NOT invite or add students to your Facebook, MySpace, MSN Messenger, or similar service;

• review the pictures of yourself posted on the Internet; if you do not want your students or employer to see a certain picture or series of pictures, have them removed;

• minimize the amount of personal information you give to various online services; ask yourself, “do I need to give my friend list / phone number / e-mail address to this service?”;

• consider creating a separate online e-mail account through Hotmail or Gmail or a similar service with minimal personal information specifically for using online services without giving out your personal e-mail and/or address information.

For further information contact your local ETFO president or Professional Relations staff in Protective Services at  416-962-3836 or  1-888-838-3836.

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2020 - 2021 OTE Required Training

All TVOT members (daily OTs and LTOs) must complete the 15 mandatory training modules listed in the TVDSB Emloyee Portal by June 29, 2021. Be sure to check off the module and hit the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page after each one. If the checkmark is there the next time you log into the Portal, then your completion has been recorded. For daily OTs and those in LTOs of .5 or less, completion counts for all purposes as a half day of work. 

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Welcome to the new 

Survive and Thrive!

Survive & Thrive is a website designed to be an easily accessible resource for beginning Teachers, Occasional Teachers, mentors and Teacher candidates. Here you will find hands-on information that is of value in the classroom, in dealing with colleagues and with parents.  Check out the hundreds of practical resources on topics such as classroom management, special needs students and reporting.  This is site is just one of several sites supporting Teachers sponsored by the Ontario Teachers' Federation/OTF.

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Math Proficiency Test info; Hiring Process at TVDSB; Asian Heritage Month; Native Language Gathering; Book Rebate Deadline

OTF Math Office Hours for beginning teachers facing The Math Proficiency Test (MPT) 

To support beginning teachers and teacher candidates with the unneeded stress of completing the MPT by August 31, 2021, OTF is offering an online program, OTF Math Office Hours. OTF Math Office Hours gives beginning teachers and teacher candidates the opportunity to ask questions about math concepts and procedures and to receive support from a teacher qualified in math. The sessions will be run on the Zoom platform and last approximately 90 minutes. You can log in to the session at any point during the time slot and attend as many sessions as you wish. 

The following sessions are now available from 4:00-5:30 pm. 

Wednesday May 19 with Leanne Oliver Wednesday

May 26 with Dee Kruc Wednesday

June 2 with Leanne Oliver Wednesday

June 9 with Kyle Pearce Wednesday

June 16 with Dee Kruc Wednesday

June 23 with Craig Guthrie Wednesday, June 30 with Judy Mendaglio 

To register: Registration opens Monday, May 17. To register, click HERE .

Once registered, you will receive a reminder email and the Zoom link the day before your event. Questions prior to the session: if you have questions about the session or specific to the MPT, you can submit them prior to your session: otfofficehours@otffeo.on.ca. Archived OTF Connects Make Math Moments Webinars In addition to our live OTF Math Office Hours, beginning teachers and teacher candidates may want to review our archived 10-part Make Math Moments webinar series, presented by Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr  Archives 

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Hiring for Permanent and LTO Assignments Next Year ?

We know that members are anxious about hiring for positions with TVDSB next school year, but with the Government's extension to the timeline for families to indicate if they want virtual learning or in person classes, hiring for permanent positions in TVDSB is not expected to take place until the end of June. 

The Board is still working on a process to hire the hundreds of LTOs needed for September. With the repeal of Regulation 274, we do know that the LTO List and the Seniority Lists are longer part of the criteria. 

TVOT members will still have priority over new hires for these positions, as provided by our Collective Agreement. You can be assured that the Local and the Board will let members know about the process once it has been finalized.  

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Ensure you are up to date - 

Sign up here for ETFO Provincial Newsletters

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NEW - TVDSB to require Multi-Factor Authentication/MFA to access their networks as of June 2, 2021.

Board employees will have a few weeks to activate MFA on their accounts. After that, each time you log in to your emails, cloud storage or collaboration sites, you will be receive an authorization check to verify your identity. For more information check your Outlook TVDSB email account. 

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TVOT $50 BOOK REBATE DEADLINE remains May 31st

Forms in Member Portal for those registered at  www.etfotvot.com

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Our sincere thanks to everyone who is registered to attend our Annual Spring General Meeting this evening.  Please know that your TVOT Executive is honoured to serve the needs of our members.

$50 Book Rebate; Working From Home; Paid PD

One Week From Today

TVOT members will have a chance to meet your Local Executive and to bring forward your questions at a virtual meeting on Wednesday, May 19th at 4:30PM. All positions on the Executive have been acclaimed so there will be no elections and the meeting should only take an hour. To register, email Debbie, TVOT Office Administrator and we will send out the meeting link the day of the meeting. Hope to see you there!

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A $50 Book Rebate for all TVOT Members 

Just a reminder that the deadline to submit your claim for our $50 Book Rebate is May 31st. Members may purchase a professional book or books related to your professional needs and receive up to $50 per member per school year. Forms are available for those who are registered on the  TVOT Member Portal .

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Working from Home? 

Anytime you get sick or injured at work, it is an occupational injury/illness and it should be reported on the TVDSB Accident/Incident Reporting Form. This includes teaching remotely. The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers has published some tips to help us avoid musculoskeletal injuries and these can be accessed by clicking  Safely Working from Home - for example, considered turning your former commuting time into extra sleep time. 

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Registration for TVDSB Paid PD

The Board's System Staff Development department works with your ETFOTVOT Local to offer relevant professional development opportunities for our members and they have set up a most helpful site in TVDSB SharePoint Accessing Paid PD . Here you will find useful FAQs, information on How to Register for and Access OTE PD, Locating the OT PD Conference and the Online Reflection Form. 

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Required 10 days to remain on OTE Roster

At this time, TVDSB is not prepared to waive the required 10 days needed to remain on the OTE Roster. Members are encouraged to accept remote teaching assignments however those who feel they not be able to teach 10 days, are encouraged to complete their mandatory online training (worth .5 of a day of work) and to register for three half-day sessions of paid PD offered by the Board in the Employee Portal under Conference Session Registrations > Elementary Occasional Teacher PD 2020-2021. N.B. aside from the session on June 11th, online sessions can be completed anytime so long as you submit your reflection form.  TVOT members who have a medical reason preventing them from work, must provide medical documentation to Abilities and Wellness . 

TVOT members may request a full year's leave from the Board, that would run from January 1, 2021 to August 31, 2021 by applying on LaserFiche in the Employee Portal and listing Ann Moulton as your supervisor.  This means the requirement would drop to 5 days, 2 of which would include online PD and mandatory training.

The Board will review applications for special circumstances at the end of the school year. 

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