Donna Edwards - Ajax DDSB Trustee

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Are you interested in what is happening with school board governance and the role of school board trustees?

Please read a joint media release from the Ontario Public School Board and many of the education partners and associations like EFTO, OSSTF, Ontario Student Trustee Association, Ontario’s Principal Council, CSBA, Ontario Autism Coalition, AODA Alliance, Ontario Parents for Education Support, etc.

School boards and stakeholders call for broad province-wide governance consultation - OPSBA Decisions that remove local democratic representation must support students, families, and communities Toronto, March 11, 2026 – Groups representing all aspects of publicly funded education in Ontario are expressing concerns about recent comments from Education Minister Paul Calandra regarding the...

At this virtual session, Dr. Susan Hopkins and families will look beneath the surface of behaviour together. You will explore how self-regulation differs from self-control, and why rewards, punishments, and sheer effort often fall short when stress is driving the behaviour.talk about how these stress responses affect motivation, resilience, health, and well-being, and what that means for children, adolescents, and families. This session is for all families and caregivers with children from K-12. .

Join us for a free virtual session with Dr. Susan Hopkins. The virtual session is open to all Kindergarten to Grade 12 parents and caregivers and will explore ways to:
• See behaviour differently and respond with more clarity and less frustration
• Recognize stressors across the five domains that may be hiding in plain sight
• Reduce stressors when possible, and work together through the ones that can’t
• Grow self-awareness by building interoception as a key to resilience
• Honour individual differences and support others' capacity to restore and thrive

Register for this session here: https://bit.ly/4aEDXtM

The DDSB will hold its 2025-2026 budget deliberation meetings over the next couple months. The first public session is scheduled for April 15 at 6:30PM.

All meetings will be held in-person at the DDSB Education Centre and will be live-streamed on DDSB’s YouTube Live channel.

Agenda to include:

✔️ Public Deputations to the Education Finance Committee

✔️ Overview of the 2025-2026 Core Education Funding

Members of the community are welcome to prepare written submission or make a public presentation to the Education Finance Committee at the April 15 meeting.

The Ministry of Education want to know what practical life skills students should learn in school. Take the governments survey. Survey closes Oct 1st, 2024.

Survey: Equipping students with practical life skills Share your feedback on what additional practical life skills Ontario students should learn in school to build a strong foundation that will set them up for success.This consultation closes at 5:00 p.m. ET on October 1, 2024.

Thank you to all those who voted and supported me in being re-elected as school board trustee representing the Town of Ajax. I am looking forward to working with the newly elected board of trustees. I will continue to listen, ask questions and advocate on behalf of students, parents, caregivers, and staff for quality, equitable, public education that ensures success for all students.
A special thanks goes to my husband and children for supporting me during the election.

2022 Municipal Election - A change in geographic representation for the Town of Ajax

When the Board of Trustees for the Durham District School Board reviewed trustee distribution (representation), it passed a motion to have 2 Trustee represent Ajax as a whole. I advocated for this change as representation by Wards was no longer equitable, with 1 trustee (Ward 3) representing 1/3 of the population and the other trustee (Wards 1 & 2) representing 2/3 of the population. So what does this mean? It means when people of Ajax vote for public school board trustees in the 2022 municipal election, they will be voting for 2 public school board candidates to represent Ajax as a whole. Town of Ajax was the only municipality in Durham Region to elect public school board trustees by ward.

The Ministry of Education released its return to school guidelines. DDSB has created a return to school page for parent https://www.ddsb.ca/en/whats-happening/return-to-school-2021-2022.aspx. Parents and families can access the Ministry’s guidelines, FAQs and updates from this page.

Return to School 2021-2022 Return to School, COVID-19

The Town of Ajax staff have been reviewing the crossing guard program to ensure the program meets demand, identify operational efficiencies and determine any cost savings. On September 14, 2020, staff recommended removing crossing guards during lunchtime at select locations with low student usage. The final Council decision has been deferred until the November 9, 2020, General Government Committee Meeting.
To help inform Council’s decision, we are asking residents to complete a short survey. The survey is live until October 30.

Crossing Guard Program: Lunchtime Service The Town crossing guard program includes 72 active guards deployed at 57 locations, providing crossing services for kindergarten to grade 5 students in the Public, Catholic and French school systems. The guards are on duty in the morning, at lunchtime and at the end of the school day. Staff have bee...