Welcome to a new calendar year, 2025, at the LBPSB. Tonight, the Council of Commissioners will be approving the Annual Report for 2023-2024 which summarizes accomplishments and progress at the LBPSB guided by 3 core orientations: Improving Effectiveness at Meeting the Academic Needs of Diverse Learners; Enhancing the Leadership of In-School/Centre Teams; and, Making Social-Emotional Health a Priority at the LBPSB, all in alignment with the Commitment to Success Plan. Looking back at this summary of the year behind us shows the hard work being done, much of it behind the scenes, with the overall goal of providing excellent education for our students, while also determining how we can continue to be the best we can be, wherever we can make a difference.

At our Caucus meeting prior to the start of the Council meeting tonight, the Council of Commissioners received the 2023-2024 Equity, Diversity, Dignity and Inclusion (EDDI) report from Dr. Cindy Finn, which the public will be able to find on the LBPSB website. The contents of this report are impressive and again show the exemplary, extensive and important work the LBPSB is championing in this area to ensure the LBPSB is inclusive and welcoming to all. To quote from the header of the report: Our Commitment to EDDI is not a strategy to help people fit into our system; it is about transforming our system and structures to increase equity and decrease barriers. While some of the world around us seems determined to undermine the work being done in EDDI (also known by other acronyms, such as DEI), I am proud to say the LBPSB is equally as determined to ensure that our work continues with the strength it has garnered since 2020. “We are not going back”, but sometimes we have to grapple with 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

For example, our school board is in the midst of analysing how we can, as per the Ministry of Education’s instructions, in late December 2024, find where we can trim approximately $2.5 million from the 2024-2025 budget by March 31st. The 2024-2025 budget, which has been adopted, and extremely diligently and carefully crafted to be a balanced budget to best serve our educational community and its needs for the current academic year! We are expected to find places to cut back without affecting any services to students. Anything we cut will affect students. There is always a ripple, or cascading affect. This is an unwelcome and extremely difficult task, as part of this demand also includes cuts to certain “envelopes” or “mesures” already dedicated to specific projects and agreements.

The LBPSB will do whatever it can to minimize the long and short term effects of this difficult exercise in order to help the government save face. We’ve seen the stress and strain in the healthcare network for similar reasons. We are seeing the stress and strain on the education network as we live this reality. We are certainly not looking forward to the budget parameters for 2025-2026 which are just around the corner.

On a more positive note, for the rest of this school year, exciting learning and related activities will take place. (Have a look at the Pearson News on our website to read about the incredible initiatives and dedication in education fostered by the LBPSB – truly amazing). It is currently our registration period, until February 12th, where we will be welcoming new students and families with open arms. There is also promotion in the English educational sector to encourage families and individuals who are eligible to receive English education to apply for their eligibility certificates as soon as possible. This is an important document to hold on to (forever!)

At the LBPSB, and others, the upcoming month of February is “Black History Month” where the legacy of Black people in Canada, and also regionally, right here in Quebec and in Montreal, are honoured and celebrated. Black history is a recurring education topic in February, but should be imbedded into our learning every month.

On a more solemn note, today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day where individuals all over the world, including at the LBPSB tonight, take this opportunity to remember the victims of the atrocities of the Holocaust and reflect on the dangers of anti-Semitism. Learning about the Holocaust and its atrocities is part of the LBPSB curriculum, critical to ensuring our students understand past history, and current realities, as well.

On January 29th, is the commencement of the lunar Chinese New Year – the year of the snake. Festivities will be ongoing throughout the week and may be celebrated in some of our schools and centres. And solemnly, once again, January 29th is the National Remembrance Day of the Quebec City Mosque Attack shooting in 2017. You may see some people wearing green felt squares to symbolize this remembrance.

Going back to our great efforts at the LBPSB to ensure that we embrace the values of EDDI in all of the work we do, will help our community to be empathetic, caring and kind – every day. This is not always as easy as it sounds, but it won’t cost us a cent. The government can’t cut back on acts of kindness, at the LBPSB!