OCDSB examines restructuring, OSSTF express concern about Indigenous student support worker roles

As the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) considers restructuring for September, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) has expressed concern about the potential impact on Indigenous student support co-ordinator positions. Indigenous student support co-ordinators travel from school to school to meet the needs of students at each site. While OSSTF says that the OCDSB’s changes would see the number of co-ordinators reduced from six to three, OCDSB has not confirmed that three positions would be cut. However, the district said that it is planning to establish “new, permanent positions as part of an expanded Indigenous education team that will directly support Indigenous students, Indigenous ways of knowing and being, Indigenous culture, student achievement and well-being.”