Your first monthly update from the Rideau Students' Union

Proper 2SLGBTQ+ & Indigenous representation is still sorely lacking in our schools. Let’s stop the cycle of performative gestures and offer real support to Queer and Indigenous artists.

We will be advocating for the commissioning of local artists to make posters for the OCDSB and schools, for a more diverse representation of artists and designers, including members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities.

The RSU endorses Keith de Silvia-Legault as an OCDSB School Trustee candidate for Zone 6.

Keith de Silvia-Legault, a 21 year old uOttawa student and mental health advocate, is running for School Trustee. His goals are the following: to advocate on behalf of students, better students' mental health, ensure neurodivergent students are properly served, and demand equity among all schools no matter the wealth of the neighbourhood.

Hey everyone! We're proud to announce that we've elected a brand new leadership cast to keep the union going for the upcoming year, and leading the union in its endeavors. We've elected new co-presidents, and new officers!

With the OCDSB's Board of Trustees meeting today including the motion to involve the Director of Education with the Ottawa Police Services, the RSU finds it vital to address the motion, and make clear to Board and Student Trustees the extreme deficiencies and detriments of this proposal.

The Rideau Students' Union is submitting a delegation to the Board, which will be presented today at the meeting, which is also available below;

This article is satire, and is not meant to be taken literally. It parodies and serves as a comment on discriminatory anti-religious policy​.

Want to run for Co-President or Officer this upcoming RSU leadership election? You can sign up at the link below, and we highly recommend as many people as possible to do so!

Co-President - Responsible for leading meetings and the overall direction of the union, coordinating with officers and staff on union affairs, and relaying relevant information to the board of directors.

Social Media Officer - Responsible for managing and creating content for social media (alongside a tech working group), and develop the union's brand

Tech Officer - Update the website and Linktree (alongside a tech working group), manage tech services and platforms used, provide tech support

Outreach Officer - Draft statements and reports on the union, lead recruitment efforts, engage membership, address queries and questions

Administrative Officer - Take meeting minutes, manage bureaucracy, account and audit when needed, and manage union archives.

​Voting will be held May 14th to 16th.

Thanks to everyone who came to our RSU interest meeting to learn about, discuss, and ask questions on the union, operations, and projects. If you are interested in joining the union, visit the link below.

A recap of what was discussed during the interest meeting, as well as general information about the union is available below.

Over the past little while, we've been actively pursuing getting a return to mask requirements at schools, a vital feature as of today, especially given the recent spikes in infectivity and sewage water signal of the coronavirus, showing an all time high since months ago.
We're proud to say that mask mandates for the school board will be returning, and are satisfied with the outcomes of the OCDSB board vote.

Thank you to all the OCDSB board trustees who voted in favour of the proposal.

School board trustee elections are a very overlooked issue that directly affects us students. Low voter participation & awareness enables the election of Trustees such as Donna Blackburn, who is infamous for backing cops in schools and being implicated in a variety of racist incidents. We need to help elect Trustees that care about students, thereby naturally increasing our voice in the process.

What is a board trustee?
School board trustees are locally-elected representatives of the public, and they are the community's advocate for public education. Board trustees are elected for all 4 Ottawa school boards to make policy and budget decisions.

What do board trustees do?
Board trustees:

• ​Identify the needs and priorities of their community
• Ensure these are considered in educational decisions
• Collaborate with the other members of the school board by developing policies that work for all students
• Ensure said policies are implemented effectively
• Act as a liaison between the local community and the school board

Why should students care?
The decisions of the Board of Trustees affects students   directly.
School board trustees vote on issues that directly affect the student experience, such as the School Resource Officers Program, and the implementation of public health measures in schools.
Trustees have an obligation to act in the students' interests, beyond using the position of trustee as a mechanism to bolster their political careers.

When voting for trustees, ask them:

• Have they spent time in actual schools
• Are the schools in your area adequate and in good condition?
• What are their priorities for education?
• What are their party's platform commitments on education?
• What is their position on standardized testing?
• What do they have to say about equity in public education?

In the status quo, the answer your local trustee might provide is likely disappointing.

How can students get involved?
Youth friendly organization like Horizon Ottawa are pushing to elect pro-student trustees who are in favour of anti-SRO and pro-education  reform. Consider getting involved.
The RSU will be enduring a slate of pro-student board trustee candidates. Consider volunteering for a pro-student candidate.
Consider running for trustee! If you are 18 years old by October 2022, you are eligible to run in the Board Trustee elections! We need more youth voices on the Board!

More information on all of these points will be provided at an event on April 16th.

Support equal access to mental healthcare for all Canadian students, by joining the Equal Access Initiative and partners in a peaceful multi-city protest on April 2nd from 1-6PM. We are rallying for improved mental healthcare policy, and will address common concerns, provide specifications, and more!

Join us at Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Queen's Park, Toronto, or BC Legislature, Victoria.

Learn more at https://linktr.ee/EAI_CAN​

We're proud to announce we've elected a new Board of Directors to supervise the union and keep it moving forward, Faraaz Jan, Evelyn Yu, and Will Cooper.​

We successfully passed a new and improved union constitution. Check it out using the link below!

As we have formed a formal affiliation with Horizon Ottawa, we have opted to release a statement. Read our statement of affiliation with  Horizon Ottawa, available at the link below. Together, let's build a better Ottawa!

We're calling for the OCDSB to freeze Semester 1 grades. For public and mental health.​

​​Recently, the TDSB, WRDSB and others implemented a mark freeze for all evaluations from December 17th to the end of the semester, such that marks can increase but not decrease. We believe that the OCDSB needs to implement this same measure of “freezing marks” for the sake of its constituents and of public health.

• The TDSB has declared that marks past December 17th cannot harm students' overall grades for Semester 1
• OCDSB students are at risk of developing COVID-19 from Omicron among other factors

​Therefore, we are calling on the OCDSB to implement an identical mark freezing policy.

Why? Absenteeism. This is especially prominent in more COVID-vulnerable communities.
Online learning disproportionately affected those who might have learning disabilities or need IEPs
More COVID-19 cases means that there is a higher likely hood of staff shortages.
More uncertainties to come and further wreck to our learning quality

Read our principal points at 
docs.google.com/document/d/1g3yjKg3uXNG80Kkzp5QTA3DhHUpMf9pDOajBd21Sx44/edit

or sign the petition at
forms.gle/4jdvrda9KXK6WmQe8