Important Information

Call for Nominations for the HEOT 2009-11 Executive:

This is an Election year for HEOT.  Our entire Executive is up for election.  The incumbents in the positions of President, 1st Vice President, Treasurer and PD Chair have indicated that they will be standing for re-election. Any member in good standing can run for most of these positions.  In order to run for President our Constitution requires that you meet the following criteria - 1. you must have been an OT for one year; 2. you must have been a member of the HEOT executive for at least one year and 3. you must declare your candidacy for President at least 2 weeks prior to the Spring Annual Meeting.  The position of Secretary is open for nominations.  If anyone is interested in becoming part of the executive you must be nominated by 2 members in good standing. Nominations for all positions, with the exception of President, can occur from the floor at the Spring Annual Meeting.  Elections will happen during the business portion of the Meeting on May 21, 2009.

Call for Changes to the HEOT Constitution:

Do you have suggestions for changes to the current HEOT Constitution?  If so, please put your suggestions in writing and send them to the HEOT Office at 4475 North  Service Road, Suite 101, Burlington, Ontario, L7L 4X7.  All suggested changes must be presented to the membership at least 21 days prior to the Spring Annual Meeting. Should we receive any suggested Constitution changes within the appropriate time limit then we will publish them on this website so all member will be informed.  All Constitutional changes will be voted on during the business meeting on Thursday, May 21, 2009.

Nomination of Schools for Schools of Recognition:

In your March newsletter there was a form to use to nominate schools for School of Recognition awards from the HEOT group.  We are asking that you continue to send in your nominations for any school which you feel welcomes OTs and pays attention to our Collective Agreement.  Keep sending in those nominations and make the Awards Committee's job as difficult as possible to make a decision to recognize one school in each of the board's 3 geographic areas. Each of the winning schools will be recognized at our Spring Annual dinner.

Special Education Part 1 AQ:

ETFO is offering the Spec Ed Part 1 AQ course in Peel (Mississauga) in July.  This course is open to any teacher certified to teach in the province of Ontario and is being offered for a fee of only $650 - significantly less than the $850+ charged by university providers.  Registration information can be found at www.etfo-aq.ca.  If you think this would be of interest to your members, it would be appreciated if you could pass along the attached flyer or advertise the course on your website.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to be in touch with me.

Nancy Baldree
ETFO Executive Staff
416-962-3836 x 2247

For Those OT's on Interim Certificates:

This is a reminder that all OT's that are on an Interim Certificate should contact Denise Pearson at the J.W. Singleton Centre to get the form necessary to apply for a permanent certificate. You must have 194 days of work to change the Interim Certificate to a Permanent one.  This is also a reminder that only days for which you are properly certified will count toward the 194.  If you do French jobs or jobs in divisions for which you are not qualified then you will not get credit for those days.  You have up to 5 years to get the 194 days necessary to convert your certificate.

Applying for LTO Contracts:

Our current Collective Agreement requires the board to hire LTO's from our OT List.  To make this issue possible I have had a request from HEPA (Halton Elementary Principal's Association) that all members who apply for an LTO or a Probationary job should mark clearly on their Resume and their Cover Letter that they are current members of the Halton Elementary OT list. This would enable Principals to screen applications and interview the appropriate people.

Tutoring & Conflict of Interest Guidelines for ETFO Members:

Professional Relations staff of ETFO Provincial receive many calls from members asking whether they can engage in private tutoring on their own time.  The following message has been developed by Provincial staff and should be considered when you make a decision about tutoring.

ETFO believes that every student in the public system should have access to the resources, services and support needed to experience success.

Although ETFO does not support privately funded tutoring, members are legally able to engage in tutoring on their own time.  It is important that members familiarize themselves with the Ontario Teachers' Federation policy on tutoring which requires adherence to the following two rules: First, in engaging in private tutoring, the teacher must NOT tutor their own students for remuneration.  Second, if the teacher accepts a student for tutoring, the teacher should consult the student's regular teacher.  In any private tutoring arrangement, the teacher will be in violation of the Code of Ethics if her or she makes adverse comments about the student's regular teacher, or if the teacher interferes in an unwarranted manner between the student and the student's regular teacher.

Teachers are also bound by the Professional Misconduct Regulations 437/97 under the Ontario College of Teachers Act.  Section 26 states that a teacher is guilty of professional misconduct when practicing the profession while in a conflict of interest.  While the Regulation does not define what constitutes a  conflict of interest, arbitrators and courts have frequently commented on this issue in the context of assessing disciplinary penalties imposed on employees who place themselves in a conflict of interest.  Public servants, such as teachers, are held to a higher standards than other employees in conflict of interest situations.Teachers should be guided by the following rules which have been held to apply to public servants:

  • They must not advance their own agendas, financial or otherwise, that might prejudice their employer's interests or reputation.
  • They must not seek for private gain to make use of information not available to the general public to which they have access by reason of their official duties.
  • They must not place themselves in situations where their judgment could, even unconsciously, be affected by their private business.
  • Their interest in their private financial affairs must not clash, or appear to clash with their employer's interest.

Members should follow the following guidelines when engaging in private tutoring:

  • Some school boards have policies on tutoring and if a teacher breaches the policy, he or she may be disciplined and/or reported to the College of Teachers.

Here are some specific guidelines which should be considered before engaging in tutoring:

  • Find out whether the board has a policy about tutoring and follow it.
  • Private tutoring should not take place on school property or during the instructional day.
  • Members should not tutor their own students for financial gain.
  • Members should not advertise private tutoring through connections at the school, through school or board publications, or through the board's computer network.
  • Regular communication should occur with the student's own teacher so as not to work at cross purposes or outside the regular classroom curriculum.
  • Members tutor students do so at their own risk, and may not be eligible for ETFO support should problems arise from the private tutoring situation.

GOOD Will - A Gift to Halton Schools:

In order to develop a positive relationship with our schools the Halton Elementary Occasional Teachers' Local sends an annual gift to each school in our board.  This year the gift is a $15 gift card to Chapters/Indigo book store.  We have asked each school to present that certificate to a student in their school who displays positive citizenship skills.

HARRI Problems?:

If you have any problems related to HARRI ( the Halton call out system) then you should send your queries to Carol Ahern at the J.W. Singleton Centre.  Carol is in charge of HARRI.

Carol can be reached through e-mail at ahernc@hdsb.ca or by phone 905-335-3665 x 3240.

ETFO Advisory to Members:

ETFO Provincial has once again issued an Advisory to Members about EQAO Marking.  It states quite clearly: MEMBERS ARE ADVISED NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY EQAO MARKING EXERCISE.

The Federation views province-wide testing of every student at grades 3 and 6 as both a misuse of student time, and an ineffective use of funds that should be redirected to support student learning.  The consistent trend within the media of ranking schools by assessment results has been unfair to students and is potentially destructive to the education system.

HEOT has its own Constitution!

Log into Services and click on Constitution

Officers for 2006-2007:

Al Bero, President
Sue Rauscher, 1st Vice President
Margaret Taylor, Secretary
Daliah Brown, Treasurer
Bette Anne Stevenson, PD Co-Chairs
Roberte Rivard, Goodwill/Awards Chair
Cecile Leach, Health and Safety Chair