The Toronto District School Board says a summary of grades will be mailed to students in lieu of year-end report cards, as the elementary teachers' work-to-rule campaign continues.
Tuesday's announcement comes less than a week after Canada's largest school board said placement letters -- essentially a pass-or-fail assessment -- will be sent home at the end of the month. The TDSB, however, has since decided it will no longer be mailing out the letters, as the differing sizes of schools means some students may not receive an update for months.
"We know that it's very important to students and parents to have access to their marks, so when it became clear that some might not receive marks for a number of months, we began looking at alternate options," TDSB director Donna Quan said in a statement released Tuesday night.
The TDSB says it will employ a team of senior and operational staff to schools that require additional assistance with sending out the academic summaries. They will contain details about attendance and grade placement for the upcoming year.
"By using central staff to assist and providing marks via mail, we are ensuring that all – not some – parents and students have access to marks in an equitable and timely manner," Quan said.
According to the TDSB, the summary of grades will be mailed out during the week of July 13. It will cost the board approximately is $180,000.
In April, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario announced its work-to-rule campaign, which the union says will continue until a deal has been reached with the school boards. The job action means teachers aren't performing certain administrative tasks, including writing comments on report cards and inputting grades.
A number of smaller boards, however, will still be handing out report cards, according to the union. But teachers in the TDSB, the York Region District School Board, and the Peel District School Board will not.
