ASSEMBLY OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE DES ÉVÈQUES CATHOLIQUES DE L’oNTAR10

January 20, 2010

To: Kevin Kobus, Senior  Advisor, OCSTA

Directors of Education, Ontario Catholic Schon! Boards

cc: Sr. .loan Cronin, Executive Director, lnsütute for Catholic Education

Re: Ministry ofEduca1iori Po|icylProgram Memorandum No. 145
“Progressive Discipline and Promoting Positive Student Behaviour”

The purpose of this communication is to bring to your attention certain matters of concem related to
provisions of the Ministry of Education’s Policy»'Program Memorandum No.l45. T he bishops of the
Education Commission of the ACBO have recently been apprised of policy directives related to PPM 145
that could have an impact on our Catholic schools as it cares for students with same-sex attractions.

Of particular concern are three areas of the PPM. l would like to share with you some thoughts
concerning, each of these three areas.

The first relates to supporting students in student­-led activities promoting understanding and development
of healthy relationships, Were il not for the fact that the PPM specifically names  alliances”
among these activities to be supported, the bishops would be in complete agreement with this principle.

However, “gay-straight alliances” imply a self-identification with sexual orientation that is often
premature among high school students. Because of this, the bishops feel that such an activity is not to be
encouraged. Other types of dialogue groups that could achieve the same objectives should rather be
encouraged.

The second area of concern relates to outside “professional supports", among which the PPM ìdentiñes
“public health units, community agencies, [and] Help Phone lines”. The bishops feel it would be
important for Catholic schools to identify and collaborate with those agencies that reflect or, at least,

respect Catholic moral values. School boards would have to identify which such agencies exist in their
area and make them known to their school principals and those employees who “work directly with
students" and are expected to support them.

The third area of concern relates to a specific obligation: to “ensure that all publicly funded schools
provide access to public health units to deliver their mandated public health curriculum”. ll would be
important to specify that health units are to deliver their curriculum in accordance with Catholic moral
principles and under the supervision of qualified Catholic school board personnel.

ln all these areas, our denominational rights as Catholic schools with a specific mandate must be
respected. We trust that the Catholic Consortium Task Force on Equity and lnclusìon Policy
Development will take into careful account the above-noted concerns and address them accordingly in its
policy development undertakings. We would appreciate a response to these concerns and offer our
collaboration on your collective efforts.

With many thanks for the work you do, and with prayers for continued success in your projects,

Yours in Christ,

Most Rev. Paul-Andre Durocher
Chair, Education Commission

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