{mosimage}TORONTO - Fixing up schools, having more special education teachers and fully restoring the controversial Arrowsmith program should be some of the projects funded by the projected budget surplus of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, say education groups.

Murielle Boudreau, chair of the Greater Toronto Catholic Parent Network, says the board is falling behind in its maintenance of schools.

Dufferin-Peel board to set book guidelines

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{mosimage}MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Trustees at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board will review a proposal Nov. 24 that would have all novels pre-approved for use in the classroom by a central committee.

“We conceptualized the need for such a proposal in the last couple of years and have been doing a lot of work for what makes sense for our system and how we develop a proposal that’s going to honour the professionalism and the local decision making that we want our teachers and administrators to continue to do,” said superintendent of program Marianne Mazzorato.

Henry Carr's field of dreams shy $500,000

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Fr. Henry Carr High School supporters hope to build a $1.5 million “field of dreams” for their students and neighbourhood community.

Right now they’re about $500,000 shy of achieving that dream but hope to bridge the gap with the help of famous Carr alumni like former NHL star Pat Flatley, CFL/NFL veteran Kerry Carter and TV personality Enrico Colantoni.

Two more Toronto Catholic trustees face conflict-of-interest allegations

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{mosimage}TORONTO - It's déjà vu all over again, says the head of a Toronto-based Catholic parents' group, as two Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees are being hit with conflict-of-interest allegations.

“Here we go again. I mean, when is it going to end?” Murielle Boudreau, chair of the Greater Toronto Catholic Parent Network, told The Catholic Register.

Boot camps set up for trustee candidates

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{mosimage}TORONTO - The countdown for next year’s province-wide Catholic trustee elections begins with two upcoming trustee training workshops in Toronto.

Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Rob Davis plans to run a free “trustee boot camp” on Nov. 21 at the Catholic Education Centre. St. Augustine’s Seminary’s Institute of Theology will conduct trustee workshops starting in January.

Southern Ontario Catholic school boards pick new leaders

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{mosimage}TORONTO - In what appears to be a show of support for their embattled chair, a majority of Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees re-elected Angela Kennedy to the position at a Dec. 9 meeting.

Kennedy, who was first chosen as chair in January, is one of two Toronto Catholic trustees facing conflict of interest charges. She will be in Ontario Superior Court of Justice to answer to the charge Feb. 1. She is alleged to have voted on budgetary decisions despite having a son, who would potentially be affected by the decision, employed at the board.

St. Michael's College gets its second lay principal

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Terence Sheridan has been appointed principal of St. Michael’s College School, only the second lay person to hold the position in the school’s 157-year history.

His appointment as the midtown Toronto school’s 28th principal takes effect in January.

“As an alumnus Mr. Sheridan has a strong commitment to the traditions of St. Michael’s College School,” said college president Fr. Joseph Redican, C.S.B., in a statement.

Environmentalism part of promoting peace, says Pope

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{mosimage}VATICAN CITY - The degradation of the environment is a pressing moral problem that threatens peace and human life itself, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“We cannot remain indifferent to what is happening around us, for the deterioration of any one part of the planet affects us all,” the Pope said in his message for World Peace Day, Jan. 1.

Kennedy hopes to lead Toronto Catholic school board out of provincial supervision

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Despite facing a court appearance on a charge of conflict of interest, trustee Angela Kennedy was re-elected chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board on Dec. 9.

Kennedy is one of two Toronto Catholic trustees facing conflict of interest charges. Former chair Oliver Carroll was found guilty of 10 conflict-of-interest offences in February.

Hamilton board leads way in getting pro-life message out

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{mosimage}When it comes to pro-life teachings in Ontario, most are casting their eyes to the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board as a model.

Nearly six years ago, leaders established a board-run Culture of Life committee that has had its students interested in issues such as abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research ever since.

Helping Henry Carr's dreams come true

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Fr. Henry Carr High School got a boost from the Toronto Police Service in its quest to build its state-of-the-art sports stadium.

The police services board kicked in $50,000 to help make the northwest Toronto school’s dream become a reality.