Newly appointed Auxiliary Bishop Robert Harris, of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie visited the Catholic Education Centre at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board for the first time recently. During his visit he met with the Board of Directors of the Northern Ontario Catholic Curriculum Cooperative.

Auxiliary Bishop Harris was born in Montreal on September 26, 1944. After completing his formation at Loyola College, he studied at the Grand Sèminaire de Montrèal, where he obtained his Licentiate in Theology. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1969 and served in various parishes as Assistant and Pastor on the island of Montreal. He completed post-graduate studies and obtained his Licentiate in Canon Law in 1975 at the Gregorian University in Rome.

In the Archdiocese of Montreal, he held simultaneously the following positions: Director of Pastoral Formation at the Grand Sèminaire de Montrèal; Director of Vocations (English Sector); Executive Director of the Diocesan Priesthood Guild; Collegial Judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Montreal; and until his appointment, Episcopal Vicar to the Anglophone Faithful and Director of the Office for English Pastoral Services.

Auxiliary Bishop Harris is bilingual in French and English and has a working knowledge of Spanish and Italian. He has also undertaken missionary work in Mexico and the Diocese of Moosonee and has acted as a conference Resource Person at a session for Seminary Formators of French-speaking Africa inYaoundè, Cameroun. On May 31, 2002 he was made a Chaplain to the Holy Father (C.S.S.). On December 12, 2002, Bishop Harris was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Titular Bishop of Trofimiana at St. Patrick’s Basilica, Montreal.

With respect to escalating political unrest in the Middle East and its possible effects on the international scene, Trustees for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board passed a motion Tuesday night outlining in detail the Board’s position on this matter. Ray Vincent, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic Board stated that, “The Sudbury Catholic District School Board will allow the international student excursions to proceed in March 2003 but some conditions have to be met. Parents and participants who choose not to sign the waiver and withdraw from the trip will be reimbursed the amount prepaid to the traveling agency. For those participants who sign waivers, the planned trip will remain, however, the Board reserves the right to cancel the trip at any time prior to departure if international events so warrant it. Parents must decide to withdraw from the trip or sign a waiver to remain on the trip by February 27, 2003.”

Vincent went on to say that the Board’s decision was made from a moral standpoint in that, “there is a possible risk to the students who are going abroad and placing students in potential danger is not acceptable to this Board.”

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board has awarded the contract for the construction of its new Secondary school in Valley East to J.N. Construction of Sudbury. The new school, named Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School will move from its temporary River Road campus location in Val Caron to its permanent site at the former St Anne School in Hanmer. J.N. Construction Company was awarded the contract by the Sudbury Catholic Board as they submitted the lowest qualified tender in the amount of $5,512,640, winning out over four other local construction firms that also submitted tenders including; Tribury Construction,

R.M Belanger Limited, Kona Builders Limited, and TESC Contracting Company. Tenders were publicly opened on Tuesday, January 28, 2003, at 4:00 p.m. at 165A D’Youville Street Sudbury. Based on the prices submitted, the letter of recommendation from the project architect, Castellan Luciw James Architects, and past experience with the contractor, the Board recommended the contract in favour of J.N. Construction.

The construction of the new school coincides with phase two of the Board’s plan to transform for September 2003, the former St. Anne school into the most technologically advanced state of the art secondary school in Valley East. Ray Vincent, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is elated with the creation of the new learning facility. “The Board has never wavered from its commitment to provide quality Catholic education to Catholic students in Valley East and Capreol. In establishing Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School, the Board is following through on its mandate to offer equal educational opportunities for the students, parents and community partners in this region,”stated Vincent. Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is also looking forward to the creation of the new state of the art secondary school. “After months of preparation, we are now ready to move forward with phase two of the Board’s plan,” stated Zubac. “The new Catholic school will build on the tradition of Catholic Secondary Education. Catholic supporters, parents and students will continue to be involved in determining and shaping the unique identity of the new Catholic Secondary School as it grows one grade at a time.”

Valley East parents and students braved the cold Wednesday night to attend Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School’s Grade 9 Information Night held in the St. Anne School Gymnasium. The St. Anne site is slated to undergo renovations and will be the new home of Bishop Alexander Carter CSS in September 2003. The school is currently accepting registrations for grades 9 and 10 for next year. Grade 9 registration packages can be picked up at the River Road Campus in Val Caron or at the following elementary schools: St. Anne in Hanmer, St. Mary in Capreol and St. Charles in Chelmsford. The grade 9 registration package can also be downloaded from the school website in the Courses section. Registrations for grade 10 are accepted in person at the River Road Campus or by telephone at 897-5722.

Attendees enjoyed a presentation detailing the plans for the new school and took in a uniform fashion show. Guidance representatives were on hand to explain grade 9 course selection and diploma requirements, and Bishop Alexander Carter principal Guy Matthieu was available to answer any questions about the new secondary school. Three lucky students got a jump on their wardrobes for next year with door prizes that featured school apparel by McCarthy’s.

Parents and students are always welcome to contact Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School for more information.

After weeks of meetings, public debates and extensive input from parents, school councils, and special interest groups, Trustees of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board made the final decision regarding the five elementary schools under review last night. While the motion on the floor called for the consolidation of St. Anthony and St. Michael schools at St. Francis school, effective September 2003, Trustees voted to consolidate St. Anthony school with St. Francis in September 2003, keeping St. Michael’s school open. With respect to the Western Family of schools, Trustees decided in favour of the Board’s recommendation to consolidate Our Lady of Fatima school in Naughton at St. James School in Lively, effective September 2004.

Ray Vincent, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic Board stated that, “The decision to close a school is never an easy one nor is it a decision that Trustees take lightly. Over the past several weeks we have met with senior Board administration to review the information presented to us in the public meetings held at the schools and to re-examine the Board’s informational package. Our mandate as Trustees has always been to provide the best quality of Catholic education possible for our students. After taking into account the number of excess pupil capacity spaces in our schools as they relate to higher operational and maintenance costs, it became apparent that we would have to consolidate some schools. At the end of the day, from a financial and logistical point of view it made the most sense to consolidate St. Anthony school with St. Francis School next fall and

Our Lady of Fatima will be consolidated into the newly renovated St. James school in September of 2004.”

Zandra Zubac, Director of Education with the Sudbury Catholic Board stated that, “The

Trustees made a difficult decision yesterday to provide better educational opportunities for all our students in the Catholic educational system. Senior Administration is committed to working with school staff, students and Catholic School Councils over the next several months to ensure a smooth transition of the consolidation process.”

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce the election of its new chair and vice-chair for 2002-03.

Ray Vincent will assume the position of Chairperson and is looking forward to the new challenges this position will bring. “As we move forward this year, developing new initiatives and ideas, let us not forget to appreciate what we have accomplished in the short life span of the Board,” stated Vincent. “The foundation of our Catholic Education is only as strong as its main weight bearing point. I submit to you that our Catholic partners and larger community are looking to us, this Board to be this pillar of strength. Vincent continued on to state that, “What we do as a Board must say that we are committed to Catholic education. Our actions must say to our teachers that if indeed our schools are “Schools To Believe In,” and Catholic Education is a value added education, it is because of what happens in the classroom.. It is also important to note that what we do as a Board must be seen by parents and students that their best interest is our first priority.”

Jody Cameron, former Chairperson of the Board will take on the position of Vice-Chair and is also looking forward to his new role.”My first year as Chair involved a very quick learning curve,” stated Cameron. As a Board we were faced with a number of challenging issues which we overcame quite admirably, the creation of a new Catholic Secondary school in Valley East, increased enrolment at Marymount Academy, bringing in a balanced budget and the appointment of a new Director of Education, to mention only a few.” Cameron went on to state that his previous experience as Board Chair would be a definite asset in his new position.

On October 1st, 2002 Trustees of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board passed a motion in favour of placing five elementary schools under review. The schools in question are St. Anthony, St. Michael and St. Theresa in the Central and South Family of Schools, and Our Lady of Fatima and St. James in the Western Family of Schools. Over the next few weeks, the school superintendent will be meeting with each Catholic school council executive to discuss the process. There will also be public meetings for all parents, school staff and Catholic school ratepayers as follows:

Board staff will present the rationale for placing the schools under review during these meetings and there will be an opportunity for questions and input from the audience. Each Catholic school council will also have an opportunity to make presentations to the Board at a meeting to be held on December 3, 2002 with Trustees making their final decision at a Board meeting on December 17, 2002.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Dave MacDonald as the new Academic Computer Instructor effective December 2, 2002.

Mr. MacDonald’s major duties and responsibilities will be to develop, design and maintain an online support site for students and staff of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and to provide current curriculum development information and resources. Mr. MacDonald’s other duties will include, designing and delivering workshops to school staff and students and assisting the curriculum team in assessing and improving current technology based teaching and learning practices.



Mr. MacDonald is well qualified for the position of Academic Computer Instructor having been involved in this area for many years in his previous role as a Course Instructor at Nipissing University and as a Department Head of the Computer Science Department at St. Charles College. He also possess an Educational Specialist Certification in Computer Studies in the both the elementary and secondary panels. Mr. MacDonald’s extensive background in multi media presentations and as a workshop instructor for educators will serve him well in this position. In assuming his new role as Academic Computer Instructor MacDonald stated that, “I am very happy to be joining our curriculum team and taking on this new and exciting challenge. I have had the privilege of working with many of our talented teachers in our computer workshops and I now look forward to actively working with them in their schools.”



Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic School Board is pleased with Mr. MacDonald’s appointment stating that. “I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Dave MacDonald for many years in his previous role as a teacher and vice-principal. His passion for learning and teaching combined with his in-depth knowledge of computers make him a definite asset to this Board.”

The Sudbury Secondary Unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board have ratified a new two year collective agreement effective September 2002 to August 2004. The new agreement includes adjustments to benefits and wage increases of 1.2 percent effective September 2002, an additional 1 percent in February 2003 and September 2003 and 1.5 percent in February of 2004. The agreement ensures that the stable and co-operative work environment will continue at the Boards four Catholic secondary schools and the St. Albert Adult Learning Centre.

Given the current political and financial milieu that exists between school boards in Ontario and the government, it is a major coup that both parties were able to come to an agreement despite the shortcomings of the provincial funding formula. Both the Board and the OECTA bargaining committee decided not to wait until the government completed its review of the funding model to embark upon the task of working together to reach a contract settlement. The Board approved the agreement last week and the teachers accepted the new contract by voting 82 percent in favour of ratification.

Dan Charbonneau, OECTA President stated that “when both parties began negotiations in early June, there was a willingness on both sides to come to an agreement without having to resort to work interruptions, a strike or lockout and/or arbitration. With this recent agreement, our secondary students can be assured that there will be no labour interruptions in the education sector.”

Jody Cameron, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic School Board is pleased with the fact that the contract has been ratified by the membership, stating that, “the fact that the OECTA membership ratified the agreement by such a large majority is extremely encouraging. Both parties during negotiations were looking to ensure that the interests of students were at the forefront of our discussions. With labour peace, our students transition to post secondary because of the double cohort will happen seamlessly.”