The TCDSB is committed to advocacy for students, parents, and communities. In recognition of the need to hear the concerns of the TCDSB community and of individuals to have a voice in the decision-making process, delegations may be heard at any meeting of the Board of Trustees or Standing Committees, as stipulated in, and limited by, the regulations outlined below.
Regulations:
Appropriate Forums for Delegations
1. Delegations will be heard at Standing Committees of the Board concerning matters within its terms of reference. The topic of the deputation will determine at which Standing Committee the delegation will be heard.
2. Delegations may be heard at Special Board meetings at the discretion of the Director and Chair of the Board.
3. Given the current division of work between the Board meetings and Committee meetings, delegations will be accepted at the discretion of the Director and Chair of the Board at regular Board if:
a) A new item/report or new information has been placed on the agenda that has not been dealt with at a Standing committees.
b) The matter is deemed to be time sensitive.
Delegations heard at regular Board meetings may be the subject only of a motion for receipt, or a motion of referral to the appropriate Committee or to Staff, or a motion of both receipt and referral to the appropriate Committee or to Staff. (By-Laws Section 10.9.11)
Procedure for Making a Deputation
4. Those wishing to make a deputation can receive further information and details on the delegation protocol by contacting the Recording Secretary at
416-222-8282 ext. 2293, or by visiting the TCDSB portal site at www.tcdsb.org.
5. Delegations are to register with the Recording Secretary of the Board no later than 11:00 a.m. on the day of the Standing Committee meeting by submitting the Delegation Registration Form to the Recording Secretary and the local Trustee will be notified immediately.
6. Where the Board has initiated community engagement with respect to any matter, delegations will be referred to that consultation process and may not be registered to appear before a Standing Committee meeting.
7. A Delegate may only speak once at a particular meeting. There may be up to a maximum of ten (10) deputations per meeting.
8. Delegations will be listed on the agenda of the meeting or in an addendum, and their topic and point of view shall be included in the documentation.
Private information shall not be included.
9. First priority will be given to delegations speaking to a specific item on the meeting’s agenda and those who have not yet spoken to the issue. Next priority will be given to delegations speaking to time-sensitive topics.
10. Delegates who want to show their deputation on the screen in the Boardroom must provide an electronic copy before the meeting.
11. Delegations from TCDSB employees shall verbally disclose this information at the time of registration and at the beginning of their deputation.
Time Parameters
12. Delegations who have registered by the specified time may speak for a maximum of three (3) minutes.
13. Delegations who have not registered by the specified time may speak for a maximum of three (3) minutes if approved by 2/3 votes of the members of the Board or Standing Committee. The chair shall put the question at the conclusion of the registered delegate. The question will be put immediately without any debate.
14. Delegation period shall be limited to a maximum of 60 minutes at the discretion of the Chair. The maximum time limit may be amended by 2/3 majority present and eligible to vote.
15. Trustees may ask questions of the delegation for a maximum of 3 minutes.
Format & Content of Deputations
16. Delegations are requested to:
a) present concerns in a positive and constructive manner;
b) maintain a level of decorum which will allow meetings to proceed effectively; and
c) refrain from the use of abusive or derogatory language.
17. During a deputation in public session of a regular or special Board meeting, Standing Committee, should the delegate use the name/title/position of any person in a negative, critical or derogatory fashion, directly or indirectly the Chair of the meeting shall advise the delegation to limit comments to non-personal references. Should personal references continue to be made, the Chair has the authority to stop the delegation from proceeding.
18. During a deputation in a private session of a regular or special Board meeting, Standing Committee, should a situation arise where a delegate intends to refer to someone in a negative way then the following will apply:
a) Delegations intending to use the name/title/position of any person in a negative, critical or derogatory fashion must indicate this intention at the time of registration, and prior to presenting, will be requested to address the Standing Committee in private session.
b) The Board shall inform staff if a delegation intends to speak of them at a Standing Committee meeting, in a negative, critical or derogatory
fashion. The staff member has the right to be present during the deputation and be represented by the agent of their choice.
19. The Chair of the meeting may expel or exclude from any meeting any person who engages in conduct contrary to the TCDSB Code of Conduct or
Respectful Workplace Guidelines.
20. In respect of TCDSB employees delegating to the Standing Committee where the topic:
a) is personal to the speaker, the restrictions are the same as any delegation.
b) is or may be dealt with under a Collective Agreement to which the Board is a party, such submission shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of such Collective Agreement.
21. The public session of Standing Committee, Board and Special Board meetings are recorded and broadcast live. The recording is retained as a public record of the proceedings. Delegations that are part of the proceedings are so advised and consent to being recorded.
22. At the conclusion of the deputation the Chair will advise the delegate as to how the matter will be processed.
23. Where an item has been referred to staff, staff will communicate follow-up actions to the Delegation.