Burlington Secondary School Program and Accommodation Review (PAR) Implementation

Ideally, students will remain at or relocate to new schools based on the decisions/timelines approved in the Burlington Program and Accommodation Review. There will be, however, continued flexibility for special circumstances for exceptional student and family needs moving forward. These situations will be decided on a case-by-case basis and should be discussed with your current school principal as per HDSB's Optional Attendance Administrative Procedure​​.

• There is a specific application form required for Grade 8 to Grade 9 optional attendance. Applicants are expected to discuss the programs offered at the home high school with the principal of that school. Please refer to the Administrative Procedure for application and decision timelines. 
  
• The process for application for transfer of students already in high school (i.e., grades 9 – 12) to another school occurs through the home school Principal and the Principal of the requested school. This does not require a formal application process.
  

Students enrolled in SHSM and OYAP commit to a two-year program. Any SHSM, OYAP or Dual Credit program offered for September 2019 will be continued for September 2020. The location of the program would be communicated in the 2019-2020 school year, as per our current timelines around regional program offerings. Proposals to move SHSM programs to a new location are submitted in the winter and confirmed by the Ministry of Education in the spring.

In the rare case that a program does not continue, students who are enrolled in the program will be given an opportunity to complete the program components either back at their home school with support from the school board, or through enrolment in a similar program if a suitable one exists.

Students in their second year of a program continuing their SHSM, OYAP or Dual Credit program at a new location will not be required to apply for optional attendance. As with any Pathways Program, students may choose to transfer to a school that offers that program based on the Pathways Program Application Process supported by the Student Services departments of their home and program school. Regional transportation [within Burlington, within Oakville and within the North (Milton, Acton and Georgetown)] is available for all SHSM and OYAP students who transfer schools, based on the transportation eligibility guidelines.

According to Ministry Guidelines, an administrative review is a process by which an independent, impartial facilitator reviews that the Board has followed it’s pupil accommodation review policy. An administrative review is not an assessment of the decisions made by the Board of Trustees.
 
Administrative Reviews of the Burlington Secondary School Program and Accommodation Review (PAR), undertaken by the Halton District School Board during the 2016-2017 school year, have been granted. Requests for these reviews were submitted to the Ministry of Education by the Lester B. Pearson High School and the Robert Bateman High School communities.
 
An independent third party review of our Program and Accommodation Review Policy and the Burlington PAR ensures that we have followed our processes and provides an opportunity to address community concerns. It is important for the HDSB, the community and the Ministry of Education that the process is thoroughly examined and reviewed. ​

During this review period, the Halton District School Board continued to keep student needs at the forefront. Avia collaboratively planning for and implementation of the Board’s decisions made in June 2017. However, there was a commitment to be cognizant of minimizing the expenditures of the implementation during the review process.

The Administrative Review has been completed and it was concluded that the Board followed it’s process. The Board will continue to implement the approved recommendations. The updates section on this webpage provides further information.