Need support? Reach out to Jill HERE and learn more about the role and responsibilities of a Trustee.
Trustees are not able to intervene in matters of operations but can ensure you are connected to appropriate members of staff and help you navigate challenges. *Trustees do not have the authority to direct staff.

What’s New:

It’s that time again! We’ll be taking our student census to help us have a strong understanding who are students are and how best to meet their needs. Find out more HERE.

MOTION: SECONDARY FRENCH IMMERSION BUSSING

Following my motion in the 2024-25 school year requesting costing to provide bussing to secondary French Immersion students who live past 3.8 km of their catchment, staff returned to the October 1st Physical Planning, Finance, and Building Committee meeting with a report estimating potential costs to close this bussing gap and include these students in our transportation plan.

Given the current financial reality of education in Ontario, there currently is not expected to be space in our budget for this type of expansion in the next school year. As we continue to see students have challenges finding efficient and realistic ways to get to their French Immersion catchments, and as this is a particular noted challenge within my own wards for families who live further north in Ward 11, in response to this report I brought a motion from the floor requesting that the Board of Trustees write a letter to the Minister of Education review funding for French Immersion bussing, with the goal of supporting students in their French language education and supporting Ontario’s need for more students graduating with French proficiency. The motion failed in a tie vote, amidst concerns that the Board of Trustees is also already petitioning the Ministry for funding for other areas of concern and falling short in those areas.

I will continue to look for ways to support French Immersion families who are finding this to be a challenge.

NOTICE OF MOTION: EXTREME HEAT DAYS

During the final week of the 2024-25 school week, Ontario faced several days of extreme heat, with the humidex rising to 47 degrees Celsius. I spoke with many members of our community and spent time connecting with Ward 6 & 11 schools ahead of the forecasted heat wave, as well as time in many of our local schools on the hottest days. Thank you to everyone who reached out about this issue. I’ll continue updating individuals who I’ve already been in contact with, and please feel free to reach out any time if we haven’t already chatted (about this or any concern). Dealing with growing concerns about heat has been an ongoing conversation. While there are many challenges in this conversation, particularly related to infrastructure and financial resources, it feels clear that long-term plans need to be considered, along with immediate measures to ensure student and staff safety and well-being in the interim.

Last night I gave a notice of motion calling for PDSB to work with Peel Public Health to establish an upper threshold for heat in a similar vein to our established extreme cold days. This motion will come to a vote at our August meeting. Thank you to members of staff who spoke with me about your different experiences and perspectives, and colleagues at the Trustee table who have shared support. Read the motion here:

Whereas protocols are established to respond to extreme cold days with school closures for the safety of staff and students; 

And whereas extreme heat is recognized as a risk to health, and a particular risk to health for young children, seniors, and anyone who may have an underlying health concern;

And whereas the Ontario Ministry of Labour recognizes 27 degrees Celsius as a maximum acceptable indoor temperature for construction workers;

And whereas many PDSB classrooms are without air conditioning or measures to significantly bring down the temperature to a level that may be considered manageable;

And whereas PDSB’s ability to adjust to the challenges of extreme heat within schools may be limited by existing infrastructure and available resources;

And whereas changes in climate patterns have resulted in an increase in high heat days during the school year in the years since many schools were built;

Therefore be it resolved that the Peel District School Board work with Peel Public Health to establish an upper temperature threshold for extreme heat days, and a plan for these days for the safety and well-being of our staff and students.

2025-26 PDSB BUDGET

On Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025, Trustees finalized the 2025-25 budget for the Peel District School Board. This budget was a challenging one. While the overall funding to the board has risen, the increases represent changes in compensation to staff as agreed to through collective bargaining between the government and education sector unions, as well as pre-planned changes to transportation being rolled out over several budget cycles. There is some limited adjustment for inflation. The funding otherwise delivered reductions in available funds. Thank you to staff who worked hard to help pull the new funding together for the budget process, and who spent many long hours in meetings with Trustees to help us understand where funds were most needed to meet the needs of staff and students. Thank you also to Trustees for this hard work at the table. While I’m not on Budget Committee this year (taking on Governance instead), I continued to attend every meeting and continue to find this work incredibly valuable in informing my vote and my voice for Peel families. I appreciate the perspective of my fellow Trustees who attend these meetings and the staff who work through tough decisions with us for our students and the people working with them in schools every day.

The 2025-26 budget can be found HERE.

One of the larger pressures we face in Peel is that while enrolment is declining, demands for special education programming continue to increase. Much of the funding for special education is based on overall enrolment, rather than according to student need, leaving a significant shortfall. PDSB Trustees have regularly advocated for support to address our disproportionate underfunding, including a change to the funding formula to better meet the needs of all Ontario students.

While this was a challenging budget, I’m grateful to everyone who worked so hard to stretch every dollar as far as we were able to ensure spending was prioritized for students. Thank you all. Please feel free to connect with any questions.

MULTI-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
With the beginning of the 2024-25 school year the Board of Trustees launched the Peel District School Board’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan for 2024-2028. This plan was developed with extensive input from students, staff, families, and community members, and sets the direction of the board for the next four years. Learn more about PDSB’s goals and core values!

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About Jill

Jill Promoli is a small business owner and mother of three. She became a flu prevention advocate after the sudden death of one of her twin boys in 2016. She founded For Jude, For Everyone, an organization to promote better awareness and understanding about the flu and other preventable illnesses to protect our communities, and has advocated for policy changes at every level to help improve public health. Her work has gained support from public figures and drawn attention in national and international media outlets.

She grew up in Port Elgin, Ontario, and holds a BA in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University, where she met her husband while they volunteered on campus. After teaching in Korea and working in Toronto, they chose to make their home and raise their family in Mississauga, where their kids attend public school and Jill has spent years coaching t-ball and volunteering with the local women’s council.

Click here to read more about my priorities

Jill Promoli – Bill 47 Deputation, November 15th, 2018
Deputation transcript

Excerpt: