2018 ACÉPO Annual Report

2018 was a fruitful year for ACÉPO, one marked by the consolidation of its administration team, a new government to discover and interact with, school elections, and the engagement of thousands of Ontario Francophones voicing their rights and needs. We said goodbye to some of our longstanding partners and welcomed school trustees who are eager to bring new energy to the French-language public school boards.

With the knowledge that 2018 would be a period of renewal at ACÉPO, we opened the year by reviewing our strategic plan so that ACÉPO could carve out a vision based on current and future needs in our school system.

This roadmap has allowed us to begin implementing operational activities that will enable us to meet our strategic goals.

ACÉPO has the great privilege of overseeing a school system that has experienced, by far, the most growth in Ontario, and we are extremely proud of this. Enrolment has increased by 73% since ACÉPO’s inception in 1998 and shows no signs of slowing down.

However, such enviable results also create challenges that are not always easy to find solutions for. The pressing need for space and new buildings in overcrowded educational institutions in some regions of the province, the lack of funding available for renovating existing schools, and the moratorium on school closings are some examples that make funding equity for secular French-language education a key priority for ACÉPO. The need to add to our network of French-language public schools wherever there is a need in Ontario is another example. The lack of French-speaking teachers—a problem not only in Ontario but also in the rest of Canada—and possible solutions for this are also a part of ACÉPO’s mandate.

ACÉPO has an action plan in place, a board of directors made up of motivated and committed school trustees, and a united and dynamic operations team. It is ready to go to work alongside partners in the French-language community and more motivated than ever to continue promoting French-language public education everywhere in Ontario. We want to make sure our children are in an educational environment that reflects our rich Franco-Ontarian reality—diverse, vibrant, inclusive, and ready to face the 21st Century.

Denis M. Chartrand, chair, ACÉPO and Isabelle Girard, executive director, ACÉPO

More info : ACÉPO 2018 Annual Report