Highlights from the January 23 Parent Involvement Committee meeting

Input  

Input from the field

 

Kathy talked about attending the robotics competition at Rick Hansen Secondary School. She was very impressed with the level of parent involvement. Each of the competing student teams has adults—parents, community members and teachers—volunteering with them to share their expertise. She mentioned she felt this was the type of initiative PIC should support and encourage.

 

Update on ESL/ELL project

 

Varsha updated the committee on the ESL/ELL project for the elementary level. She shared a snapshot of what the parent presentation will look like and explained the resource will cover the following topics:

• benefits of the ESL/ELL program
• who qualifies to receive support
• why it’s necessary
• how we support equity and success for all students
• the various ESL/ELL programs
• how teachers use unique approaches to meet the needs of individual students
• the advantages of retaining the home language

The package is near completion. Varsha will consult with curriculum staff to have the package reviewed before it’s prepared for distribution.

 

Update on Parent Literacy Conference planning

 

The Make a Difference in Literacy and Beyond Parent Conference is on March 24 at Rick Hansen Secondary School in Mississauga. Flyers will be distributed to families through schools in February. The deadline to register is March 9. Online registration will be available soon at http://www.peelschools.org/parents/literacy_conference.htm

 

The committee will have a booth at the event and give out tip sheets for parents, as well as encourage parents to apply for the committee this spring.

 

Committee to fund speakers in the community

 

At its budget meeting last fall, the committee decided to set aside $5000 to fund speakers in the community. The intention is to connect with community organizations and identify needs related to family engagement and the school system. Committee members talked about connecting with faith centres, cultural groups and resident groups. At the next meeting, members will come with ideas or needs they’ve heard from the groups they spoke to and the committee will decide which events to support.

 

Selection of new members

 

Dan, Shan, Salha, Kathy and Lisa volunteered to sit on the selection committee to select new members. There will be four parent positions available this spring. The positions start in September 2012 and are a two-year term. Application packages will be available in the spring and will be posted on www.peelschools.org, sent to schools and to school councils. The opportunity to apply will also be promoted through a news release and the board’s social media sites.

 

Budget

 

The committee decided to set a separate budget meeting for Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 to determine how to spend the remaining budget of approximately $12,000. A summary of expenditures to date has been provided to committee members.

 

Discussion about fees guideline

 

Committee members were asked to review the fees guideline and speak to their networks to determine what impacts, if any, are being felt by families. Feedback from members is parents and students have noticing a reduction in the number of field trips. Otherwise, the guideline hasn’t had a major impact on families’ school experiences.

 

Presentation by Catherine Soplet

 

Catherine Soplet provided the committee with an overview of some work she’s been involved with over the last number of years related to the PRO grants. She informed the committee she has been encouraging the Ministry of Education to evaluate the impact of the PRO grants on achievement and school climate. Catherine encouraged the committee to do whatever it can to support our schools’ PRO grant applications.

 

School council email addresses provided to People for Education

 

We received a request from People for Education to share our school council email addresses so they can add them to their newsletter distribution. The email addresses are public information and the list has been provided.

 

Next regular meeting

The next regular committee meeting is on February 27 at 4:30 p.m. in the Inglewood Room of the HJA Brown Education Centre.

 

Ministry of Education handbook for school councils

Although I haven't read it cover to cover, I do frequently reference the school council handbook created by the Ministry of Education. Here's why I like it:

• it contains up-to-date information
• it's a PDF that I can search (ctrl F and type in the topic you're looking for)
• it has a great table of contents
• it includes templates and examples

If you haven't accessed it before, here's the link: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/council/guide.html

I've even printed a double-sided copy I keep in a binder so I have easy access to the information when I'm not near a computer.

Coffee and reviewing bylaws

If there's one thing I've learned over the past few years working with our school councils, it's how important it is to have bylaws that outline how the council operates. Bylaws don't need to be lengthy or complicated, but they should be specific. They set the ground rules for councils so council members can get on with the more important, and frankly, more fun work of supporting student success at the school.

I know many of our councils don't have bylaws. I've also heard that the template bylaws we've provided may not be specific enough. I get a lot of questions like, "how do we deal with electronic voting?" and "can someone who isn't at the meeting vote?" or "if someone doesn't come to meetings, can we replace their position?".

The voting thing is a whole other issue, because as you know, consensus is the preferred decision-making method. But sometimes it is necessary to vote, and when that happens, wouldn't it be great to have a predetermined method outlined in a bylaw?

I'm having coffee with a community member tomorrow who has exprience developing bylaws for various organizations. He and I are reviewing the template bylaws we have for the purpose of creating more effective templates for our school councils. I'm so thankful for his offer to help because bylaws certainly aren't my area of expertise, and I'm always interested in gathering knowledge from generous individuals around me.

I'm making it one of my many missions this spring to improve on the support we provide to councils because I strongly believe in the benefit of school councils. I've seen councils that operate well, in true partnership with the school staff and community. In the end, the beneficaries are the kids. And isn't that why we all do what we do? Whether you work for the board or volunteer, we are doing it for the students and to make our communities fabulous places to live, learn and grow. I think sometimes we can forget that, the bottomline, when we get wrapped up in process. So let's simplfy the process with excellent, clear bylaws and focus our energy on what matters: student success.