Every Voice Counts

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• The 10 essential things a school council must know

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School Council 101Brian WoodlandDirector of
Communications and Strategic Partnerships(905)
890-1010, ext 2812Brian.Woodland_at_peelsb.com
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The 10 essential things a school council should
know
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1 You have a historyand it hasnt always been
pretty!
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The evolution of school councils

• Councils suggested by Royal Commission on
  Learning in 1995
• Councils mandated and put in place in 1996/1997
• Peel board developed progressive policy/procedure
  on councils with parent input
• Resources and training put in place
• Review at one-year point showed councils
  effective
• Councils reviewed and new regulations in
  2000board revised policy and procedure

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The evolution of school councils

• Survey of councils done by board in 2003
• Survey showed need for more support
• Great Start is the start of action plan to
  support school councils
• New Resource Guide and web site coming, plus
  administrator training

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2No one ever seems to actually get elected to
the elected position of council member
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The election quizHow many of you

• Had a hard-fought battle for council supremacy
  filled with political intrigue, active
  campaigning fuelled by a desperate desire to be
  out one more night a month ?

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The Election QuizHow many of you

• were at the right place, right time
• had a weak moment
• said yes without knowing what you agreed to
• found that you could not back out
• met the schools stringent criteria (a parent,
  able to stand upright and knew name of school)

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The traditional government belief

• parents are breaking down the door to have power
  and influence over the schools and the nasty
  school board refuses to let them in

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The reality
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3There is a way to make sure you do not always
have the same 7 people on your school council
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How to encourage parents to run for school
councils

• The intent of the ministry guidelines and the
  Peel board policy on school councils is to hold
  an election with a slate of candidates. The
  following suggestions can be used to help
  increase the number of nominees running for
  office.

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• Gather input from the following groups about how
  to encourage parents to run for school councils
• Election Planning Committee
• existing school council and PTA
• parent leaders in your school

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• Schedule a nomination week at your school and
  publicize it.
• Use your school newsletter to encourage parents
  to run.
• Post information on the main school bulletin
  boards and in areas where parents pick up
  students, encouraging nominations and explaining
  the nomination process.

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• Have information available in each classroom
  about running for school council.
• Ask all teachers to encourage any parents in
  their class who are interested in the council.
• Talk to individual parents who have expressed an
  interest in school councils in the past or who
  are active volunteers in the school.

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• Remember that nominations can come from
  individuals who are interested in running or from
  other people. Encourage parents to nominate other
  parents who they think would be effective on the
  school council - after getting permission from
  that individual, of course.

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• The process of running for election can be
  intimidating for many people. Try to reassure
  them and make the process as accessible as
  possible for all parents. Offer to provide
  assistance if language or literacy issues would
  pose barriers to a parent running for office.

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Help is coming

• A new election package, tip sheets and action
  guides are part of the revised Resource Guide

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4Some people are actually not welcome on the
school council
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This man, however, is welcome
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As long as he does not work at the schoo1, nor is
trustee or MPP!

• There are some changes to rules re membership

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School Councils

• Advisory groups - elected parents, educators and
• students
• - appointed community members
• Membership
• parents/guardians (majority)
• One student (secondary mandatory, elementary
  optional)
• Principal or vice-principal
• One teacher
• One non-teaching staff member
• One or more community representative(s)
• Representative of home and school

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Changes in regulation

• Not a minimum of teaching, non-teachingnow a
  fixed number of one each
• Determines who is/is not a parent rep
• Extended to allow for home and school
• Principals/vice-principals cannot vote

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Change to board policy

• Council to have minimum of 9 without student rep,
  11 with
• Parents in majority
• MPPs may not be members

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Who is a parent

• Has a child enrolled at school
• Chair/co-chair must be parent
• Cannot be a parent member if you have are
  employed at the school
• Therefore, you cannot be school council member
  (except as staff rep) or chair
• You can be a parent member if employed elsewhere
  in the board and you disclose
• You still cannot be chair or co-chair

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School Council Membership

• Elementary school council
• five elected parent members
• four other members
• Secondary school council
• six elected parents members
• five other members
• Membership reflects the diversity of the school
  community
• Term - one year (we say should be two)

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There are guidelines for meeting

• election must be held within first 30 school days
• first meeting within first 30 school days of
  year
• Does not include pd days

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There are guidelines for meeting

• Parents must be informed of the meeting dates and
  times

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There are guidelines for meeting

• The principal of the school shall, on behalf of
  the school council, give written notice of the
  dates, times and locations of the meetings of
  council to every parent Regulation pg 7
• Can be distributed with children
• Can be posted in the school

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5A council is not a private club
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You must have an open door policybut with limits

• All meetings are public
• Includes committees of council
• You must have a question period
• You should structure the question period
• Open discussions sometimes lead to open revolt

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6There is no proven link between more meetings
and effectiveness
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You must have an open door policy

• Requirement of four meetings a year
• Secondary tend to have close to that
• Elementary often meet monthly
• Some have committeeseach must have parent
  representation

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7Sad But trueno law requiring that your advice
be taken!
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School Council Responsibilities

• Deal with relevant issues in the community
• Establish priorities on an annual basis
• Provide advice to principal or, where applicable,
  to school board administrators and trustees
• Nowwe must say how advice used

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The elephant in the room

• Why should principal/board take my advice?

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Consider

• Are you legally forced to take the advice of your
  spouse?

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School councils will advise principals on

• local school activity calendar
• school code of behaviour
• school program goals and priorities
• curriculum delivery
• board responses to achievement in assessment
  programs
• school budget priorities
• communication strategies

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School councils will advise principals on

• principal selection criteria
• reporting to parents and community
• extracurricular activities
• social, recreational, health and nutritional
  programs
• community use of school facilities
• local coordination of services for children/youth
• development, implementation and review of the
  board policies at the local level

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8This is not an opportunity to air personal
grudges, problems, issues, complaints, pet peeves
or interior paint colour preferences
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School Council Objectives

• to focus on student success
• to place overall interest of school first
• to act in an advisory capacity
• to act as a resource
• to facilitate involvement of parents and partners
• to enhance parent and community involvement

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School Council Objectives

• to promote communication among home, school and
  community
• to provide input on school success planning
• to foster good relationships among parents,
  staff, students, school board and community
• to promote positive attitudes towards public
  education

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Student Success - Communication - Parent
Involvement

• School Councils Code of Ethics
• non-judgmental
• respect confidentiality
• consensus decision-making
• respect rights and responsibilities of students
  and Board employees
• no discussion of individuals
• identify conflict of interest
• focus on school-wide issues

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9You have enormous power over the reputation of
your school
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The BIG picture
Its a simple rule to get good PR-- Always do a
good job!
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• Phi Delta Kappa says schools with high confidence
  ratings
• have clear goals, and they communicate these
  goals clearly within the school and to the
  community
• have high quality curriculum and extracurricular
  programs - they are seen to have extras over
  and above what the average school offers
• are safe and orderly
• have significant parent and community involvement
• exhibit openness, warmth and caring
• systematically do need sensing to find out what
  parents and others in the community want from
  schools
• work hard at building and retaining public
  confidence

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Do you want the bad news, or the bad
news? Doing a poor job can cause people to
lose confidence in schools, but doing a good job
- by itself - isnt enough to increase confidence
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"The Peel District School Board has a
sophisticated, highly developed two-way
communications system, directed by a
well-organized communications department. In
fact, Peel has one of the best communications
systems seen by review teams to date. The board
understands that good communications can be a
means of improving student achievement." Educati
on Improvement Commission
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Hierarchy of Effective Communications 1.
One-to-one, face-to-face 2. Small group
discussion/meeting 3. Speaking before a large
group 4. Phone conversation 5. Handwritten,
personal note 6. Typewritten, personal letter not
generated by computer 7. Computer generated or
word-processing-generated personal letter 8.
Mass-produced, non-personal letter 9. Brochure or
pamphlet sent out as a direct mail piece 10.
Article in organizational newsletter, magazine,
tabloid 11. News carried in popular press 12.
Advertising in newspapers, radio, TV, magazines,
posters 13. Other less effective forms of
communication (billboards, skywriters, etc.)
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Why should I have my kid come to your
school? Learning About Schools What Parents
Need to Know and How They Can Find Out, Prof. P.
Coleman
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Your question as a school council Where do we
focus our efforts? In the skywriting half of the
list or at the top of the pyramid?
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10You can make a real difference in supporting
student success
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• Studies find that most parents very much want to
  help their children. What are the two most
  important reasons why these parents are not
  involved?

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The evidence suggests that no other single focus
has the potential to be as productive for
students than the closer linking of home and
school, of parents and teachers. Suzanne
Ziegler, Toronto Board of Education, 1987, The
Effects of Parent Involvement on Childrens
Achievement The Significance of Home/School
Links (an overview of research 1966 to 1987)
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Children of parents who are aware of what their
offspring are studying at school and who are in
regular communication with their teachers,
continue to score higher school achievement all
the way through secondary school. Ziegler,
Toronto Board of Education, 1987
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• Studies find that most parents very much want to
  help their children. What are the two most
  important reasons why these parents are not
  involved?
• 1. No time
• 2. Dont know what to do

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7 Ways to Get Parents Involved!

• Host regular focus groups
• Use their resources
• Develop events themes that key into their
  learning needs
• Be even more flexible in scheduling activities
• Use new communication technology (voicemail,
  e-mail, website)
• Make it worth their while
• Use food - it still works!

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How does a council focus on student success?

• Start with board plan for student success
• Make it local with school plan for student
  success
• Personalize with your principal in terms of
  school needs
• Identify school council priorities to support
  students

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What can a council do to help students?

• Find out school needs and help fill the gaps
• Bring the resources of the community to the
  school
• Be informed
• Be involved
• Share information

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What can a council do to help students?

• Be involved in building school success
• Support school efforts
• Be an advocate
• Be available to defend, when needed
• Encourage parents to be involved

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And one more bonus itemwe believe in you and
want to help
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The big picture System-wide support for
councils

• election package
• inside information from board
• information from outside the board (MOET)
• school council list
• school council on site - www.peelschools.org

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The big picture System-wide support for
councils

• information evenings
• policy clarification
• coordination of input opportunities/information
• support for local activities

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Current resources for councils

• Regional school council meetings
• School council chair meetings/conferences by
  family of schools
• School Council Resource Guide
• School council section of www.peelschools.org
• Ministry of Education resource guide
• Communications, local superintendent and trustees
  as resources

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Coming Soon!

• More training opportunities
• Revised support guide for school councils
• And more!

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You are not aloneHuman support for councils

• Principal as the key contact

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More human support for councils

• Superintendent as liaison

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Even more human support for councils

• Local trustee as resource

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• Always remember our greatest common bond

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• Questions?