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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12a Parental Involvement Committee 06 October 2011 Minutes Public REPORT NO. 4, PARENT INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE TO: Board DATE: 6 October 2011 A meeting of the Parent Involvement Committee was held commencing at 7:30 p.m. in the Trustee Committee Room, 133 Greenbank Road, Ottawa, Ontario with Anne Teutsch in the chair and the following in attendance: VOTING MEMBERS: Stephen Sliwa, Superintendent of Instruction (for Jennifer Adams, Director of Education and Secretary of the Board) Katie Holtzhauer, Trustee (electronic communication) Carrie Eaton, OCASC Representative Chris Ellis, SEAC Representative Ikram Jama, OCISO Representative (for Wali Farah) Harvey Brown, CCEE Representative NON-VOTING MEMBERS: Dorothy Penney, Instructional Coach of Inclusive, Safe and Caring Schools (for Corinne Davison) OBSERVERS: Lillian Thomsen, OCASC, Glebe Collegiate School Council Elaine Hayles, CCEE STAFF: Michèle Giroux, Executive Officer, Corporate Services Paula Marble, Policy Analyst Sue Baker, Board/Committee Coordinator (recording) 1. Call to Order Chair Teutsch called the meeting to order at 7:36 p.m. and welcomed everyone to the first meeting of the Parental Involvement Committee for the 2011-2012 school year. Chair Teutsch invited everyone to introduce themselves. 2. Approval of Agenda Moved by Chair Teutsch, THAT the agenda be approved. - Carried 3. Approval of Minutes from 26 May 2011 During discussion of the minutes of 26 May 2011, the following requests for revisions were noted: Meeting date should read 26 May 2011; Folio 5, correct spelling of Anne Teutch; and Parent Involvement Committee 6 October 2011 1 The committee approved the minutes from the 26 May 2011 Parental Involvement Committee (PIC), as amended. In response to queries from Committee members, the following information was provided: Lillian Thomsen noted that public members who download agenda documents from the website do not have access to folio numbers as do those who receive hard copies of the agenda package. Executive Officer Giroux advised that final agenda package is assembled in paper format and folio numbers are added by hand before printing. She noted that each document in the package is prepared as a separate electronic file and in order to allow time for staff to combine the files and insert electronic folio numbers, the production of the documents would need to be backed up by at least one day. Executive Officer Giroux advised that changing the timelines for document production is not feasible at the present time and, in the meantime, printed and folioed copies are always available at the meeting to facilitate discussions; and In response to Chris Ellis and experiences of applicants with those desired by the Parent Involvement Committee (folio 3, bullet 7 in article II) Executive Officer Giroux advised that this has not yet been completed. 4. There was no report from the Chair. 5. Approval of Parent Involvement Committee Bylaws The Committee had before it for approval, draft bylaws governing the Parent Involvement Committee. Chair Teutsch noted that the bylaws for PIC must be approved by 01 October 2011 to comply with the deadline as outlined in Regulation 330/10. The Chair drew attention to an email from Chris Ellis circulated earlier in the day that contained comments and proposed changes to the draft bylaws. Copies of the email were distributed to the members. Chair Teutsch noted that the suggestions would be considered as the Committee reviewed the draft bylaws. Executive Officer Giroux advised that the draft bylaws are the operating rules for the Parent Involvement Committee. They were drafted in accordance with Regulation 330/10 School Councils and Parent Involvement Committee and in consideration of the mandate of the existing Parental Involvement Committee (PIC). Although PIC is considered to be an advisory committee to the Board, the Board of Trustees is not required to approve the bylaws of the Committee. The Regulation 330/10 sets out the mandate of PIC and directs Boards to establish PICs but because the OCDSB already had a PIC prior to the legislation, it directs the PIC to approve its own bylaws. Once the bylaws are adopted, the next step is to develop a work plan and communication strategies for PIC. The Committee reviewed and discussed the draft bylaws and the following comments and proposed revisions were noted: Interpretation: The Committee discussed whether parent members should be elected or appointed to the committee, and if appointed, how that might work; ______________________________________________________________________________ Parent Involvement Committee6 October 2011 2 The process for election and/or appointment should be clarified, particularly with respect to representatives from groups, if applicable; Executive Officer Giroux noted that section 34 in Regulation 330/10 says parent members shall be appointed or elected in accordance with the bylaws of the committee. She suggested that the bylaws mirror the language of the Regulation; and Mandate: The mandate reflects the wording in the Regulation 330/10; No changes required; and . Purpose: 2.0(a) C Executive Officer Giroux advised that it would not be appropriate for PIC to mandate the Board to provide a response to PIC; 2.0(c) 2.1(a) Combine 2.1(a) and 2.1(b); 2.1(d) and Consider removing sections 2.2 and 2.3 as the bylaws cannot mandate what the Board or Ministry of Education may do. Membership: 3.1 Change number of community members from two to three; 3.0 Change from 17 to 18 members of whom 13 are voting members (10 parents and three community members); 3.4(a) and 3.4(b) te trustee attend that Membership Criteria: Following a discussion about the benefits of having representatives of OCISO and the Community Council for Ethnocultural Equity as members of PIC, and whether the representatives should be appointed as individual parents or community members, Executive Officer Giroux agreed to review the language in this section to consider the addition of representatives in section 4.0. Appointments: With respect to sections 6.1(c) and (d) Executive Officer Giroux clarified that OCDSB advisory committees and the current PIC use a self-appointment model whereby member groups appoint their own representative to the advisory committee. Under the new draft bylaws, a PIC membership sub- committee may recommend to the whole PIC that it appoint the parent members based on the membership criteria as outlined in section 4.0. Meetings: 9.0 Chris Ellis suggested that PIC should meet four times per year. Carrie Eaton expressed support for meeting six times per year. ______________________________________________________________________________ Parent Involvement Committee6 October 2011 3 Other Suggestions: Add sections on attendance at meetings and quorum. Due to the lateness of the hour, the members were requested to send additional input to Paula Marble. A revised draft of the bylaws will be submitted for approval to the November 2011 meeting of the Parent Involvement Committee. 6. Fundraising Guideline Consultation The Committee had before it for discussion guideline. Executive Officer Giroux advised that the draft guideline has been issued for discussion purposes and comments are invited not later than 1 November 2011. A summary of the feedback provided to date will be presented to the Education Committee at its meeting of 18 October 2011. She noted that the input provided indicates support in principle for the guideline in that it provides clarity around expectations regarding fundraising; however, there has been some concern expressed that it encourages fundraising. Board members expressed the view that schools should be fully funded by the province and not depend on community fundraising efforts. After the guideline has been approved by the Ministry of Education, the OCDSB will revisit its own fundraising policy. The following comments were noted during the discussion of the draft fundraising guideline: In response to a query with regard to whether a school council could raise funds to purchase a Smart board, Executive Officer Giroux noted that the guideline includes a number of large maintenance costs associated with it. Technology investments may increase the gap between schools that have the capacity to fundraise and those who do not. With regard to the requirement for school councils to provide an annual financial report to the Board, Executive Officer Giroux advised that the new Public Sector Accounting Board standards require school-generated funds to be included in financial reports and the failure of school councils to report could be problematic for the district and would be noted on t In response to a query regarding the need for any funds raised by foundations or home and school associations and donated to the school to be reported to the Board, Executive Officer Giroux agreed to look into the matter. The Parent Involvement Committee agreed that it would not submit a formal response to the guideline. Members were invited to submit any comments to Paula Marble or to trustees and they will be brought forward to the Education Committee when this issue is discussed on 18 October 2011. 7. Update on Recent Initiatives/News, Innovations, Reports: a) UPRO Grant Update Executive Officer Giroux advised that the district received a Parents Reaching Out (PRO) grant of $10,500 to support and enhance communications and for a speaker series of free presentations to the community. She noted that the speaker series has been successful and that partners are coming forward with ideas for future speakers. ______________________________________________________________________________ Parent Involvement Committee6 October 2011 4 b) CHEO Connects in Partnership with the OCDSB-PIC Executive Officer Giroux advised that the District has partnered with CHEO to arrange a series of public presentations. CHEO arranges and pays for the speakers and the OCDSB provides space, advertising and hospitality. She noted that in addition to the six planned OCDSB/CHEO Speakers Series, on 15 February 2012 Leonard Sax will speak about gender issues in education at the Adult High School. c) Making a Difference: A Practical Handbook for Parent Committee Members Draft Paula Marble reported that the draft document, Making a Difference: A Practical Handbook for Parent Committee Members, was distributed to the PIC members last year for comment. She noted that rather than reprint the document, it was available online at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teachers/HandbookPIC.pdf 8. New Business a) OCDSB Volunteer Appreciation Reception It was noted that a reception to recognize OCDSB volunteers will take place in the Atrium at 133 Greenbank on 20 October 2011 prior to the OCASC meeting. b) District Goals 2011-2012 Executive Officer Giroux reported that the Board approved the 2011-2015 Strategic Plan for the district in June 2011. The District Goals are prepared by the Director and senior staff to implement the plan in the four key focus areas of well-being, engagement, leadership and learning. She noted that parent engagement is a key work initiative with anticipated outcomes of a more active, skills-based parental involvement committee, improved parental engagement in and awareness of the school improvement planning process, and enhanced alignment between the goals of the school council and the school improvement plan. c) Community Council for Ethnocultural Equity (CCEE) Open House A CCEE open house will take place from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on 3 November 2011. d) Next Meeting The next meeting of the Parent Involvement Committee is scheduled for 03 November 2011. In response to a request from CCEE, it was agreed that staff would look into the feasibility of convening the next PIC meeting at the same location as the CCEE open house. 9. Adjournment Chair Teutsch adjourned the meeting at 9:45 pm Anne Teutsch Chair, Parent Involvement Committee ______________________________________________________________________________ Parent Involvement Committee6 October 2011 5