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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04 PIC 20 Nov 2013 Report 9 Minutes Parent Involvement Committee 1 20 November 2013 Report No. 9 REPORT NO. 9 PARENT INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE TO: The Committee of the Whole (Public) DATE: 20 November 2013 A meeting of the Parent Involvement Committee was held this evening in the Trustees’ Committee Room, 133 Greenbank Road, Ottawa, commencing at 6:10 p.m. with Susan Fullerton in the Chair and the following in attendance: PARENT MEMBERS: Carrie Eaton and Afreen Shaikh COMMUNITY MEMBERS: Susan Ingram and Anne Teutsch NON-VOTING MEMBERS: Lynn Scott, Trustee Walter Piovesan, Associate Director of Education Diane Cousineau, Principal, Lakeview Public School STAFF: Michèle Giroux, Executive Officer, Corporate Services Paula Marble, Policy Analyst Kelly Sullivan, Board/Committee Coordinator OTHER: Nadine Clarke, OCASC Secondary School Representative Christine Boothby, Trustee 1. Call to Order Chair Fullerton called the public meeting to order at 6:37 p.m. 2. Approval of Agenda Moved by Anne Teutsch, THAT the agenda be approved. - Carried – 3. Approval of Minutes, 09 October 2013 Moved by Susan Ingram, THAT Report 8, dated 09 October 2013 be received. - Carried – Parent Involvement Committee 2 20 November 2013 Report No. 9 4. Chair’s Report Chair Fullerton informed the Committee that she had attended the Ministry’s Next Phase Consultation, on behalf of PIC, to provide further input to the questions discussed by the Committee at the September and October meetings. 5. Director’s Report Executive Officer Giroux advised that the Numeracy Action Plan was discussed at the last Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting. The District is shifting its focus on where to reinforce instruction practices and strategies, as well as trying to change some attitudes around math. Executive Officer Giroux added that practical math supports for parents will be included in the weekly school council newsletter and potentially some math specific Speaker Series or other parent events throughout the District will be scheduled. Anyone with ideas for math content for the newsletter is asked to submit them via email. 6. Report 13-160, Confirmation of Parent Members to the Parent Involvement Committee Your Committee had before it Report 13-160 to appoint Parent Members to the 2013-2014 Parent Involvement Committee. Chair Fullerton advised that the Committee had met in camera and discussed the six applications for the four parent member position vacancies. There was an election and four members were elected to sit on the 2013-2014 PIC. Moved by Anne Teutsch, A. THAT the following persons be appointed as Parent Members for a one (1) year term: 1. Deepika Grover; and 2. Sajjad Khan B. THAT the following persons be appointed as Parent Members for a two (2) year term: 1. Christopher Dodge; and 2. Michael Urminsky - Carried - 7. Memo 13-012, Draft Extended Day Policy Associate Director Piovesan provided the committee with the following information regarding the draft extended day policy:  This is year four of five of full-day kindergarten (FDK) implementation, as well as daycare before and after school and holidays; Parent Involvement Committee 3 20 November 2013 Report No. 9  The Board requested a policy that incorporates the needs of the District, but also the needs of the third party providers that operate daycare programs on District property;  The policy is divided into three categories, child care, extended day programs, and third party providers;  The policy seeks to create standards and consistency in terms of cost and flexibility of programming and incorporates legislative requirements;  There are differences between third party providers and District programs with respect to business model, fee structure, staffing, flexibility of programming, and licensing;  The Board passed a motion last spring to offer child care at a site where there were at least three students registered, which will only be the case at District sites due to the staff costing implications for third party providers;  For District run sites, there is no maximum number of students, as there are no licensing requirements around dedicated use of space. Classrooms can be used for District programs but not third party programs, so there are limitations for those sites with third party operators;  If a third party site is at maximum capacity a parallel District run program could be added;  Third parties who wish to convert their space to offer infant and toddler programming can retrofit their sites with funding from the province;  Principals are responsible for all students, including those in third party programs. Principals work with the manager of early learning and supervisors to ensure student safety;  Agreements with third party providers are the responsibility of the Board and vary in length; and  Public consultation on this policy continues. A discussion ensued regarding child care sites at secondary schools. Associate Director Piovesan advised that there are limited secondary sites that offer child care if there is an elementary school site in close proximity. Students are bussed to some sites or are walked over by staff. 8. Draft Orientation for New Committee Members Executive Officer Giroux advised that, in January, there will be an orientation presentation to introduce the new members to PIC. She requested members’ feedback regarding their experiences as a new member and what they found helpful, or was missing, from their orientation. During discussion the following points were noted:  The slides provide a good overview of the mechanics of PIC;  Issues of interest to PIC, the Board, and the District should be included;  The role of PIC, and advisory committees in general, within the District should be clearly defined; Parent Involvement Committee 4 20 November 2013 Report No. 9  New members should be asked how they heard about PIC to inform recruitment strategies;  A visual summary of the past work of PIC would be useful;  A membership page should include contact information for all members and the other committees they sit on;  The PIC workplan should be included;  The by-laws should be attached, the details from the by-laws aren’t required in the slides;  The meeting descriptions are helpful; and  The funding and speaker series slides are important. Ms. Teutsch requested further information on PIC’s funding. Executive Officer Giroux clarified that the District receives $500 per school council and approximately $17,000 in additional funding to specifically support the business of the PIC, including advertising, Speaker Series presentations, dinners, and meeting materials, among others. The District also applies for a Parents Reaching Out (PRO) Regional Grant that is used to further support PIC’s initiatives. Executive Officer Giroux added that the Committee could discuss how funding can support the work described in the work plan at a future meeting. A discussion ensued regarding the effectiveness of advertising the vacant PIC positions. Some members expressed the view that community newspapers were not a cost effective way to reach parents. Staff noted that advertising in community papers is done in addition to online advertising to attempt to reach all parents across the District. It was suggested that PIC could contribute articles to community papers to advertise PIC throughout the year, not just for recruiting specific positions. This could include advertising the new members of the 2013-2014 PIC. Staff agreed to take this under advisement. 9. Ministry Next Phase Consultation Submission Chair Fullerton directed members’ attention to the final submission of the Ministry Next Phase consultation, on behalf of PIC. She added that the deadline for individual submissions is 30 November 2013, and encouraged members to provide any additional comments. 10. Member Information a. OCASC Report Ms. Eaton provided the Committee with the following update:  Marti Falcone has been appointed as the co-chair of OCASC;  There was record breaking attendance at the last meeting, close to one hundred parents;  There was discussion regarding buzzer systems at schools; Parent Involvement Committee 5 20 November 2013 Report No. 9  The majority of parents expressed the view that implementing buzzer systems at schools did not contribute to a welcoming learning environment and did not want a buzzer system at their school;  Principal Cousineau noted that student safety is always a concern for parents of new kindergarten students;  Associate Director Piovesan advised that the buzzers are a tool to support student safety, approximately 60 schools have buzzers but they are not a requirement;  Funding was provided by the province for buzzer systems in elementary schools;  There is a workload component to the buzzers; and  The District safe schools procedures include, all schools have all doors locked except the front doors, there is signage to report to the office, and staff and students are vigilant with respect to visitors in schools. 11. New Business, Update on Recent Initiatives/News, Innovations Executive Officer Giroux advised that, after the school council training day, she had been approached about a session on developing school council constitutions. She noted that the topic will be part of a breakout session at an upcoming OCASC meeting. She will be contributing resources and asked anyone who would like to volunteer their time to contact her via email. Executive Officer Giroux provided an update on the acquisition of Synrevoice, a communications tool used to reach parents across the District. The updated version has phone, text, and email capacity and the District is working with school staff with respect to implementation best practices. Executive Officer Giroux added that the system also has a new attendance management capacity which would allow parents to log in and update their child’s absences for appointments, etc., in advance. Chair Fullerton advised that, as there were no applications for the Community Member vacancy, a letter would be sent to the Ottawa Leadership Immigration Partnership (OLIP), inviting them to the Committee. Associate Director Piovesan noted that OLIP works to successfully integrate New Canadians into Canada, specifically, the workforce, the City of Ottawa, and the school community. He expressed the view that, as OLIP has an education sub-committee that focuses on parent engagement, they would be a valuable member on the Committee. 12. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Susan Fullerton Chair Parent Involvement Committee