HomeMy WebLinkAbout03 PIC 08 April Report 3 Minutes
Parent Involvement Committee 08 April 2015
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REPORT NO. 3
PARENT INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE
TO: The Committee of the Whole (Public) DATE: 08 April 2015
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, Jen Muise, and Amy Curry
COMMUNITY MEMBERS: Susan Ingram and Anne Teutsch
NON-VOTING MEMBERS: Erica Braunovan, Trustee, and Diane Cousineau,
Principal
STAFF: Stephen Sliwa, Superintendent of Instruction; Michèle Giroux, Executive
Officer, Corporate Services; and Kelly Sullivan, Board/Committee Coordinator
1. Call to Order
Chair Fullerton called the public meeting to order at 6:10 p.m.
2. Approval of Agenda
Moved by Susan Ingram,
THAT the agenda be approved.
Chair Fullerton noted that a labour relations update and review of a parent
information letter would be included as part of the Director’s Update.
Moved by Susan Ingram,
THAT the agenda be approved, as amended.
- Carried –
3. Approval of Minutes
Moved by Susan Ingram,
THAT Report 2, dated 11 February 2015, be received.
- Carried –
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4. Chair’s Report
Chair Fullerton reminded the Committee of discussions throughout the year
regarding how best to work collaboratively with the Board’s other advisory groups. She
suggested that PIC could host a meeting with the Special Education Advisory
Committee (SEAC), the Advisory Committee on Equity (ACE), the Arts Advisory
Committee, the Alternative Schools Advisory Committee (ASAC), and the Extended Day
and Child Care Programs Advisory Committee to discuss and share the work of their
committees.
During discussion the following suggestions were made:
The Committee members could be invited to a regular PIC meeting;
Ms. Muise noted that SEAC, ACE, OCASC would likely be interested in
collaborating with other committees and Ms. Eaton noted that the
Extended Day and Child Care Programs Advisory Committee would also
likely be interested in collaborating;
Building a relationship between committees could create an improved
medium for information sharing, as committees could refer items to
committees that may be better suited to provide input;
PIC could invite a member from the other advisory committees to
participate at each meeting on a rotating basis;
The meeting could be organized so members from all committees could
break out into smaller discussion groups;
Each committee could share information about their goals and/or areas of
discussion;
It would be helpful to set a general guideline of what is expected of each
committee;
A topic of discussion that would be of interest to all the committees could
be determined to focus the meeting;
A group consultation on the implementation of the strategic plan could be
an interesting discussion topic;
A discussion regarding committee governance and how to effectively
advise the Board would also be an area of interest to all committees;
A governance session could include a presentation by staff and then
break out group discussions;
It is important to remember there are differences between the status of
committees (some are statutory), the goals of the committee, the history,
and the age of the committees that can have different effects on the
governance structure;
PIC has modelled an effective forum for information sharing between staff
and trustees that could be shared with the other committees;
The PIC bylaws have been useful for other advisory committees when
drafting their own bylaws;
The meeting could be an opportunity for committees to submit Speaker
Series topics. SEAC has indicated an interest in submitting topics;
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The chairs of the committee should meet before the meeting to ensure a
productive meeting; and
This meeting would likely take place in September, as most committees
have scheduled items for their May and June meetings.
5. Director’s Report
Superintendent Sliwa sent the regrets of Associate Director Marsh, as she is out
of town this evening. He provided the Committee with the following update:
Development of the School Learning Plan (formerly the School Improvement
Plan) and review of last year’s Plan is underway at schools, in consultation
with the school council;
The academic staffing budget has been approved for the 2015 -2016 school
year, since then operational staff have been working to assign staff and
schedule time tables for the next school year;
The vice-principal and principal placements will be finalized at the end of
April;
Mid-term reports are upcoming for secondary school students; and
International Pink Day to celebrate diversity and inclusivity was observed at
schools across the District.
Superintendent Sliwa provided the Committee with the following update specific
to a potential labour disruption at the secondary level:
All labour groups are in negotiations as the current collective agreements
have expired;
The Ministry of Labour has heard from OSSTF that there is no prospect of
material change and the Minister has issued a ‘no board’ report;
After the ‘no board’ report is issued, unions are in a legal strike position after
the 17th day. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF)
teachers and occasional teachers bargaining units will be in a legal strike
position as of 20 April 2015;
Being in a legal strike position does not guarantee any strike action will occur;
The union is required to provide five days written notice indicating the details
of any labour disruption;
No other bargaining units are in a strike position;
Secondary school field trips scheduled between now and 20 April will
continue but no new trips will be scheduled, until more information is
available;
There are different responses to a full withdrawal versus a partial withdrawal
of services;
While some staff will be in the building, they may not be legally discharged to
monitor students;
Services or supervision cannot be differentiated for students with special
needs;
Supervision of students is still a concern even at the secondary level;
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Staff is working with the extended day programming sites to determine if there
will be any disruption in those services; and
Information is being shared with parents in order to allow families time to
organize in the event of a strike.
Executive Officer Giroux distributed a draft letter for parents and requested the
Committee’s input. During discussion and in response to questions the following points
were noted:
Information is constantly changing and it is difficult to balance keeping people
informed versus causing anxiety about a situation that may not materialize;
A letter has been drafted for elementary and secondary students’ parents
providing them with information of a potential labour disruption at the
secondary level;
The letter will be distributed via Synrevoice’s email capacity;
The frequently asked questions included with the letter are helpful, although
the answer to the first question may be considered ambiguous;
A different letter will be sent to Longfields Davidson Heights Secondary
School (LDHSS) families as it is unique in that it is a grade 7 to 12 site;
The grades 7 and 8 students at LDHSS will not be affected by any strike
action;
Reference to where parents can find information could be earlier in the letter;
The three key points of the letter: importance of health and safety, the
continual reassessment of the situation, and information will be shared with
the community as soon as available, should be better h ighlighted;
The Ministry of Education has contacted the Ministry of Training, Colleges,
and Universities to create a standard protocol to possibly revise grade
submission dates to ensure grade 12 students will have their grades
considered by their post-secondary institution. This information should be
included in the letter; and
The tone of the letter reflects that parents should be aware of the potential
disruption but there is no current disruption and clarifies that elementary
schools are not affected.
6. #Every_School_Every_Voice Consultation
Executive Officer Giroux provided the following overview of the
#Every_School_Every_Voice consulation:
There were 13,494 participants, 42,026 thoughts contributed, and 649,026
stars assigned;
Participants included parents (66.3%), staff (27.4%), students (4.8%),
community partner (0.7%), general public (0.4%), and other (0.5%);
The participation at the star stage indicates a high level of engagement in the
exercise;
There was some negative feedback from the unions, as it was not understood
by everyone that comments would be shared verbatim and disaggregated by
school;
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The responses are anonymous but people may have inadvertently self -
identified by indicating their position or by their writing style;
There were approximately 30 complaints out of approximately 13,000
participants;
Results indicate a high appreciation for staff and positive school environment;
The star method allows feedback to be consolidated based on a priority
rating;
There are eight sub-themes to further understand the more complex themes;
Next steps include another consultation process at the individual school level
and district level that will be distributed via email; and
There will be a separate website with more information shared as part of the
next phase of the consultation.
7. Parents Reaching Out (PRO) Grant
a. Report 15-050, 2014-2015 PRO Grant: Parent Information
Videos
Your Committee had before it Report 15-050, providing information
regarding the implementation plans for the 2014-2015 proposal for parent
information videos, including discussion of topics, styles, languages, target
audiences, and timelines.
During discussion and in response to questions the following points were
noted:
The list of proposed topics is reflective of PIC discussions
throughout the year, including at the Family Reception Centre;
The District has produced a video explaining the special education
tiered intervention model for teachers and parents;
The videos will allow partner organizations to share the information
with their communities more easily than paper copies;
The videos will be posted on the District’s YouTube channel;
For those who are unable to attend Speaker Series events this will
allow them to access information in a convenient format;
Potential labour disruption may disrupt access to secondary sites
for filming; and
Staff will continue to work towards the timelines outlined in the
report to produce some videos this school year.
b. 2015-2016 PRO Grant Application
Executive Officer Giroux advised that the 2015-2016 PRO Grant
application is due in May and requested members’ input for the application.
During discussion the following points were noted:
The attendance numbers for speaker series are submitted to the
Ministry and the project continues to be funded each year;
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Parent information videos on different topics could be created next
year;
The upcoming PIC Symposium may provide additional ideas;
The meeting with the advisory committees could be expanded into
a more fulsome half day conference with break-out sessions and
information sharing between committees. Staff will confirm whether
this would be considered eligible under the funding criteria; and
The PRO Grant teleconference may provide additional ideas.
8. Transition Guide from Elementary to Secondary: Creating a Sense of
Belonging
Due to the time, it was decided that members would review this item
independently and the Committee would discuss at the 13 May 2015 meeting.
9. Member Information
Ms. Eaton advised that she had attended the Advisory Committee for Extended
Day and Child Care Programs meeting and provided the following update for the
Committee:
A speaker is presenting to child care staff in May regarding early learning
strategies;
Schools with summer care have grown from five schools to nine;
Last year there were ten sites with less than seven students;
As long as there are three students who request programming one will be
provided;
The programs are required to operate as cost recovery, but the Di strict loses
money at sites with less than seven students;
The District offers flexible care options and Children’s Village has also
changed their model to flexible care options;
The Committee struggles with achieving quorum and have not been able to
appoint a chair;
The Committee suggested that PIC could become the advisory committee
that addresses extended day and child care programs; and
Ms. Eaton advised at the meetings that transferring members would not
address the quorum problem and would create a quorum issue at PIC as well.
10. 6th Annual Parent Involvement Committee Symposium
Chair Fullerton noted that she and Vice-Chair Carrie Eaton would be attending
the conference and will provide an update for the Committee at the 13 May 2015
meeting.
11. Creating Safe and Accepting Schools: Information for Parents about
the Accepting Schools Act (Bill 113)
The Creating Safe and Accepting Schools: Information for Parents about the
Accepting Schools Act (Bill 113) was provided for information.
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12. Ontario Teachers’ Federation Parent Engagement Website
The Ontario Teachers’ Federation Parent Engagement Website was provided for
information. Chair Fullerton noted that while this information is intended to assist
teachers in connecting with parents, it is interesting to review the suggestions being
provided to teachers. More information is available at http://www.parentengagement.ca/
13. New business, Update on Recent Initiatives/News, Innovations
Executive Officer Giroux invited members to attend the Well-being, Learning, and
Creativity leadership event on 17 April as her guest. An invitation with more details will
be distributed via email.
Trustee Braunovan noted the Advisory Committee for the Arts has been
discussing the time allocation model, as they are concerned insufficient time is being
focused on the arts and are considering striking a sub -committee to consider this model.
Trustee Braunovan noted that some of the concerns include: there may not be a
discrete block for the arts in this model, the quality of arts educa tion in elementary
schools is insufficient as teachers are often not specialists, disruptions for whole -school
activities happen during art blocks, and/or art blocks are relinquished in order to
accommodate numeracy or literacy blocks.
During discussion and in response to questions the following points were noted:
Striking a sub-committee is one strategy to further investigate issues of
interest to a committee;
The time allocation model was in response to a discrepancy between
students when they reached secondary school in their abilities to address
concepts in literacy and numeracy;
The model is how principals and staff plan instructional time focusing on
areas of instruction;
Professional development may be required for teachers in music and the
arts, but that could be true for math and other subjects as well;
The Arts Advisory Committee advocates for arts instructional coaches;
Arts instructional coaches assist teachers in how to practically incorporate
arts into their lesson plans;
The revised two-year teacher college apprenticeship model may allow
new teachers more exposure to how to incorporate arts into their teaching;
Highlighting the importance of arts education, it was noted that students’
exposure to the arts may be limited to school and not encouraged at
home;
Arts education can be helpful for students with learning disabilities; and
Historically, the Board has been committed to continuing instrumental
music and arts programs.
If anyone is interested in participating they can provide their information to
Trustee Braunovan.
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14. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Susan Fullerton
Chair
Parent Involvement Committee