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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03 PIC 11 May 2016 Report 4 Parent Involvement Committee 11 May 2016 Report 4 - 1 - REPORT NO. 4 PARENT INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE TO: The Committee of the Whole (Public) DATE: 11 May 2016 A meeting of the Parent Involvement Committee was held this evening in the Parent and Family Literacy Centre at 310 York Street, commencing at 6:07 p.m. with Carrie Eaton in the Chair and the following in attendance: PARENT MEMBERS: Amy Curry, Susan Fullerton, Mostafizur Khan, Diana Mills and Tara Hawkins Kavanagh. COMMUNITY MEMBER: Anne Teutsch. NON-VOTING MEMBERS: Lynn Scott, Trustee; and Norah Marsh, Associate Director of Education. STAFF: Michèle Giroux, Executive Officer, Corporate Services; Caroline Cote, Program Coordinator Parenting and Family Literacy Centres; Becky Cronin, Program Facilitator; and Kelly Sullivan, Board/Committee Coordinator. 1. Call to Order Chair Eaton called the public meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. 2. Approval of Agenda Moved by Amy Curry, THAT the agenda be approved. - Carried – 3. Approval of Minutes Moved by Amy Curry, THAT Report 3, dated 11 April 2016, be received. - Carried – 4. Chair’s Report Chair Eaton reminded members that there will not be a meeting in June due to a scheduling conflict with the Volunteer Appreciation Reception and Community Recognition Awards. She encouraged members to attend the reception, reminding them that Susan Fullerton has been nominated for an award. Speaking further to Ms. Fullerton’s nomination, Chair Eaton advised that she had been nominated for the Parent Involvement Committee 11 May 2016 Report 4 - 2 - Community Award rather than the Volunteer of the Year award, as the nomination was more consistent with the criteria for the Community Award. Chair Eaton noted that there will be a discussion regarding meeting dates for PIC for the 2016-2017 school year. She advised that while meeting dates are confirmed annually, there is a potential alternative outlined in the report as she will no longer be able to attend meetings on Wednesday. Chair Eaton encouraged members to share their thoughts on the meeting dates during the discussion of the report. 5. Director’s Report Associate Director Marsh advised that the consultation regarding the Secondary School Framework Review is almost complete and the final framework will be shared with the Committee, once approved by the Board. Associate Director Marsh advised that the staff recommended budget was shared with the Committee of the Whole, Budget on 09 May 2016. The recommended budget does include reductions in spending which will result in revised programming, but staff is committed to reducing the impact of these changes on students in the classroom. The Committee will be discussing the recommended budget over a number of meetings and public delegations are welcome. In response to a question from Ms. Teutsch, Associate Director Marsh noted that one strategy to reduce the impact on students is to consider program changes that improve student learning and efficiency of spending at the same time. For example, the revised program delivery model for kindergarten (50/50 French and English instruction) is supported by research suggesting a positive learning outcome for students and has resulted in approximately $500,000 in savings. Associate Director Marsh reminded members that there are events each spring celebrating the success of students and staff, including leaving ceremonies, graduations, retirement celebrations, and staff and student award presentations. 6. Tour of the Parenting and Family Literacy Centre Ms. Cote provided an overview of the Parenting and Family Literacy Centre (PFLC) at York Street Public School, highlighting the goals of the program, details of how the program is funded, the demographics of their clients, and the barriers to parent engagement that is experienced specific to the York Street Public School Community. During discussion, and in response to questions, the following points were noted:  Having resources in a family’s home language is appreciated by families and allows them to see themselves in the PFLC, which builds and fosters positive relationships;  The PFLC is often a parent’s first experience with the school and assists with a successful transition to kindergarten for both the student and their parent; Parent Involvement Committee 11 May 2016 Report 4 - 3 -  A number of parents who may be traditionally less engaged in their child at school volunteer in their child’s class, after having attended the PFLC prior to their child attending school;  As being intimidated by the school is a barrier to parent engagement, a welcoming introduction to school through the PFLC may increase a parent’s involvement in their child’s education as they transition to kindergarten;  PIC could assist the PFLC in building awareness about the program;  Raising awareness for the PFLC includes providing information on the District’s website, producing a video using the Parent Reaching Out Grant in partnership with PIC, social media, word of mouth, and attending school and community events;  Partnering with Public Health has been a successful strategy for the PFLC to increase awareness for families who may benefit from attending the program but are unaware that they can access the PFLC free of charge;  The PFLC works to connect families with community resources to provide a variety of support, including referrals to the school’s multi-cultural liaison officer (MLO);  The focus of the program is on both the parent and the child. Particular focus is to increase school readiness, provide access to community resources, and to provide general information and support to families;  The name of the program may not accurately reflect the intent of the program to some families. Clarifying the intent of the program in communications to families may increase participation;  Program Facilitators may provide support and/or resources indirectly to parents whose children attend the PFLC with a caregiver;  Few children are formerly identified as having a special need in the program as formal identifications before the age of six are less common. Program Facilitators do provide information regarding early warning signs for parents;  Program Facilitators may provide support to families as they access special education resources through the community or through the school, such as attending meetings or calling service providers;  The PFLC could be better advertised within the school, which could increase participation of parents who have older children attending the school; and  Parent feedback is overwhelmingly positive, particularly about how comfortable and welcome parents feel at the PFLC. 7. Report from the 2016 PIC Symposium Mr. Khan and Ms. Fullerton advised that they attended the 2016 PIC Symposium and provided the following report to the Committee:  This year, there were regional symposia instead of one provincial symposium; Parent Involvement Committee 11 May 2016 Report 4 - 4 -  There were representatives from PIC, the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), and the Ottawa-Carleton Assembly of School Councils (OCASC) at the symposium;  The event was lesson oriented, informative and participative with significant effort to strengthen parent engagement to support students’ achievement and well-being;  There were resources shared that would be useful to share with OCASC, school councils, or to make available in the parent resource section at the District’s administrative building;  There was information regarding the Parents Reaching Out (PRO) Grant and resources available to assist councils in applying for a grant;  It could be a useful strategy to share initiatives and best practices regarding parent engagement with the coterminous board;  The purpose of the regional symposia was to allow more opportunities for sharing best practices, but Ms. Fullerton expressed the view that there was less sharing of initiatives, as compared to previous regional symposia;  The Ministry of Education has a structure of sharing information and collaboration between districts on a number of initiatives, but this is not formally done for parent engagement; and  The OCDSB group shared PIC’s initiatives such as the school council newsletter, speaker series, and the ‘Your Child’s Education-Be a Part of It! Brochure. 8. Our School (formerly Tell Them from Me) Parent School Climate Survey Executive Officer Giroux advised that there is a requirement that all school boards complete a parent survey every two years; the OCDSB is using the “Our School” survey to meet this requirement. This year, the survey will be completed by all schools at the same time (June 1 to 15) to allow for consistent and centralized communication with a goal of increasing the number of participants. She noted that the communications strategy includes a sample letter to parents, sharing information via social media and traditional media coverage, and centralized responses to questions. Executive Officer Giroux added that the survey questions are fixed, but there is an option to add two district level questions. The questions that have been identified are linked to the research regarding barriers to education and encouraging engagement from parents. Associate Director Marsh added that each school receives a school level report and a District wide report is provided to senior staff, confirming that all responses are anonymous. She noted that this tool provides rich data on the parent voice and is a useful tool in developing community-specific strategies to support parent engagement. 9. Draft PRO Grant Application The draft application for the Parents Reaching Out (PRO) grant was shared with the Committee. Parent Involvement Committee 11 May 2016 Report 4 - 5 - Chair Eaton advised that the proposed projects, the school council training day, speaker series, and parent conference, build on the success of previous years. She added that the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) will be supporting PIC in the implementation of the grant, as similar to last year and input can be incorporated from all advisory committees on how best to support all parents through the projects outlined in the grant. 10. Draft PIC 2015-2016 Annual Report Executive Officer Giroux directed members’ attention to the 2015-2016 PIC Annual Report, which focuses on the key work for the Committee over the past year, namely the Parent Conference. She added that information regarding the Community Recognition Awards will be included, as there has been a significant increase in the number of nominations that has required a change in the event structure for thanking volunteers and parents for their contribution to school communities. 11. Report 16-076, 2016-2017 PIC Meeting Schedule Your Committee had before it Report 16-076, seeking input on the 2016-2017 Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) meeting dates. During discussion the following points were noted:  It is important to have a regular schedule for PIC meetings;  There are a significant number of other committee meetings and events to be considered when scheduling PIC meetings;  Ms. Teutsch expressed the view that PIC meetings should not conflict with the Ottawa-Carleton Assembly of School Councils (OCASC) or OCASC Secondary School Committee meetings;  A trustee and Director, or Director designate, must be at the meeting to achieve quorum;  Thursday evenings may be more difficult for trustees or the Director, or Director designate, to attend due to other responsibilities; and  The Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) is interested in scheduling their meeting on the second Wednesday, if the PIC meeting dates change. Following the discussion it was determined that, because there are a number of members who were not in attendance at the meeting, a survey would be distributed seeking input from all Committee members before a final decision is made. Members agreed that the meeting location, time, and number of meetings per year are well suited to the Committee. 12. Member information a. OCASC Report Ms. Hawkins Kavanagh advised that the Provincial Ombudsman shared information regarding their role with school boards at the OCASC meeting. She noted that the annual general meeting for OCASC is scheduled for 19 May 2016. Parent Involvement Committee 11 May 2016 Report 4 - 6 - b. Date to Remember Chair Eaton encouraged all members to attend the Volunteer Appreciation Reception and Community Recognition Awards on 08 June 2016. 13. New Business, Update on Recent Initiatives/News, Innovations Executive Officer Giroux provided the following information regarding the updated pupil accommodation review process:  The revised process begins with a recommendation from staff rather than the community developing their own options for discussion and has a timeline of a minimum of 100 days;  This change in process is required by the Ministry, in response to the feedback from the public on how divisive and time consuming the process can be for communities;  The Ministry’s funding model has been revised, with a prioritization on reducing underutilized school space;  The finalized secondary school framework will guide upcoming accommodation reviews;  At the 17 May 2016 Committee of the Whole meeting there will be a discussion report outlining details of potential upcoming accommodation reviews;  If approved in June, those reviews will begin the first week of September, with a goal of being completed within one school year; and  The reviews will not be school by school, but rather a larger geographical area of secondary schools and their feeder schools. During discussion, and in response to questions, the following points were noted:  Some recommendations may be phased in, depending on the nature of the recommendation;  Ms. Teutsch expressed concern with a single recommendation proposed by staff, as that has been perceived negatively in the past;  The revised secondary school framework outlines the impact on student learning as the guiding principles for decision-making regarding accommodations;  A number of factors will be considered when reviewing geographical areas, for example quality of facilities, in addition to enrolment numbers;  Managing the perception of the communities will be important;  There is a working group assigned to discuss the implementation of the recommendation prior to the accommodation review;  There are mixed reactions from families during accommodation reviews, regardless of the recommendation. Some parents feel their child will benefit from the change while others are concerned that a change will have a negative impact on their child; and Parent Involvement Committee 11 May 2016 Report 4 - 7 -  Sharing facts with the community, and the process for determining the facts, for example, enrolment projections or the order of accommodation reviews is helpful to ensure misinformation is not shared in the community. Ms. Teutsch expressed the view that the accommodation review process is stressful on communities. She noted the importance of ensuring participants feel positive about the process and staff should be empathetic to the emotions of families. Ms. Curry noted she attended the Speaker Series event with Dr. Robert Coplan. She advised that the content presentation was excellent, parents were engaged, there were practical suggestions specific to parents included, and Dr. Coplan stayed after the presentation to answer parents’ questions. It was suggested that Dr. Coplan be considered for future Speaker Series events. 14. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Carrie Eaton Chair Parent Involvement Committee