With Good Reason

Are parent school councils effective? Do they bring the needs and aspirations of the school to the community? Do they help the school, in turn, respond to that same community? Do they take part in actual decision making and long term planning? Do they, for example, improve curriculum planning and learning opportunities for kids? In short, are we getting value for tax dollars?

If the answers to those and similar questions are yes, then all the money spent and resources used make the process worthwhile. If, on the other hand, the answers are no, do certain provincial and territorial governments need to rethink how things are done? 

Googling school councils in the Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick, seems to indicate that they are more effective in some territories and provinces than in others.

In the Yukon, for example, school councils can have between three and seven council members and parents are “elected” by other parents in their school’s attendance area for a two-year term. Like most parent councils throughout Canada, they are to:

1. Be a voice for parents and community members;
2. Work with students, teachers, administrators and the Department of Education to provide high-quality education;
3. Have an impact on issues that go beyond their school; and
4. Be a key source of information and support for parents who have questions about their children’s education.

In B.C. there are two separate parent bodies – a parent advisory council and a parent planning council. This two-tier level of parent council bureacracy must be very confusing. The advisory council is expeced to elect three representatives to the school planning council, as well as provide communications between the two.

In Alberta, the provincial government undertook a school council review  in 2004 which identified five characteristics of parent councils. Similar to the Yukon and B.C., the conclusions of the review were that the purposes of Alberta school councils were to:

1. Seek input from parents and the school community;
2. Respect the roles and responsibilities of and cooperate with others;
3. Provide advice to the principal and board on important matters;
4. Have an appropriate focus; and
5. Ensure there is inclusivity in the membership recruitment process.

In Ontario, following a similar review as that conducted by Alberta, the Ontario Minister of Education under former Premier Mike Harris, strengthened school councils in 1998. As with B.C. and Alberta, members are either elected by their peers or appointed. Here is a source for what Ontario’s parent councils are supposed to be doing. 

I say “supposed to be doing” because, according to Ann, a regular COTM reader, many parents are confused about their roles. Are they, for example, glorified fundaisers? Are they expected to simply  rubber stamp school administration suggestions? Or, should they be doing the work of elected trustees — planning 8 to 10 years ahead? See Ann’s second comment here, starting “If you want to see another mess Sandy….”

At the eastern end of the country, in New Brunswick, parent councils are called “Parent School Support Committees” (PSSC) and parents on these bodies are elected in a special community election, a date, time and location to be determined by a school principal. That is not surprising because New Brunswick eliminated elected trustees and school boards in the early 1990′s, replacing them with school districts and these committees. Electoral decisions are based on a “number of students” formula with five parents being elected to a school with 200 students or six parents to a school of 200-499 students. Once elected, however, their committee duties are almost identical to the other provinces and territory mentioned.

So, parents, what is the reality? Are parent school councils or committees effective? Are parents able to do what they have been legislated and/or mandated to do? If not, why not? Which provinces and territories are the winners here? I have an idea that parents “may” have more clout where the process is more democratic, such as in the Yukon and New Brunswick. Let me know.

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Note: C/P at Crux-of-the-Matter.