Parent Involvement Committee > Terms of Reference
Terms of reference for the Parent Involvement Committee, Upper Grand District School Board - June 2007
Introduction
Initial Implementation
Role of the Parent Involvement Committee (PIC)
Members’ Skills
Committee Structure and Number of Members
Representativeness
Term of Office
Responsibilities
Parent Liaison
Nomination Committee
Ad Hoc Committees
Meetings
Principles for Selection of Members
Selection Procedure
Communication
Introduction
On December 1, 2005, the Minister released the Ontario Parent Involvement Policy. This policy statement recognizes that parents play a vital role in the education of their children and in the success of schools, and that together with parents, the Minister of Education, the Ministry, school boards, schools and their staff have a role in “setting the table” for parents to participate more fully.
Parent involvement vehicles such as school councils and Parent Involvement Committees of school boards are central to the government’s vision for enhanced partnership with parents. This paper features the vision of the Interim Parent Involvement Committee 2006/2007 of the Upper Grand District School Board.
Initial implementation
In September, 2006 the Interim Parent Involvement Committee of the Upper Grand District School Board was brought together to make recommendations regarding the creation of an advisory committee on parent involvement by June 2007.
This paper presents our recommendation for the roles, responsibilities and the selection process for the future board level Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) of the Upper Grand District School Board. It draws heavily on the Report to the Minister of Education “Parent Involvement” prepared by the Interim Parent Involvement Advisory Board. We believe in the findings and recommendations of this very competent group of parents and it is our desire in the Upper Grand District School Board to create a parent advisory board (PIC) in the spirit of their report.
Role of the Parent Involvement Committee (PIC)
The role of the Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) is to provide a parent voice in the education system and to support parent engagement at a school board level. In order to provide this the PIC needs to accurately reflect the diversity of all its parents. The PIC will play a vital role in representing and communicating with parents and the broader community. Their knowledge and expertise will be instrumental in leading the transition to a strong parent involvement policy.
The primary role of the PIC is to facilitate ways of involving parents more fully in the education of their children. The secondary role of the PIC is to provide parent advice on the state of parent involvement across the Upper Grand District School Board (herein called The Board). The PIC, over time, shall develop a means to provide constructive feedback to the responsiveness of the Board on things that are working and things which are not in several areas, including:
- Consultation of parents on relevant policy matters;
- Support for parent engagement;
- Information transparency;
- Communication responsiveness; and
- Combined school / parent engagement.
We believe that:
- The PIC should provide advice on parent involvement and education policy directly related to parent engagement
- The PIC should facilitate implementation of the parent involvement policy and monitor its implementation activities within a framework of continuous improvement; and
- The PIC may be asked to advise on board policies, activities, the school calendar or the process of hiring and assigning principals.
Members' Skills
The issues of what skills are need by PIC members’ follows from the roles outlined above.
We believe that:
- Members should be strong communicators;
- Members should have experience working with a wide range of school and community groups;
- Members should be able to look beyond the horizon of their own particular school or community or special interest; and
- Members should be comfortable with reviewing assessments of program achievements.
Appropriate professional development and training for members should be made available, as required, to help members fulfill their mandate.
The following Ministry expectations must be accommodated:
- The committee will be chaired by a parent;
- Membership will include a majority of parents, as well as trustee representation and the Director of Education.
- Parent representatives will be selected by their peers.
Committee Structure and Number of Members
- 12 Parents
- Director of Education
- 3 Trustees
- 2 Principals
- 1 Superintendent
- 2 Teachers
Total Membership 21
Representativeness
Parents:
Geographical representation AND Elementary / Secondary
5 Guelph (4 elementary, 1 secondary)
4 Wellington County (3 elementary, 1 secondary)
3 Dufferin County (2 elementary; 1 secondary)
Trustees – Self Select – 1 each from the geographical areas Dufferin, Wellington and Guelph.
Principals – Self Select – 1 Elementary and 1 Secondary
Superintendent – Self Select
Teachers – Union Representatives – Self Select – 1 Elementary and 1 Secondary.
Term of Office
Members will normally serve for two years. Terms will be staggered.
Therefore, for the first PIC (2007/08), half of the members will be selected from the existing IPIC and serve for only one year. The balance of the parent membership will be selected prior to September 2007.
The new parent members will be selected through an application process by a nomination committee of parents from the existing IPIC membership.
Each year half the committee will turn over. Should a vacancy occur mid-term a replacement could be chosen from the list of applicants for a particular region.
Eligibility
Any parent of a child enrolled in an Upper Grand District School Board is eligible, so long as the child attends the school for at least 50 per cent of the parent’s term on the Board.
Responsibilities
Members
- Must prepare for and attend all meetings.
- Parent members must establish a communication link to and from the schools in their geographical area.
- All members must be willing and open to create a welcoming environment.
- All members must be able to view the issues board wide.
Chairperson
- Must be a parent selected by a majority of the parent members.
- Prepare agendas in consultation with the Superintendent, Parent Liaison and the Director of Education
- Chair the meetings.
- Act as the spokes person for the PIC and play a major leadership role at any District Wide School Council Chair Meetings or Events.
- Act as the liaison with the Director of Education.
- Review the meeting minutes before they are released.
- The chair will vote on issues only to break a tie.
Secretary
- Must be a parent.
- Record the minutes of all meetings and circulate first to chair for editing and then forward to all PIC members.
- Ensure that approved minutes are forwarded to the PIC Parent Liaison for posting in the First Class School Council Conference and on the UGDSB website.
- Ensure that agenda packages are out the week before meetings.
Parent Liaison
- This is a paid position reporting directly to the PIC.
- Establish contact with the schools who have received grant money and become informed as to what kind of event they are planning & when
- Communicate to all council chairs when, where, and what events will occur and include instructions to forward through email the information to all of their council members
- Send out short frequent reminders of what’s happening
- Be a point of contact for resource help & document what areas more understanding is wanted/needed
- Post parent engagement ideas or notes of encouragement
- Research what other Boards are doing with regard to Parent Involvement
- Compare and analyze accepted school grant applications vs. declined applications
- Establish and maintain PIC link on UGDSB Website.
Nomination Committee
To constitute the first PIC, four existing members of the IPIC will remain for a second year, a nomination committee will be formed to select the six additional parents for a two year term.
A nomination Committee will be formed to examine all nominations or applications. It will consist of five members of the PIC (at least one from each region) and a board staff representative. It will serve for one membership acquisition process. Members who wish to re-apply to be on the board may not be on the Nomination Committee.
Ad Hoc Committees
Ad Hoc Committees and Working Groups will be formulated as required. All must be chaired by a parent and must report back to the PIC prior to any final decisions.
Meetings
Every attempt should be made to reach decisions through consensus. In the event that consensus cannot be achieved, a vote may be taken.
Frequency – the PIC will meet a minimum of 6 times each school calendar year. A minimum number of Meeting dates to be determined at first meeting each school year.
Time – Meetings will be held in the evenings and duration shall not exceed two hours.
Location –at a central location (Fergus is suggested).
Principles for Selection of Members
- Parents choose members.
- Parents represent parents.
- Members have demonstrated experience (or a strong desire to participate) in working with parents, schools, and school councils or community organizations in their region.
- Parents come from diverse backgrounds.
- Means are provided so that members who represent geographically distant areas, or who otherwise need special support to participate, may have that support.
- The process of getting members onto the PIC is open and accountable.
- The Board provides administrative and advisory support to facilitate the choosing of PIC members.
Selection Procedure
Local Application:
Parents apply for membership on the PIC. Applications, are sent to the Upper Grand District School Board, 500 Victoria Street, Guelph, On ATTN: PIC Nomination Committee. Candidates must agree to meeting preparation and attendance and explain why they want to be on the PIC. The Chair of the Nomination Committee will review applications for completeness. A final list of applicants will be presented to the Nomination Committee.
Geographical Representation:
The Nomination Committee considers applications and select parents according to the Principles (listed above).
Communication
Extensive and sustained communication will be required from the outset to ensure that potential members are informed of opportunities to serve and of the process for submitting application papers. One source of potential applicants could be parents nominated by school Principals and another source could be personal outreach by current committee members. Also, to be explored would be the use of local media, websites, school news letters and posters in schools. Staff support may be required for this process.
In order to facilitate a high rate of parent participation, timelines proposed to implement the selection process must take into account the school year schedule, especially as it pertains to school council elections.
Applications will be accepted in the month of May and selection for new members will be determined in June for the following September.
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