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Call for Parent Board Nominations By Gord KerrThe call is out for self nominations and applications to the Ontario Parent Involvement Advisory Board. This is yet another step forward resulting from the Parent Voice in Education Project and Ontario’s new policy on parent involvement. This new 20 person board is intended to be quite different from the council it replaces, former Ontario Parent Council (OPC). The scope of work for this board will be narrower, focusing entirely on how to further engage Ontario’s parents in education, how to reach out to diverse communities, how to break down artificial barriers between teachers and parents, and stimulate the kind of communications and relationships necessary to build understanding and partnerships to help students succeed. It is not an easy task. This work is not for the feint of heart. This new board is not intended to replicate the OPC. It is not intended to comment on broader education policy. That is the work of the Education Partnership Table, a provincial level group established by former Education Minister Gerard Kennedy that brings a wide range of stakeholders together to discuss and review directions on broader policy issues. What are needed for this new Parent Board are people with knowledge about how to bring parents and educators together to help students, an understanding of the communications that parents need to help their children and the fortitude and persistence to keep pushing for positive change despite all odds. It will require people familiar with how school councils are operating, how they could operate better, how they can leverage the new funding and support and work to further develop their effectiveness. It will require people who understand how some parents feel disadvantaged or marginalized, and can help the Ministry to reach out to engage these parents for student success. It will require people who understand the educational challenges faced by new Canadians, by urban and rural Ontarians, and by our native communities. It will require people who can help the Ministry, school boards and school councils to build bridges with parents in diverse communities and strengthen Ontario’s education system through inclusivity. It will require people who understand what is working and can appreciate the talents of Ontario’s educators, yet know that by working together, there is much more that we can do to help Ontario’s students succeed. The Ministry’s new Parent Engagement Office remains in an early stage of development. Members of this new Parent Board will work closely with staff in the new office and assist in creating the new directions necessary to align Ministry resources to further engage Ontario’s parents in public education. Parents Selecting ParentsThe method for selecting new members of the Board was recommended by the Interim Parent Involvement Board, comprised of many (but not all) of the former members of the Parent Voice in Education Project. For a complete review of the options reviewed and the final recommendations, please download the full report of the Interim Board delivered to the Minister in June 2006. After much lively discussion and debate, the Interim Board recommended a broad call for nominations and selection by a small committee comprised entirely of parents. ‘Parents selecting parents’ is the method recommended to bring talented and diverse members onto the new and future boards while avoiding the political stigma attached to a body comprised entirely of Ministerial appointments. Despite some very good work done by the OPC and the people involved, it was ultimately the political stigma of the Ministerial appointment process that undermined the OPC’s credibility and its ability to carry out its original mandate. For this first Ontario Parent Involvement Advisory Board, the selection committee will be made up of several members of the Interim Board, all former members of the Parent Voice in Education Project. Future selection committees will be similarly comprised of parents on future boards. If you would like to consider applying to become a member of the new board, please visit the Ministry website to download the application forms. You will need letters of recommendation from 3 people or groups, and the deadline for applications is February 16, 2007 at 10:00 am. Gord Kerr served on the Interim Ontario Parent Involvement Advisory Board, the Parent Voice in Education Project and was recently elected to become a Trustee within the York Region District School Board. For shortcuts and more information, please visit www.schoolcouncils.net or www.parentinvolvement.ca. |
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gkerr@schoolcouncils.net with questions or comments about this web site.
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