School Council Membership restrictions

[Sue Casselman]

We are currently debating the eligibility of 2 members of our school council. One is a supply teacher within our board who might supply in our school once/month, if that. Another member is a lunch supervisor. According to our principal's interpretation of "The Regulations Governing School Councils" neither of these parents can serve on council as they are "Board Employees" When reading the regulations the explanations states that "board employees have avenues other than school councils (e.g., staff meetings) through which to influence the decisions that the principal might make....." Neither of these parents would be allowed to attend staff meetings as they are not "staff" and please note that we are a small school with few parents interested in joining school council. We have never had the luxury of turning parents away because we have too many members.
So I guess the question is: What was the intended meaning when defining "board employee"? And what if either of these members were nominated as chair? The regulations state that "an employee of the board....cannot serve as chair or a co-chair of the council."
Please provide your feedback/opinion/interpretation or similar experiences.

[Sheila Stewart]

Hi Sue and welcome here! Believe me, I know this issue upside down, backwards, and sideways, so to speak! Firstly, it is great that your principal is attempting to be clear and offer guidance on the regulations, as that is often a proactive approach to avoid problems that can arise down the road. The way the current school council regulations are stated a parent who is also employed at the school cannot be a parent member on the school council, and this makes no exceptions regardless of what the position is (custodian, lunchroom supervisor, EA, etc.). That parent/also employee at the school can sit however as a "non-teaching staff rep", or a "teaching rep" on the council. Employees at the school can also sit on any "ad hoc" committee to the council, such as fundraising, etc. (They could be chair of those committees, but not the school council--too many areas for potential conflict of interest I believe on a school council). If a parent is employed elsewhere with the board and not at the school their child attends, they can sit as a parent member, but they can't chair or have an executive position, on that school council or any school council.
It's a tough one if bodies are few, but there are ways to still particpate. I don't think it is meant to be restrictive---it also serves to protect an employee from difficult situations/issues if they do arise on a school council. It can be difficult to wear two hats and not come under some srutiny at times.

Does that help for now?

[Sue Casselman]

I suppose, however it is interesting that just a year ago the same principal was asking one of the parents in question if they would chair. In our situation it does seem to be an extreme measure as we have only 6 members including these two parents and those remaining members are not interested in leadership roles.

[Sheila Stewart]

Sounds like a tough spot....maybe a co-chair arrangement and delegating some of the tasks could make it easier for the other parent members to fill that spot? Maybe there will be changes to the regs down the road.....?

Sue Casselman said:

I suppose, however it is interesting that just a year ago the same principal was asking one of the parents in question if they would chair. In our situation it does seem to be an extreme measure as we have only 6 members including these two parents and those remaining members are not interested in leadership roles.

[Lori Lukinuk]

Hi Sue,
Sheila and I have been working on this for ages now and we are both well versed in the rules of school council membership and in particular what a parent who is employed at the school can and cannot do on a school council. I'm not going to repeat what Sheila has said as she is entirely correct.
What I would like to get some feedback on is if people feel the legislation should change to allow lunchroom supervisors to be parent members on a school council and even hold the chair position. What would be the pros and cons to this?
I don't think I would like to see any other employees exempt from the rule. I'd like to hear the opinion of others on all of this.

Sue Casselman said:

I suppose, however it is interesting that just a year ago the same principal was asking one of the parents in question if they would chair. In our situation it does seem to be an extreme measure as we have only 6 members including these two parents and those remaining members are not interested in leadership roles.

[Sue Casselman]

Some further background might be in order. The supply teacher has been on school councils for 14 years, mostly serving as chair and/or vice-chair and has had an excellent working relationship with staff and principals throughout this time. A newly qualified teacher, the supply teacher has continued to serv on council without any suggestions of conflict, etc. As stated earlier, this parent is asked repeatedly to be the chair because of leadership and rapport. The supply teacher, as stated, might supply in that particular school 3 or 4 times per year. Yes they are a "board employee" but do not attend staff meetings at any school, let alone ours, (they are not on staff at any school). What other "avenue" would this parent have to "influence the decisions that the principal might make at their schools". ETFO's position on this matter: "...this regulation is discriminatory and anti-democratic". I would hate to lose these two members of our council. I think the paranoia about 'school council police' has administrators worried. When everyone on council is in agreement that these people should be members, and even chair, I don't see where the problem lies. Sorry to be so emotional about this issue but we all don't live in big cities where there are lots of members with abilities to share. We are a small community with the same 6 -8 people doing all the work for every event, school council sponsored or not.

[Ross Button]

We have had many teachers on our school council who of course were board employees.

From my understanding of the Education Act, all parents are eligible but are limited in their role to not serve as chair or co-chair.

[Lori Lukinuk]

From what I can gather from around the province, there are many school boards even in large centres who are having difficulty finding members.
Copied below are the rules around employees of the board on school council. The problem lies with the fact that no school board is legally able to go against Ministry legislation so if we want this to change and legally be allowed, we have to ask the Ministry to change it. If we look the other way on this rule, what other rules do we look the other way on? If a majority of school councils out there want it to change, perhaps we should ask that it be changed.
Board employees and trustees. A board employee
who works at the school his or her child attends is
not eligible to serve as a parent member on the council.
This provision recognizes that board employees
have avenues other than school councils (e.g., staff
meetings) through which to influence the decisions
that the principal might make at their schools,
whereas parents who do not work at the school their
children attend have no occasion to discuss and
have input into matters affecting the school. A board
employee who works at the school his or her child
attends may, however, be elected as either the teaching
or non-teaching staff representative.
Board employees who do not work at the school
their children attend may be elected as parent members
as long as they notify the other parents that
they are employed by the school board prior to their
election. The requirement to disclose their affiliation
with a board will reduce the potential for conflict of
interest.
An employee of the board that established a school
council cannot serve as the chair or a co-chair of the
council.
School board trustees are not eligible to be members
of councils of schools within their boards.

[Sheila Stewart]

Sometimes, depending on the kinds of activities that the school council focuses on, parent members might have a hard time seeing how employees being members would present any problem. I will just mention some possible "cons" in the area of lunchroom supervisors for now (but I know that the question is also about supply teachers). 1--eating arrangements at lunchtime decided by the principal...parents have issues, the lunchroom supervisor is supportive/unsupportive...what if also a school council chair? 2--a lunchroom supervisor/also a parent at the school attends the school council meeting......discussion centres on supervision issues at lunch....will he/she be comfortable...as a parent member or a chair? 3--a lunchroom supervisor is "let go", what if also chair......these situations may be very rare......but they can occur and then it can all be/get very personal and difficult to work thought, rules in place or not. I will think on the pros some more.....

Lori Lukinuk said:

Hi Sue,
Sheila and I have been working on this for ages now and we are both well versed in the rules of school council membership and in particular what a parent who is employed at the school can and cannot do on a school council. I'm not going to repeat what Sheila has said as she is entirely correct.
What I would like to get some feedback on is if people feel the legislation should change to allow lunchroom supervisors to be parent members on a school council and even hold the chair position. What would be the pros and cons to this?
I don't think I would like to see any other employees exempt from the rule. I'd like to hear the opinion of others on all of this.

Sue Casselman said:

I suppose, however it is interesting that just a year ago the same principal was asking one of the parents in question if they would chair. In our situation it does seem to be an extreme measure as we have only 6 members including these two parents and those remaining members are not interested in leadership roles.

[Ross Button]

further to this, School Council meetings we hold are public meetings. Anyone is welcome to attend. We do follow an agenda but openly accept participation. The only real distinction between official members and meeting attendees is when we vote which is rare. There really isn't much to vote on at a school council meeting.

We have yet to use our formal structure to control out of control meetings but we might, it is good to know we have it in place should we need it. On that note, alot of the formal structure comes not from the government or board but from the school council's own constitution. We did need to do some work on ours. We used that as an opportunity to open up participation in our School Council rather than restrict it.



Ross Button said:

We have had many teachers on our school council who of course were board employees.

From my understanding of the Education Act, all parents are eligible but are limited in their role to not serve as chair or co-chair.

[Sheila Stewart]

Quick note on individual school council constitutions....from the Ministry's School Council Guide...section 7:

"School councils are not required to develop lengthy
constitutions, since Ontario Regulation 612/00 sets
out the mandate and roles and responsibilities for
school councils. In effect, the regulation serves as the
constitution for the school council. (If a school council
already has a constitution in place, the council
may wish to continue to use it, provided that it does
not conflict with the provisions of the regulation.).."

Ross Button said:

further to this, School Council meetings we hold are public meetings. Anyone is welcome to attend. We do follow an agenda but openly accept participation. The only real distinction between official members and meeting attendees is when we vote which is rare. There really isn't much to vote on at a school council meeting.

We have yet to use our formal structure to control out of control meetings but we might, it is good to know we have it in place should we need it. On that note, alot of the formal structure comes not from the government or board but from the school council's own constitution. We did need to do some work on ours. We used that as an opportunity to open up participation in our School Council rather than restrict it.



Ross Button said:

We have had many teachers on our school council who of course were board employees.

From my understanding of the Education Act, all parents are eligible but are limited in their role to not serve as chair or co-chair.

[Cathy]

I think it's fair to uphold the regulation and legislation as is, simply because anyone who draws a paycheck from the school board could find themselves in conflict-of-interest over decisions made.

Most of the unions have points in their by-laws about their representation on school councils.

A lunchroom supervisor could sit on the council as the staff representative(different from teacher rep.)

Failing that as Ross mentions all meetings are open to the public. If the substitute teacher has kids at the school or is a member of the community there is nothing stopping him/her from attending meetings and speaking up re: concerns and inputting decisions.

Sheila mentioned the clause about having a constitution. I have seen school councils so wrapped up in the flipping constitution and tripping over the rules they set up that it is an eventual turn-off for new parents. I recall one school council that had written in its constitution that "the principal may only attend meetings when invited." The document read more like an exclusive clique rather than a welcoming information piece.

The two companion regulations 612/00 and 613/00 plus the School Councils Operations Manual can be effectively used in place of a strict constitution.

I think a really good study for the province would be to find out how school councils are doing to know how many are struggling to keep interest up?? It was once felt that turning parents off the councils was intentional by those within the system who felt threatened by their existence or by those who didn't want parents as partners in the system.

[LeslieP]

Hi Sue,
You need to review both your school board's policy and procedures and the school council's by-laws concerning membership as they vary from board to board and school to school.
Reference Material
1. Ontario Eduction Act, Ontario Regulation 612/00 School Councils
HTML version: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/source/regs/english/2000/elaws_src...
Word version: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/Download?dDocName=elaws_regs_000612_e

2. School Improvement Planning - A Handbook for Principals, Teachers and Parents
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/sihande.pdf

3. School councils: A Guide for Members, 2001, (Revised 2002)
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/council/council02.pdf

IMOO
a. The supply teacher can not serve on the school council as a parent member, She/he can attend the meetings as a parent, non-voting.
b. The lunch supervisor, I am assume that she/he is being paid for this service, can not be a parent member, since she/he is employed by the board at the school.
If the lunch supervisor was not being paid for this service, then she/he could be a parent member, since she/he is considered a volunteer.
If the lunch supervisor was being paid for this service, but performing the lunchtime supervision at another school, then she would have to declare her employment and could be a parent member.
Every member of a school council, except for the principal or designate, is a voting member, this includes the parent members, teaching rep, non-teaching rep, student rep, community rep.
See section 4. Election of Parent Members of the Ontario Eduction Act, Ontario Regulation 612/00 School Councils

This is mainly done to prevent conflict of interest and protect the employee from any conflicts that may arise.

The board's policy and the school's parent council by-laws cannot circumvent these regulations, since the higher courts have precedence over the lower courts.
I hope this helps your parent council.