School Council Information
During recent discussions, it was determined that School Councils may find it valuable to receive a memo summarizing the different resources and supports that are available to them.
Below is an outline of some resources and tools that are available to School Councils. Please review the information and, if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact myself or Amanda Creed at 519-822-4420, ext. 749 or [email protected]
Board Office staff will be communicating directly with (Co-)Chairs using their personal email address that they provide to us through their Principal. If School Council Chairs do not wish to share their personal email address with board office staff, they are asked to please communicate this to their Principal.
The following information will provide you with access to the school council email accounts through the Board’s Outlook Web Account (OWA) available at https://webmail.ugdsb.on.ca/owa.
- Domain & Log-in: Please have your Principal contact Amanda Creed
- Password: Canada2015
- Email Address: The email address is the same as the school’s address with added to the beginning (ex: [email protected])
Parent Involvement Committee
The Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) is an umbrella committee which supports school councils at the Board level, and is a key vehicle for enhancing parent involvement in support of student achievement and well-being. It operates as a direct link for parents to the Director of Education and the Board of Trustees.
PIC Website
There is an Upper Grand District School Board Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) website, which can be found at www.ugdsb.ca/pic. The website contains information about upcoming events, educational updates, parent resources, funding availability, etc. and will prove to be a valuable resource for your school council and school community. The website also includes reporting forms that Councils will need to access throughout the year.
School-Based Funding
The Ministry of Education provides school boards with $500 per annum for each school council to use at their discretion for parent involvement initiatives. This $500 is deposited in the school’s budget each fall. These funds can be used to provide on-site child care so parents may attend meetings, to hire speakers on topics pertinent to parent learning, to assist with offsetting the cost of student agendas to lessen the financial burden for families, to organize family events at the school, or for a host of other possibilities that encourage or facilitate parent engagement.
Each year School Councils, in conjunction with their Principal, will determine how this money will be used. There is an annual report due in June, which asks Councils to outline how these funds were expended. The memo and final report will be posted on the PIC Website and in UGShare (for school personnel only). Please be advised that the reporting form, with receipts, must be kept at the school, in the School Council Financials Binder, for a period of 7 years for auditing purposes.
PRO Grant
For the 2021-2022 School year, the Ministry of Education has changed how they disperse the PRO Grant. Each School Board in the Province has been provided with a predetermined dollar amount, and have been directed to work with their Parent Involvement Committee to determine how these funds will be used to promote parent engagement.
Upper Grand’s PIC will host 2 or 3 regional events with the topic to be determined based on feedback from the PIC Survey, which was shared in October and closes on November 22, 2021.
Details will be shared with all concerned parties once PIC has had an opportunity to review the survey results and determines what types of events / topics they will host.
We hope this information is helpful for you in your school community. Please do not hesitate to contact either myself (ext. 740) or Amanda Creed (ext. 749), should you have any questions.
[Printable Version: Memo re Annual Initiatives (PDF)]
Babysitting for School Council Events
Memo re Babysitting for School Council Events [Reposted: September 2021]