Parent Involvement Committee Procedure

1.1 The purpose of the Parent Involvement Committee Procedure is to outline the structure and composition of the Parent Involvement Committee (meetings can be held virtually or hybrid). 

1.2 This procedure is to be interpreted and applied in accordance with the District’s commitment to promoting and upholding Indigenous rights and human rights in all its learning and working environments. This includes anti-colonial, anti-discriminatory, and anti-racist approaches and actions to provide services and employment that are safe, welcoming, respectful, inclusive, equitable, accessible, and free from discrimination and harassment consistent with the DDSB’s Indigenous Education Policy, Human Rights, Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Racism Policy (the “Human Rights Policy”), Safe and Respectful Workplace and Harassment Prevention Policy and related procedures

In this procedure,
2.1 Board: The Board of Trustees for the Durham District School Board

2.2 District: the Corporate entity of the DDSB

2.3 Parent: means a Parent or Legal Guardians of a student who is enrolled in a District school. 

2.4 Engagement: Parent Engagement in schools refers to Parents and school staff working together to support and improve the learning, development, and health of children and adolescents.

2.5 Student: Any pupil who attends a DDSB School.

2.6 Meeting: A meeting called in accordance with the requirements of the PIC Bylaws and does not include a training session or other events where the Committee does not discuss or decide matters under its authority.

2.7 PIC: Parent Involvement Committee. 

2.8 Parent Member: A member of the Committee who is a parent and appointed as a parent member to the Committee by the Board or who fills a vacancy created by a parent member ceasing to hold a position on the Committee

3.1 The purpose of a Parent Involvement Committee is to support, encourage and enhanceParent Engagement. 

• The PIC may provide input on board improvement and equity planning.
• Promote the PIC as an important and rewarding opportunity to network, volunteer, build communities and potentially support career development – highlight the value of participating and engaging, especially for newcomer community members, under represented communities, etc. for students, the school community, and the member – that the skills and experiences gained ma support member’s personal and professional development.
• PIC meetings and events are considered extensions of DDSB learning and workingenvironments and are subject to DDSB policies and procedures.

3.2 The Parent Involvement Committee shall achieve its purpose by,

1. providing information and advice on Parent Engagement to the Board;
2. communicating with and supporting school community councils of District schools;and
3. Undertake activities to help Parents of District students support their children’slearning at home and at school and to support inclusive and equitable educationfor all students.

3.3 The Parent Involvement Committee shall,

1. develop strategies and initiatives that the District and the Director of Education could use to effectively communicate with Parents and to effectively engage parents in improving student achievement and well-being;
2. advise the District and the Director of Education on ways to use the strategies and initiatives referred to in (a);
3. communicate information from the Ministry to school community councils and to parents;
4. work with school community councils and District staff to,
   1. Share effective practices to help parents identify, prevent and addressbarriers to parent engagement; creative outreach and ways to engageparents and increase voices and input from diverse communities; anddisrupt practices that may prevent effective engagement.
   2. identify and reduce barriers to Parent Engagement,
   3. Help ensure that schools of the Board create a welcoming environment for all students, parents, employees, and community members, support anti-discrimination, and address barriers to equitable and inclusive education for all students.
   4. develop skills and acquire knowledge that will assist the Parent Involvement Committee and school community councils with their work; and
5. determine, in consultation with the Director of Education and in keeping with the
   District’s policies, how funding, if any, provided under the Education Act for parent
   involvement under this Procedure is to be used.

3.4 Within the scope of PIC’s purpose, roles, and responsibilities, all PIC decisions, 
recommendations, practices, and activities (for example, initiatives, strategies, communications, 
and events) will uphold and align with the principles and requirements set out in section 1.2.

3.5 PIC members, individually and collectively, will treat PIC members with dignity and respect and 
will not engage in discriminatory conduct when conducting PIC business.

4.1 Subject to Ontario Regulation 612/00 and By-laws, the Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) shall be comprised as follows:

1. Parent members
2. The Director of Education (or designated supervisory officer)
3. One member of the Board
4. Community representatives
5. employees of the District as specified in Ontario Regulation 612/00 .

4.2 Every effort will be made to ensure that PIC membership is inclusive and represents and reflects the diverse communities the DDSB serves.

4.3 The term of office for the member of the Board appointed under 4.1 shall be one year.

5.1 The Board shall appoint any new members to the Parent Involvement Committee before November 15th of the school year and before the first PIC meeting. 

6.1 Vacancies in Parent member and /or community representatives’ positions on PIC shall beadvertised through a variety of methods as specified in Ontario Regulation 612/00. Every effort will be made to conduct outreach and communicate PIC vacancies to attract and encourage diverse representation by advertising PIC vacancies in various local diverse community newspapers through community partnerships and agencies.

7.1 There shall be no remuneration for members or officers of the Parent Involvement Committee.

7.2 This does not preclude payment of an honorarium under section 191 of the Education Act that takes into account the attendance of a Board member at a Parent Involvement Committee meeting.

7.3 The District shall reimburse members of its Parent Involvement Committee for expenses incurred as member of the committee in accordance with relevant DDSB expense procedures.

8.1 The Parent Involvement Committee shall keep minutes of all of its meetings and 
records of all of its financial transactions.
8.2 in accordance with any applicable District policies respecting the retention of 
documents by committees. 
8.3 The minutes of the Parent Involvement Committee shall be,

1. Posted on the District website; and
2. Sent electronically to the chair or co-chairs of the school council of eachDistrict school.

8.4 Minutes posted on the District website shall remain on the website for four years.

9.1 The Parent Involvement Committee shall annually submit a written summary of the committee’s activities to the Chair of the Board and to the Director of Education.

9.2 The summary of activities shall include a report on how funding, if any, provided under the Education Act for parent involvement was spent.

9.3. The Director of Education or designate shall: 

1. Provide the summary of activities to the school community councils of District schools; and
2. Post the summary of activities on the District’s website

• Ontario Human Rights Code
• Indigenous Education Policy
• Human Rights, Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Racism Policy
• Safe and Respectful Workplace and Harassment Prevention Policy
• Code of Conduct