The election of school council members is held in the first 30 days of the school year. Any parent can be elected to the School Council.
School Councils work to improve student achievement and enhance the accountability of the education system to parents and caregivers. They are legislated and governed by Regulation 612 of the Education Act. As collaborators in education, schools and School Councils recognize that all parents/caregivers have an equitable place in our schools' community, free from racism, classism, colonialism and other forms of discrimination, intentional or unintentional. Participation can take many forms and work to:
- offer parents/caregivers a variety of ways to share their voices, knowledge, and expertise
- built relationships between parents/caregivers and the school and breaking down walls and barriers
- strive to identify and eliminate barriers to participation for parents/caregivers
- disrupt practices that contribute to oppression based on race, class, nationality, abilities, gender, education, or language
The details about the election process are outlined in the School Council policy and in the School Council Elections procedure. The election of officers (Chair, Co-chair, Secretary, and Treasurer) happens after the members of council have been duly elected.
A memo has been shared with Principals containing information about 2022 School Council elections. Here are some reminders and resources for elections:
Checklist:
The 2022 School Council Election Checklist provides an overview of the steps in the election process.
Constitution:
Please review your school council constitution for specific provisions or by-laws regarding your elections. For example, your constitution may indicate whether you have a chair and vice-chair structure, a co-chair structure or either.
Nominations:
After scheduling the date and providing parents notice, principals will make nomination forms available. The nomination forms can be distributed and submitted electronically. An email nomination containing the same information as the form is also acceptable. For more information, see our Nomination and Self-Nomination forms.
Nominees seek election to the council as parent members. While they may express interest in a particular role on the council as part of their election platform, the election is to the council itself. The election of officers (chair, co-chair) happens after the council members have been duly elected. This means that people are running to be on the council, not for a specific position. Someone can say, “if elected, I intend to seek the office of chair, or we intend to seek office as co-chairs,” but the members at large elect to the council generally, and those elected elect the officers of the council.
Eligibility and Information for OCV Families:
A reminder that a parent of a student enrolled in an OCV school shall be eligible to seek election to a position on the school council at their child’s home school, where an insufficient number of parents of students attending in person have put their names forward for election. OCV families are asked to reach out to their home school Principal if they would like more information about participation in your home school's elections.
In addition, a person is qualified to be a parent member of a school council if they are the parent of a pupil enrolled in the school, including those whose children are currently attending the virtual school, unless they are employed at the school. If the parent is employed by the OCDSB but not at the school, they must take reasonable steps to inform the school community about their employment before the election. An OCDSB employee cannot be the chair or co-chair of a school council.
School Council Meetings:
School council meetings can be held in person, but schools are expected to work with the council to do what is best for their community.
Please review the document A Guide to Google Meet for School Councils to assist with planning your virtual meeting. Access to Google Meet is tied to an OCDSB email address. School council meetings could be set up on Google Meet using the Principal’s email address or the school council's email address. Every school council has an OCDSB email address ([email protected]). If you don't have access to this account, please ask the school’s Principal. If needed, they can request the login credentials from the Client Service Centre (CSC).
Please watch for more information from your school about election procedures. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Tess Porter, Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Coordinator, [email protected]