Connecting with community and creating welcoming schools
School council report 2010

pdf 274 kb Published 2010

People for Education, 2010.

This report is based on results of surveys of Ontario’s school councils. The surveys asked about the role of school councils and the communications tools they use, board level parent involvement, school council funding, and fundraising.  Over 950 school councils from 67 of the province’s 72 school boards participated in the study.

Among the findings from the surveys:

  • The majority of school councils list enhancing communication as their most important role, but they report they spend the most time on fundraising.
  • New provincial policy mandates that every board has a Parent Involvement Committee (PIC). While two-thirds of schools reported they knew about their board’s PIC, 41% didn’t know how parents got to be on the committee.
  • 84% of councils report that their principals always or often notify them about education policy changes; 59% say they hear about changes from their school boards, and 34% report the Ministry of Education notifies them always or often.
  • 89% of schools fundraise. Of those, 53% raise money for library books, 42% for art and music, and 40% for computers, text books or classroom supplies.