Parent involvement

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is a school council?

School councils provide advice to the principal and school board. Every school must have a school council, and members include parents, the principal, a teacher, a student (in high schools), a non-teaching staff member and a community representative. The majority of members must be parents, and the chair must be a parent. Principals do not vote on school council decisions.

School councils are governed by Ontario Regulation 612, which sets out the purpose, membership and election requirements for school councils.  Under section 2(1), the purpose of the school council is “through the active participation of parents, to improve pupil achievement and to enhance the accountability of the education system to parents.”

School councils are responsible for:

  • Sharing information with parents and the community, and seeking their input on matters the council is discussing.
  • Providing advice to the principal and school board on issues such as school year calendars, strategies to improve school performance, codes of conduct and dress, curriculum priorities, safe arrival programs, community use of schools and community programs provided at the school, selection criteria for principals and board policies that will affect the school.
  • Many school councils are also actively involved in organizing social events for the school community and fundraising events.

Council meetings are open to everyone in the community, so you do not have to be a member to attend. It is a great way to keep up with what is happening in the school. You can also contact the school council if you have questions about how to get involved at the school or if you are looking for information from a parent perspective.

The Ministry of Education has developed a school council guide to assist school councils in their work.

Join the Discussion »

  • Can school councils be charged a fee for using school to meet?

    I am amazed at the thought that school councils would be charged rent for the use of their own school building! This is the kind of thing that is used by those who hate bureaucracy to give all institutions a bad name. View the full discussion.

  • School council role in elections

    School councils can play an important role in keeping parents informed and encouraging civic engagement. While it would be inappropriate for school councils to endorse individual candidates, there are lots of ways that they can be helping ensure that parents have the information they need to fully participate. View the full discussion.

  • School council bank accounts

    Our school council has not had a bank account for nearly 5 years now. We have a "budget line" with in the school budget...the funds are specifically maintained as School Council funds. School council still maintains control for use of these funds - we determine how it is spent. View the full discussion.

  • Community representatives on school councils

    I am so glad to see this question - I was wondering about this position myself. Thank you to those who have responded so far - I appreciate hearing what happens on other Councils and what your community reps have done/contributed. View the full discussion.

  • School council fundraising and bank accounts

    I am interested to know if a majority of school councils have and control their own bank accounts, separate from the school, for the monies they receive from their fund raising activities. Are there any guidelines to follow? Who stipulates as whether or not the bank account is run by the parent council or the school? View the full discussion.

  • School council training

    I have attached a Powerpoint presentation I do for all school council chairs in our Board on how to run effective meetings. Of course the real life Questions and Answers are the real meat - there is usually a healthy sharing of concerns and potential solutions, we also have the Principal sit in so everyone is working on the same assumptions. View the full discussion.

  • Pot-luck dinner at school council events

    ...we did a huge potluck for Eid every year. We were lucky in that we always seemed to get a good variety of totally amazing food. Even where there was a bit of duplication, each family has a different special recipe for their curry, etc., so it just gives everyone an opportunity to sample different versions. This event was one of our most successful. The food was incredible, and it was a great way to build community. You will have to report back on how it goes, John! View the full discussion.

  • School council info brochures for parents

    What a great idea, John. It is a nice, clear overview of the school council and its roles, and it provides parents with contact info, membership, and suggestions for how to get involved. Awesome! It's a great thing to hand out at kindergarten registration, and to send out to all parents at the beginning of the school year. Thanks for sharing. View the full discussion.

  • Parent resource library in school

    Our school Council initiated a Parent Resource Library through Pro-Grant Funding. We now have a diverse and well rounded inventory of books , DVDs and audio books available for all parents to sign out from school...It still does not seem to be used as much as we hoped for. Does anyone have any tips or ideas to promote for increased parent borrowing of materials??  View the full discussion.

  • School council relationship with trustees and PICs

    Last week, we hosted a webinar about school councils, and I thought it would be useful to get this community's ideas and input on a couple of the questions that were raised. The three questions are related, in that they explore the school council's role/relationship with the school board and board-level parent organizations. Here are the questions: 1) What role does your trustee have with your council? Does s/he attend council meetings? 2) What role does your council have with your Parent Involvement Committee (PIC)? 3) Is your council involved in a regional parent group, and if so, what do you do? View the full discussion.

  • PRO grants and Parent Involvement Funds for school councils

    The PRO Grant confirmations have been made. Do you know if your school council applied and was successful in receiving a grant for parent involvement/outreach/communication? Are school councils finding good ideas for their $500 parent involvment fund as well? Would love to hear what's working and what's not! This is the third year now of this support for parent involvement/engagement!  View the full discussion.

  • How do parents perceive the role of school councils?

    School council is actually a parents' council at the school, members are representing the whole community parents. They are the "Voice of the whole community". This obvious message is missing everywhere and PICs as well as Councils wonder why parents don't attend the meetings and share their views? I ask, why can't we stop worring about who attend the council meeting when we already have parents' representatives as members and who are also parents? Why don't we focus on the awareness among the parents/community regarding the fact that it's the council of parents and by parents and with the objective of student success. View the full discussion.

  • Cost effective communication with parents

    I have been mulling over ideas about how our school could create a more cost effective and environmentally friendly communication strategy with parents. So, my question is this...Is your school utilizing a cost-effective, environmentally friendly communication system that you think would be beneficial for other schools to know about? If by chance they are using an e-mail/telephone system, have there been troubles associated with the collection of e-mail addresses or phone numbers? View the full discussion.

  • The dreaded fundraising debate

    I hope that during the election all the parties talk about this. We need to hear lots of details about education plans in the upcoming election. What are the programs and resources that should be available in all schools? Are the arts important? If so, is it not time to provide direct funding for arts programs? What about sports and extra curricular activities? Shouldn't all kids have access to them? View the full discussion.