Thursday, November 29, 2012

Nov 15th - North Van PAC meeting summary

The main items on the agenda at our November 15th General Meeting were:
  • "The role of the PAC" by BCCPAC Past President - Ann Whiteaker
  •  2012/13 budget
  • The Parent Priorities Survey
  • ERASE anti-bullying program by Joanna Woronchak and Deborah Johnstone
Nov 15th Meeting Minutes

2012/13 Budget

The Role of the PAC

The presentation by Ann Whiteaker on the role of the PAC was very interesting to as we often get caught up in the day-to-day operation of our organizations and it helps to reflect on your purpose at times to ensure you are moving in the right direction.

The meeting minutes provide an excellent summary of the presentation but a couple of key points really stood out for me.
  • While often perceived as such, the purpose of a PAC is not to fundraise. The goal is to build relationships and community, and not necessarily to make money. PACs should endeavour to get as many people as possible out with their entire family to fun events where the PAC doesn’t lose money.
  • PACs should seek out under-represented parents, especially those of struggling students. Parents of students who struggle are often reluctant to come to PAC meetings and events. Sometimes it is necessary to “dig” for the families who won’t ask for help.
If you need help funding fun community building events within your schools, please make sure you take advantage of our speaker and family of schools grants.

Budget 

Our 2011/2012 Year end financials and 2012/2013 budget were both approved at the meeting. This means we can move forward with all our grants etc. The DPAC Funds page on our blog discusses the available funds and how PACs can access them.

Parent Priorities Survey

We had 40 participants in our online parent priorities discussion and survey. The results of the survey show a mix of priorities but with a clear focus on the need to upgrade facilities, improve special needs education and improve the use of technology in schools.

What was most important to me was the discussion on the process. There wasn't a lot of information or context given to the questions asked and the feedback in the meeting was that as a result it was hard to understand the value of the exercise and respond  apropriately to the questions. This is good feedback and will be incorporated the next time we reach out. Personally I found the process we used of gathering ideas and voting upon them generally better for this type of discussion than others we've tried but I definitely see the need for more effort to help set the context for the discussions.

ERASE Anti-Bullying Strategy

Deborah Johnstone (Boundary) met with District Administrator Brad Baker, and
attended the Safe and Caring Schools Committee meeting. The province’s new
ERASE (Expect Respect and a Safe Education) program will be introduced in the
district. There will be a Professional Day to inform/train teachers and staff about
ERASE, but the program may not actually be implemented until next year.

Joanna Woronchak, (Highlands) attended the ERASE summit in Vancouver on
November 13th and presented a few key points from her Anti-bullying report:
  • On the erasebullying.ca website, there is a reporting tool which can be used by a target of or a witness to incidents of bullying. Reports can be made anonymously or with a name.
  • There will be a professional day each year to deal with anti-bullying education for teachers and administrators.
  • Consideration is being given to integrating anti-bullying training as part of teacher training.
  • A 10 point strategy has been developed outlining protocols re bullying so that there will be consistency across school districts.
  • An RCMP speaker at the summit noted that there are no teeth in current laws,
  • and it is very difficult to prosecute for cyber bullying.
  • Use of correct terminology is being encouraged – assault, extortion instead of bullying.
  • It is important to let children know they are believed and that the bullying is not their fault.
  • A student participant in the summit stated “Bullying needs to be made not cool.”
  • ERASE asks the witness to come forward to report bullying. Witnesses are negatively affected by bullying; they need to feel empowered to speak up.

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