Parent and Community Involvement

Regulation

1. Principals shall:
   1. create, facilitate, communicate, and encourage opportunities for meaningful parent and community involvement in school matters, including opportunities to provide advice on the development of the school's mission, vision, philosophy, internal policies, annual education plans, annual results reports and budget;
   2. provide school councils with provincial test results and measures, an interpretation of those results and measures, and access to public information, such as minutes of board meetings;
   3. foster staff acceptance, understanding, and co-operation in matters relating to parent and community involvement;
   4. facilitate the formation of and support for school councils in accordance with Section 55 of the Education Act and as outlined in Alberta Education's Alberta School Council Resource Manual (also see: Education Act Alberta Regulation 94/2019 - School Councils Regulation);
   5. facilitate communications about and support parent participation in the Parents as Partners program, which offers opportunities for local school councils, parents, trustees and Division staff to interact with each other;
   6. establish guidelines for the involvement of volunteers in the school; the Division as a local public body is governed by Alberta's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act; it is important that volunteers be informed about and agree to the confidentiality requirements regarding personal information of students, staff and parents;
   7. ensure that parents have access to information about the progress of their children, and about budgets and programs in the school and the Division; and
   8. provide parents and community members with information regarding appeal procedures. 

2. Communications shall:
   Respond to community groups seeking Division endorsement of community activities or projects.
   
   Application Process:
   Community groups are asked to prepare an application, no longer than two pages in length that provides the following information:

• Name, address and contact information of the community group making the request.
• Type of endorsement being requested, including details on how the referral letter will be used and where the Edmonton Public Schools' logo will appear.
• Specific timeframe in which the referral letter and/or Division's logo will be used.
• Brief description of the activity or project endorsement is being requested for, including specific target dates, budget and anticipated results.
• Details of how the activity or project is aligned with the Division's mission, priorities and mandate.
• List of current funding sources.
• Applications are to be sent to the attention of the Director of Communications at:
      Edmonton Public Schools
      Centre for Education, One Kingsway
      Edmonton, Alberta T5H 4G9

Approval Process:

• Applications will be reviewed on a quarterly basis and must be submitted to the Director of Communications by 12:00 noon on September 1, December 1, March 1 or June 1.
• All applications will be reviewed by a committee of six Division stakeholder representatives and replied to in writing within 60 days of the submission deadline.
• Those community groups who submit successful applications to use the Edmonton Public Schools' logo must agree to follow the Division's Visual Identity Guidelines.

References