Every Board in the province is required to have a Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) that meets throughout the year to provide advice to its Board of Trustees and staff regarding how parents and school councils can best support student achievement and well-being.
YRDSB’s PIC has been active for many years under the name of Parent, Family and Community Engagement Advisory Committee (PEAC) as the Board has focused on the integration of these forms of engagement. YRDSB also prefers to use the term "engagement" as this is seen as both more comprehensive and action-oriented.
Highlights from 2023
- Supported PEAC meetings
- Finalized new membership in PEAC through a selection process that was team based in partnership with Trustees, Board staff and PEAC members. Anti- discrimination training was provided for everyone on the selection team
- Orientation session was held to welcome all new PEAC members to their new role and provide them with an overview of the role. Board staff, and current PEAC members attended alongside newly appointed members
- Leadership, Development & Engagement (LD&E) supported the planning of the School Council Forums by engaging in an outreach to potential workshop presenters and curated for the Community Education Centre (CEC) planning teams. A slide deck was prepared to support the understanding of financial guidelines and procedures for the CEC teams
- LD&E supported three school council forums by providing a workshop on the School Council Handbook and gave the keynote address at the West School Council Forum on Effective and Impactful School Councils
- LD&E engaged in finalizing the creation of a revised School Council Handbook
- LD&E filmed an introductory video to the changes in the school council policy in partnership with PEAC members, as the narrators, to be shared at every school council meeting. A reflection activity was designed to follow up with after viewing the video
- Provided school council chairs with their new Board email and uploaded new school council chairs to the school council Edsby communication Edsby Hub
- Regular communication with school council chairs on the school council Edsby Hub answering posted questions
Student engagement
- Participated and supported York Region Presidents Council (YRPC) monthly meetings
- Participated and supported YRPC weekly update meetings
- Supported YRPC with scheduling Student Outreach Meeting (SOM)
- Supported and facilitated bi-monthly student trustee touchdowns
- Supported student trustee elections
- Meetings with Student Trustees to discuss possible elementary student voice opportunities
- Co-facilitated a roundtable discussion for 2SLGBTQIA+ students at Speakout Conference
Updated November 2023