Secret #21: School Councils play an important role

School Councils are an advisory group, made up mostly of parents, who work with the school Principal.  At regular meetings they may discuss a variety of issues ranging from the school's discipline policy to upcoming special events or seasonal activities.  Generally, the School Council is not involved in fundraising, although in practice it is often the same active parents who co-ordinate fundraising activities, just under a different name, i.e. School X Parent Association.

Some school jurisdictions have a district wide "Council of School Councils", although Edmonton Public does not.  I think our district would benefit if it provided some kind of mechanism for school councils to interact and share their ideas, concerns, and experiences.

There is a provincial association of school councils( click here to visit their website) and they've just recently released a discussion paper on the future of school councils that is worth reading.

New Trustees would be wise to contact the school council chairs in their respective wards with an open invitation to visit with them for a discussion of education issues at both the school and district level.  Once these relationships are established, they become an useful ongoing channel for communication and assistance in dealing with the various issues that emerge.

Secret #20:Reaching the tipping point

Malcolm Gladwell's book, "The Tipping Point" was an interesting read and his premise certainly applies to the work of school boards.  He argues that it takes a critical mass to effect change and that sometimes it only takes a little more effort or change in the environment to support a new direction or action.

The Edmonton Public School Board's recent debates around the question of student health and whether the board had a responsibility to offer healthier food and beverage options for students and eliminate the unhealthy( high sugar, high fat, high salt) options is a case in point.

EPSB Trustee Dave Colburn has been a leader in this policy area and had brought his anti junk food initiative forward a couple of years ago.  Initially, most trustees didn't see the need for this action, and some even questioned what constituted "junk" food.  When the vote was called, the motion was defeated.   As a result, the Board faced considerable negative reaction from the community and so, the following year, when Trustee Colburn brought forward the initiative again, it passed with a strong majority.

It's my sense that the new Board that will be elected on October 18th is one that will reflect the community's "tipping point" on the issue of school closures.

Secret #19: Don't try to have meetings by e-mail

E-mail is a great tool for some purposes- sharing logistical details of meetings, informing people of emergent situations, etc.  And trustees, like most people these days in leadership positions, have Blackberrys.

But it's lousy as a means to debate issues, and it's no substitute for the face to face dicussions that take place at meetings.

Keep it mind as well that e-mail is not a secure communications channel.  My rule of thumb has always been not to say anything through e-mail that I wouldn't want to see on the front page of the newspaper.

Over the years, some of our employees have said things through e-mail that helped them become former employees.

And remember that the school district's guidelines for acceptable use of technology, including e-mail, applies to Trustees just as much as it does to staff.

Secret #18: Maintain an ongoing dialogue with your MLAs and City Councillors

Hold regular meetings with the other levels of government

An important part of a school board's work is to liaise with their counterparts in the Provincial and City governments.  This may seem like a no-brainer, but keep in mind that these folks all have demanding schedules and no one likes to go to yet one more meeting unless it is likely to be productive and lead to something of consequence.

When the Edmonton Public School Board closed 5 schools this year, with the prospect of more closures on the horizon, there seemed to be the critical mass necessary to prompt the 3 levels of government to come together recently and talk about what alternatives there may be to closures.  While schools are the primary responsibility of school boards, everyone knows that the local school is often the heart of a neighbourhood and often hosts a variety of other services and activities from sports to day care to community meetings.  A school closure affects more than just students.

In addition to these larger meetings with all the elected officials, the School Board Chair will often be in contact with the Mayor and the Minister of Education.  Individual trustees will often meet with the MLA(s) and City Councillor(s) whose districts overlap to keep each other informed about emerging issues.

These are important relationships that need to be nurtured in order to ensure maximum co-operative effort on behalf of our common constituents.

Secret #17: Learn the lingo

Educational lingo can be confusing but every line of work has it's own language and you'll need to become fluent in school boardese.

Here's a few items that may not be in your daily vocabulary now but will be soon if you're on the School Board:

•  we don't have problems, we have challenges
•  we don't refer to secretaries anymore, they're administrative assistants
•  the people who keep our buildings clean are not janitors, they're custodial staff.  In one bargaining meeting I was at with the custodial staff, a CUPE rep was harshly reprimanded by the Local President for using the j word.
• ASBA- the Alberta School Boards Association
• PSBAA- the Public School Boards Association
• CSBA- the Canadian School Boards Association
• NSBA- the National School Boards Association( in the U.S.)
• ACOL- Alberta Commission on Learning, which recommended( among other things) maximum class sizes that school districts are expected to adhere to
• ATA- the Alberta Teachers Association, either provincial or local
• Metro Boards- the 4 school boards in Edmonton and Calgary( 2 public and 2 Catholic), which together educate over half the students in Alberta
• AISI- Alberta Initiative for School Improvement
• ASEBP- Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan, a province wide health and welfare trust for Alberta's basic education sector employees, jointly sponsored by ASBA and ATA
• CEU- Credit Enrollment Unit, the mechanism for funding high schools
• CUPE 474 - the district's custodial staff union
• CUPE 784-  the district's maintenance staff union
• CUPE 3550- the district's support staff union
• FNMI- First Nations, Metis, Inuit
• FOIP- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
• GLA- Grade Level of Achievement
• IPP- Individualized Program Plan
• PATs- Provincial Achievement Tests
• POM- Plant Operation and Maintenance, one of the provincial government's funding envelops
• Unit Costs- in relation to our staff, this is an average dollar amount that is used for budgeting purposes.  For example, the current teacher unit cost( salary + benefits) is about $94,000.

And a whole lot more!

Secret #16: We need to do a better job communicating our value statement

What's the value of education?

I suspect that most of us would agree that education is priceless.

But we do live in a world with real dollar costs and I don't think school boards( or other public service bodies) do a particularly good job of informing parents and/or community members of the value of education in a way they can relate to.

For example, our school district's annual budget is now over $800 million.  That number is so large that there's no way the average person can comprehend it.  But what if we said to parents: the school board budget of about $800 million provides education for 80,000 students, or an average public investment in each child of $10,000 per year.  Now we're at a number that people can get their heads around.  In my discussions with parents, few have any idea of this per/student cost, since education is mostly "free" to them.  If we did explain it like that, I think there would be a lot less grumbling when people consider their tax obligations, and perhaps a bit more gratitude for the value of the public services they receive.

This is truly the miracle of public education: by pooling our collective resources( i.e. taxes) we can ensure a quality education for every child.

News Flash!

The Edmonton Public School Board website now has videos and more information for all the school board candidates.  Check them out by clicking here!

Secret #15: Be sure to participate in Read-In Week

Read-In Week provides an opportunity to talk about the importance of reading

Read-In Week( which starts today) is a great event each year that provides an opportunity for community leaders and members to visit our schools and talk to students about their work and why reading is such an important element for success in life.

Schools typically invite elected officials such as the local Trustee, City Councillor,  MLA or MP, as well as other persons who have important roles in the community such as police officers or media personalities.

When I visit classes, I usually have 2 or 3 books and have the students vote on which one I should read.  That gives me a good opportunity to explain that Trustees have to vote on a regular basis on the kinds of things that we should do as a school district.  I also bring the day's newspaper and explain how reading the daily newspaper( either in print or online) helps you be an informed citizen.

Read-In is a great win-win event.  Community leaders get an opportunity to see some of the excellent work that is taking place in our schools, and students get to hear an important re-enforcing message about the importance of reading from these same leaders.