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School councils work to support parental involvement in the school community and enhance student learning.
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French-language content for this topic on Alberta.ca is currently being developed. Information will remain available on the Alberta Education website until this is complete.
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La page correspondante en français est en cours de préparation sur le site Web Alberta.ca. Pendant cette période de transition, l'information qu'elle contient demeure disponible sur le site Web du ministère de l'Éducation.
School councils consist of:
School council members work together to support and enhance student learning. They provide a way for members of the community to consult with and offer advice to principals and school boards.
School councils:
School councils are legislated under the Education Act and are mandatory for all schools in the public education system, including charter schools.
Parents play an important role in student success. School councils allow parents to participate in decisions that impact student learning.
Parents actively contribute to the success of the school community by contributing knowledge, perspective and ideas at school council meetings and through other methods established by the school council, including, but not limited to, participating in:
Parents of students enrolled in the school must make up the majority of the school council. School councils may also decide to include one or more parents of children enrolled in an Early Childhood Services (ECS) program at the school or other individuals who have an interest in the school.
Contact your school’s principal school council chairperson, trustee or your school authority to learn how to engage with your school council. All parents with a student in the school are eligible to be members of school council.
Alberta’s government is providing more than $1 million directly to school councils through the Alberta School Council Engagement (ASCE) Grant to enhance collaboration between parents and schools on education priorities. This grant gives each school council in the province $500 this year under a new direct funding approach.
Active school councils in public, separate, Francophone and charter schools are eligible for this grant.
By the end of October, school authorities will provide the ministry with the number of school councils in their jurisdiction and any other relevant information requested. We will allocate grant funds to school authorities following receipt of the information.
School authorities are responsible for ensuring that the funds are disbursed to their schools and made available to the school councils. The decisions for the use of the funds will be made by the school councils.
The ASCE Grant is intended for parent involvement and engagement activities that:
The grant also supports school councils in fulfilling their legislated responsibilities outlined in Education Act and School Council Regulation such as:
Annually, school councils should establish local priorities aligned with the grant purpose that the funds will support.
Examples of parent engagement activities and projects that funds can be used for include:
Examples of non-allowable expenses include:
School councils must report on the receipt, handling and use of ASCE Grant in their annual report to their school board as per section 13(2) and 14 (1) of the School Councils Regulation.
School or school authority administration will support school councils to access and use the ASCE Grant.
Alberta’s Assurance Framework describes the approach to build public trust and confidence that the education system meets the needs of students and enables their success.
Through action and evidence, education partners throughout the system demonstrate that they are meeting their responsibilities across key areas or domains.
The framework reflects the importance of stakeholder engagement in its guiding principles, key enabling processes and requirements for school authority planning and results reporting.
One of the key ways that school authorities demonstrate accountability and provide assurance is through the development and publication of their education plans and annual education results reports (AERRs)
School authorities engage key stakeholders, including parents and school councils, in the planning process to establish key priorities for their education plan and to share results and report on progress toward achieving those priorities in their AERR. To that end, school authority education plans and AERRs are expected to provide evidence and document that school authorities have engaged with stakeholders.
In their education plan and AERR, school authorities also describe the actions they have taken to meet their obligations under Section 12 of the School Councils Regulation, to provide the opportunity for school councils to be involved in developing school education plans/AERRs and to share results from provincial assessments and information from its reporting and accountability system with school councils.
School councils can play a role in supporting the Assurance Framework by:
School councils have an important role in supporting public assurance and accountability at the local level including:
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