The province has set aside more than $1 million to fund school councils to support collaboration between parents and schools.
Through the Alberta School Council Engagement Grant, each school council will receive $500 to better support individual school councils and strengthen engagement with parents. This could include creating more school events that involve parents and developing a broader range of tools to communicate with them.
“Through this grant, Alberta’s government is putting dollars directly into the hands of parents on local school councils so they can fulfil their legislated responsibility, build capacity, and strengthen engagement and the parental voice in their schools,” said Education Minister Adriana LaGrange.
Allocation details will be provided to school jurisdictions in the coming weeks.
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Brandi Rai, president of the Alberta School Councils’ Association, said school councils will now be able to enhance their capacity to meaningfully engage their school communities in support of student learning, without sacrificing funds raised for other projects.
“This helps take the pressure off parents, fundraising associations, schools, and school divisions to find funds to help school councils fulfill their legislated advisory roles,” Rai said.
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School councils provide a way for parents to contribute knowledge, perspective and ideas through school council meetings and through activities such as surveys, focus groups, committees and project teams.
Councils allow parents to participate in decisions that impact student learning and offer advice to principals and school boards.
There are about 2,000 public, separate, francophone and charter schools operating in Alberta that are required by legislation to have a school council.