School Community Councils
Frequently Asked Questions
Q – What are School Community Councils?
A - School Community Councils are new school-level groups that have been legislated
by the provincial government to be in every school. In 2006, School Community
Councils replaced the local board of trustees and local school advisory committees. To
some extent, they have a different mandate or role.
Q – Has the legislation for school community councils been passed?
A – Amendments to The Education Act, 1995, which require the establishment of school
community councils and which repealed all provisions regarding boards of trustees came
into effect on May 19th, 2006.
Q – What happens to school councils or other parent groups at schools where there
are no local boards?
A - School councils or other parent groups that were not established under the Act may
continue to exist but must work under the parameters of the School Community Councils
and they will continue to have no legislative status or authority.
Q – Do School Community Council officers have specific roles and responsibilities?
A – School Community Councils develop a constitution, for approval by the board, and
specify the officers. It is advisable that Officers, at a minimum, include a Chairperson,
Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer.
Q – How often will School Community Councils be expected to meet?
A – The Councils must meet a least five times annually as well as holding an Annual
Meeting. Most Councils find that they should meet once a month during the school year
to conduct their business and deal with requests for advice in a timely manner.
Q – What authority or responsibility do School Community Councils have in
dealing with complaints that have been brought to their attention about individual
students or staff members?
A – School Community Councils have no authority to deal with the concerns or
complaints about individuals, other than to direct the concern to the appropriate
individual.
Q – Can School Community Councils include other committees within their
structure?
A – Councils may wish to include various committees, both internal and external, within
their structure. These committees may be composed of School Community Council
(SCC) members exclusively or they may be external and include other parents,
community members or interested and knowledgeable individuals. This would encourage
more parent and community involvement and draw on specific expertise of members of
the community as well as lightening the workload of individual members of the SCC.
Q – If you are a candidate for the School Community Council, do you have to be
present at the election meeting in order to be elected?
A – To qualify as a candidate a person must be 18, Canadian citizen and parent of a
student in the school or resident of the catchment area. A person does not have to be
present at the election meeting to qualify. For obvious practical reasons you do, though,
need to be present to vote.
Q – Who is eligible to vote?
A – The following individuals are eligible to vote and become a Representative Parent or
Community Member:
Parents of students who are enrolled in the school (including parents who do not
reside within the school catchment area); and, electors that reside within the
school catchment area. These provisions specifically do not limit or restrict the
election or participation in voting of parents of students who may be employed by
the School Division and work in the particular school.
Q – Can a student be an officer on the School Community Council?
A – The following School Council Officers will be elected annually from among the
Representative Members:
 Chairperson
 Vice-Chairperson
 Secretary
 Treasurer
A student is considered a Representative Member and may be selected as an officer.
Q – What is meant by SCC members participating in opportunities to develop the
capacity to fulfill their responsibilities?
A – The Board of Education conducted orientation and in service training for members of
School Community Councils in January, 2007. Inservice training is scheduled to also
occur in November, 2007 and February, 2008. As a result of this training and
opportunities to network with other School Community Councils, the capacity of the
councils will be enhanced.
Q – Is it possible for two or more School Community Councils to merge?
A – Subsequent to their formation, two or more School Community Councils wishing to
merge may make application to the Board of Education. The Board of Education may
then recommend to the Minister of Learning that the applicant School Community
Councils be considered for merger.
Q – Why are elections only being held for two Representative Parent and
Community Member positions at the SCC Annual Meetings scheduled during the
week of October 22, 2007?
A – The constitution of each School Community Council sets the number of
Representative Parent and Community Members at 5, of which the majority must be
parents of students attending the school. One-half of the Representative Parent and
Community Members are to be elected each year. The terms are staggered in order to
ensure there are members with experience and to maintain continuity. When the School
Community Councils were formed in 2006, two positions were designated as a one-year
term. These positions will become a two-year term this election in order to perpetuate the
staggering of elections in subsequent years.
Q – What is the role of the School Community Council?
A – School Community Councils (SCCs) provide an opportunity for parents and
communities to play a meaningful role in supporting the learning that takes place at their
local school. SCCs comprise both appointed and elected members. Appointed members
include the principal and a teacher and others as identified and recommended by the SCC
and approved by the Board of Education. Elected positions are open to parents of
students attending the school and all electors (ratepayers) in the attendance area. The
majority of elected members must be parents. In addition, schools that offer a high
school program (Grades 10, 11 and 12) have two student members on their SCC. These
youth members are selected by the school’s Student Representative Council (SRC).
There are also provisions for First Nations representatives to be appointed where
appropriate. While most councils are relatively informal, each SCC is required to record
meeting minutes, prepare an annual budget, hold an annual meeting and develop and
abide by an approved constitution. SCCs are expected to become knowledgeable about
the school, its resources and supports, the community – including the economic, social
and health conditions – and the community environment and expectations related to
student learning and wellbeing. They use this knowledge to determine improvement
targets and identify appropriate ways to support learning opportunities and improve
student outcomes at the school.
In Prairie South, SCCs are asked to:
 facilitate parent and community participation in school planning;
 provide advice to the board of education and to the school staff;

provide advice to other agencies that may be involved in the development and
learning of students; and
 comply with the policies of the board of education.
All SCCs must communicate at least annually to parents and the community respecting
their plans, initiatives and outcomes, and spending related to operations. This year marks
the first full school-year for SCCs in Prairie South, since the initial elections took place
mid-way through last year. With some of the groundwork that went into putting together
constitutions behind us, we look forward this year to developing and enhancing the
capacity of councils to, in turn, enhance the capacity of their respective schools from a
SchoolPLUS perspective. A key focus for the coming year will be to explore the role of
SCCs in ensuring safe, caring and respectful school environments. This is a prime
example of the type of initiative where the school and community need to work together
in order to achieve success. SCCs provide the vehicle for that collaboration – and the
exciting opportunities that ensue.