PIC stands for Parent Involvement Committee
In 2005, the Ministry of Education mandated that every board of education have a Parent Involvement Committee (PIC). Right now, there are no provincial guidelines regarding the structure, role, and mandate of Parent Involvement Committees, so the way PICs work may vary from board to board. The Parent Engagement Office at the Ministry of Education is working to develop a PIC manual, but many boards have already created their own terms of reference for their Parent Involvement Committees. Each PIC is to be chaired by a parent, and the majority of members must be parents. Trustees, board staff, and each board's Director of Education also sit on the PIC. Currently, many PIC members are appointed, but the province's Parent Involvement Policy indicates that eventually they will be chosen by their peers. |
Parent Involvement Committees may be involved in:
• supporting parent involvement in the board,
• providing a link between parents and the director of education, trustees and board staff,
• helping the school board develop strategies to engage more parents at a regional level,
• seeking input and ideas from school councils, and
• assessing how well the board is doing in reaching out to parents. (eg. Does the board consult parents? Are materials and information from the board readily available and understandable?) |
Funding for PICs
| The province provides every board with $5,000 plus 17¢ per student to support the PIC. For example, a board the size of Ottawa-Carleton DSB would receive approximately $17,000 per year to support the work of their PIC. |
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