This document provides an overview of the commitments and responsibilities for parent councils, their principals, the Department of Education and the Ministry of Education.

1. Parent council commitments and expectations are focused on improving parental involvement
for the purposes of improved student achievement and school improvement. They have been
designed to be flexible and are not intended to be onerous.
Most of the advisory responsibilities of parent councils are optional; however there are some
responsibilities that parent councils must undertake. The following is an outline of the
commitments and expectations for parent councils:
Commitment/Expectation Action Required
Represent the parents of
the school
 Parent councils should work to develop and/or maintain open
dialogue with parents in order to represent their interests.
 Parent council chairpersons may call meetings of the parents to
deliberate the following matters:
a. The draft budget for the school
b. The school’s policy for promoting student achievement
c. Any draft plan for improvement of the school
d. Any parent and community involvement policy for the school
e. Desired qualities and competencies for a new principal of the
school (where a new principal is to be appointed).
 The parent council may report regularly to the parents on its
activities in such manner as the Council sees fit, including by
electronic means.
Make representations to
the Principal and/or
Commissioner of Education
 The parent council may—
a. make representations to the Principal on the draft school
budget
b. make representations to the Principal on the school’s policy
for promoting improved student achievement
c. make representations to the Principal on the draft school
improvement plan for the school and monitor the
implementation of the school improvement plan
d. make representations to the Principal regarding a community
involvement policy for the school
e. make representations to the Commissioner of Education as to
the desired qualities and competencies of a Principal to be
appointed to the school.
 The representations must be in writing.
Parent Council Commitments and Expectations
Ministry of Education
November 2015

2. Meet at least 3 times per
school year
 The parent council can meet as often as needed to carry out its
responsibilities, but it must meet at least 3 times during the
school year.
Make decisions by vote  Decisions of the parent council shall be by a majority of votes;
however, it is preferred that parent councils work towards a
consensus before taking votes on a particular matter.
Ensure that minutes of all
meetings are taken
 Minutes must be taken for parent council meetings
 Minutes must be taken for parent meetings held by the parent
council
Prepare and make available
an annual report
 The parent council must prepare an annual report for the school
year that at a minimum, must include:
a. Number of parent council meetings held
b. Number of parent meetings held
c. Matters deliberated by parents relating to parent council
responsibilities
d. Whether the parent council made any representations to the
Principal or Commissioner of Education and whether any
responses were received
e. Any progress made on school improvement plan
implementation
f. Whether any committees were formed, the number of
meetings held, the matters deliberated and decided and any
other activities of the committees
g. Any other activities conducted by the parent council
 The annual report must be made available to the Principal,
parents and the Commissioner of Education in the manner
deemed fit by the parent council.
Disclosure of interests  Parent council members have a responsibility to disclose any
direct or indirect interest in a matter to be considered by the
parent council (aside from having a child enrolled at the school).
 Where it is decided that the interest might prejudice the parent
council member’s consideration of the matter, that member shall
be recused from the relevant deliberation and decision.
Take into account any
parent council guidelines
 Where the Minister issues guidelines for parent councils
regarding any matter specified within the Education (Parent
Council) Rules 2015, parent councils are required to take those
guidelines into account.

3. In order for parent councils to be successful and effective, support is also required from the
Ministry of Education, Department of Education and Principals. Some of those commitments
and expectations are as follows:
Postholder/Person Commitments
Principal  Receive and respond to representations in writing
 Give parent councils sufficient information, respecting
confidentiality, to carry out its responsibilities
 Provide facility access to the parent council and parent body for
meetings
 To provide overall support and guidance for the effectiveness of
parent councils.
Commissioner of Education  Promote the establishment and continuation of parent councils
 Provide guidance to principals on parent councils
 In the event of a principal vacancy, receive and consider
representations on the qualities and competencies for a new
principal
 To provide overall support and guidance for the effectiveness and
success of parent councils.
Minister of Education  The Minister of Education may issue guidelines to parent councils
regarding any matter within the Education (Parent Council) Rules
2015.
Ministry, Department and Principal
Commitments and Expectations