School Advisory Council
School Councils
School Councils work to improve student achievement and enhance the accountability of the education system to parents and caregivers. They are legislated and governed by Regulation 612 of the Education Act.
School Councils work inclusively, recognizing that all parents/caregivers have an equitable place in our school's community, free from racism, classism, and other isms, intentional or unintentional. They recognize that participation can take many forms and work to:
offer parents/caregivers a variety of ways to share their voices, knowledge, and expertise
recognize that relationship building is key to breaking down walls and barriers
strive to identify and eliminate barriers to participation for parents/caregivers
disrupt practices that contribute to oppression based on race, class, nationality, abilities, gender, education, or language
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ for School Advisory Council
Elections
Principal or his/her designate are essential in supporting school councils. For information on:
Virtual Nomination Template (To save a copy of this form to your Google Drive, click on the link. When opened, click the 3 dots at the top right hand of your screen. Click on, 'Make a Copy'.)
Each TDSB school is required to have a school council made up of the Principal, parents /caregivers, teachers, support staff, students (secondary schools), and community members. The purpose of the school council is to actively engage parents /caregivers to improve student success. It also provides a regular opportunity for its members to discuss how to make the school a better place for learning for its students.
The Principal brings important information about the school to the school council. The school council, in turn, advises the Principal on matters related to the learning goals of the school, the school's policies and procedures, students' needs, activities and resources for students and parents /caregivers, and ways of involving parents /caregivers in the life of the school.
The school council is required to hold at least four general meetings each school year that are open to all parents /caregivers in the school, and a membership election in September. The elected Chair of the school council is a parent/caregivers of a child in the school. For more information about your school council, please call your school or the chair of your school council.
NOTE: School Council elections are held for parent /caregiver representatives NOT chair, co-chair, treasurer (School Council executives) etc. School Council By-laws should outline the number of parent /caregiver representatives that will be elected to School Council. To review a School Council by-law sample click here
By-Laws
Regulation 612/00 15 (1-3) of the Education Act indicates that a School Council may make By-Laws governing the conduct of its affairs and that every School Council shall make the following By-Laws:
By-Laws that govern election procedures and the filling of vacancies in the membership of the School Council;
By-Laws that establish rules respecting participation in School Council proceedings in cases of conflict of interest;
By-Laws that, establish a conflict resolution process for School Council disputes
To support this process, TDSB has updated the School Council By-Laws’ Template. The update includes:
Mandatory articles that must be inserted into all TDSB School Council By-Laws;
Optional articles that School Councils may or may not choose to insert;
A template system that will enable School Councils to input their information and to have the By-Laws returned within 5 – 7 business days.
All School Councils must submit their templates by December 23, 2022.
Please click here for the PDF version of the template that you will use to consult with your School Council and parents/caregivers.
Please click here to access and submit the template.
School Committee Participation - School Commitee Participation
