Parent leaders from 28 school districts, met in Richmond over the weekend to articulate their stand on key issues affecting students.
Their two key messages were: the current job action must end so school can open Sept. 2 and immediate improvements to classroom resources must be implemented.
On the latter front, John Puddifoot, first vice-president of the B.C Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, said the solution proposed is to set aside money from existing funds to create a Classroom Resources Fund. Furthermore, the allocation of those funds should be pushed down to the school level.
The process should be collaborative, said Puddifoot. Parents, students and the necessary teaching staff should be included in the decision-making process when it comes to allocating available funds for classroom resources.
Final approval would ultimately sit with the principal or someone in the appropriate management position, but the point is to empower those who are on the ground level and therefore can make the most informed decisions.
“We need to move away from the one-size-fits-all approach,” said Puddifoot.
He explained, parents and teachers know what elements of a school require the most help. He drew attention to enhanced arts and sports programs as potential areas that require needed attention.
And according to the Aug. 17 press release by the BCCPAC, the Classroom Resources Fund, “would be protected from cost pressures and will be used to optimize learning opportunities.”
But Puddifoot cautions this is all just in the ideas stage. The BCCPAC still needs to meet with the various partner groups that would need to be involved, namely the BCTF, provincial government and perhaps CUPE.
But this wouldn’t be across all schools, thus straying from generalized solutions to a more ad hoc approach to funding class-level resources would be most beneficial to the school system moving forward.
