New+Brunswick+Parent+School+Support+Committee

=New Brunswick Parent School Support Committee ~ Sarah Blanchard=

In New Brunswick, we are all partners in the education of New Brunswick children – the Ministry of Education, District Education Councils (DEC), Parent School Support Committees (PSSC), parents, teachers, district and school staff, and most especially, our students. At the local school-level, Parent School Support Committees play an important advisory role to the principal of the school. Any eligible New Brunswick citizen of voting age who meets the residency requirement can run or vote in a DEC election. PSSCs, however, are made up primarily of parents of students attending the school for which the PSSC operates. The responsibilities of the PSSCs are outlined in section 33 of the Education Act. PSSCs are not decision-making bodies but rather __provide advice and feedback__ on the direction and decisions undertaken by the school administration. PSSCs serve an important role in terms of providing advice to the principal regarding school policies, strategies for partnerships within the community, ways of maintaining a positive climate within the school and support for the language and culture of the school, among other duties. The PSSC communicates regularly with its DEC and a DEC member may attend PSSC meetings for information purposes. Role of the Parent School Support Committee
 * Advise the Principal on the establishment, implementation and monitoring of the School Improvement Plan
 * Participate in the selection of the Principal and Vice-Principal(s)
 * Review results of the School Report Card
 * Advise principal in development of school policies in accordance with district, and provincial policies
 * Provide on request of the Superintendent, input on performance evaluation of the principal, vice-principal(s) relating to the PSSC
 * Communicate with the District Education Council (DEC) relating to PSSC.

Responsibilities of Members
 * Participate in all committee meetings
 * Maintain high ethical standards
 * Respect other Committee members
 * Work collectively toward improved education development, student achievement
 * Limit discussion to matters of concern, in the best interest of the whole school community
 * Work for a positive consensus-building school environment
 * Support open communication
 * Create and strengthens successful relations between parents, teachers, students, school staff, community
 * Encourage all forms of parental involvement and support;
 * Follow principles established by the Committee to achieve goals and objectives identified in the School Improvement Plan
 * Encourages parents to support education

My school has a fairly active PSSC that strives to meet the needs of the school. One of the greatest benefits within our school is the partnerships that have been established within the community. Whether or not this group is having an effect on student achievement is inconclusive at best. Based on the potential other benefits outlined in the research, I believe as an administrator it is a responsibility to build these relationships with both parents and community to achieve the potential benefits resulting from these relationships. Corter and Pelletier (2004) find stronger parental and community involvement may have a wide-range of impacts, both positive and negative. Some of the potential benefits may include increase in public trust, community building, more effective parenting and support and resources. Although these benefits are not directly linked to student achievement per se, they do help to shape the culture of a school and the culture of the school can help shape the climate of learning. Areas I continue to struggle with are how to manage the potential costs of having high levels of parental engagement. Administrators are already overscheduled with meetings and paperwork so the requirement to engage with another stakeholder group adds to their workload. Corter and Pelletier (2004) point out additional conflict that may result including compromising classroom ethics, student unease, loss of focus on achievement, and negative effects on family.