A formalised Parent Advisory or Reference Group to the school board, with published terms of reference and minutes tabled at board meetings and providing official advisory role to the board.
Strengths
- Provides direct parent input to the school board and hence the principal through the board.
- Being under the school board’s auspices it avoids the need for incorporation as an association.
- Eliminates the fund raising function of the parent body.
- Avoids domination of the parent body by the school principal.
- Parents would no longer have to manage the school canteen, uniform shop, after school programs etc.
Weaknesses
- Without a legal entity to manage them, parent run canteens, uniform shops, etc would have to close or be managed by the school. This could result in out sourcing of thus functions or the loss of them. Out sourcing would lead to increased costs for parents.
- Removes any sense of parent involvement in the school community outside of the school board.
- Removes the independent link between the parents and the principal provided by the current P&C association, as all discussion with the principal must be through and with the approval of the school board.
- Could result in the loss of resources for the school from P&C style fund raising.
- May remove the ability of parents to have a consensus input to wider educational issues and policies.
- Removes the pathway for school principals to seek assistance outside of the usual EDU route.
- Could lead to the impression of an elite group at the school and subsequent loss of school community feeling.
- Still requires parents to volunteer for the group, without any certainty that what they propose will be valued and acted upon.
- Would still require a convenor and minutes secretary to be elected or appointed.
Opportunities
- The new group may be able to influence the opinion of the school board parent representatives.
- It may provide a source of nominations for the parent representatives elected to the school board.
- The removal of all governance and liability issues from the parent group may encourage more parent volunteers.
Threats
- The relationship between the current parent representatives on the school board and the parent advisory group could be divisive. Disagreement between the two would be very anti-productive.
- A principal who did not value parent participation would more easily ignore such advice or sway the school board from it.
- As the school board has a very specific terms of reference, it would restrict the parent advisory group’s usefulness in broader educational matters.
- A greater burden will fall on the school principal and business manager if they are to continue to offer the services provided by the current P&C association and this could lead to adverse effects on the students and parents.
- May make parents in the advisory group legally liable under certain circumstances. They would require indemnity cover by the EDU or school.