September 17th, 2015

We have a volunteer to chair for 2015-2016, but she would welcome a co-chair or vice-chair.

The role of the Chair is to:

  • Chair School Council meetings
  • Provide leadership to the School Council and its members
  • Monitor the implementation of School Council decisions
  • Prepare a written agenda, in cooperation and consultation with the Principal, and distribute it to all School Council members at least one week prior to each meeting
  • Ensure that the minutes of School Council meetings are recorded and stored in the School Council Handbook
  • Ensure that a copy of all minutes and records of financial transactions are available to any person at the school
  • Meet regularly with the school Principal to discuss agendas and School Council activities
  • Establish additional School Council meetings as required
  • Represent the School Council at the Waterloo Region Assembly of Public School Councils (WRAPSC) in the role of Assembly Representative or delegate this role to another parent/guardian representative on the School Council with the permission of the other members of the School Council (more information about WRAPSC can be found below).
    • Consult with the parents/guardians in the school about matters under consideration.
    • Consult with Board staff and trustees, as required.
    • Work with the Principal to follow/establish election procedures for the following school year.

Vice-chair

  • Help School Council Chair with jobs listed above.
  • Act for the School Council Chair when s/he is unavailable.

Treasurer

The School Council Treasurer role includes interacting with a variety of different people within the school community. It would be an asset to have a volunteer that enjoys paying attention to detail, has good planning capabilities and organizational skills. These skills would be beneficial in order make sure that vendors’ are paid in a timely manner, and that reports are accurate and submitted as required. One of our past treasurer’s is happy to work with the new treasurer to get them up to date and integrated into the role.

With the exception of School Council meetings, all tasks may be done at the convenience of the volunteer. A volunteer commitment of approximately 10 hours/month may be required and would fluctuate based on fundraisers and reporting/budgeting periods.

This role includes the following:

    • Budgeting – Meeting with school administration and School Co-chairs to prepare draft budget in consultation with the School Council. Review/revise as required during the school year.
    • Banking – being the primary contact with the bank, writing cheques, ordering cheques and depositing fundraiser funds
    • Deposits – working with fundraiser co-ordinators to ensure that all monies received are verified and deposited in a timely manner
    • Payment of all expenses – writing cheques to vendors and reimbursing parents for all approved expenses
    • Software – working knowledge of databases and spreadsheets would be an asset
    • Reporting – preparing monthly and annual (due in September) reconciliation reports for the WRDSB and providing periodic updates to school council
  • Meetings – attending as many School Council meetings as possible to present budget information and provide updates to attendees as requested

 

Secretary

The Secretary is responsible for: documenting the minutes from the monthly School Council meeting; having the minutes reviewed by Co-Chairs and Principal; and sending to the Head Secretary to publish on the web site. The minutes should document: attendees; motions put forward and whether they have passed or failed; key information from discussions; and follow-up actions assigned to attendees of the meeting.

School Council Member-at-Large (10 Voting Members Needed)

  • In addition to the executive positions described above, MJ has voting members on its School Council. These are parent members who commit to attending Council meetings whenever possible, engaging in discussion at the meetings, and voting where necessary.
  • The Members-at-large are elected/acclaimed at the first School Council meeting of the year.
  • All MJ parents are welcome to attend School Council meetings and engage in discussions even if they are not voting members.

School Council Community Member

  • Attend MJ School Council meetings and provide community input.