Parents upset over review of school council funding
Province halts spending on family activities in vulnerable communities
School councils have been left in limbo after the provincial government’s surprise decision to “pause” funding for activities like family math nights and forums on teen mental health.
After spending many volunteer hours last spring working on proposals for the “parents reaching out” grants, parents say they had no idea the funds would be put on hold by the Ford government.
“My office has been flooded with questions about what’s going on,” said NDP education critic Marit Stiles, adding parents were “blindsided” by the government’s move. She demanded to know why no one had “bothered to inform (parents) that this funding was never going to come?” Education Minister Lisa Thompson said the government has made no decisions, but has put the grants on hold as it reviews all spending.
“As we hit the pause button to consult, from one corner of this province to another, we are doing the right thing, because we have to identify the priorities from the people who are impacted,” Thompson told the legislature.
The government typically spends about $3 million a year on the grants, which are up to $1,000 per school council and meant to boost parent engagement — which research has shown to be important to student success. They also provide needy communities with money to run events they couldn’t otherwise afford.
Another pot of funding provides up to $30,000 for regional projects, and that has also been put on hold.
Many of the events are family oriented, and in particular were helpful for vulnerable and newcomer communities where fundraising is limited, said Theresa Pastore, founder of the charity Parents Engaged in Education.
“It affects us greatly — we apply for regional grants — and we’ve applied for a hefty grant to do work in priority neighbourhoods and Indigenous communities,” she said. “That means we are not funded for any of that work.”
Unless they are able to find a sponsor — another level of government or corporate help — she said “we can’t even afford to travel up and down to support them,” she added.
An early November parent council conference will go ahead despite the loss of funding, though “we’re scrambling to go ahead,” she added.
Pastore called the stall in funding disrespectful, “especially because everybody involved in these grants are volunteers.
“And the volunteers support our schools — for a lot of schools, if they didn’t have parent volunteers, the educational experience for kids would be a lot less.”
Parent councils typically work on the grants in the spring and find out in September — and funds are usually approved for the bulk of applications. On Wednesday, Thompson said “the first step in respecting parents is being responsible with their precious tax dollars.”
But former Liberal education minister Mitzie Hunter called the move “thoughtless.”
“There is evidence that if parents are involved in schools, that students do better, the school itself does better,” said the Scarborough-Guildwood MPP. “You want parents to be involved, and that’s the purpose for the grant — it’s meant to encourage involvement. What is the point of putting it on pause?”