During recent discussions, it was determined that School Councils may find it valuable to receive a memo summarizing the different resources and supports that are available to them.

Below is an outline of some resources and tools that are available to School Councils. Please review the information and, if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact Melanie Schmidt at: melanie.schmidt@ugdsb.on.ca.

Please use this link to access the: School Councils: A Guide for Members

School Council/Volunteer Email addresses

School Principal/Vice-Principal staff are authorized to request School Council Volunteer accounts

Information for school Principals to set up account:

1. Go to https://ugsupport.ugdsb.on.ca , search for School Council

2. Select the ACCOUNT - School Council Account Request 

3. Complete the form

4. The system will create a new school council volunteer account with "sc.firstname.lastname@ugdsb.on.ca" format and add the password to the UGsupport ticket.

5. The Principal or Vice-Principal provides the volunteer with the credentials and instructions to login and connect to the SC mailbox.

Board Office staff will be communicating directly with School Council (Co-)Chairs using their sc.firstname.lastname@ugdsb.on.ca email address that they provided to us through their  Principal/Vice-Principal.

Each (Co-)Chair will be provided a userID and password to login and setup access. The setup process requires Multi-Factor Authentication to be configured on (Co-)Chair personal smartphones. Detailed setup instructions can be found on Staff Resources | Upper Grand District School Board and Welcome Aboard | Upper Grand District School Board

(Co-)Chairs will be provided a dedicated mailbox and will have access to the School Council shared mailbox ex. SC.HylandHts@ugdsb.on.ca

Parent Involvement Committee

The Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) is an umbrella committee which supports school councils at the Board level, and is a key vehicle for enhancing parent involvement in support of student achievement and well-being. It operates as a direct link for parents to the Director of Education and the Board of Trustees.

PIC Website

There is an Upper Grand District School Board Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) website, which can be found here. The website contains information about upcoming events, educational updates, parent resources, funding availability, etc. and will prove to be a valuable resource for your school council and school community. The website also includes reporting forms that Councils will need to access throughout the year.

School-Based Funding

The Ministry of Education provides school boards with $500 per annum for each school council to use at their discretion for parent involvement initiatives. This $500 is deposited in the school’s budget each fall. These funds can be used to provide on-site child care so parents may attend meetings, to hire speakers on topics pertinent to parent learning, to assist with offsetting the cost of student agendas to lessen the financial burden for families, to organize family events at the school, or for a host of other possibilities that encourage or facilitate parent engagement.

Each year School Councils, in conjunction with their Principal, will determine how this money will be used. There is an annual report due in June, which asks Councils to outline how these funds were expended. The memo and final report will be posted on the PIC Website and in UGShare (for school personnel only). Please be advised that the reporting form, with receipts, must be kept at the school, in the School Council Financials Binder, for a period of 7 years for auditing purposes.