Calgary Board of Education administration said the district is “compliant” with all 14 of its communication and engagement policies and indicators, a feat they say shows that the district is working with communities across the city.
According to a new Operational Expectations Monitoring Report presented to trustees on Tuesday, the district used various platforms and tools to communicate with parents, gather feedback from community members and provide opportunities for the public to ask questions in the 2023-2024 school year.
This includes making contact information available on CBE websites, having dedicated email addresses for members of the public to submit feedback and conducting system-wide engagement sessions for the first time. Previously, CBE administration would gather feedback by distributing short surveys internally and externally.
Chief Communications Officer Marla Martin-Esposito told trustees around 9,000 CBE community members participated in engagement sessions on the 2024-2027 Education Plan between December 2023 and February 2024, which she said reflected the “diverse voices” in Calgary. This included four online surveys distributed to staff, parents, community partners and union executives. It also included more than 10 in-person sessions.
According to Tuesday’s report, a toolkit was also sent out to parents, which included an informational video for parents, online survey templates, presentation templates and session evaluation templates, among others. Captions were also provided in multiple languages so families could learn about school planning in their preferred language. The surveys and meeting evaluations could also be translated into more than 30 languages, administration said.
Martin-Esposito added that communication materials were also developed to ensure participants were well-informed and could meaningfully contribute to the 2024-2027 Education Plan. This included a video, one-page infographic, information boards and a document answering frequently asked questions.
“This engagement also provided the opportunity to strengthen relationships between students, staff, families and community partners,” the communications officer said.
More and more parents involved in CBE decisions: report
The Operational Expectations Monitoring Report also said parental involvement in decisions about their child’s education has been steadily increasing over the past five years. Around 71.6 per cent of parents surveyed were satisfied with parental involvement in the 2023-2024 school year, one percentage point higher than 2022-2023 levels.
Martin-Esposito added that the district has ongoing communications to keep school councils informed. According to the Operational Expectations Monitoring Report, a newsletter was sent monthly with important information and updates for families and school councils. Around 114,000 parents viewed the newsletters on average and more than 7,700 clicked through to access information information on the CBE’s official website, the report added. The website also has dedicated web pages for school councils, parent societies and other community associations.
The report also said four Council of School Communities meetings were hosted by the CBE’s board of trustees in the 2023-2024 school year, which gave community members an opportunity to listen and ask questions about key system updates and presentations. Around 95 to 140 people RSVP’d for each meeting.
“We are all responsible for strengthening connections and creating a greater sense of community. Employees across schools and service units, and you as trustees, communicate and engage on a wide range of topics each day,” Martin-Esposito said.
“As a system, we strive to provide timely and responsive communications and to involve people in decisions that affect them and to help us communicate and engage effectively.”
Five schools lacking school councils, raising concern
Trustee Nancy Close, who represents Wards 11 and 13, raised concerns about five schools that did not have school councils throughout the 2023-2024 school year. This included Wood’s Homes School, Dr. Gordon Townsend School, West View School, William Roper Hull School and Louise Dean School.
“How do we support school principals with recruitment? I know once a school council is established, they have a wealth of resources that they can access, but how are principals supported with how best to work with school councils?” she asked administration on Tuesday.
Jennifer Turner, superintendent of school improvement, said the schools are “unique settings” where principals are working alongside education directors to engage parents and other community members to gather advice, feedback and comments.
She added principals at those five schools are supported through professional learning activities and resources that are available through the CBE website. Principals at those schools also build safe and welcoming environments so families feel comfortable sharing their thoughts either formally through surveys and engagement sessions or informally like talking in school hallways during pickup and dropoff.
“All of that work is contributing to creating an open environment where parents are feeling comfortable to come in and share their thoughts and opinions,” she said.
