PRAIRIE SPIRIT SCHOOL DIVISION

BOARD GOVERNANCE POLICY MANUAL 

Policy# 14 - Community Engagement

SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS GOALS

It is the intent of the Board to have each school become an integral part of the community it serves.  

SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS STRATEGIES

The Board believes that effective schools need the goodwill, respect and confidence of the public if the Division is to succeed in its educational mission. The Division develops and implements strategies to enhance its communication and engagement with communities, ratepayers and the citizens of the Prairie Spirit School Division. These strategies include:

• Designating a Board spokesperson who will endeavour to be current on all matters of Board governance and policy. In most cases this will be the Board Chair or the Chair's designate. Individual Board members who receive requests from media representatives refer the information-seekers to the Board Chair or designate. 

• Designating the Superintendent or their designate to act as the primary spokesperson for educational or administrative matters and the Secretary-Treasurer or their designate as the official spokesperson regarding financial or operational matters. 

• Maintaining formal connections with the community, government and with other relevant agencies and organizations in order to support the achievement of Board goals for the Division. The Board shares information, proactively identifies issues of importance, works collaboratively and builds relationships. 

• Making all reasonable effort to identify the interests of the community and to be responsive through Board actions to those interests. 

• Establishing a liaison committee that allows the Board to network with Division personnel in order to build positive relationships with staff, senior administrators, and Trustees and to share items which enable each party to better understand the common purpose of the Division mission statement. 

• Ensuring appropriate protocols for communicating complaints and concerns regarding specific schools, personnel or individual student situations 

• Encouraging the attendance of media at meetings (with the exception of in camera meetings) in order to keep the public informed of Board and Division challenges, deliberations, policies, and actions. 

Community Involvement in Decision Making 

There are two major ways in which the will of the community influences the Board policies and decisions:

• The citizens of the Division vote to elect Trustees by ward; and 

• All citizens of the Division are encouraged to express ideas, concerns, and opinions about the schools through such means as: 

• Written suggestions or proposals to the Board; 

• Presentations by individuals or delegations at Board meetings; 

• Responses to surveys made regarding education; 

• Attendance at open meetings of the Board; and 

• Active involvement with the school Parent Councils.