Parent Advisory Council (PAC) Kick-Off Meeting

April 7, 2010 – 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (M301)

Combined Meeting Minutes* (DRAFT)

Meeting facilitators: Cheryl van Tilburg and Viki Zulkoski

A.M. Meeting Attendees: 27 parents, four administrators, and one guest

P.M. Meeting Attendees: 6 parents, one administrator
Regrets sent: 12 parents

Presentation (Cheryl and Viki)

 Welcome; introduction of administrators present (Brent Mutsch, Mark Boyer, Marc

L’heureux, and Jennifer Sparrow – and Tim Stuart, incoming SAS high school principal).
A special thanks to Brent for his willingness to engage in the conversation about a Parent
Advisory Council and his support, across the board, for parent involvement at SAS.

 Introduction of Viki Zulkoski, long-term SAS parent volunteer and founding member of
the Arts Council and Community Library. Viki’s also the current president of the Arts
Council and a Booster Club board member.

 Introduction of Cheryl van Tilburg, former high school English teacher, speech writer,
and three-year resident of Singapore. Also former member of each divisional Parent
Advisory Forum (PAF) at the Jakarta International School. Currently a Booster executive
board member.

* * *

 Definition of a Parent Advisory Council: An organization that brings parents together to

discuss topics related to the school lives of our children. Schools are complex and
intricate, and as Charles Darwin said (not really – but he could have!), change we can
believe in is very slow and gradual. It’s advisory only, with no decision-making power
whatsoever. Its affect is to harness the “thousand points of light” that make up parent
input and experience and focus them into a strong beam that may provide some helpful
illumination to school decision makers. It’s also a two-way conduit for information and
communications. There are many different models of PACs, and at this young point in
the PAC for SAS’ development, the model is very fluid and responsive to the needs of
our community.

 A PAC has three goals:

1. To strengthen the home-school partnership (which is already quite strong at SAS)

2. To encourage collaboration and transparency within the school community
3. To nurture and support a community of learners on educational issues
4. To help schools stay current and topical through new parent involvement
 The current model of parent advocacy at SAS is one in which each parents focus on the
needs and best interests of his/her own children. Under the PAC concept, parents
expand their advocacy to consider what are the needs and best interests of all children
in a division or across the school as a whole, while at the same time maintaining their
private advocacy for their own children.

 It’s critical for a PAC to have a strong set of foundational values upon which it bases all
its work and interactions. The PAC we envision has five Core Values – unshakeable
principles that drive and center the organization:

PAC Core Values:

1. Parent advocacy benefits all students and the entire SAS organization
2. Civil discourse and constructive engagement are the bedrock of our interactions
3. Collaboration and transparency are lynchpins to positive school climate and
good governance.
4. We must focus not just on our own children, but on the needs and best interests
of all SAS students.
5. We will strive to model life-long learning

 PACs are not a new or isolated phenomenon. They’ve been around for more than a
decade, getting their big start in British Columbia, Canada, where they’re mandated by
law. PACs also exist in small and large school districts across the United States, driven in
part by requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 that tie Title I funding to
school programs to increase meaningful parent involvement. Additionally, PACs have
grown in Germany, and in our own region, schools including the Jakarta International
School, the American School in Japan, and the Hong Kong International School (hat tip to
Jennifer Sparrow, who came from HKIS). Even schools in Singapore, such as the Anglo
Chinese International School, have begun to establish parent-run advisory groups.

 The topics and issues that PACs address are wide and varied – and driven by the
participants. They can be large, school-wide issues, or small, division-focused topics.
The hard part is narrowing down the topics to a manageable number. Education is a
complex, rich subject, and there’s no shortage of things to talk about.

 There’s a PAC website up and running. It’s a work in progress, but currently it includes
background information on the PAC concept, a “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ)
page, and a Resource page that rounds up some of the web-based publications and
organizations that deal with educational issues.

 The current vision of the PACs structure at SAS features a school-wide “umbrella” PAC
that would deal with school-wide or multi-divisional topics and meet once a month. The
school-wide PAC gives parents a way to meet each other and learn about issues at other
divisions – issues that may be interconnected to issues they’re already thinking about.
Under the school-wide PAC are four divisional PACs: ECC/Primary, Intermediate, Middle
School, and High School. These divisional PACs would probably meet monthly. Each
 PAC is closely connected by two-way arrows of communications with the appropriate
administrators, who are also ex-officio members of their respective PACs.

Question and Answer Session / 10:30 a.m. meeting:

How do you assign priorities to concerns?

It’s a democratic process. The PAC members decide which topics they’d like to address
based on a vote. There’s a practical element to using this method: the people voting are the
people who will do the work involved with generating a final product, be it a position paper
or other type of advice that will be presented to the appropriate administrator or decision-
making body. When potential topics are raised, they’re shared with the wider membership
via the website (minutes), and then the topics are voted on during the “new business”
section of the meeting.

Are there bylaws that will guide the PAC?

Definitely. They’re in draft form at the moment and subject to modification based on input
from the community. They’re posted on the PAC website. The bylaws currently most closely
resemble those used by Parent Advisory Councils in British Columbia, Canada, which puts
leadership in the hands of parents while valuing a close linkage with administration.

How does the PAC work with other parent organizations like the PTA? Is there
duplication?

The PAC allows for focused parent input on educational issues in a way that’s not currently
possible within current parent organizations. It’s another option in an excellent menu of
opportunities for parents to get involved at SAS, and it complements the work of the
existing organizations. There are a few things to remember when we’re talking about
adding a new organization to the existing cadre: first, many of the organizations we now
consider part-and-parcel of SAS (such as the Community Library, Arts Council, and EASA)
were once grass-roots parent initiatives that didn’t garner immediate support from the
administration. Over time, they demonstrated their value, and now it’s hard to imagine
there was a time when they weren’t here. The other thing to remember is that discussions
about educational issues are already happening in the SAS community – at dinner parties,
on the sports fields, and after school events. They’re also happening online. These
discussions are un-moderated, and they don’t reach, in a coordinated manner, the people
who might benefit from the insights generated. The PAC seeks to harness this input in a
focused, positive way that uses the Core Values as a foundation. It’s win-win. Lastly, the
PAC isn’t a fundraising organization, nor does it have a formalized set of “jobs” like running
the County Fair, for example. The PAC is fluid and responds to the needs and interests of its
members.

Brent added that the discussion about the PAC has been ongoing for a year, and noted that
change can be slow. The keys to success for any parent organization are clarity of roles and
responsibilities, and a focus on what’s best for all 3,800+ students. Parents are able to
choose the organizations in which they’d like to play a role.

Tim Stuart (incoming SAS high school principal) noted that he had experience with the PAC
concept (called a Parent Advisory Forum at the Jakarta International School) and found that
they offer administrators some efficiencies when it comes to gathering parent input. His
PAF meets once a month and draws from 40 to 100 parents depending on the topic. It’s a
valuable way to keep a finger on the pulse of issues and gives him insights to develop
strategic approaches to concerns. Parents may start out thinking that their child’s individual
experience is isolated – but it can actually point to a systemic issue. For example, a question
about grading may lead to a larger conversation about consistency. The PAF approach gives
administrators a platform to go back to the community and say, “Here’s what we’re doing.
It may take time, but we’re working on it.” Tim also raised the issue of the level of
administrative input in the PAC, and hoped that administrators would be closely involved as
participants in and shapers of the dialogue.

So does our PAC model allow for administrative involvement?

Definitely – our model encourages, values, and supports a deep, meaningful relationship
between administrators and parents, while at the same time respecting the heavy work load
that administrators already carry. Because they tend to be grass-roots, PACs can take many
forms. For example, at JIS, each divisional PAC has a different flavor and level of
administrator involvement. Some are very driven by parents. Others are closely controlled
by the principal. Our goal in laying out a structure was to ensure that parents lead the
process, working in concert with administrators. The Core Values are what keep this
relationship positive.

Jennifer Sparrow added that based on her experience at HKIS, the benefit of PACs – if done
well --is advocacy. They allow red flags to be raised on both a divisional and school-wide
level.

In an ideal world, how do we create a forum for parents’ voices? (from Brent)

Brent answered that, with more than 5,000 parents at SAS, it’s important to consider the
clarity of discussions. The difference that has come up in our discussions so far are the level
to which we’re talking about a PAC parent-driven voice versus administrators being able to
handle issues. How do those two things interact? If we don’t do it right, we risk pulling
administrators in the wrong direction or diverting them from their responsibilities, primary
of which is ensuring that learning is taking place in the classrooms. Is there a role for a PAC
at SAS? Yes, but how it is set up is an issue. Creating a forum for debate is healthy as long
as what comes out of it is positive and pulls us together as a community.

Cheryl added that a PAC can take some of the administrator time spent on individual parent
issues off the table, because those issues could be discussed in the context of the PAC. (This
was Tim Stuart’s earlier point about his experience with the PAF at JIS.)
How do we keep PAC topics at an elevated level and based on sound information – even
when leadership changes?

It’s important to have strong structures and foundations in place and codified so that
leadership changes don’t mean a change in approach. The Core Values and bylaws are
critical (as they are to any organization in a fast-changing environment like an international
school). It’s also important to nurture and develop future parent leaders, which is one of
the most positive benefits of a PAC. Cheryl noted that she had seen parents come into a
PAC situation very unsure of their ability to advocate, and come out at the end with a strong
sense of civil discourse, background knowledge, and confidence. The transformation can be
amazing, and it’s one of the things that ensure that the PAC continues on a positive,
collaborative course.

In terms of the specific information that PAC members (probably most likely in working
groups) will use to inform their decisions, it’s important to note that educational research
varies widely in its quality. But there’s good stuff out there, and PACs can determine -- to
the best of its ability and much in the same way educators do -- what’s relevant, valuable,
and sound. Additionally, parents are experts in their own children and are in a unique
position to report on how specific policies affect their children.

Specifically, how will topics be addressed, and what’s the outcome of the discussions?

Once a topic is selected, a PAC can form a working group to gather information, input from a
wider group of SAS parents, research, and/or best practices of schools we admire. The PAC
also can seek out information from within the school to clarify and inform. Typically, the
work group will, based on all the input, generate a proposed piece of advice, which it will
share with the PAC members in draft form both online and at a PAC meeting. The PAC
votes, and depending on the result, either shares the advice with school decision makers,
tables the topic for further work, or rejects the proposal. This advice can take the form of a
position paper, a statement of support, or a referendum.

What about the PAC blog that’s on the website?

Cheryl noted that the blog component of the website has been removed, largely because it’s
a huge investment of time and she wouldn’t be able to keep up with it. In its place, the PAC
has a Facebook page that it uses as a vehicle to share interesting and topical news articles
on education with people who are interested. That was the original purpose of the website
blog, but it seemed like less of a hassle to do it on Facebook.

In terms of gate keeping, how does the PAC determine which issues get brought to the
administration’s attention?

The PAC will always ask: does the issue affect many students within a division or the school?
The issues the PAC tackles are determined democratically, and the final product will usually
be something in written form that will be shared electronically with administrators and on
the website. Administrators are then free to consider the PAC product at their convenience.
The PAC doesn’t want to make anyone’s lives harder; to the contrary, it hopes its efforts to
consolidate parent input will be useful and time-saving to administrators. We try to
remember that the PAC also has the potential to diffuse issues before they grow and fester,
and it can build a greater sense of community as parents come together and share.

How do we make sure that the PAC doesn’t focus on individual parent issues or concerns
about specific teachers?

First and most importantly, the PAC is clear that it will never get in the way of what’s a
proven protocol for parent-teacher concerns at SAS. That protocol – of talking with the
teacher, first, then the principal, etc. – is inviolable. The PAC ensures this by focusing on
issues and policies, not on personalities. That being said, a parent’s individual input about
his/her child’s experience may be relevant to a larger policy or system issue. For example, if
a parent’s child isn’t bringing home graded exams to use as a study tool for future,
cumulative exams, that experience may be informative to the larger discussion about the
school’s policy of returning graded work or reusing exams. By looking at individual
experiences in the aggregate, it’s possible to get a larger picture of the effect that policy has
on the children affected by them.

[End of Q&A at the morning meeting. Participants then broke into smaller groups for
divisional brainstorming sessions.]

* * *

Question and Answer Session / 4:30 p.m. meeting:

(To Cheryl:) What types of topics did the PAC at the Jakarta International School cover?

The divisional PAFs at JIS covered a huge range of topics, some small, some immense. For
example, the cafeterias at the elementary campus were open to the elements, and parents
were concerned about the potential for infection from birds and other animals. So the PAF
talked about that subject and recommend enclosure. For the youngest kids, there was
concern about a lack of hand-washing facilities. Again, the PAF recommended additional
sinks for the students. At the high school level, the PAF tackled the return of graded student
work, to safety while on Spring Break in Bali and at nightspots in Jakarta.

Did the topics generally span several divisions, or were they specific to a division?

The school-wide PAF at JIS, during my time there, looked at huge, philosophical issues such
as the importance of getting a good balance of nationalities at the school, and how
assessment was informing decision-making across the board. These topics could also be
examined at the divisional levels.

Brent noted that, according to incoming principal Tim Stuart, the issue of consistency in
grading across a subject or grade level was a topic raised by the PAF. He also relayed Tim’s
impression that his involvement in the PAF had helped him effectively use his time. Parents
know the agenda in advance and attend the meetings that interest them.
Is there a flow chart or formal mechanism for raising an issue so that new parents aren’t
confused?

While there’s not a specific flow chart, there is a “new business” section of each PAC
meeting during which the PAC leader will ask for ideas about new topics. Then it comes
down to democracy. If there are enough people to take up the work involved in exploring
and researching a topic, then it’s viable. Sometimes just raising an issue during a PAC
meeting will give parents an opportunity to share information and correct
misunderstandings. And in the background, there’s always the understanding that the
school already has a standing protocol for handling individual parent concerns about
teachers. The PAC will never take on topics of that nature.

Is SAS, itself, the largest employer from which parents come?

Brent answered that the largest employer of SAS parents is the military. SAS employees are
the second largest group of parents.

Why, under the bylaws, are teachers excluded from holding office in the PAC?

At this point, it’s logistical, not because of an interest in excluding teachers. It’s also
common practice in British Columbia, which is the PAC model we’ve used most closely, and
is where PACs are mandated by law (see here, here, here, and here for examples of BC PAC
bylaws). But the PAC for SAS bylaws are fluid, and it definitely makes sense to look at this
provision in light of the high percentage of teachers at SAS who are also parents – a
demographic situation that’s much different than what exists at most schools in North
America. Under the original draft of the bylaws, all parents – teachers or not – are
automatically full, voting members of the PAC, but were precluded from holding officer
positions.

What’s the percentage of long-term parents at SAS versus newer parents?

Here’s the breakout, according to Brent:

30 percent of parents have been here 1-3 years

40 percent have been here 3-6 years
20 percent have been here 7+ years

But will the PAC serve a vocal minority? If only a handful of people attend the Board
AGM, then what does that say?

It’s true that the squeaky wheel often gets the grease, but it’s also important to recognize
that often the squeaky wheel has hit the nail on the head. It would be bad to minimize the
value of vocal parents’ input just because they’re vocal. The point of a PAC is to open the
tent as widely as possible, get as many parents involved as possible, find the best
information and research as possible, and then put together the most persuasive, well-
documented, logical product (i.e. advice) possible. The ball then is in the school decision
makers’ court. Viki added that all parent voices have value – both short-termers and long-
timers.

Doesn’t the structure that you’re talking about already exist in the PTA?

The PTA does so much so well – but it’s not set up or governed as an advocacy organization.
The PTA serves a well-defined role, and the PAC would complement that role well.

There’s a very different model used by other school districts in the United States – one in
which parents, teachers, and administrators all have formal seats at the table, and they
work together to set specific educational goals. Was that model considered?

We looked at the type of model described above; it’s one used by many schools in Chicago,
for example. It evolved, in many instances, due to specific circumstances involving
particularly poor test scores. We decided to stick more closely to the model developed by
school districts in British Columbia, where the parents organize and lead the PAC. It still
gives administrators an important seat at the table (as ex-officio members of the PAC –
which means they can vote), and is open to the entire SAS community without exception.

But the model I’m familiar with wasn’t developed in response to poor scores. It was in a
high-performing school.

There certainly are many, many models of PACs out there. We’ve worked with one that
seemed most appropriately structured for our community – and one that put minimal time
burdens on the already busy administrators. The frustration to date, articulated by many
parents, is that there hasn’t been a place to get together and talk. We’ve had the
“Thousand Points of Light” model. The PAC focuses those points into a beam and gives
parents the chance to learn about and meaningfully participate in the life of their children’s
school.

The discussion about a potential school expansion a few years ago was, at times,
frightening. It would have been great to have a PAC back then, and that would have been
a perfect topic. It’s good to have a formalized process in place. Feedback on surveys
would also be good.

Agreed.

There’s a great fear amongst teachers, who wonder, are parents pushing an agenda?

Viki noted that new parents haven’t been able to build relationships yet, and aren’t
comfortable in understanding where they should go when they have questions. The PAC
gives those parents the chance to raise issues. Brent added that peer support was another
important component of a PAC, and that the topics discussed might not be peer related.
Cheryl chimed in that at JIS, many of the PAF topics weren’t related strictly to education,
such as Spring Break in Bali.

So how will it work? How do you get a broad swath of parents involved?
We’ll use emails and the website. We’ll post agendas in advance of meetings, and the
meeting minutes after meetings.

How does the school protect itself from people pushing agendas?

When you look at the JIS experience with PAFs, they had 50-100 parents at the monthly
meetings. That’s a fairly large group. At the end of the day, a PAC gives parents a voice and
a chance to be a part of a larger community, nothing more. It’s advisory only. The quality of
its product will be the measuring stick of its success.

Brent added that it would be politically incorrect for him not to attend a meeting of the
school-wide PAC, and that Tim Stuart had emphasized the importance of close working
relationships between parents and administrators. At JIS, the administration works closely
with parents to see the PAF agenda. Brent noted that he saw a great deal of accountability
on the part of parents and administration.

Cheryl pointed out that the hope of the PAC is that administrators would come to its
meetings, but that it was awkward and inappropriate for parents to make demands on
administrators’ time. There’s an authority gap that makes it difficult to say, “You must come
to PAC meetings.”

Brent responded that he and the parents involved in developing the new PAC have a good
working relationship. Everyone’s voice has been brought to the table.

But PACs are more than just advisory groups, according to Cheryl, who noted that parents
learn and grow as advocates when they’re involved with a PAC. It’s great to see a parent,
after a year or two of work on a PAC, come out more confident. We all can learn – in fact,
we’ve learned today that we should go back and adjust the bylaws to address the faculty
concerns about teacher leadership. We had no idea teachers would feel upset – and that
was a mistake.

Is the JIS PAF model at the high school collaborative?

No one in the room had ever been present during a PAF meeting during Tim Stuart’s tenure,
so it was a hard question to answer. According to Cheryl (who had been a member of the
JIS PAF for three years) the previous high school principal had veto power over agenda
items, which wasn’t helpful and in fact caused problems. The issues don’t go away just
because someone doesn’t want to talk about them; it’s better to let the discussion happen
in an open environment that’s based on a strong foundation of best practices in civil
discourse.

Teachers need to be engaged in the PAC because they’re experts.

Agreed.

What about board members?

Catherine Poyen, a board member attending the meeting, noted that most issues are not
board related, so there’s not a lot of overlap. Cheryl added that a PAC would be something
that current board policy on parent engagement seemed to encourage. And the calendar
issue, for example, would be an issue that is a school-wide subject that the board is involved
in governing.

Brent acknowledged that some might suggest that there’s been feet-dragging on the issue
of the PAC. He’s focused on a critical partnership that is also effective in terms of time
management and generates a good Return on Investment. We’re looking for something
that serves the parent community and administration alike, and we need to reconcile the
role of administration.

Cheryl thanked everyone involved and adjourned the meeting at 6:15 p.m.

* * *

After the Q&A at the morning (10:30 a.m.) meeting, participants took a break. The
remaining participants broke into smaller groups to begin brainstorming on potential topics
that might be of interest to divisional PACs. (The Afternoon meeting ran long, and the
brainstorming session was tabled.) Here are the results of those round-table discussions,
offered in the spirit of brainstorming (i.e. “all ideas are viable ideas at this point”):

Intermediate/Middle School Division:

 Bullying
 Selection process for spots on the after school Select sports teams
 Consistency in RLA program (expectations)
 Transitioning students between grades and divisions
 Lunchtime supervision
 “What kind of school is SAS?” (college prep, private, defacto public, etc.)
 Technology practices (Blackboard, in particular)
 ITBS information

High School Division:

 Cheating (homework, exams, inconsistency in awareness)

 Grading (inconsistency across sections of the same course)
 Curriculum (not consistent; AP courses, curriculum)
 Recycling of tests and exams
 Prom
 Bullying
 Usage and management of substitutes
 Food in the high school cafeteria
 Methods of assessing teachers
 Why is it okay to have soda in plastic bottles but not water?
 Policy on suspension that leads to loss of Interim – is it over-punitive?
 Interim
 Laptop initiative (“style over substance”?)
 SAS surveys – how to make them better
 Confidentiality in terms of peer grading, open discussion of grades in the classroom