A New Westminster school trustee wants the board of education to adopt a "bill of rights" for parents and caregivers of students in the district.
Casey Cook wants to increase parent engagement in the district and believes parents are the best advocates for their children's education.
"We need to create a culture that we would like them involved in every aspect possible of their children's education," Cook told The Record. "One thing is very clear, we need to do a much better job of communicating."
Relations between some parents and the district have been strained at times. A recent example occurred last Monday, when the district held a meeting for a group of parents who were concerned about math marks at New Westminster Secondary School. The parents felt their concerns weren't being heard or addressed appropriately.
Last Monday, the district held a meeting to address some of their points.
When representatives from local parent advisory councils turned up at the meeting - including district parent advisory council president Wendy Harris - they were told they couldn't stay. The meeting wouldn't proceed until the local parent council members left.
Board of education chair James Janzen told The Record that Monday's meeting was meant for the parents who had filed an appeal related to the math issues.
Cook was at the meeting but didn't want to say whether he believed they should have been forced to leave.
"Let's just say that that was the decision that was reached," he said. "In collegiality, I'm going to just say that that was the decision of the group."
Kal Randhawa, one of the parents involved in the math saga, said she believes the needs of unionized teachers come before students.
Cook agrees that that has been a long-standing perception, which he hopes the bill will help change.
"I think that that was what some of us got involved for, is to try and create a culture where parents and caregivers feel that they can be heard," he said.
Cook wants the board of education to adopt his bill of rights motion for consultation and then have staff bring forward a recommendation for the board.
Trustee Michael Ewen, a teacher in Surrey, hadn't seen Cook's bill when reached by phone on Thursday.
"I would just think that it's common courtesy if you are going to release something to the public, you would at least give it to trustees first," said Ewen, a union-endorsed trustee who's served on the board for more than 30 years. "I find that kind of shocking, and I wonder what the purpose of that would be. - I'm just a little mind-boggled. I've never heard of that happening before.
"Should we do a better job of communicating with parents? I don't know, all of our stuff is open, all of our stuff is on the web. What exactly aren't we communicating with parents?" Ewen said.
It's "nonsense" to suggest that union members come first in the district, Ewen said.
Legal constraints prohibit the district from discussing personnel matters, he added, speaking to the ongoing math issue.
"If we want to deal with something, we need to do it properly within the context of what we are legally able to do," he said.
The board next meets on Tuesday, May 22, 7: 30 p.m. at city hall.
