• DPAC
• parent education
• pac
• indigenous
• first nations
• trc
• truth and reconciliation
• residential schools
• kamloops

• student health
• student outcomes
• student success
• continuity of learning
• learning

The Framework for Enhancing Student Learning Policy and accompanying Enhancing Student Learning Reporting Order came into effect September 1, 2020.

Summary of New K-12 Public Education Financial Planning and Reporting Policy and Accumulated Operating Surplus Policy (May 2021)

Background

The Independent Panel of the K-12 Provincial Education Funding Model Review made 22 recommendations to improve accountability, financial management and equity in the K-12 education sector. Government accepted the recommendations and launched Phase 1 of the implementation plan in February 2020. The two new financial management policies are part of the Phase 1 actions. Ministry of Education staff worked closely with the Financial Management Committee, (6 representatives from the BC Association of School Business Officials and one from the First Nations Education Steering Committee) to co-develop and finalize both policies. Ministry staff have also consulted with the BC School Trustees Association, BC School Superintendents Association and Métis Nation BC to finalize the policies.

What Do the New Policies Mean for School Boards?

• Most boards are already doing what the policies require so there are no significant changes for them. The policies present an opportunity to revisit existing policies, procedures and reporting to strengthen board processes in financial management.
• There will be a phased, supported implementation of both policies with no change to reporting for 2020/21 or planning for 2021/22. The Ministry will provide direction on what needs to be done, and when, including guidelines and education for district staff and trustees on what the changes mean.

The K-12 Public Education Financial Planning and Reporting Policy

The K-12 Public Education Financial Planning and Reporting Policy directs boards to develop multi-year financial plans that identify how funding and resources will support board strategic plans, operational needs of school districts and improved educational outcomes for students. The Ministry will provide guidance and resources, as needed, to help boards build and maintain multi-year financial plans.

To enable greater transparency, boards must develop, publish and maintain a local board policy that describes how they will engage with and report out to education partner and stakeholder groups, including local First Nations and Metis Nation BC, on their multi-year financial plans.

The Ministry has a robust annual school district financial reporting framework the boards use to meet their reporting requirements as specified in the School Act and to align with the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act. Boards will use this existing financial reporting framework to annually report on boards’ progress towards meeting board objectives as outlined in their multi-year financial plans (i.e., enhanced student educational outcomes and other operational needs of the school board).

The K-12 Public Education Accumulated Operating Surplus Policy

The K-12 Public Education Accumulated Operating Surplus Policy ensures consistency, transparency and accountability for the use and reporting of operating funding that is not used in the year in which it was provided. It acknowledges that it is appropriate for boards to maintain an operating surplus to manage financial risk and the accumulation and holding of appropriate operating surpluses by school districts is a component of sound financial and strategic planning.

The policy outlines the process for the accumulation, spending and reporting of operating surplus funds and the boards’ engagement with their local community and education-partner groups, including local First Nations and Métis Nation BC so they are aware of the process. It requires boards to monitor and report on their management of operating surplus and provides information and guidelines to boards around operating surplus categories.

The policy ensures that when boards restrict surplus funds it is done for specific purposes with identified timelines. It also creates a mechanism for boards, if they wish, to set aside funding for approved capital projects after other priorities have been addressed.

The Enhancing Student Learning Policy and Ministerial Order will hold boards of education more accountable and ensure student outcomes are the focus of their strategic and operational plans. We encourage parents/guardians to read both documents. 

Improve educational outcomes for all students
Boards of education will set, create and maintain a strategic plan, annually report on student outcomes and put systems in place to continuously improve the educational outcomes for all students and improve equity for Indigenous students, children and youth in care, and students with disabilities or diverse abilities.

Focus on The Educated Citizen
The preamble to the School Act and the Statement of Education Policy Order (Mandate for the School System) states, the purpose of the British Columbia school system is to enable all learners to become literate, to develop their individual potential and to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and sustainable economy. To achieve this purpose, we have a collective mandate to develop the Educated Citizen defined as the intellectual, human and social and career development of every student.

Enable through capacity building, strategic planning, coordinated implementation and reporting
In order to ensure a system-wide focus on continuously improving educational outcomes for all students, this policy specifies the responsibilities for the Ministry and boards of education with respect to strategic planning and reporting of educational outcomes. The policy also identifies ways that the Ministry, boards, Indigenous peoples and other education partners can contribute to improving educational outcomes in the K-12 education system.

• DPAC
• parent education
• parent engagement
• pac
• parents
• role of parents

Since March 2020, due to the pandemic, our staff and board have provided increased guidance, clarity, information and answers to DPACs, PACs and individual parents via email, phone and social media channels. As a result, we have noticed, across the 60 school districts, there are many individuals who are unaware of the role of parents as stakeholders within the K-12 system, how it works, how to get more involved etc.

 

It is through the parent advisory council structure (per the School Act) that ALL public school parents are represented - at the school level by their PAC, at the district level by their DPAC and at the provincial level by BCCPAC. Parents elect their PAC executive to represent them and carry out the business of the PAC at the school. PACs elect their District PAC board members to represent them with the school district. And DPACs and PACs elect the BCCPAC board members to represent them at the provincial level. Its democratic the same way that your trustee or city councillor is elected to represent you; as representatives, they speak for you and may not always seek your direct input on issues, just as occurs in other democratic places including your MP or MLA. We strongly encourage parents/guardians/caregivers to engage with their local school PAC and connect directly with their DPAC.

 

And please note there is NO master provincial parent list which we can email or contact all parents. Your school and PAC will reach out to individual parents or the school district or DPAC will based on individuals providing their contact details to these groups. More on this is below.

 

We hope that parents/guardians/caregivers will find this informative and useful. 

 

Part 1 - Parent Advisory Council (PAC)

 

The School Act - This is the starting place. The School Act requires that every PAC has Bylaws that specify how meetings are run, how the business is conducted, how dissolution is to be handled, and how executive reps are elected. They exist to ensure YOUR voice is heard and represented. There are also Regulations and Orders in Council related to School Act. The School Act lists the most important rights and responsibilities of parents and students, both individual and collective. Parents should read and understand the relevant sections.

 

Parents Rights

- The right to be informed of their child’s attendance, behaviour, and progress in school; On request, to receive a copy of the school plan for the school; To belong to the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) in their school; To consult with the teacher, principal, vice‐principal, or director of instruction with respect to their child’s educational program. Conversely, parents are required, if requested, to consult with the teacher, principal, vice‐principal, or director of instruction on their child’s educational program

Rights of students with special needs are covered under the Special Needs Students Order of the Minister of Education.

 

Parent Advisory Council (PAC)

PAC is the collective voice of parents in school community who has the legislative right to advise school administration on any matter relating to public education and whose role is to supports parents. All parents/guardians/caregivers with children registered in the school are members of the PAC. The PAC executive are those individuals, per the PAC Bylaws, who have been elected by their peers to represent them and to conduct business on their behalf.

 

PAC meetings are for parents of children enroled and attending that school. School administrators and staff representatives should be welcomed to attend PAC meetings as regular invited guests (they cannot vote). Similarly PAC Executives should be meeting regularly with their admin teams AND request to present to staff meetings as needed to share information, inform etc.

 

Recognized in the School Act, Section 8, PACs are required to have Bylaws under which they operate (self-governing) and are composed of, run and managed by parents. PACs can advise school staff/board of education respecting any matter relating to the school or provincial education. They can advise the school principal & staff on parents’ views and feedback about school programs, policies, plans and activities. They can organize PAC activities and events and endeavour to provide parent education. They encourage parent involvement in the school, and to support programs that promote parent involvement. And they communicate with parents, and to promote co-operation between the home and the school in providing support for the education of children. PACs also assist parents in accessing the system (could mean connecting to DPAC) and to advocate on behalf of parents and students, provide financial support for the goals of the PAC, as determined by its membership and will advise and participate in the activities of the DPAC.

 

Communication with Parent Community

Through their elected executives from parents in the school, PACs communicate with their parent community gathering and discussing issues of importance regarding their school in order to adequately advise those that influence their school. In addition to PAC meetings communication may also be done through, newsletters, telephone, email, and websites so that all parents have the opportunity for input. 

PACs can only communicate with parents once parents have provided their contact information or opted in to receive information. Schools cannot provide email or other contact information to PACs even though parents have provided it to the school; due to data privacy the data cannot be shared. It is common for schools to send out information on behalf of the PAC to their school families. But there is a need for the PAC to communicate directly with its parent community and for that, parents need to provide contact details to their PAC. This means, if individuals don’t provide email or other contact information to their PACs, the PAC is unable to communicate directly with you.

 

PACs fall under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA); they do not fall under FOIPPA.

 

Fundraising

PACs are NOT required or obligated to raise funds but this practice started many years ago and most continue to do some fundraising. There exists “haves and have nots” and inequity at schools so not all PACs have the same ability to raise funds.

There are many things a PAC can do that isn't connected to fundraising. During this particular school year, parents will be relying on their PAC to keep them informed and updated; they are a bridge between admin and parents and have the ability to push and pull information, bring forward issues, ensure parents have all the information they need.

 

Part 2 - District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC)

 

District PAC (DPAC) is the official representative body of parents/guardians of children in a school district. The School Act provides DPACs the power to advise the board of education respecting any matter relating to education within the district including educational policy. As a district stakeholder, DPAC, like other stakeholders, is entitled to have representation (on behalf of parents) on all standing Committees and on any advisory and ad-hoc committees or working groups.

 

Recognized in the School Act, Section 8, DPACs are required to have Bylaws under which they operate (self-governing) and are composed of, run and managed by parents. DPAC bylaws provide direction on the level of participation of invited guests and what to do if a trustee or school district employee is also a parent at a school. The DPAC is comprised of elected parent representatives from district PACs and serves as an umbrella organization for local PACs; all PACs in the district are by default members of the DPAC but many DPACs require member PACs to register with them.

DPACs can:

-Assist parents in forming/dissolving a PAC in every school

-Assist member PACs and parents in obtaining information and communicating with district personnel

-Help parents navigate the school system locally

-Advocate for greater parental involvement in the education system

-Support & encourage PACs and parents in accessing the school system at all levels by providing regular forums for the exchange of ideas and information to ensure that public education serves the best interests of all students

 

DPAC meetings (now virtual this school year) are for PAC representatives and parents of children enrolled in public school in the district. District administrators and Trustees should be welcomed to attend DPAC meetings as regular invited guests (they cannot vote). Similarly DPAC Executives should be meeting regularly with their senior district teams. DPAC can (and should) set up meetings with whomever they think is appropriate within the district. If there is ever opposition to a meeting between the Superintendent and DPAC, that issue must be resolved between the Superintendent and Board.

DPAC Execs

 Public representatives of DPAC

 Responsible for DPAC governance

 Have voting power at executive meetings

PAC Reps

 Represent their PACs to DPAC

 Help form DPAC policy through motions

 Have voting power at general meetings & DPAC elections

Any Parent/Guardian

 Contact DPAC with an issue requiring representation at the district level

 Attend any DPAC meeting

 

Communication with Member PACs

 

DPACs communicate directly with their PAC parent community gathering and discussing issues of importance regarding their district (such as Strategic Planning, District Budget, Long Range Facilities Plan etc.) in order to adequately advise those that influence their district decisions. In addition to DPAC meetings, communication may also be done through surveys, newsletters, email, and websites so that all PAC parents have the opportunity for input.

 

Just like PACs, DPACs can only communicate with their local PACs and school parents once individual parents and PAC executives have provided their contact information or opted in to receive information. Districts don’t gather that information nor can they share it; due to data privacy, parent information cannot be shared. It’s to the advantage of the local PACs and their parent communities to be connected with their DPAC – both electronically and through engagement. The DPAC needs to communicate directly with its PAC members and parent community and for that, parents need to provide contact details to their PAC. This means, if individuals don’t provide email or other contact information to their DPAC/PAC, both the DPAC and the PAC is unable to communicate directly with you.

 

DPACs fall under the Personal Information Protection  Act (PIPA); they do not fall under FOIPPA.

 

Part 3 - Provincial Parent Advisory Council (BCCPAC)

 

The BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (BCCPAC) is a non-partisan, registered non-profit charity, since 1922. We are governed by a volunteer Board of directors elected annually by our membership (annual fee) which consists of District Parent Advisory Councils (DPAC) and Parent Advisory Councils (PAC) through which we represent the parents/guardians/caregivers of >565,000 children in provincial public schools. As the provincially mandated voice of parents in public schools, we have the authority to get involved and to share concerns directly with the Minister and Ministry staff.

 

BCCPAC is the provincial voice of parents on K-12 public education and related issues and we directly support DPAC and PAC members and individual parents. We promote, support and advance meaningful parent participation throughout the public education system in order to advocate for the success of all students; and through our membership, to promote leadership, communication, cooperation, and representation in British Columbia at the school, school district and provincial level.

We advocate for systemic changes at the provincial table. BCCPAC sits at that table with the education partners—School Trustees Association, Superintendents Association, School Business Officials Association, Principals and Vice Principals Association, Teachers Federation, CUPEBC and the First Nations Education Steering Committee—and the provincial government. BCCPAC has a credible and respected voice, and is uniquely positioned to ensure the parent perspective is heard loudly and clearly. We communicate and meet regularly with the Ministry of Education and education partners.

 

BCCPAC is invited to every meeting, asked to participate in every working group, sought for input which is often confidential, and we provide feedback directly whenever we believed it is needed.

We educate and inform parents and we help parents advocate for themselves and their child. We use the School Act, district policies and district bylaws to guide parents/guardians in advocating for their child’s educational program. Whether it's talking to parents about advocacy, spending 10mos pursuing a Section 11 to bring about equity for a child, meeting with a Superintendent regarding issues relating to children not receiving the supports they should, answering questions via email or social media or presenting at a DPAC meeting to ensure parents understand their role and responsibilities, the current Board and staff of BCCPAC are doing this and so very much more. During the pandemic our work has continued and the need for parent education and representation has increased.

 

This year, and for the coming year, parent advocacy and advocacy for school-aged children has never been more important. The parent/guardian/caregiver perspective at the provincial table with the education partners has been critical during the pandemic and the return to school. We are the only provincial group 100% dedicated to parents and their children in public school. All other education partners represent their members who are employees in the system – that is their primary mandate.

 

Since March 2020 we have been representing parents in all K-12 provincial discussions regarding education in our pandemic environment – we continue to regularly provide parent feedback directly with the Minister, the Deputy Minister and the other education stakeholders. We have emailed our members and posted to our social media channels and our website the important details parents need to understand and know in real-time as it’s released. We have provided guidance, clarity and answers to DPACs, PACs and individual parents via email, phone and social media channels.

We fought hard in provincial discussions for flexibility and remote/online options for parents while ensuring children have the opportunity to remain connected to their school community. We have brought forward district specific issues directly to the Deputy Minister and his team who have raised those issues with Superintendents. We secured shared Zoom licenses for all PACs across the province to enable PACs to continue meeting, hold their elections and annual meetings and serve their parent communities.

 

During the last 16months we have represented parents in provincial discussions and advisory groups such as curriculum and graduation assessments, the early learning framework for birth to age eight, child/youth mental well-being, framework for enhanced student learning, kindergarten transition resources and the inclusive education parent handbook. In June we once again made a submission and presentation to the Select Standing Committee regarding education funding specifically to safeguard stable funding and to increase both capital and operational funding. We continue to liaise directly with the Community Gaming branch to ensure PACs know of changes and updates which will affect their applications and reports and to try to influence the annual guidelines.

 

BCCPAC falls under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA); we do not fall under FOIPPA.

 

Communications

We email DPACs and PACs directly as they are members and have provided their contact details to us; we do not share this list. DPACs communicate directly with their PAC community and PACs communicate directly with their parent community.

 

In all cases – communication with individual parents/PAC members/DPAC members can only occur when individuals/groups have provided their contact information or opted in to receive information. There is no master provincial list of parent contacts.

 

We endeavor to post as much as possible for parents to our website and to this public page. Depending on the issue and many other factors, we may seek input directly via a survey or other means; we just completed a survey with our DPAC leaders.

 

It’s to the advantage of parents/guardians to be connected with their local PACs.

It’s to the advantage of the local PACs and their parent communities to be connected with their DPAC.

It’s similarly to the advantage of DPACs and their PAC parent communities to be connected with BCCPAC.

 

In all cases, parents who are engaged in their school, district or provincial PAC are volunteers giving of their time for their community and who do not receive any remuneration.

 

We encourage parents/guardians/caregivers with children in K-12 to ensure they provide current contact information to their child’s school PAC, sign up for PAC blogs, newsletters etc., and sign up to receive information from your local DPAC. All the information can be easily found online.

 

If you believe you can do more and give some of your time to public education, then please consider joining or volunteering to help your PAC. They are parents just like you and they need your help; everyone in the community benefits from parent engagement. Our strength is in our collective voice.

 

 

REMINDER: DPAC Shared Zoom licenses will be discontinued on June 30, 2022.

We do not anticipate these licenses being made available again for the 2022-23 school year.

As part of our ongoing efforts to support district and school PACs and their parent communities, BCCPAC has secured Zoom Education licenses for DPACs/PACs across the province to be able to host virtual meetings during the pandemic. BCCPAC manages the distribution of the licenses to the DPACs, who then administer the management of the licenses within their district and share them between their PACs.

Key Points:

• Each Education license can host up to two meetings concurrently, with no time limits, for up to 300 attendees.
• Available Zoom services include: Polls, Q&A, Chat, Muting, Reactions, Feedback, Recordings.
• DPAC designates a DPAC Zoom Administrator to manage/schedule the use of their license(s), to ensure fair and equitable use for all PACs in their district.
• The licenses are available for use until the end of June 2022, at no cost to the DPACs/PACs.

Licenses are to be managed by the DPAC and shared with the PACs in their district. There is no cost to you or your PACs to use these licenses; DPACs are not to charge the PACs for the use of them. We have not restricted these shared licenses to our members but have made them freely available to all PACs via the DPACs. We do hope however, that both your DPAC and PACs will find their way to support BCCPAC by retaining membership with us, in support of the work we do on behalf of all public school families.

How to Request a License

Have your DPAC Chair/President send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the contact information of your DPAC Zoom Administrator, including their name, email address and phone number, and an email address for each license (Example: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Important: if the email address used for a license already has a Zoom account connected to it, a “request to transfer” the license into the BCCPAC account will be initiated (you’ll receive an email requesting your approval to complete the transfer).

Districts without a DPAC

We are aware of a few districts where the DPAC is non-operational at this time. If your District does not have an active DPAC currently, encourage a parent to volunteer for the Zoom Administrator role in your district by contacting our office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Shared License Best Practices:

• Read the DPAC Zoom Shared License Guide
• DPAC Zoom Administrator is responsible for managing a fair and equitable schedule for the use of each Zoom license.
• Licenses are ONLY to be used for DPAC/PAC-related meetings, as per your Administrator’s schedule, to prevent conflicts.
• Have each PAC designate a Zoom Rep – this is the person from whom you will accept meeting requests and to whom you may share the license/account login information (unless you prefer to retain that information and start all meetings manually).
• Share the DPAC Zoom Shared License Guide with each PAC in your District and provide them with instructions for requesting use of the license from you.
• Check out Zoom’s support articles

Here are a few methods DPACs are using to share the licenses with their PACs:

1. DPAC shares the license login information to PACs directly (Zoom account username/password). The main concern with this method is that someone may use the license, intentionally or unintentionally, when they are not scheduled to do so and could interfere with another PAC’s meeting.
2. Same as #1, but DPAC changes the password after each PAC meeting, to prevent any conflicts. An effective way to use this option would be to assign a single password to each PAC.
3. DPAC retains Zoom license login and manually starts each meeting, only staying in the meeting long enough to pass the Host privileges to the appropriate PAC member. If you choose this option:
   1. Recommend the new Host upgrade one of their Participants to Co-host status in case they “drop” the meeting (eg. lose their internet connection). Without a Co-host, they would have to get in touch with DPAC to restart the meeting.
   2. Consider having a few volunteers you trust with the login info so you’re not the only person starting all these meetings.

Contact your DPAC for information on how to reserve and use the shared licenses.

In June 2020 the BC School Trustees Association (BCSTA) posted an updated Guide to School Legislation in British Columbia. These Guides contains factual summaries of the key legislation that governs education in BC. 

The Guide contains factual summaries of the key legislation that governs education in BC. In each subject area, the Guide contains an overview of the legislation in simple, basic terms, and includes references to the relevant sections of Acts, Regulations and Orders. Many sections include context information (e.g. statistics, history) to help the reader understand how the legislation connects to the school system.

This Guide contains many references to enactments: Acts, Bills, Regulations, Ministerial orders. Readers who wish to consult the primary sources may wish to consult the Ministry of Education’s Manual of School Law which includes most of these enactments. Another helpful resource for BC legislation is the BC Laws website. The Guide is a non-legal summary published for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a legal text, and persons with specific questions or who are faced with particular situations should seek qualified legal advice.

Below are the guides most relevant to parents/guardians and families.

Part 1 - The Student and the School

Part 2 - Parents and Community

Part 3 - The Teacher

Part 4 - Non-Teaching Employees

Part 5 - Board of Education

Part 6 - School Trustees

Part 7 - The Ministry of Education

Part 8 - Board Finance and Property

Part 12 - Indigenous Education

Appendix - Acts & Resources

• student achievement
• numeracy
• public education
• assessment
• literacy assessment
• grades
• results

We have put all the information you need regarding Assessments and information on obtaining student results here in one location.

Assessment Information on Ministry website

Understanding Provincial Assessment

GRADE 10

Grade 10 Numeracy Assessment Information including what it looks like, sample questions and activities, workbooks and videos

Grade 10 Literacy Assessment Information including what it looks like, sample questions and activities, workbooks and videos

Grade 10 Graduation Numeracy Assessment: Specifications

Grade 10 Graduation Literacy Assessment Fact Sheet

Grade 10 Graduation Literacy Assessment: Specifications

GRADE 12

Grade 12 Literacy Assessment Information including design specifications and resources

Grade 12 Literacy Assessment: Specifications

To see and download a copy of your child's results for either the Gr10 or Gr12 Assessments -

1. Go to www.studenttranscripts.gov.bc.ca (don't be thrown by the info re transcripts, you are on the right page)

2. Click on Current Student

3. Then either Register for a Basic Account or Login if you already have one. You will need your child's information as noted on the page.

4. You will receive an email via the email you entered (should be child's). Click the link in the email to confirm

5. Then you can login and you will see Assessments and Results among other items in the Dashboard. You can view or download PDF.

• parent education
• advocacy
• student health
• student achievement
• student safety
• public education
• COVID19

• parent education
• advocacy
• student health
• student achievement
• student safety
• public education
• COVID19

• DPAC
• parent education
• pac

Our DPAC Summit is an opportunity for DPAC leaders from across the province to gather, connect, discuss and network. Thanks to all who attended for making our 2019 event another resounding success! We appreciate you taking time away from your family to join us. We strongly encourage you to share the information you learned at the Summit and these presentations with your PACs and parents.

Personal Education Number (PEN) - Ministry of Ed

Funding Model Review and Inclusive Education - Ministry of Ed

The Partnership Model: Before/After School Care

Framework for Enhanced Student Learning - Ministry of Ed

Getting Parent Input - Immunization and Your Family - Ministry of Health

Membership is So Valuable it Won't Fit in your Hand - BCCPAC

DPAC PAC Issues with Solutions & Resolutions - The Good, the Bad & the Ugly - BCCPAC

PAC & DPAC Issues and Solutions Table Work - BCCPAC

• parent education
• advocacy
• funding
• funding model

​Recommendations from the Ministry of Education's funding model review Working Groups were released in October 2019.
Read the reports:

Financial Management
Adult and Continuing Education
Inclusive Education
Online Learning