PRO Grant 2023-2024
Link to OCDSB PRO grant information.
https://www.ocdsb.ca/our_schools/school_council/supporting_school_councils/news_and_updates/pro
2023-2024 Parent Reaching Out Grant – PDF
NOTE: you will need your school council OCDSB account information to access the application form.
Date: Fri, Nov 10, 2023 at 8:01 AM
Subject: School Council 2023-2024 PRO Grant is here
To: Mail List -Principal -Elementary <ml-principal-elementary@ocdsb.ca>, Mail List -Principal -Secondary <ml-principal-secondary@ocdsb.ca>
CC: Samah Suliman <samah.suliman@ocdsb.ca>, Prince Duah <prince.duah@ocdsb.ca>
Family and Community Engagement (FACE)
We are thrilled to announce that the application period for the 2023-2024 School Council Parent Reaching Out (PRO) Grant program is now open. This program aims to empower and provide support for creative projects involving parents, caregivers, and guardians within our school communities. It offers funding of up to $750 for projects that promote engagement and collaboration.
Key Details:
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Application Period: November 10, 2023 – January 12, 2023
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Final Report Due: June 21, 2024
To access detailed information about the grant program and to obtain the PRO Grant Application, please refer to the attached document.
If you have any inquiries or require additional information, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Family and Community Engagement department at face@ocdsb.ca.
We encourage you to share this opportunity with your School Council Chairs and support engaging projects within your school community.
Thank you for your continued commitment to fostering a collaborative and engaged school environment.
Best regards,
2022.02.17 -2022 PRO Grant Virtual Parent Info. Sessions PDF
TO: Principals
MEMORANDUM
FROM: Prince Duah, Superintendent of Instruction
DATE: 17 February 2022
RE: 2022 PRO GRANT VIRTUAL PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS
Principals are asked to share with School Council Chair(s)
On 11 February 2022, we shared information about the plans for the 2021-2022 School CouncilVirtualSpeakerNights. Wewantedtoprovidesomeadditionalinformationtosupport School Councils in their planning.
As indicated in the memo, the PRO Grant program intends to help provide districts and school authorities with funding to lead projects focusing on identifying and removing barriers that prevent parents/caregivers from participating and engaging fully in their children’s learning.
Communications and Information Services is in the process of finalizing speakers and dates for the sessions. If you have suggestions for speakers or topics for the PRO Information sessions or the OCDSB Speaker Series in general, please submit suggestions here: 2021-2022 Virtual Speaker Series Suggestion Form by 25 February 2022.
Choosing to participate in the centrally organized sessions offers multiple advantages:
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● A more expansive choice of speakers;
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● Technical support and guidance with facilitating these virtual sessions;
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● Support with the administrative work, including the reporting to the Ministry of
Education; and
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● Provide schools who may not have the resources and/or personnel to deliver an
event the opportunity to actively participate.
Although we believe the OCDSB’s PRO Grant allocation model will be ideal for many school communities, we appreciate that some schools may prefer to organize and operate their own event. In these cases, the OCDSB will fund up to $650 of the cost of a speaker selected by the council. The School Council will be responsible for selecting, managing, promoting and running their own Parent Information session, and will be required to submit a short one-page summary of their event to facilitate reporting to the Ministry of Education. More specific details about these requirements will be provided shortly.
We understand that some School Councils are awaiting the list of speakers to make their choices. That list should be available by 25 March 2022. We plan to have the sessions run from late April into May, and we will share exact dates once the details have been finalized.
This information will be included in the School Council Newsletter, but principals should reach out to School Council chairs and parents to share this information and discuss suggestions for topics and/or speakers and future participation.
If you require further clarification, please contact Sharan Samagh at sharan.samagh@ocdsb.ca.
cc: Office Administrators Communications
Corporate Records Senior Staff
2022.02.11 School Council Virtual Speaker Nights PDF
TO: Principals
MEMORANDUM
FROM: Prince Duah, Superintendent of Instruction
DATE: 11 February 2022
RE: 2021-2022 SCHOOL COUNCIL VIRTUAL SPEAKER NIGHT
The district will launch the second annual School Council Virtual Speaker Nights this year.
How Does it Work?
The district develops a list of topics and speakers for School Councils to choose from. All School Councils will be able to review the list of topics and available dates and identify their preferred session. School Councils will have the opportunity to register for one Virtual Speaker Night only. School councils will be able to partner with other schools.
Why Are We Doing This?
The Ministry of Education provides Parents Reaching Out (PRO) funding to district school boards and school authorities to lead projects with a focus on the identification and the removal to support the identification of barriers to parent engagement in their school communities and find solutions to help more parents get involved in their children’s education.
Working with the OCDSB Parent Involvement Committee, we have developed an allocation model of PRO grants that provide parents with a more expansive choice of speakers while transferring the administrative work associated with reporting to the Ministry of Education to central staff.
Application Process
School Councils will receive an email with the registration links for the sessions in March 2022. As a school council selects sessions, dates will be eliminated from the application form. The successful applicants will be notified shortly after registration is complete.
The successful applicants will be responsible for:
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● Promotion and advertising of their Speaker Nights within their local communities.
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● Managing the registration of families for the Speaker Night.
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● Liaising with the speaker to sort out the logistics of the Night.
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● Moderation of the Speaker Night should they wish to engage a speaker of their own
choice.
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● Distribution and completion of post-event feedback from the Speaker Night Participants.
A google form will be provided to facilitate the collection.
The district will provide the following support to the successful school councils:
● A toolkit to help school councils prepare for and promote and moderate their Virtual
Speaker Night.
● School councils will receive a google form to be completed to fulfill the reporting requirements to the Ministry.
You can read more about our plans in this PIC Report. More information about school councils’ access to these funds will be available in February.
cc: School Councils Office Administrators
Corporate Records
PRO Grants Quick Facts – PDF
Parents Reaching Out Grants 2021-22
Jan 27, 2022 UPDATE
https://ocdsb.ca/our_schools/school_council/supporting_school_councils
This year the district will again be launching the second annual School Council Virtual Speaker Nights.
How Does it Work?
The district develops a list of topics and speakers for School Councils to choose from. All School Councils will be able to review the list of topics and available dates and identify their preferred session. School Councils will have the opportunity to register for one Virtual Speaker Night only. School councils will be able to partner with other schools.
Why Are We Doing This?
Parent Involvement is important. This initiative helps School Councils to get parents engaged with the school community. Funding has been provided from the Ministry of Education – Parents Reaching Out (PRO) funding which is intended to support the identification of barriers to parent engagement in their school communities and find solutions to help more parents get involved in their children’s education. Working with the OCDSB Parent Involvement Committee, we worked to develop an allocation model of PRO grants that provides parents more control over PRO funds while transferring the administrative work associated with reporting to the Ministry of Education to central staff.
Application Process
School Councils will receive an email with the registration links for the sessions in March 2022. As sessions are selected by a school council, dates will be eliminated from the application form. The successful applicants will be notified shortly after registration is complete.
The successful applicants will be responsible for:
- Promotion and advertising of their Speaker Nights within their local communities.
- Managing the registration of families for the Speaker Night.
- Liaising with the speaker to sort out the logistics of the Night.
- Moderation of the Speaker Night should they wish to engage a speaker of their own choice.
- Distribution and completion of post-event feedback from the Speaker Night Participants. A google form will be provided to facilitate the collection.
The District will provide the following support to the successful school councils:
- A toolkit to help school councils prepare for and promote and moderate their Virtual Speaker Night.
- School councils will receive a google form to be completed in order to fulfil the reporting requirements to the Ministry.
You can read more about our plans in this PIC Report. More information about school councils’ access to these funds will be available in February.
Frequently Asked Question
What is the purpose of PRO Grants?
• Parents Reaching Out (PRO) Grants fund school boards to work with parents to support projects and initiatives which remove barriers at the local level that prevent parents from participating and engaging fully in their children’s learning and educational progress.
Who is eligible for the funding?
• School boards are funded to administer the PRO Grants program in collaboration with their Parent Involvement Committees (PICs) and are encouraged to work with their Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC), Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), board’s Equity and Access body, school councils, and community organizations to identify projects.
What is the deadline to spend the funding?
• Projects must be carried out between September 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022. Any funds not spent by June 30, 2022 must be returned to the ministry.
When is the Final Report due?
• A final report is to be completed in collaboration with the PIC using the provided final report template and submitted to PRO@ontario.ca on or before July 15, 2022. The Recipient is encouraged to submit their final report as soon as their projects are complete.
How can parent groups have equitable access to the PRO Grants funding and information about projects funded by PRO Grants?
• Boards are required to work collaboratively with their respective PICs and are encouraged to work with their Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC), Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), board’s Equity and Access body, school councils, and community organizations to deliver their PRO Grants that meet the local needs of parents. Boards will use their established communication tools and mechanisms to ensure all parent groups are aware of the funding, guidelines and eligible projects.
What projects are eligible for PRO Grants funding?
• Projects that demonstrate parent input on how schools can improve in at least one of the following areas are eligible for funding:
o Addressing social inclusion and racism specifically anti Asian,Black, and Indigenous discrimination and bias and other prejudices toward racialized and marginalized groups as well as inequities and systemic barriers faced by these designated groups.
o Creating a safe and welcoming environment
o Demonstrating respect for parents as valued partners within the education
system regarding decisions about their child’s education
o Enhancing communication with teachers
o Informing parents about the expectations of the Ontario Curriculum and supporting resources.
• Projects must be initiated by parents through communication with their PIC, a school council or other parent groups in the community.
What are ineligible expenses for PRO Grants funding?
• The ineligible expenses for PRO Grants for the 2021-22 school year includes:
o Activities that took place prior to September 1, 2021
o Payment to school board staff or volunteers including salaries, honoraria, gifts
o Refreshments exceeding 10% of the approved funding
o Out-of-province travel
o Debts or financial losses that result from a project
o Fundraising events
o Central administration expenses exceeding 10% of the budget.
What are some examples of projects funded with PRO Grants?
• Examples shared by PICs and Board Leads from the 2020-21 school year include but were not limited to:
o Anti-Black Racism, anti-Indigenous Racism and anti-oppression initiatives (e.g., bridges out of poverty event);
o Virtual parent/caregiver engagement supports;
o Enhanced multi-lingual supports;
o Translation of school materials;
o Mental health and well-being (e.g. family music nights); o Parent portal improvement;
o Physical health and wellness (e.g. virtual family yoga nights);
o Technology support;
o Providing targeted resources to meet specific parent needs so parents can be resilient;
o Special education supports;
o STEM (e.g. youtube capsules focused on science and numeracy); o Online learning software (e.g. Google classroom tutorials);
o Online safety; and,
o Self-regulation (e.g. virtual learning sessions for families).
Can PRO Grants funding be repurposed to address the impacts of COVID-19 or can it be carried forward to the next school year?
• The 2020-21 PRO Grants allocation cannot be repurposed or carried forward to the next fiscal year.
How can this funding address anti-racism and equity issues?
PRO Grants continues to support that remove barriers to parent engagement. This funding can be used as a tool to facilitate equitable outcomes for marginalized parents. Projects funded could include identifying and removing institutional biases and systemic barriers in order to allow participation of all parents in their children’s schools, with the goal of supporting student learning and helping to close the achievement gap.
How can we get in touch if we have questions about PRO Grants?
• Questions can be sent to PRO@Ontario.ca.
From OCDSB School Council Newsletter #6
Documents to support Malaka Hendela’s presentation on Thursday, 21 November 2019
Feb. 11 Memo 2022.02.11 School Council Virtual Speaker Nights
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