Hosted by the York Region Social Planning Council and the York Region District School Board
Number of Participants: 16 people at 2 separate meetings, including teachers, administration and parents. It would be an asset in the future to have individuals present who are experiencing low-income.
- Eliminating fundraising and school fees was a major topic of discussion. This lead to a discussion on new implements like ‘Cash Online’ which excludes families that do not have access to a credit card or the Internet and requires parents to come in to the school and identify that they cannot use the service.
- It was discussed that educators always want to know how to identify the children that are living in poverty however it is important to remind people that this work is not about identifying individuals but about recognizing that poverty is a reality for many families in your class.
- There is an issue with ‘Silo’ practices across schools. There is poor communication from school to school, which causes variable approaches to poverty and a lack of transparency.
- Looking to spending grant money more effectively. The Learning Opportunities Grant is meant to support schools but not every school is open about how it is being spent. It was suggested that he PRO Grant should be abolished and redistributed to resources for parents and family outreach or SPNO could be consulted on how to better allot the PRO grant funds.