As many of you may have read or heard, the 2022 BCCPAC Parent Conference and AGM happening Friday April 29th & 30th has moved to online/virtual from in-person and today APRIL 21st is the last day to register for this amazing event.  The theme, and content focus, over the two-day event is “Making Connections, Moving Forward“. Please go the BCCPAC website to register either for the Conference on Friday, the AGM on Saturday, or both: https://bccpac.bc.ca/index.php/conferences/conference-agm/registration

Today is also the last day for PACs to submit their Proxy forms to DPAC so that we can represent your voices at the AGM on Saturday April 30th – Please email us at info@sd57dpac.ca if you have any questions about how to fill out your proxy forms 🙂 For more information and a great FAQ/Q&A about Proxies see down below or go to: https://bccpac.bc.ca/index.php/conferences/conference-agm/agm/proxy-faq

This is an amazing opportunity for PACs and parent’s to attend from the comfort and convenience of their homes.  Some key session highlights include:

• Transforming Education Systems through Family-School Collaboration – Rebecca Winthrop, Senior Fellow and Co-Director, The Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution
• Creating Belonging in Schools: Helping Children Thrive – Dr Jennifer Charlesworth, Representative for Children & Youth
• Framework for Enhancing Student Learning:  Using Parent Voice to Support Student Success – Marnie Mayhew & Cynthia Drummond, Ministry of Education
• Presentation by the Deputy Minister – Christina Zacharuk, Ministry of Education
• Presentation by the Minister of Education – Honourable Jennifer Whiteside

Breakout sessions available to attend include:

• #SchoolFoodMatters: Visioning a Healthy School Food Program for BC Students
• Misinformation and Disinformation, Preventing an Infodemic – Cpl. Kerry Johnson
• Indigenous Family Voices for Education – Mike Bowden (SD73 District Principal of Indigenous Education), Jacqueline Turvey and Roxane Letterlough
• Foundry Virtual BC: Services for BC Youth ages 12-24 and their Caregivers

For more details on these sessions and others please see the BCCPAC website for Conference Schedule and Details: https://bccpac.bc.ca/index.php/conferences/conference-agm/conf-schedule

PAC’s! It’s that time of year again – Proxy forms are due this Thursday April 14th!  What is a proxy form?? Well, it’s the it’s the form attached to your email (go check – we sent it out earlier today) but it is also more than that – it is the form that allows us as a DPAC speak and vote on your behalf at the annual BCCPAC Annual General Meeting (AGM) on April 30th this year.

Our member PACs and DPACs are made up of many individual parents/guardians. As per the School Act, every parent/guardian with a student enrolled in a school is a member of that school’s PAC. Each completed Proxy Form authorizes an individual to represent members of that PAC or DPAC at the BCCPAC AGM. Basically it allows us as DPAC to represent your voices on key issues that if passed, will dictate the work that BCCPAC undertakes in the coming year(s). DPAC will have representatives at the BCCPAC AGM this year (as always) and we collect the proxy forms from our SD57 PACs so that we can make sure your voices are represented and heard at the provincial level – it lets us know how to vote for you on the resolutions (action items) presented at the AGM.

So what does all of this mean?

1. We need all PACs to fill out their Proxy forms and send them back to us by end of week. You can fill it out electronically and email it to us or you can fill it out old school with pen and send us a picture of it. Either way works – just please send us your completed form 🙂
2. If you trust us to speak on your and our districts behalf – that’s it!  However, we love to hear your opinions and thoughts so if you have the time or chance have a look at the resolutions being brought forward this year and let us know how you would like us to vote on April 30th (or even if you just feel strongly about a couple), let us know:
   1. Click here to find and open the 2022 AGM Booklet (or open the PDF version via the link further down below) – the resolutions are listed on page 24 and the following pages go into more details on them:
   1. Fill out the “Proposed Resolution Voting Instructions” on page 35 for any (or all) resolutions you feel strongly about and email it back to us prior by April 29th.

Any PAC who is a member of BCCPAC has the right to “vote” (via your proxy form) at the BCCPAC AGM on the resolutions that are presented. These resolutions (which can be found and read here) are what drive the work that BCCPAC does and the advocacy work that BCCPAC. Check your PAC’s status on BCCPAC’s Membership List if you aren’t sure of your membership status. If your PAC’s membership registration form and payment were received by December 31, 2021, “ACTIVE” will appear in the “2021-2022 Member” column and “YES” will appear in the “Eligible to Vote at AGM” column; this means your PAC is eligible to vote via proxy form.

Please reach out to us if you have any questions at all. We will be sending out reminders a couple of times this week to get Proxy forms from everyone so bear with us 🙂

Thank you as always for your voices and trusting us to represent you and your school communities as the district and provincial level!