Make A Difference At Your School
All schools in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board should have an advisory school council to help increase communication between schools and their communities and to serve the needs of students. A school council liaises through the school principal and is an important link between parents and the school community. Find out more about school councils by reading our factsheet.
2019-2020 School Year
School Council Annual Report - Due 30 October 2019
School councils are required to submit to the District an annual report on their activities for the past year. The report has to include information on 2018-2019 activities and may include information on the goals and composition of the council, and a note from the Chair or Co-Chairs. On or before October 30, 2019, please ensure to submit your school council annual report to the school principal and forward a copy to Engy Masieh, 133 Greenbank Road, Ottawa, ON K2H 6L3 or by email at engy.abdel.masieh@ocdsb.ca.
Elections of 2019-2020 School Council Members
The election of school council members must be held within 30 days of the start of the school year. The details about the election process are outlined in the School Council policy and in the school council elections procedure. The election of officers (Chair, Co-chair, Secretary, and Treasurer) happens after the members of council have been duly elected. Don't forget to review your school council constitution for specific provisions with respect to your school. Please send us an updated list of school council contact information after your elections.
School Council Records and End of School Year Tasks
As the school year closes, many school councils are asking about how to manage their records. Records that contain financial information, such as those that pertain to School Generated Funds, are kept for the current year, plus 6 years. As such, financial records from the 2012/2013 school year can be destroyed. School Council meeting minutes are required to be maintained for the current school year, plus 5 years. Thus, the 2012/2013 minutes can be destroyed. When destroying records, please be sure to shred anything which contains personal or sensitive information. If you have records for destruction, you can bring them to the school boxed and clearly marked school council records for shredding.
Corporate Records welcomes questions with regard to document maintenance and can be reached through email at Corporate.Records@ocdsb.ca.
School Council Year-End Financial Reporting
All school councils must prepare and submit to the Board an annual report on their activities (including fundraising activities). To make the exercise easier the Finance Department has produced a template that school councils can fill in. A memo with this information was sent to school principals this week.
Please note that individual school councils will not be identified in the District's financial statements as the amounts are consolidated with those from all other school councils for financial reporting purposes. The amounts reported will not affect the budget allocated to the school as the school's budget is based on school enrollment.
The outline below assumes that your school council's financial reporting year will end on 31 July. If your school council has a June or August year-end please provide the information based on your year-end and amend the dates shown in the table.
Please ensure your opening balance for this year matches your closing balance from the previous year's report. Your opening balance plus your funds raised less your funds spent should equal your closing balance.
Your email should include:
- School Name
- School Council Chair
- Opening balance of all reconciled bank accounts, investments and cash on hand on August 1, 2018
- The amount raised by school council during the year August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019
- The amount spent by school council during the year August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019
- Closing balance of all reconciled bank accounts, investments and cash on hand on July 31, 2019
- Portion of above amount raised which was collected through the school’s School Cash Online program
Please send the information by email to yearendfinancials@ocdsb.ca by 20 September 2019. In cases where your school council's banking arrangements are administered by the school, the school council is not required to provide this.
Other School Council Resources:
School Council Resource Guide
School Council Funds Management Guide
School Council Insurance