Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows School Board is looking to establish a Student Advisory Committee.
The purpose of the committee will be to give secondary students more of a voice when it comes to governance matters in the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows school district.
School board chair Elaine Yamamoto noted they are early in the process of establishing the Student Advisory Committee.
Although Terms of Reference have been established, they are still only in draft form, she noted.
The Terms of Reference, as they are currently, explain that one student representative from each of the six secondary schools in the district will form the new committee, along with all of the school board trustees.
This group will meet regularly with the Board of Education to give input on upcoming items from the board’s annual work plan, in addition to bringing forward governance topics for discussion.
The student representatives will be selected or elected through a process determined by each school, in consultation with school administration and student leadership groups.
And alternate representative from each school will also be named to take the primary representative’s place if they can’t make a meeting.
District staff will also attend the meetings.
Student committee representatives will be appointed for a one-year term, renewable once.
They should be selected based on a demonstrated interest in student voice, equity, and engagement in education.
The student representatives will be expected to attend and participate in all scheduled meetings, engage with their peers to gather and represent a broad range of student voices, and bring forward student-generated topics for discussion.
Then they must create a summary of each meeting’s key points and recommendations to share with the Board of Education, district senior leadership, student committee members, and school principals.
A district staff member will be appointed by Superintendent Theresa Downs to support the coordination and the facilitation of the student committee.
Initially the board was looking at creating a student trustee position but determined that the current meeting schedule would limit their participation.
However, the creation of a committee instead, does not mean the board will not revisit the creating a position of student trustee in the future.
Yamamoto advised that the Terms of Reference have been referred to a board workshop for discussion and potential refinement.
“Until that process is complete, it is too early to confirm details such as the timing, structure, or process for student participation,” said Yamamoto.
“The board’s goal is to include the voices of all its partners, and students are an important partner whose perspectives need to be heard,” she noted, adding that the immediate next step is the board’s workshop discussion, which will help determine how this work will move forward.
“Exploring a Student Advisory Committee is one way to strengthen opportunities for student voice and engagement in governance matters.”