Engagement

Nov 4, 2024

The District implements best practices for engagement as set by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) standards under AP106: District public engagement.

To ensure families and students have the opportunity to participate in the cross boundary and mini school application process in January and to avoid disruptions to scheduling, staffing and budgets, the Board’s direction regarding the future of MYP is needed no later than December 1, 2024. Based on the Board meeting schedule, the latest opportunity for a decision by the Board is at the November 25, 2024, public Board meeting.

Before the Board makes a decision, staff will gather feedback from the school communities, rights holders and stakeholders to help inform the decision. This includes early engagement with rights holders, stakeholders, staff and PAC executives at the three impacted schools. There will also be opportunities for all students and families at the impacted schools to participate in engagement activities, through in-person or virtual round table discussions, a survey, the delegation process or by providing their feedback to engage@vsb.bc.ca.

The following timeline has been established to guide the engagement process and ensure timely, transparent interactions with all target audiences while not disrupting regular school scheduling, staffing and budgets.

Results of the engagement process will be considered by the Board as it decides on the future of MYP.

Engagement opportunities include:

October	Early engagement with MYP staff and PAC executives (Roberts, Elsie Roy and King George) through focus group discussions. See [early engagement results] for more information.
November 6	Roundtable discussions with rights holders and formal stakeholders at the Education Plan committee.
Mid November	Targeted email feedback from the most impacted stakeholder groups (VSTA, VEPVPA, VEAES and VASA)
Mid November	Facilitated round table discussions with current and future MYP families (in-person at Elsie Roy, Roberts and King George, as well as one virtual session). Sessions will provide a short overview of the MYP and it’s current state, as well as an opportunity to hear from other participants and provide direct feedback in a small group setting.
Mid November	Post engagement survey distributed to participants of the round table discussions. This survey will assess whether the communications and engagement objectives were met.
Mid November	Student survey for current MYP students to ensure student voice is captured in the engagement process.
November 18	Families, students and community members will have the opportunity to present their feedback directly to the Board at a public delegation meeting. Register by November 13 at 4:30 p.m.
October – November 15	Feedback can be submitted directly to engage@vsb.bc.ca until November 15, 2024. Verbatim submissions will be shared with the Board for their review.