School Boards and Community Councils have an important role in the life of our schools. We value the knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm that parents and carers bring to these forums.
School governance is generating much discussion in Catholic school systems across Australia. This discussion stems in part from the changing expectations of parents, regulators, and governments about the role that parents, carers and members of school communities can and should play in the context of our schools, and the increasingly complex regulatory environment in which schools operate.
The Catholic Education Commission endorsed the creation of a Working Group to review the role of school boards and community councils in systemic schools within the Archdiocese, and to make recommendations about potential opportunities for further development and/or refinement of the school board and community council model.
The Working Group has undertaken some preliminary consultation and has identified some of the issues to consider in framing its recommendations to the Catholic Education Commission. These issues are set out in the Issues Paper. The Working Group is seeking to draw on the experiences, expertise, and perspectives of key stakeholders in formulating their recommendations, and would greatly appreciate any comments that members of school boards and community councils, parents and carers, clergy, school staff and other members of school communities may provide about the topics raised, and the questions posed in this Issues Paper.
I invite you to send your thoughts, comments and perspectives to the Working Group via [email protected] prior to 2 September 2022. You can also submit answers to the Discussion Questions in the Issues Paper through the Review webpage: https://cg.catholic.edu.au/school-board-and- community-council-review/. The webpage also links to resources that may be referred to in the Final Report, including documents that reflect models in place in other Catholic Dioceses.
The Working Group is very much looking forward to working with you in the weeks ahead on this important issue and appreciates your assistance with this important piece of work.
