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Protocol and Procedures - Administrative Regulation
132
Policy
The Edmonton Catholic School District is committed to working
cooperatively and responsibly with the parents of its students. At the
same time, Edmonton Catholic Schools recognizes that with over 3000
employees, over 32,000 students, and with approximately 48,000
parents and guardians all engaged in the education of Edmonton
Catholic Schools students, differences in understanding, interpretation
and opinion may occur. Therefore, protocol and procedures are
established to deal with parent-school conflict.
Beliefs
Edmonton Catholic Schools believes:
(a) that by initiating a process of conflict resolution,
it will be better able to promote conflict resolution that is ethically
sound, that responds to the needs of students, staff and parents,
and that is in keeping with the basic beliefs and practices of the
Catholic Church;
(b) that when it takes a proactive approach and open
stance toward conflict resolution, it is better able to facilitate
increased cooperation, communication and understanding among the members
of its school community;
(c) that conflict resolution is most successfully
achieved when mutually acceptable solutions are arrived at through
procedures that are designed to find what is in the best interests
of the students as well as the individual school and the school district
as a whole.
Principles
The following principles shall act as guidelines for the resolution of
parent-school conflicts in Edmonton Catholic Schools:
(a) Edmonton Catholic Schools recognizes the freedom
of all members of the school community (students, staff, parents and
neighbours) to voice their concerns in an appropriate manner to the
appropriate school personnel.
(b) The school has a responsibility to facilitate
communication and to provide procedural direction to parents who initiate
complaints or concerns in accordance with the policy and regulations.
(c) All parties in a conflict situation must recognize and respect the protocol, and more
specifically the principle of "first contact." This means that the person(s) who have
the concern, have a responsibility to begin addressing the concern directly with those
persons with whom they have the concern before taking their concern elsewhere.
(d) All parties in a conflict situation shall be treated with, and have the responsibility to
treat each other with fairness, dignity, and respect.
(e) All parties will deal with their concerns in a manner that is consistent with the
teachings of the Church.
(f) Attempts will be made to deal with concerns, that are brought to the attention of the
school in an appropriate manner, in a timely fashion.
(g) Conflict resolution protocols shall respect the provisions of the School Act, The Code
of Professional Conduct of the Alberta Teachers' Association, and Edmonton Catholic
Schools policies.
Resolutions
On the basis of the principle of "first contact" - parents must address concerns directly to
teachers before raising these concerns with the school administration or Catholic Education
Services staff, when their concerns are about their child's teacher, program, and/or
program support.
Likewise, if a parent has a concern about the school administration, the parent is expected to
deal with that concern with the school administration first, before raising these concerns with
the Superintendent of Schools.
If, in the view of the complainant, the ruling of the school principal is unacceptable, the
complainant may address his/her concern(s) to the Superintendent of Schools in writing. The
letter must outline the nature of the original complaint, the steps that have been taken, and in
what way the decision of the school principal is unacceptable. Upon receipt of such a letter, the
Superintendent will direct the correspondence to the appropriate department for resolution.
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