Editor:
We stood outside the school, watching thousands of ants surge out of a crack in an amazing display of singular movement. However, inside the building, there were just 10 people at the first PAC meeting. Two were administrators, four were the in and outgoing parents on the PAC Board (some vacancies remain, as well as vacancies in the hot lunch program that is currently unable to run), two were teachers giving presentations, and the remaining two were the only other parents that showed up for the PAC meeting. That’s a 0.7% representation of parents (actually, less, as this number is based on one parent households). Not even 1% of parents for the kids at this school. I get it…we are busy, busy people with kids, PACs can be boring, political, uncomfortable, ill-timed, etc. I’m not interested in making people feel badly –– each one of us can only do what we can do. But we also need to know that 0.7% of parents is not enough people to support our kids, our teachers, our staff, and our community. Maybe some of you don’t realize how absolutely dire our volunteerism on the Coast has become –– not just in the schools, though there the impact definitely ripples through our community. Could you, as a parent, commit to once a month? If many parents are unable, who else could fill these gaps? We need to find ways to come together –– dutifully, willingly, happily, even. Because it really does take an entire community.
Shannon Rody, ch’atlich (Sechelt)
