Make a Difference: How to Serve on Your Local School Council

Local School Council (LSC) elections are being held this year, and the deadline to become an LSC candidate is 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 2. LSCs play an important role in ensuring their school is accountable financially and in terms of student outcomes.  Just this summer, high school LSCs played an integral role in deciding if their schools would retain school resource officers. We’ve answered some of the most frequent questions below about the roles and responsibilities of LSC members and the necessary steps to becoming an LSC candidate. 

What is an LSC?

An LSC is a group of school representatives that includes the school’s principal, teacher representatives, parent representatives, community representatives, and a non-teaching staff representative. High school LSCs also include a student representative. This group meets monthly to discuss and often vote on motions on behalf of their school community. 

What are the responsibilities of LSC members?

LSCs are responsible for approving the school’s continuous improvement work plan (CIWP) and ensuring its budget aligns to the CIWP. They are also responsible for selecting and evaluating the school’s principal and working directly with the principal to create and amend school policies. 

New LSC members will serve for 18 months — until July 2022 — and will be required to participate in monthly meetings to discuss updates to the CIWP, budget, and other priority areas as well as vote on relevant items. 

Who can run for an LSC?

LSC parent representatives must have a student enrolled at the respective school, while community representatives must live within the school’s attendance boundary. 

What are the steps to becoming a candidate?

Prospective candidates must fill out the required forms on the LSC elections website and submit them to the school’s principal in person along with two forms of identification by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 2. 

When are the elections?

Elections will be on November 18 for elementary schools and November 19 for high schools.