Minister’s Parent Advisory Council does important work in education, says past member

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on July 30, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

A Raymond parent and past member of the Minister’s Parent Advisory Council is encouraging those interested in making a difference in Alberta’s education system to apply for this year’s MPAC.
After reading what she calls a discouraging and insulting set of quotes in an Alberta newspaper article, Tobi Lyons felt she needed to speak up about the misrepresentation of the MPAC and showcase the good in hopes to encourage other parents to apply for a seat at the council.
“Our council was made up of parents from every corner of this province and every type of school authority — public, separate, francophone, charter, independent (private), and home education. Like me, many of these parents also serve on school councils — but not all do, which lead to interesting and fruitful discussions,” said Lyons.  
She said last year when she served the council consisted of 40 members and it was a very diverse group that had many things in common.
“It was an interesting time because, this is in the middle of COVID, where everything is shut down and not only our students are having trouble with connection and community, but parents are too. So, this is a really good opportunity to build that connection with the community,” said Lyons.
She said their discussions were on topics that the education department wanted to bring up specifically and wanted their perspective on.
“Our discussions would be on topics such as funding, the curriculum, even sometimes the discussions were directed by the members themselves, where they said, ‘hey this is an issue we’d like to talk about can we spend some time on it?’ and so whether we had access to the minister herself or the department, we were able to discuss those things,” said Lyons.
She said that as a council member their meetings gave the Minister sincere insight into how her decisions impact Alberta children.
Lyons said she had an expectation when participating in this advisory council that included an understanding that a certain level of online politicking would occur, but she was surprised at the level of blatant mischaracterization and a complete lack of truth-telling regarding MPAC.
“The way the MPAC and its membership have been misrepresented in media, by political parties and by ASCA (Alberta School Councils’ Association) offends me, as a parent and as school council chair,” said Lyons.
She said that in an article published in May, a member of ASCA suggested that MPAC members are handpicked, they are an echo chamber for the UCP agenda, and that “real” parents have been taken out of the equation.
“The fact is that most parents will never be involved in their school councils, but that does not mean their voices are less valuable, and should be secondary to those that are,” said Lyons.
She said that she felt compelled to speak up in case any parents are having second thoughts about joining their school councils or MPAC.
“What if it stops them from volunteering, what if they had something really positive that they could influence their child’s education but now they’re afraid that they are going to be put down in media, be harassed or mislabeled,” said Lyons.
She said that if her words can help one parent make the decision to apply and add their voice, perspective and their wisdom to the Alberta education system, that is all she can ask for.

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