FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – FAQs

1. WHY HAVE SUCH A PROGRAM?

The Participation Program (PP) is an important dimension of the operation at Our Lady of the Assumption (OLA) school. The purpose of the program is to promote a spirit of community and pride amongst our families, and provide tangible economic benefits to our school. As parents we play a vital role in the education of our children and by our commitment we can work together to create a better school for our children. OLA is blessed to have committed parents with an average of 140 families participating per year.

Through this program we are able to:

• Raise funds for the school – many participation hours are dedicated to fundraising.
• Reduce costs – Hours devoted to building maintenance, grounds maintenance, library, noon-hour supervision represents significant dollar savings to the school and parish.

2. PLACEMENT IN THE PARTICIPATION PROGRAM

New parents are required to indicate on the registration form if they would like to apply to be involved in the participation program. Identifying any specialized skills will assist the Participation Coordinator when determining availability of a position. New parents are required to attend a mandatory meeting (date to be announced each year). Among other things this meeting will outline the Participation Program giving a brief background and rationale. Parents may also be required to attend an additional meeting as called by the category manager.

3. PARTICIPANT WAITING LIST

• In case of a saturation of workers in all job categories some parents may be placed on a waiting list. Parents on the waiting list will be considered to be in the non-participation category.
• As openings become available the families on the waiting list will be contacted.
• Families, who leave categories and pay the additional fees, will be placed on the bottom of the waiting list and cannot expect a guaranteed return to their previous job when they are available.

4. WHAT ARE PARTICIPATION PROGRAM (PP) HOURS?

Participation hours represent the actual time parents spend performing their duties within their category.  If your present category will not provide you with the required 50-hours of participation there are several opportunities available throughout the school year to obtain addition hours. Opportunities for additional participation hours are posted in the weekly school newsletter.

5. WHAT ARE THE PARTICIPATION PROGRAM (PP) RESPONSIBILITIES?

If you choose to be a part of the Participation Program, it is expected that you will look upon this responsibility with the same seriousness as you would a paid job. As a member of the program you will receive a participation tuition rate. It is expected that you will show up on time for your assigned shifts, carry out your tasks responsibly, and not leave until your shift if over.

All participating families commit to the following:

• Responsible to become familiar with the program policies and how they are applied.
  ** The Participation Program Policy is always available online on the school’s home page and should be checked periodically for updates and revisions.
• Responsible for ensuring that they become active in the program.
• Commit to one main category each year, and fully cooperate in working scheduled shifts.
• Schedule sufficient hours to meet their commitment for the year.
• Meet a 50-hour minimum requirement from July 1-June 30.
• Meet a 15-hour minimum requirement by December 31. December 31 is the halfway mark of the Participation Program calendar year.
• Accurately record Participation Program hours on the Timesheet and to keep a detailed record of hours worked.To keep our records current we ask parents to submit their completed Participation Program hours as quickly as possible. We kindly ask parents to submit their hours preferably the day of the event, and no later than one week after the event has taken place.

6. HOW MANY HOURS ARE REQUIRED?

• Parents are required to work a minimum of 50-hours throughout the school’s fiscal year, which runs from July 1st to June 30th. While some limited summer work may be available, most parents will perform their duties during the period September to June. Any summer work will be credited for the school year to begin that September.
• The primary purpose of scheduling will be to complete an activity that benefits the school/parish. Accordingly, shifts might not be structured so that parents may work 50-hours exactly. As a result, it is the expectation that most parents will work more than the minimum hours required.
• If you miss a regularly schedules shift and do not have a person replace you, you will be billed for the hours missed; even if you have already reached your yearly total of 50 hours but still have a regular shift/commitment.
• Additional hours are available in other participation categories only if the category that you are assigned to does not meet the 50-hour minimum requirement for the year.
• You cannot fulfill your missed hours in another category or participation area if you have not completed the required hours in your own category.
• Using the Noon Hour Supervision model as a baseline most workers are required to work at least 1-hours 40 times a year, totalling 40-hours per year. Any additional required hours that cannot be completed within an assigned category will be completed in the Fundraising or Maintenance Category.

7. DO I CHOOSE JUST ONE CATEGORY?

• Participating families are placed in one main Core Category. Parents may have enough scheduled shifts to fulfill your minimum 50-hour yearly commitment but it is not guaranteed. In some cases participants must find the remainder of their required minimum 50-hour commitment in other categories such as Maintenance, Fundraising and Worker Bee Opportunities that can be found in the school newsletter.

8. WHAT ARE THE CORE PARTICIPATION CATEGORIES?

The Core Participation categories include:

9. WHAT IF I MISS A SHIFT?

Any parent who fails to work a shift a scheduled participation shift will be fined at a rate of $25.00 per hour for each hour missed.

If you are assigned to a participation category with regular schedule/shift such as library, noon hour supervision, and you miss your regularly scheduled shift and do not have a person replace you, you will be billed for the hours missed; even if you have already reached your yearly total of 50-hours but still have a regular shift/commitment.

• Families that miss more than 5-hours (10%) of scheduled shifts within their assigned category in a year may be refused the opportunity to participate in subsequent years.

• Participation hours represent the actual time parents spent performing their duties within their category. Parents who miss a shift (and are fined), the debt is considered paid.

Example:
48 Completed Participation Program Hours + 2 Billed Hours = 50 Competed Participation Program Hours at yearend.

• Parents must understand that if they cannot work a particular shift, it is their personal responsibility to arrange for an authorized replacement within the category or with permission from the team leader. The team leader must be notified of any changes to the schedule. There are some categories that require specialized training (for those categories only those who have received training can replace).

 

10. SUBSTITUTES / REPLACEMENTS

• Participants who cannot meet a commitment are responsible to arrange for a qualified replacement.
• No minors may substitute for their parents.
• When a replacement has been found, the Participation Coordinator must be notified. If a replacement is not found or does not fulfill this job then the original participant can expect to be billed for hours missed.
• The Participation Program requires the hours to be worked by the PARENT. Parents may not hire others to complete the hours on their behalf. While occasional substitution is permitted due to unexpected circumstances (eg – illness, vacation etc), the parent must be working the hours on a regular basis. Failure to meet this requirement may result in disqualification from the participation category, at the discretion of the Parish Education Committee.

11. CAN BOTH PARENTS FROM THE SAME FAMILY WORK AT THE SAME TIME TO OBTAIN HOURS?

No, hours are allowed per family only, not per person, therefore it is not allowable to get double hours.

12. CAN I HIRE OUTSIDE HELP TO FULFILL MY PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS?

No, it is against school policy to hire outside help and therefore unacceptable.

13. CAN AN OLDER SCHOOL AGE CHILD OR GRANDPARENT FULFILL ANY OF MY PARTICIPATION PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS?

Parent involvement in the school is one of the primary purposes of the Participation Program. Therefore, family members – such as older school age children, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc – are NOT permitted to perform Participation duties.

14. ARE ALL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES ELIGIBLE FOR PARTICIPATION HOURS?

• Those committed to the Participation Program are considered a member, not a “volunteer”. As a member of the Program you receive a participation tuition rate for your time.
• Only specifically approved Participation Program activities can be credited towards the Participation Program.
  Please refer to #8 for the approved list of Participation Program Core Categories.
• Some activities are not eligible for participation hours and are true school volunteer opportunities.
  Example: Parents that volunteer to drive students to/from activities cannot put their hours towards the Participation Program.

15. HOW DO I GET STARTED?

• Families that are interested in applying for the Participation Program must indicate this on the school registration (and annual re-registration) form.  Specialized skills that are identified will help the Participation Coordinator to fill positions as they become available.  New parents to the program are required to attend a mandatory meeting in the spring (date to be announced each year). The purpose of this meeting is to outline the Participation Program and the requirements of the program.

16. WHAT IF MY CATEGORY DOES NOT GIVE ME 50 HOURS?

• There are several categories that do not provide 50 hours. Families that cannot complete their required hours within their assigned category must “top up” their hours in other categories such as Fundraising, Maintenance, various Worker Bee opportunities and/or special “APPROVED” projects such as the Parish Fall Fair. You are also welcome to contact the Participation Coordinator for “top up” opportunities.

17. WHAT IF I DO NOT GET ALL MY REQUIRED HOURS FOR THE YEAR?

• Any family that has not completed the minimum 50-hours of participation by June 30th will be fined at a rate of $25.00 per hour for all outstanding hours.
• There is no opportunity to make up missing participation hours after June 30^th.

18. WHAT IF I WORK INDEPENDENTLY, AND DO NOT USE A TIMESHEET?

• Everyone working in the Participation Program must use a Timesheet. Timesheets are located in the school photocopy room.
• Many leadership positions within the Participation Program require parents to work independently, and their work is not directly supervised. However, they are still obliged to fully document their hours and submit them for approval once a month. Hours that are not entered on a Timesheet and approved by the Team Leader or Category Manager will not be credited.

19. WHAT IF I HAVE A PERSONAL SITUATION & CANNOT FULFILL MY LONGTERM PP COMMITMENT?

• Extenuating circumstances, such as serious health or family situation, may qualify a family for a partial or full exemption. These situations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Parents must contact the Principal or Participation Coordinator if they are experiencing personal difficulties and find they can neither fulfill their commitment to the program nor pay the non-participation fee.
• **Please note that in order to be fair to all parents, we do not grant exemptions because parents are busy with work, or have participation commitments in other schools.

20. IF I HAVE COMPLETED MY REQUIRED 50-HOURS BEFORE THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, DO I STILL NEED TO CONTINUE WORKING MY SHIFTS IN MY REGULAR SCHEDULED CATEGORY?

Yes, you are still expected to show up and work all of your scheduled shifts until June 30^th. If you do not show up for your shift you will be billed as a missed participation shift at the rate of $25.00 per hour for each hour missed.

21. HOW ARE MY HOURS RECORDED AND SUBMITTED?

Each time a parent works a participation shift the hours will be recorded on a timesheet.  Timesheets are located in the school photocopy room. Parents should also keep a record of their own hours and dates worked.

• Regularly Scheduled Categories
  All Timesheets should be submitted weekly for regular scheduled categories (example noon hour supervisors, library, etc).
• Independent Categories
  In other categories where parents are required to work independently they will be responsible for ensuring that all hours are accurately recorded on their own timesheet for a one month period and then submitted the first week of each month for the previous months hours. The Participation Coordinator will collect these timesheets and keep an ongoing record of parent hours for the year.
• Submitting Hours
  To review and put forward any hours you have completed and not submitted, please login to the online onVolunteers system. Submit any accumulated Participation Program hours via the onVolunteers Adhoc system. Alternatively you are able to submit your participation hours via paper copy in the school photocopy room.

To keep our records current and accurate we ask parents to submit their completed participation hours as quickly as possible. We kindly ask parents to submit their hours preferably the day of the event, and no later than one week after the event has taken place. 

22. CAN I CHANGE CATEGORIES?

Parents seeking the option to change participating categories need formal permission. A Transfer Request Form needs to be completed if you want to transfer out of your present category. This form is available from the school office. Although parents’ preferences will be accommodated whenever possible, the actual category assignment will depend on the current needs of the school.  The reason for this process is to eliminate participants moving from category to category and leaving some categories short of participants to adequately fulfill the operation of those categories.  Category changes generally are completed during spring re-registration.

23. GROUNDS FOR ASSESSING ADDITIONAL FEES

One or more of the following may be used to assess additional fees:

• Absenteeism
• Tardiness
• Unsatisfactory performance
• Non-attendance at the New Participation Parents Meetings

Repeated infractions may result in a reassignment of category or loss of the participation privilege.

FEE AMOUNT

The amount of the fee assessed will be $25.00 for each hour.

24. SWITCHING TO NON-PARTICIPATING OPTION

Sometimes circumstances change. Should you feel your family is unable to continue within the participation category, and you wish you to continue as a non-participation family, please let the Participation Coordinator know as soon as possible so the necessary arrangements can be made.  These families will then be changed to the school Non-Participation tuition rate.

25. HOW CAN I CHECK MY HOURS?

To track Participation Program hours, Our Lady of the Assumption uses an online software system, OnVolunteers, to make it easy for parents to participate.

Participation Program hours can be reviewed in two ways:

• Online – OnVolunteers is web-based and you can access it from your PC or mobile device.  Parents can view and track their participation hours through the onVolunteers web-based portal.
• By email – Parents can contact the Participation Coordinator to review their hours.

26. WHO DO I CONTACT IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY WITH MY PP HOURS?

• Parents have the responsibility to keep personal documentation of all hours worked should it become necessary to verify against the records of the Participation Coordinator.
• In the event that there is a discrepancy between a parent’s record and the Team Leader, the Team Leader will be referred to the Participation Coordinator.

27. WHAT IF I DON’T WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM?

• Families may choose the non-participation option should they not wish to participate. These families will be charged the non-participation tuition rate.

28. WHO DO I CONTACT ABOUT THE PARTICIPATION PROGRAM?

• Please contact the Participation Coordinator with any participation questions, comments, or concerns: parentparticipation@olapoco.ca

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