About us - DPAC

About us

The Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) represents parents on district level issues. According to Vancouver School Board policy, the two main functions of the DPAC are:

a. To "bridge the gap" between board and parents by communicating board policy to parents on the one hand, and parents' point of view to the board on the other, through their presence at committee meetings.

b. To plan and coordinate activities that will foster effective parental involvement in the schools.

DPAC executive members are elected by Parent Advisory Council (PAC) chairs throughout the city.

Below, you fill find a list of the 2009-2010 DPAC executive members and their contact information.

2009-2010 DPAC executive contact info:

            DPAC coordinator: Rosemary Wakefield
                            604-261-1250
                            rkwakefield@shaw.ca

          Steve Baker
          604-215-8624 or VanDPAC[at]shaw.ca

          Julianne Doctor (chair)
          604-992-9324 or julianne.doctor[at]gmail.com

          Stefanie Gajdecki
           604-739-7939 or sgajdecki{at}telus.net

          Gwen Giesbrecht
          604-876-8571or gwengi[at]shaw.ca

          Sarina Kier
           604-264-8487

         James Pedersen
         778-833-3745 or jamespedersen[at]gmail.com

          Sandy Sharma
          604-728-6478

         Sukhwinder Pal Singh
         604-327-1645 or singhsgh[at]yahoo.ca

         Jacqueline Stoeckler
         604-726-5165 or jss97210[at]mac.com

       John Tsang
        604-323-1328

        Jennifer West
        604-708-9511 or jwest[at]canda.com

        Kanman W ong
        604-760-1718 or kanmanwong[at]gmail.com

DPAC meetings
District parents schedule their meetings twice monthly September through June, usually on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. Meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. at the VSB Education Centre at Broadway and Fir. At least three times a year (usually November, February and May) DPAC executive members meet with their area Parent Advisory Council chairs in place of one of their regular DPAC business meetings.

Liaison responsibilities
District parents maintain contact with their liaison Parent Advisory Councils in order to respond to needs and to act as resource persons for PACs. They help direct questions and actions through the appropriate channels, and coordinate district-wide activities with support from Vancouver School Board administration. They keep other district parents informed of their liaison PAC concerns through regular DPAC meetings, and they meet with Area Associate Superintendents to discuss items of interest in their areas.

Committee responsibilities
District Parent Advisory Council members represent the parental voice on the five VSB standing committees (Management Coordinating, Planning and Building, Education and Student Services, Human Resources, Finance and Legal) of the Vancouver School Board. As well, DPAC members sit on administrator shortlisting and interviewing committees. DPAC members or other interested parents represent the parental voice on VSB advisory committees (First Nations, English as a Second Language, Special Needs, Gifted Education, Race Relations, Modern Languages/French Immersion, Inner City) and other representational committees (e.g. technology implementation, report card).

VSB support
VSB staff assist district parents in planning meetings with area Parent Advisory Council chairs and in communicating with their liaison schools. A District Management Team members, with the assistance of the DPAC coordinator, is available to offer advice on, and make arrangements for, such activities as communicating with parents and staff, printing of materials and organization of workshops.