School Meeting Toolkit 4:
What to Do After the Meeting
After the meeting is over, while the details are fresh in your mind, there are several critical steps we recommend you take.
Document Everything
Write down your recollection of the meeting. If you have recorded audio, you can use apps made specifically for this that will transcribe your audio. (These notes may be useful in the future).
Pro-Tip: The law states that one person can record a conversation that they are a part of, without informing the other participants. This can help if you have no one to take notes, to recall the details later. Using technology can be very helpful and makes meetings more accessible. (Recording work conversations: One-party consent Canada | BLG)
From your support person
Collect notes or thoughts from your support person and add that into your binder. Having their perspective afterwards can be extremely helpful.
Follow up with an email
Make it short and just the facts. Sending written confirmation of your interpretation of the outcome of the meeting, allows for the other participants to either agree or dispute and creates that very important paper trail.
“If I don’t hear back from you by xx date, the assumption will be that the information is correct.”
Pro-Tip: Follow up with an email for ANY AND ALL meetings or informal interactions. For example: a meeting in the hallway, or outside your kids classroom door, phone calls, etc.
If you plan to escalate to the next level
Write an email notifying the team that you will be escalating your concern to the next level.
Pro-Tip: You have the right to escalate when you need to.
You can use a similar structure as the original email calling for a meeting.
Some examples of wording you could use:
“What I heard was the teacher is unable to provide x ….”
“My child can’t read at grade level xx …” And what needs to change “My child needs xx … to be successful at school.”
“I feel that staff have reached the limits of their resources, so I will be going to the next steps to help staff reach the goals set out for my child.”
By Family Support Institute of BC & BCEdAccess
