Coping with the end-of-year blues

7 avril 2025

Dear parents,

Are you already feeling the fatigue associated with the end of the school year? If so, you’re not alone. Over the past few weeks, parents who contact our consulting services, via the website chat or by e-mail, have been reporting situations that reflect a certain exhaustion. School exclusions, suspensions, breakdown of services for students with special needs or academic difficulties… Our youth have great needs that require services, but schools often lack the resources to help them.

Of course, the FCPQ team is here to advise and guide parents, but it’s hard to find solutions together when the gap between needs and resources is so wide. That’s why the cutback in education investments in Quebec is concerning for us. Even if education remains the government’s priority, it’s unlikely that student services will remain unaffected by budget cuts.

Involved parents also feel that the role of the governing board, a decision-making instance within all public schools, is poorly understood, and that their role as parents is not always respected.

The study of a new bill amending the Education Act will certainly give us an opportunity to discuss this issue. Bill 94, which aims to reinforce laicity in the education network, includes several measures related to the separation of public institutions and religion—such as extending the ban on wearing religious symbols to all personnel working with students, and prohibiting anyone from covering their face for religious reasons, but it also proposes measures to strengthen the quality of student services and school governance. Among the latter, the bill calls for the mandatory adoption of a code of ethics for members of governing boards.

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A consultation of the Federation’s member parent committees on this subject is currently underway, and we will be bringing the voice of committed parents to the Commission on April 22, 2025.

As committed parents, it’s important to keep abreast of current events in education, to remain vigilant against injustice and to speak up when we see it.

In addition to answering parents’ questions and studying the budget and a new bill, the FCPQ team is also preparing services and festivities for Quebec parents…

You asked for it, and now it’s here! The first Parents’s Open Platform podcast is now available! We’re very proud of this series of podcasts for parents, featuring parents involved with the Fédération who have something to say. Have you watched or listened to it? It’s available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music!

On another note, registration for the FCPQ’s annual National Event on the theme of Wellness… the key to success! is well underway. With two different ways to participate, we’re hoping that as many parents as possible will be able to join us for the event, whether in person or through the magic of the virtual world. If you can’t make it to Quebec City, get together with other involved parents to celebrate the work accomplished this year and get connected to the national event! We’ll even send you a participation kit – wellness delivered right to your door!