Council Minutes - 25/9/07

Council Meeting Minutes – September 25, 2007

Present: Mary Whittaker – Principal
Karen Yellan Said Bensaid
Carol Lunansky
Alexsander Cvetkovic
Julie McFayden
Mario Penetra
Maria Machado
Jerry Dogino
Ann Thompson
Paul Dover
Beverley Elcoch J
ohn Osbourne
Fely Escano
Kuwassi Huthcinson

Welcome and Introductions.

Minutes of the previous meeting – The previous meeting was a wrap-up of the Fun Fair. There were no minutes.

Treasurer’s Report – Carol Lunansky as follows: Current balance $5,736.94. $5,000 of this was allocated for the new playground however since the Ministry has not provided new pricing and it is unclear how long it will take, parents agreed the funds should be put to good use as needed.

Principal’s Report:

· Organization of the School – Mary reported on class sizes as follows:
- JK/SK – 22 a.m. / 20 p.m.
- Grade 1/2 - heavy with Grade 1’s
- Grade 2/3 – 23
- Grade 4 – 26
- Grade 5 – 31
One child was moved from the split Grade 2/3 class to the Grade 3 class. There is a diagnostic class for students who have trouble learning.
· New Superintendent – Our new superintendent is Jeff Hainbuch. Parents can contact him at any time to discuss concerns. Mary will make his number available.
· The Board is focusing this year on Safe and Caring Schools. Every Wednesday class will stop to do a lesson on planned topics like ‘respect’. The hope is to develop a more sympathetic school.
· Gym Inspection – Ms. Byrne arranged for an inspection for the possible installation of basketball nets. The gym is equipped to have four nets installed (2 courts). If the parent council approves the purchase of nets (& installation), she will run a basketball league. The cost for inside nets is $1,600; total cost for inside and outside nets is $2,300. The parent council approved the purchase of inside nets pending the cost of installation.
· Toronto Schools on the Move – Ms. Byrne applied for this program for Briar Hill and was accepted. The program provides banners, T-shirts, mentoring/networking opportunities, a box of age appropriate equipment and line painting, and other items.
· Fun Fitness Ambassadors – These are student leaders who were required to write essays in order to be selected as Fitness Ambassadors.
· Turn Around Project – Mary advised that these are capacity building workshops that teachers attend in order to learn new strategies. Briar Hill teachers take part in these.
· EQAO Scores – Briar Hill scores went up significantly. Although 19 students wrote the test, Briar Hill was scored based on 29. 10 students could not write due to their being developmentally disabled or having English as their second language. Published scores will therefore not reflect the actual improvements. Score comparisons are as follows:
Actual Score/ Board Score
78.2% Reading/ 62% Reading
84.2% Writing/ 55% Writing
73.9% Math/ 59% Math
Mary was pleased with the scores and credits her teachers for the new teaching strategies.
· Fire Drill, Lockdown – Briar Hill had 1 internal lockdown and 1 fire drill. Schools are required to have 6 fire drills and 2 Lockdowns per year. An internal lockdown means that the threat is inside the school. Mary also advised that a work order was in place to have locks put on the gym doors. As it stands, these doors cannot be locked.
· Terry Fox Walk – The Terry fox walk will be on September 27.
· P.A. Day – September 28th is a P.A. Day. Teachers will be spending the day on literacy.
· Earth Rangers presentation – October 2 – Briar Hill won the Bronze Award for being an eco-friendly school. Teachers are looking at encouraging litter less lunches.
· World Record Walk Day – October 3 – All students are encouraged to walk to school.
· Curriculum Night, Family BBQ, Literacy Night – This will be held on October 4.
· Kindness Program – A dog named Chloë will be brought in and taken to each classroom. The dog is used to introduce children to different topics to teach them about empathy, the environment and other useful lessons.
· Lorraine Kimsa – “Raven Stole the Sun” – Grades 1 to 5 will visit the theatre to see this production that has an Aboriginal view of the earth.

Elections – Karen Yellan will serve as President as no other parents volunteered for this position. This will be Karen’s last year at Briar Hill. Paul Dover is considering serving as Treasurer. Julie McFayden agreed to continue serving as Secretary.

Playground Update – Mary reported that the Architect had to send back the plans to the Ministry three times before it had finally been approved. We are now waiting for the project to be priced.

School Council – money to spend – Karen advised parents that the school needs a new fridge. Parents all agreed that a new fridge should be purchased as opposed to seeking a donation. Slightly used or floor model fridges will be looked into. Funds would also go towards inside basketball baskets (see Principal’s report above).

Fundraising - The following ideas were suggested: - bingo night, family movie night, soccer/baseball game, QSP, Coupon books, Classified page in monthly newsletter

Pizza Lunch – Date set for October 12. Fely Escano volunteered to help on that day.

Uniforms – Mary discussed the possibility of uniforms for the school. The uniform dress code would be optional. She brought two polo shirt samples in different fabrics both in royal blue and indicated that gold could be added to the sleeve and collar to reflect the Briar Hill Colour. She had no pricing to offer at this time. There was some discussion around the feasibility of implementing uniforms. It was decided that another survey needed to go out to parents advising them of the actual cost of this initiative. The school would require 80 % parent approval in order to implement.

Other – Three issues were raised and discussed as follows:
· Door left open during special needs class unsafe – Mary advised that she had discussed the problem with her teachers and will address this concern by unlocking the gates for the grassy area in front of the school. When the special needs class is ready to go back inside they will alert the office by walkie-talkie and will use enter the front door via the grassy area.
· Teacher releasing students late from class – Mary indicated she had not had any other complaints however said she would speak to the offending teacher.
· Email addresses for parents – it was suggested that a note should go out to parents asking them for their email addresses. This could potentially eliminate the amount of paper being sent home to parents. Additionally parents can become more engaged in school activities by remaining up-to-date on meeting minutes, school events and fundraisers.