El Rincon Site Council Minutes
November 16, 2010
Members present: Ellen Craig, Principal, Kip Ebanks and Neil Glickman, parent
representatives, Janet Ames, Patty Valdovinos and Katie Ferris, teachers,
Debbie Hamme, classified/other.
Absent: Jen Nascimento, parent representative
Guests present:Diane DiFranco, Ben Knight and Kristen Pomeroy, kindergarten teachers, Kevin Kronfeld, Director of Special Projects, Christine Richard and Randy Reynaldo, parents. Two additional parents were present, but did not sign in on the sign-in sheet.
Meeting was called to order at 6:07 p.m. by Kip Ebanks, Council Chair.
I. Introductions and welcome
Mr. Ebanks welcomed everyone, briefly spoke about the fiscal challenges
we are facing, and thanked everyone for coming.
II. Adoption of Minutes
The minutes of the October 21, 2010 meeting were read, there were no concernsabout the content, but they could not be officially adopted due to lack of a quorum.
III. Ms. Craig discussed the recent Site Council Trainingand explained that the purpose of the training was to teach us how to stay in compliance. Mr. Ebanks stated that it nailed down what we need to do in order to be an effective site council. Ms. Craig mentioned that Kevin Kronfeld was at our meeting to give us guidance on categorical issues and also explained “below basic” and “far below basic” student designations.
Mr. Glickman stated that students can also receive aid if it has been deemed necessary by the student’s current teacher.
Mr. Kronfeld clarified that we are working off of last year’s plan and that what was putin place last year is what needs to be focused on. We cannot allocate monies to new priorities without a modification of the site plan.
Mr. Glickman stated that Title I funds can only be used for specific purposes.
Mr. Kronfeld explained that if the council decides they want to include other
than identified students, a process needs to be agreed upon by the site council
and then approved by the school board.
Ellen informed the council that the kindergarten teachers had come up with a
schedule to use three aides instead of four. Mrs. Ferris explained that Ms. Prendergast could be taken away and the remaining three aides could be rotated in order to preserve “centers” and the integrity of the full day kindergarten program.
Mr. Kronfeld clarified that monies must be used to improve test scores and that aides
cannot be used to make copies, etc. The council needs to identify student needs,
determine where students are struggling the most and set goals. Then the site council needs to discuss how to achieve the goals that were decided upon.
Mr. Glickman stated that Title I aides must be used primarily for targeted students.
Ms. DiFranco explained the full day kindergarten program and how the aides came to bein the kindergarten classes. She expressed that research has shown the there needs to be an aide in place in order for a full day kindergarten program to be successful and that the district said that all aides could be used in one grade level.
Ms. Valdovinos mentioned that a lot of discussion has taken place in the past
about raising scores and do we start at the bottom?
One of the visiting parents stressed the importance of providing support at a younger ageand Mr. Ebanks responded that he agreed that the younger, kindergarten students neededsupport, but the upper grade students also need to be served.
Mrs. Hamme asked what the intention was of the council. Was the goal to have two
aides serving the Below and Far Below Basic students? Mrs. Hamme brought to the
council’s attention that there is another aide that is paid for through Title I funds and
that she’s on medical leave at this time. Discussion followed about whether
salaries for employees on medical leave are still paid for through Title I.
Mr. Kronfeld said he would check into it.
Mr. Knight pointed out that kindergarten aides never do photocopying, that they are
always working directly with the students. He also explained that duringboth
kindergarten orientation and Back to School Night last year Dr. Tracy made a
point of informing the parents that our full day kindergarten program included
aides in theclassrooms.
Ms. Valdovinos stated that she didn’t want her students pulled from her classroom
during instructional times and asked whether we could have a before-school
intervention program.
Mrs. Hamme mentioned the intervention program at Farragut that resulted in a
42 point increase in there API. She wondered whether the district shouldn’t be
providing that program to all of the elementary schools to give all children equal
access to intervention and not just those schools who have extremely effective
PTA and Booster Club fundraising.
One of our parent visitors said that kids come to school as a blank slate and that
it’s important to continue to provide support.
Mr. Kronfeld advised that if auditors came in today they could possibly withdraw
our Title I funding.
IV. Ms. Craig told the council that several parents are concerned about the lack of
basketball play at recess. She explained that basketball play was stopped due to the
number of fights and injuries. Ms. Craig is working on a rotation schedule to bring
back basketball play that will go into effect after we return from winter break.
Trash on campus was also addressed. Ms. Craig explained that she and Carlos
are working together to control the amount of trash on campus. It is not possible to
assign trash pick-up for punitive reasons without parent approval. Mrs. Ames
suggested that Student council could make posters encouraging students to take
pride in their school and keep the campus clean.
V. New Business
a. Computer Lab Aide has been hired and will start after Thanksgiving break.
b. The election for new site council parent representatives was discussed.
We now have three candidates.
c. Olweus Anti-Bullying Training for teachers has been completed and that
anti-bullying is now a “way of life” at El Rincon. The Anti-Bullying Parent Forum
went extremely well and was attended by about 50 parents on 11/15/10.
Next meeting has been tentatively set for Thursday, December 16th.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:19 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Hamme