HIGHLANDS PARENT ADVISORY COUNCIL GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Present: Nina Meredith (Treasurer), Lindsay Lal (Fundraising), Richard Berg (SPC Rep), Meredith Kennedy (Technical/Communications Representative), Joanna Woronchak (DPAC Rep), Carol Horn (Secretary) & Angela Meule (Vice-Principal).
Meredith Kennedy called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Meredith chaired the meeting in the absence of Molly O’Callaghan and Dianne Sperenza.
- GENERAL:
- Teacher “Thank You” cards were distributed for members in attendance to review. The cards were thanking HPAC for the new LAC computers and/or the increase in the individual teacher/classroom fund.
- Based on feedback, the HPAC exec has put the idea of changing the volunteer structure on hold. This can be revisited at a later date if there is in interest.
- Meredith reminded the members present that the HPAC exec is proposing that $40,000 of the amount currently in the contingency fund be spent. The teachers have been asked to put together 3 proposals. Anyone interested in being part of a parent committee to consider how this money should be spent should contact Molly. The hope is that proposals can be presented by April for discussion and voting by the end of the year so that it can be implemented by September. At this point, only 1 parent has expressed an interest in participating in the parent committee.
- A reminder that the May meeting will be an important meeting to attend as we will be doing clean-up of our by-laws which require a special resolution. More details to follow.
- Meredith introduced Joanna Woronchak, the new DPAC rep. Joanna will be attending the DPAC meetings and report back at each HPAC meeting. She will raise the structure/special resolution requirement to amend the by-laws at the next DPAC meeting.
- Angela Meule spoke briefly. She indicated that TOPA testing for the kindergarten would be happening over the next month. She also reported that both the Grade 6 and Grade 7s were able to compete in volleyball this year.
TRAFFIC COMMITTEE:
Cindy Diett reported on behalf of the Traffic Committee. The four-way stop at Highlands and Ridgewood has really helped with the congestion. Many thanks to Sherri Grant for spearheading the initiative with the District and to Carrie Berg for speaking at the District Meeting. The Traffic Committee did not get enough volunteers to man a crossing guard at this intersection. The crossing at Queens is still a major problem. The Committee is in contact with the District to try and obtain some form of traffic calming or better road lines at this crossing. Volunteers are still needed as it is not fully “staffed” which means there is not always a crossing guard on duty. Anyone who can volunteer for even just 1 shift should contact Cindy.
There is an ongoing issue with traffic around the school – parking at dropoff, double-parking, parking in teacher’s parking lot, etc. Arlie Thompson sent out a Traffic Kudos note in the last newsletter but that hasn’t seemed to help. There was various discussion as to what the next steps should be. The Traffic Committee is suggesting that the kids be informed that if the lay-by can be “park-free” for 10 days in a row in the morning, everyone gets a free ice-cream. Another suggestion was to have a group of parents police the lay-by for 1 week to encourage parents to keep moving. After school congestion is also a problem- cars that park in the lay-by and clog up the circle. People are unable to safely pick up children at the front. One suggestion was to close the lay-by until 3pm – so that parents were unable to sit and park but would be forced to just pickup/keep moving. It was concluded at the meeting to try and tackle the morning situation first. The week of January 31st would be used as a trial week with a group of parents directing traffic. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Cindy Diett.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
The February speaker will be Ted Kuntz, author of “Making Peace With Life”. He is a passionate, inspirational speaker. His normal fee is $500/hour. He has agreed to waive his fee but the exec feels it is appropriate to give him an honorarium similar to what has been paid to other speakers. However, the budget Speaker allowance has been spent to date so the exec would like approval to spend $250 as an honorarium for him to speak.
A MOTION to approve $250 as an honorarium was made by Karen Magelund. The motion passed unanimously.
PARENT SOCIAL:
The Parent Social is set for February 19th at the Mosquito Creek Grill. Tickets will be $20 each. The goal this year is to get as many donations for the auction as possible. Each class will be asked to contribute a basket. Each class will also be creating a bella ceramica plate to be auctioned off. Information will be sent to class reps shortly to be circulated to the classes.
FINANCIALS:
Nina Meredith spoke briefly about where we are currently at with our budget. All fundraising to-date has exceeded the amount budgeted to be raised and many capital expenditures have come in under budget.
Meeting adjourned @ 8:00pm
If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to contact a member of the HPAC Executive for further information or clarification.
DM_VAN/900290-00004/7416012.1