IHS Site Council minutes 1/13
Present: Amy Duncan, Lisa Joye, Deon Saraceno, Jessica Schabtach, Peggy Farris, Lloyd Madden, Mike Speiser, Lubos Hubata-Vacek, Catrina Steckler, Wade Powell, Janice Ketsche, Kreg Hulings, Jericho Schwab, Hanna Stupasky, Brian Kuzma, Marilyn Curtis, Lisa Albrich, Jericho Schwab
OLD/NEW BUSINESS:
· New business: Jessica and Jocelyn attended Taking It UP training and would like to start initiating school-wide conversations about diversity and respect. We hope to begin this conversation among the staff on the PD day at the end of January.
· Amy suggested some site council discussion of background history of FTE allocation and staffing discussions in anticipation of upcoming staffing season.
· Old business: At last meeting we discussed idea of a site council Facebook page, and conversations continued subsequently. At this time the staff is not in favor of this idea, but Wade will continue working with Mike and Lloyd toward a plan to address concerns raised about integrating new site council members. They are exploring the possibility of a video. They will brainstorm/ explore possibilities and bring ideas back to site council. Parent group can also explore Facebook and other forums for parent communication.
MINUTES: Minutes from previous meeting were approved.
REPORTS:
Catrina: Student report:
· Tshirt sales tapering, we are looking at ways to promote continued sales. The small sweatpants have arrived.
· Penny wars made a record $900, and the money is going to Friendship with Cambodia to send girls to school (3 girls one year, 1 girl three years)
· Organizations contacted us to apply for our money. Most of them have a connection with student government members. Grade levels that won penny wars voted on how money should be allocated.
Lloyd: Parent report:
· Lloyd asked for clarification of structure. Marilyn noted direct connection between Site and Parent Group. Historically parent group elects reps to site council—parents and parent group can let the reps know, and they will bring it to site council. This is the way parent concerns can most effectively reach us.
· Parent group will meet on January 26
Deon: Staff report:
· Eighth grade nights are coming up. We staff and students give information on IHS to help incoming freshmen make their choices. Those are coming over the next month or so.
· We have the 23rd collaborative planning time, and on the 30th we have a PD day. Staff is discussing what things we need for those days so we can use those valuable hours. It’s great to have PD time
Jessica: Budget report:
Lynne keeps track of our budget in a complex spreadsheet—deepest thanks to her. A lot of it contains things over which we have no control (e.g. copier maintenance fees). What we are talking about right now is our discretionary funds. Marilyn points out that IHS has fewer “pots” and has lost a lot of them in recent years. Out of this money must come all textbooks, materials, mileage reimbursement, training costs—pretty much everything!
Language Arts adoption leftover—7300—can only be used for LA books
Textbook replacement money—9800—for replacement of lost/damaged books
Student body funds (graduation, software, etc.)—11,400
EEF general fund—28,000 (operating budget—mileage reimbursement, art supplies, staffing, etc. Most flexible account)
Expenditures:
Book replacement 5000
Computers for new staff 4600
Projectors 1800
Lit supplies (TOK, Lit and arts) 1450
Grade level (team) supplies 1600
Classroom supplies 2300
Extended contact for mentoring new teachers 4600
Smarter Balanced update:
· All 3 campuses have the same schedule, which works well for us. We will have one week of late start for LA testing and another week for math testing (similar to Wed. late start schedules). They will do 60-70 minutes of testing. Non-juniors will be doing other things (instructional access, etc.). Details are still being hammered out, but plans are moving forward. Sheldon is moving forward on how to get students access to practice tests, and we are planning to give our juniors the same option. Junior team will figure out how to give this opportunity in the least disruptive way (they are meeting Tuesday). Junior teachers have some ideas. Jocelyn is getting trained on this, so this will help our staff inform their instruction. Samples are available on the Smarter Balanced website. Lots of details are being hammered out, but things are progressing in terms of working out kinks, cleanup, scheduling, etc.
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IB Report: Tabled until next time
3 x 5 Report:
· Three committees are examining the 3 x 5 at the district level. We have representation (Jessica and Marilyn) on two of these committees: teacher input committee and 3 x 5 implementation committee. The third committee includes board members, union, and administration and is working on evaluating the effectiveness of the 3 x 5.
· Data on graduation rates, test scores, and other factors was shared with the teacher input committee, and this data was passed on to site council with the strong caution that correlation is not causation and that myriad factors existed—no one is suggesting that the 3 x 5 is the sole cause of any change or any lack of change!
· Deon asked about human data. How do we gather data on students who flipped out? Jessica reported that a survey of 4J staff is supposed to be conducted. We haven’t heard if the district will be surveying students or parents.