OSHS PTO MINUTES
11/18/17
Attendance: Sheila Riffle, John Giannini, Sandy Hart, Jill Lombardi, Trevor Nichols, Kim Hirst, Chloe Carlson, Heather McNeil, Paige True, Jenn Pernal, Jan Perruccio
Meeting called to order at 7:06.
Motion to approve minutes made by John Giannini and second by Trevor Nichols.
Sheila's Say
Field day/Spirit Week was a hit. Very proud of the seniors. They did exactly what was appropriate and their parameters fit in with the school's parameters.
Safe School Climate Committee collected data and developed building goals based on survey data from the spring. They will continue to meet and focus on programming to address improving cultural literacy and respect for difference and diversity. Sheila may look to PTO for support once the committee finds appropriate programming. Other issues that came out of the survey are academic integrity and substance use.
Professional Development Days in November engaged faculty in conversations about standards-based practices, such as re-do's and re-takes, assessing skills over content knowledge and how we may begin to report progress to students and families.
Amber plugged the Sweets With Santa at the faculty meeting. She stressed how important it was for the teachers to get involved in this community event.
Wendy is here from Youth and Family.
Turkey Drive at Stop and Shop on 11/17 and 11/18-Old Saybrook Police Department collecting turkeys, canned goods for people in need in Old Saybrook. Distribution dates are 11/20 and 11/21 from 2-6
Essential Life Skills Program: A great series teaching essential life skills before going off to college. Open to all Old Saybrook high school students. On 11/13 it was Employment Skills
Opioid use and abuse is at the forefront of the news these days. There will be a seminar on Narcan training (Narcan is a prescription medicine used to counteract the life threatening effects of an opioid overdose) called Opioids and Nalaxone on 12/6/17 at 6:30.
SEARCH Institute Attitudes and Behavior Survey has been conducted every 3-4 years since 1999. It was conducted during English classes on 11/16 and 11/17. This survey is used to plan intervention programs for the next four years. Heather will be available on Monday 11/23 if anyone wants to see results of survey; results will also be on Youth and Family website.
Jan Peruccio spoke about the budget. She said Old Saybrook never got a lot from the state any way. Town planned on this. She did go to Hartford to advocate for Old Saybrook. The town has looked at ways to save money like self-insured health plans and sharing staff with other towns. There are 2 grants from the state: ECS Grant (Educational Cost Sharing)-this was cut down to $180 K. However, the good news is that Special Education funding was not cut.
Biennial budget is in place until January 2019. Ways the town is currently controlling costs is tech spending is frozen until spring; health insurance changed from PPO to HSA.
There was also discussion on declining enrollment and regionalization. Last time it was looked at was 1984. Westbrook said no two years ago.
Sweets With Santa
Lindsay Mora, the new culinary teacher, has volunteered to have her students bake for the event. Trevor said Sign Up Genius is all set-need to spread the word. Sponsor levels are $100-$500. Sandy's company sponsored $200; Child and Adult Orthodontics sponsored $100; Key Bank $100; Other sponsors are Life Long Dental, Webster Bank, Brodeur and Company, AT&T, Liberty Bank. Sandy will also ask Wildwood Pediatrics. Lighthouse Print Shop donated 1-2 print boards.
There will be flyers promoting Sweets With Santa for report card night. This is the last meeting before the event.
There was another discussion on class dues.
Meeting adjourned at 8:06.