OUR LADY OF SORROWS CATHOLIC SCHOOL COUNCIL

Meeting Minutes

September 23, 2014
6:30-9:15 p.m. In the School Atrium

All members of the OLS Parent community are entitled to vote, make suggestions, and make a motion or amendment to a motion. Come join us in our discussion:
We will be discussing our plans and fund-raising goals.

Agenda

  1. Welcome and Introductions

Call to order at 6:40pm.

In Attendance: Joe Orazem, Principal Joe Genova, Vice-Principal Nunzio Del Giudice,Elisabeth Bonaldi, Leann Sweeney, Cassandra Wraxall, Laura DiGiovanni, Lori Kerrigan, Barb McCanaey; Sean Brackon; Helen Patterson, Frank Staudohar, Kristen Goodman, Maeve Maguire, Carolyn Trottier, Jennifer Whitmore, Myron Tymochko, PondjetBedrud, L. Schneider, PatriziaDiPietro, Cindy Evelind, Greg Grys, Leonor Sorayoder, Lisa Geelen, Michelle Korda, Jeenifer Wolfs, Mary Zervas, Eva-Marie Moffat, Martha Beaudry, Alex Kotyck, VanyTingley, Sonia Ng, Julianne Renna, Andreas Bahr, Michelle Montemurro, Jennifer Barius Hofer, Victoria Cruz, Noreen Reid,Stephen Dunn, Karen Rodricks, Monica Lee, Mabel Vasquez-Bruac, Maryann Degroot, Diane Rugosi, Grace Wu, Pina DiRuscio-Young, Kristen George, Christine McGregor, Tina Kakaria, Andrew Finn, Kristine Galka, Lucy Rando-Chang, Liz Arruda, Nicole Opresnik, Stephanie Moore, Barb Brezezicla, Claudia Lehecker, Amanda Wells, Joe Kelcy, Martin Groenin’tWoud, Carin McLean.

  1. Prayer for Catholic Education

Oh Holy Spirit, source of truth and grace for those entrusted with the Christian development of children, enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills, fill our hearts with generosity so that our homes, our parishes, and our schools may cooperate effectively with You, and with one another in the mission of Catholic Education. We make our prayer through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

  1. Q & A with Trustee Andrachuk and Superintendent Yack (6:30-7pm):

A boundary review is to take place this year and likely to take most of the school year. Boundary reviews are done on school groups of “clusters” of schools – these clusters are developed by the planning department of the Board. OLS requested other schools: Holy angels, St. Marks St. Louis etcbe included in our cluster – but currently there are no schools that are located to the North of Bloor (our Lady of Peace and St. Gregory). All Saints, St. Sarah, St. Eugene and have already had a boundary review therefore these are unlikely to have a subsequent review. No decisions have been made at this point re: the inclusion of schools North of Bloor St. Ms. Andrachuk will make a motion to the Board (Sept 24, 2014) recommending modifications to the school clusters to include more schools in the boundary review.

Current school boundary is the FDK catchment; the boundary prior to FDK was the bus route and was used as the “soft catchment”. We have 121 students now located outside the current FDK catchment. These boundary changes were made in 2012, but implemented in the registration year for the first year of FDK. These boundary change decisions were supported by Ms. Andrechuk as a part of the Board wide changes that were required due to implementation of FDK .

There is a technical possibility that students who may be outside of the new boundary might be redirected to a different school; however, currently we do not redirect current students to different schools because of catchment changes. At this point all siblings are grandfathered into the school, but there are no guarantees in the future.

There is a recommendation going before the Board on September 24, 2014 recommending that siblings who are within the catchment get priority over the siblings of those who are outside the catchment.

The Board currently has an offer for purchase of land in Central Etobicoke, but there are no funds to build the school at this moment. There are many regulations that prevent further development within this Board. The Board has decided that the FDK catchment is the school boundary.

We are currently 250 students over capacity.

  1. Approval of minutes from May 27th, 2014.

Motion to approve by Joe Orazem; Motion for approval of minutes carried.

  1. Outgoing Report:

a)Fun Fair – Mary Fantilli Chair. The Fun Fair was a great success! We raised $15,600!

b)Treasurer – Sonia Ng. CSAC raised $70,000 last year – the biggest revenue generators: OLS Fundraiser, Fun Fair and Pizza Lunch. We raised $17,000 more than budgeted for. We spent ~$74,000, which is $8500 under what we budgeted. Currently we have $35,000 in the bank! Budget carried as presented.

c)Outgoing Chair Report – Joe Orazem. Thank Mary Fantilli and parent volunteers for the Fun Fair. Also thanks to all volunteers for staff appreciation day. Ms. Jones was retiring last year and was presented with special gift from the students and she wrote back a thank you note. Thanks to God, wife, kids, and administration from the school – especially Mr. Genova who have been very supportive and always made themselves available. Thanks to the CSAC/ committees members who work so hard for the school every year! Thanks to all the students/ parents etc for making this the best school ever!

  1. Election of New CSAC:

Historically, OLS votes as a community and does not have a defined number of voting members. The letter of the Board bylaws,indicates that there should be at least 15-20 voting members. Principal Genova presented the idea of having 20 voting members rather than those who present at every meeting. The group present has decided that we continue to vote as a community and not via a defined number of voting members. This can be revisited at any time.

The Election of the CSAC members was approved as presented.

POSITIONS / Elected Persons
Chair / Jennifer Egsgard
Vice-Chair / Mary Zervas
Treasurer / Julianne Renna
Secretary / Amanda Wells
Bingo Night / Lori Arciero, Melissa Pimentel
Capacity Issues / Rose Silva
Communications / Barb Brzezicki
Community Giving / Eva-Marie Moffat, Monica Marchand, Stefani Fasulo
Enrichment / Helen Patterson, Elisabeth Bonaldi, Michelle Korda
Fundraising: Donations / Noreen Reid
Fun Fair / NEXT YEAR (Mary Fantilli)
Health and Safety / Kathy McKeon, Julie Tricarico, Eva-Marie Moffat
Meagan’s Walk / Eva-Marie Moffat
Members At Large / Hilary Freitas, Julie Tricarico, Tina Kakaria,Marianella de la Barrera, Michelle Korda, Stephen Dunn, Pina DiRuscio-Young, Jennifer Whitmore, Myron Tymochko
Pizza / Sonia Ng
Parent Class Rep Coordinator / Diane Rugosi
Parish Liaison / Lori Kerrigan, Mabel Vasquez-Benac, Carin McLean-Woolley
Pasta Dinner / Rose Silva
Prayer Corner / Stefani Fasulo
Property Management / Leann Sweeney
Showcase Committee / Michelle Montemuro, Elisabeth Bonaldi,
Claudia Gray,
Eva-Marie Moffat
Social / PatriziaDiPietro
Spirit Wear / LeanorSaragosa, Carol Verner, Monica Lee
Sports Field / Joe Kelly, Mary Zervas
Swim Team / Cindy Eveline
  1. Principal’s Report - Joe Genova

Thanks to Joe Orazem for all his great work/ support of the school over the past 5 years. Thanks to the parents as well for their dedication and involvement.

Enrollment: Currently 787 students. The building code (based on number of washrooms) indicates that we can have 790 students. With portables, we are 200% over capacity. There are no students in the catchment that are currently on the waitlist. If the staff washrooms are made available to the students, the capacity would increase to up to 820. There are currently ~50 gifted students (less than ½ are from outside the catchment area).

Sports Field: Was seeded in May 2014; had some new growth. Gave some of the field back to the students (removed the snow fence). There will be a subsequent re-seeding this year after the winter. Astroturf as an option is being considered by the Board. There have been no comments re: the safety of the field. There has been no discussion re: the current cement under the field.

Re-organization: The numbers of actual students attending the school is confirmed in September. Our classes are now set and no students have had to be moved.

FDK: It is a transition for both teachers and students. There is ~$15,000 in the budget for FDK. We have used ~$7500 thus far to ensure the teachers have what they need. There are 2 teachers in FDK who spend ½ time at OLS and ½ time in another school. It appears to be working fine. Other scheduling arrangements are not possible at the moment due to with personnel requirements (seniority etc) with the teachers.

There will be consideration re: purchasing pinnies for the students for safety during off-site trips.

  1. Vice-Principals Report -Nunzio Del Giudice

Curriculum Night: Sold 700 combos! Thanks to the students and teachers who assisted with the execution of this very successful night! Community engagement was really high and parents were very pleased with the 2 teacher sessions. Grade 7 rotary teachers will be made available for 1 ½ day so that parents have an opportunity to meet and discuss with the 3 rotary teachers.

Sacraments/ Liturgical Events: OLS is in close contact with the local parish and attend church for all the liturgical events and the older students are matched with the younger students and this has worked very well in the past and will continue on this year.

Construction: A simple project turned into a complex one over the summer. The construction on the inside is not ready and will take some time. The lower classroom (Rm 420) will be completed likely in mid-October and will be a state of the art room with smart-boards, wifi etc.The other 2 rooms are not structurally sound and our original steel beam manufacturer has gone out of business and we are currently sourcing out a new provider. Also, the masonry work requires re-configuring of the exit in the area. HVAC in the new room has to be a new unit and self-contained and will take some time to install. These issues have delayed completion of the construction project until end of November 2014.

Kindergarten students have staggered recess and lunch in order to use the playground safely. The junior and senior students also have distinct areas in the yard, despite the construction.

Once the construction is complete, 2 classes of grade 7 students will be brought inside. The portables are quite new – central air, wifi, whiteboards etc. The missing desks in one of the portableswill hopefully be on site by the end of September 2014. Moving forward, furniture will be moving toward non-traditional furniture to be on the cutting edge of 21st century education.

3 large storage units have been purchased and are being used to store the musical instruments. The music teacher will be performing theory with the children while construction is ongoing but the instruments and the practical component will be back in the portables once construction is complete.

If there are any students without a textbook etc, have the teacher inform the Vice-Principal to have it ordered immediately.

  1. New CSAC Committee Reports (Chair, Treasurer, Committees- Fundraising, Other)

Fundraising: Noreen Reid: Direct Fundraiser to supply the CSAC – sending an email asking the community to donate. We will do that again this year – tax receipt can be issued. It is expected to generate $25,000. The email will come out next Monday and will last ~3 weeks.

New Chair: Jennifer Egsgard: Thanks to everyone! Lawyer and parent of 2 children- one in grade 2 and one in JK.Will be looking to meet with everyone to get feedback and ideas from the CSAC members. Thanks to Joe for his past service!

New Vice Chair: Mary Zervas: Thanks for your support! Parent of two children (twins!) in grade 2. Looking forward to making this school the best it can be!

New Treasurer: Julianne Renna: Parent of 1 child in grade 2. Excited about getting involved with the school community in a formal manner!

Parent Class Rep: Diane Rugosi: Thanks to all the parent rep volunteers! There is 50% returning and 50% new parent volunteers. The class list will be sent out to all who consented to have their email addresses shared.

Capacity: Rose Silva: With OLS community for 15 years! Capacity issues have been an issue for a long time and therewe will be working hard this year in order to resolve these issues as effectively as possible. We want to keep the communication lines open so please send your feedback as much as possible!

  1. Open Forum: Deferred due to time constraints.
  2. Next meeting: TBD
  3. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 9:15pm.

Contacting CSAC: Parents can contact any CSAC member via e-mail at: or at 416-397-6800, ext. 88246

Other websites

1) - OLS website. Click on “CSAC” on the OLS website to get OLS CSAC information (will be updated shortly)

2) the board CSAC site

3) – School board website (click on CSAC to get board-wide CSAC info)