SAC MINUTES

12-18-15

The meeting was called to order at 7:15 a.m.

Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Veliz welcomed all in attendance.

The minutes for the SAC meeting of 11-20-15, was reviewed and edited. The November 2015 minutes was not approved due to insufficient attendance by our SAC members.

Principal’s Report –

Mrs. Veliz reported that several recent events were very successful. These events included the following:

  • A wonderful school-wide Thanksgiving feast was held in November 2015
  • Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus visited students of the primary grades in December 2015
  • The fifth grade parent meeting on December 2nd was a productive one
  • The winter holiday performances held at Plantation High School were spectacular

Special thanks goes to our Music director, Mr. Wilson, and all the wonderful teachers who assisted him in preparing the students for the holiday shows.

Mr. Balchaitis was promoted to the Assistant Principal position at Virginia Shuman Young. In his former position, Mrs. Shelley Lewis, is now our new ESE Specialist. Our new Autism Coach is Mrs. Smiley. A vacancy remains in Mrs. Smiley’s former position in the ESE cluster.

Mrs. Veliz thanked ASP for their continued sponsorship of several programs at Mirror Lake. These programs include the following:

  • A Pre-Robotics Program
  • 3Doodler: With this program, students will be able to utilize geometric shapes to construct three-dimensional objects. This program will assist us in achieving the “E” for engineering, an essential part of our STEM district goals.

Upcoming Events

Early Release Day-January 7, 2016

Teacher Planning Day-January 8, 2016

(ASP will cater lunch for the staff on January 8, 2016)

Walk for Autism-January 23, 2016

(Mrs. Smiley is coordinating a group of parents and students to participate in this important event)

Lowes and Wal-Mart Beautification Project-January 30, 2016

Lowes and Wal-Mart will collaborate in cleaning up our grounds.

Mrs. Veliz invited local Boys and Girls Scouts to participate.

Details on the PTO sponsored Wellness Walk/Run Fundraiser is forthcoming.

On behalf of Ms. Rosa and the Mirror Lake staff, Mrs. Veliz thanked everyone for their continued support and participation. She wished everyone a wonderful winter break and a very Happy New Year!

Safety

Mrs. Veliz alerted parents via a phone link on 12/ 17/15, in response to terror threats that were made toward several school districts in our nation, including Dade and Broward County schools. Although these threats were not credible, our district and school are taking safety precautions.

  • Mrs. Veliz ensured that more walkie-talkies were disseminated to a greater number of staff members
  • Our School Resource Officer, Mr. Hamilton, will be more visible on campus
  • We had a recent Code Red drill in partnership with the Broward Police Department. This was a learning process to help us practice/tweek our safety procedures. Some errors were noted during the drill and adjustments will be made. Two classes exited the building during a fake pulling of the fire alarm. Overall, the student body remained extremely quiet and calm. Parents were notified about this drill and will continue to be alerted about each drill or actual emergency event in the future.

A+ Recognition Funds Proposal

On January 6, 2016, our state will vote on whether recognition funds should be issued to schools using FSA test scores as is, or with scoring modifications. If modifications are made, our current school grade of “C” may be improved allowing us to receive A+ Recognition Funds. Mrs. Veliz would like us to be proactive and edit our A+ Funds Proposal ballot in the event that modifications are made to the grades.

Mrs. Veliz explained that she would like to edit the number of proposals on the ballot--reducing the choices from 4 options, to 2 options. The option, “None of the above” will remain on the ballot. Mrs. Veliz emphasized that all staff members are valuable and that she would like all to have access to any available funds if our school qualifies.

Mrs. Veliz invited all SAC members present to express their views regarding the ballot choices, and the related staff members who should receive the funds.

Ms. Powell suggested that we include former staff members who were employed during the 2014-2015 school year, such as former ESE Specialist, Mr. Balchaitis, and former SAC member Jannelle Miller. Mrs. Watkins suggested the possibility of including new hires--allowing them to receive a percentage or set amount. Mrs. Veliz mentioned that it is a good idea to acknowledge the new hires with a set amount, rather than excluding them. Mrs. Nichols mentioned that new hires might be eligible to receive funds from their former school also. Mrs. Hynes suggested removing proposal two all together as this option excludes those who worked last year.

The SAC team approved of keeping Proposal One on the ballot, removing the phrase “Excludes new hires” and instead, adding the phrase, “New hires will receive $______(set amount)”

Mrs. Veliz proposed that we have an earlier SAC meeting when school resumes after winter break, to be held on January 8, 2016, on Teacher Planning Day. This will allow us sufficient time to notify the faculty, and hold a staff vote on Wednesday, January 13, 2016. If necessary, the SAC will reconvene on January 15, 2016, to discuss the A+ Recognition funds.

Title I

A recent Title I parent meeting was held at Wilton Manors, on December 10, 2016. Our Title I Parent Representative, Mrs. Munroe, mentioned that it was a privilege to attend the meeting. Facilitators at the meeting provided strategies that parents can effectively use to engage their children in learning. These strategies involved parents and their children making comparisons/contrasts about popular TV shows, music, and trends of the past and present. Mrs. Munroe shared an activities calendar that parents can continue to utilize with their children. Mrs. Munroe is looking forward to attending the Title I Parent Seminar, to be held in January 2016. SAC Chair, Mrs. Nichols, thanked Mrs. Munroe for her time, and for sharing the terrific strategies she learned.

SIP Update and Accreditation

Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Veliz attended a meeting on 12/11/15, to learn more about the Accreditation Process. In future weeks, we will continue to revise the artifacts and evidence for all accreditation standards and indicators to ensure that each one is current and properly uploaded. The deadline for all uploaded evidence and artifacts for accreditation is February 2016. School visitations will follow.

Mrs. Nichols announced that we are now able to view our SIP document with accreditation evidence and artifacts online. Mrs. Nichols led the SAC team through the steps for accessing our School Improvement Plan with accreditation information via the website,

Mrs. Veliz will also be including SIP and accreditation information in the upcoming newsletter.

The SAC meeting was adjourned at 8:10 a.m.
The next SAC meeting will be held on January 8, 2016.