William G, Davis Jr. Public School Council Meeting

William G, Davis Jr. Public School Council Meeting

April 9, 2015, 6:30 PM

Agenda Item #1 – Attendance/Regrets

Attendees / Regrets / Absent Without Notice
1 / Paul Jackson / Tanja Williamson Jones
2 / Jan Sudona / Mindy Moore
3 / Laurea Navratil Crewe / Ashley Sondhi
4 / Naseema Singh / Blane Saranchuk
5 / Lori Bailey
6 / Melissa Taylor
7 / Julia Bronsteter
8 / Anita Klubal
9 / Cathie Donald
10 / Thea Kerkos-Moore
11 / Sara Tanouye
12 / Shirley Ponka
13 / Kathy Cheong
14 / Penny Lee

• Paul welcomed everyone to introduce themselves.
• Kathy Cheong joins council as non-teaching member.
• As Tanja is away, Penny will be taking the minutes.
• Laurea volunteered to be time keeper.
• Guest Holly Sharpe Spec Ed Consultant in attendance
• Sue Mailhot –Spec Ed teacher in attendance

Agenda Item #2 - Approval of February Minutes

• Julia motioned and Lori seconded.

Agenda Item #3–Treasurer’s Report (Julia)

• As distributed by Julia
• Balance as of March 1, 2015 is $6844.09
• Cash Flow as of April 1, 2015 is $6158.06
• Difference due to book club allocation and cheques written but not cashed

Ways to spend extra money: arts program, new banner, technology fundraising; to be discussed at next meeting; around $3000 to spend

Cathie: if we intend to use the money for next year, then we don’t have to spend it this year; just need to “earmark”/allocate it to something

Agenda #4 – Principal’s Report (Shirley Ponka)

• As attached in Appendix 1

SIP: transitions and sp. Ed. Guided by ministry of Education; monthly IST meetings then decide how to proceed from there; today Sue Mailhot and Holly Sharpe will simplify the process to the school level

Transitions and Special Ed Overview(Sue Mailhot/Holly Sharpe) Handout given out with Sp. Ed. Acronyms

Sp. Ed. starts in the classroom; noticed by parent or teacher; assessment done by teacher; if significant concern, then it is brought to IST meeting; parents may attend but this is usually just a meeting of school staff sharing information and planning strategies; parents are not informed prior to meeting; teachers fill out ILP, documentation for the meeting; stays in students’ records; strategies are presented; if concern is more significant then it goes to SST which includes more professionals; this meeting has to have parents’ consent to discuss their child; parents are also invited; referrals are sent home to be signed and returned; IEP may be developed and is a positive strategy to help with the student’s learning; input is given by parents as well; most parents agree to having IEP for their child; could be headphones, more time, small groups, use of assistive technology; distill the essential ones for their child; goal to move them to grade-level work, “accommodated”,” modified”, “alternate” IEPs; if an identification or placement are sought the case goes to an IPRC meeting; has had all the testing done; school psychologist gives the diagnosis; meeting includes other TDSB staff and another psychologist for another opinion; Holly is like a gatekeeper to access the psychologist and other programs in the board; sometimes assessment is done privately at parents’ costs if the child doesn’t “qualify” for the assessments or help; an “identification” is given to the student; allows access to help for the student; offered placement in special class at home school or another school; HSP: need to qualify by being 2 grade levels below their peers; half day; our SERT was cut, so it becomes the teacher’s job to implement the IEP; could fit a child in the HSP who didn’t qualify but need Sp. Ed.

Staffing: staffing committee met several times; very tight this year; final model submitted today; 2 kindergarten classes 27; gr 1, gr ½, gr 2(20), gr 3(23), gr 4(33), gr 5/6 (29+2), gr 5/6 (31); .5 library, .5 HSP, .5 FSL, 1.0 prep; will know numbers better in September and will be adjusted as needed; class lists: notice will be sent out in May for preference in certain class; input from teacher as well; teachers are placed according to qualifications and preferences

Student agendas: need to know by next week; Sara volunteer to do a google form to be posted on the website to get feedback from parents if they support the agenda

New photographer: we now have a new photographer for our school and they have designed a new banner for us

Agenda Item #5–By Laws Review (Julia/Penny/Paul)

Shirley raised concerns on 3.1 and 3.2 that violate the regulation; Julia noted that Shirley has provided this feedback to the committee in writing in past and Shirley noted that Nancy Angevine-Sands also provided this feedback to council chair on January 20th in an email. Shirley could not provide the regulations references on the spotbut she will check with Nancy Angevine-Sands to see if she is open to advising the committee further. The committee will review and revised as needed according to the Regulation.

Agenda Item #6 – Skate Day Feedback (Paul)

Pre-planning very important; other schools supplied us with all the skates that we needed; consider skate donation drive; hot chocolate was donated; lots prep involved; next year via the report will outline all the tasks; some stress with the staff with trying on the skates to fit; more skates needed this year; more than 1 skate day was suggested; thanks to Kathy Cheong who took care of the paperwork and making sure kids got on the buses properly; Julia mentioned that TDSB can approve for ice rink at school; council would have to pay for the costs of the rink; Laurea and Naseema has volunteered to head up skate drive, Anita and Julia will help out; all adults need helmets as well

Agenda Item #7 – Kindergarten Orientation Update (Melissa)

Separating the kids from the parents at the Open House, June 11th; still looking at package; will ask council for more money this year; plastic portfolio with book and pencil with labels; $7/child; next meeting will have something more concrete; Naseema motioned and Lori seconded; unanimous vote.

Agenda Item # 8– Committee/Project Updates (Paul)

• Fundraising: still need members to form committee; need to look at fundraising for next year; Paul to send out request for committee
• Book Club (Shirley Lo-Cadotte): not in attendance
• Spirit Days (Lori, Julia): next spirit day co-incides with dance-a-thon; dress up as your favourite rock star; the next one is May 21st and it will be “Twin Day” (2 students create twin outfits); last one will be on Play Day and kids will all dress in the chosen “colour” of their classroom.
• Pizza Lunch Incident (Lori): The snacks bought for the last pizza lunch had a big no peanut label but after further inspection, it was noted that the packaging said “May contain tree nuts”. Once it was realized, Ms. Biergard was notified and Ms. Ponka was also informed; Epi pens was gathered; stopped giving out snacks; kids were identified; snacks were removed; only one anaphylactic child ate the brownie;the child did not have a reaction; the committee met with the parents of the child; need checks and balances in place; there should be others to check the labels;
• Dance a Thon (Julia)
• April 23, 2015

Things are coming along well; money collected in classroom need to be locked up; school council may need to purchase their own safe to keep money; Paul will look into the cost of safe; Julia put forth a motion to purchase a safe; Melissa seconded the motion; unanimous; Paul will buy the safe

• Grade 6 Graduation
• Raised $583.00 so far with clay charms/origami

There is a cap ($500/term) but need to know what the money is going towards

• Pro Grant

Anita will be meeting with Carolyn for her report from last year’s PRO event; once that report is submitted, then we could submit our PRO grant application; Anita suggested sp. Ed and kindie package for new parents to get more involved; could be for an information session as well; paying someone to train the parents on strategies with children with special needs; Paul, Anita and Thea to be on the committee; deadline is May 19th; Anita motioned and Laurea seconded; 9 members agreed on this initiative for the grant

Agenda Item # 9 – Vice Chair Position (Paul)

Paul called for anyone interested in the vice-Chair position; Penny offered to take position; open vote; unanimous

Agenda Item # 10 – Council Office Equipment/Stationery Budget (Paul)

Paul suggested having a computer and printer in the council office; accessible documents; Shirley recommended going back to the TDSB email so that it can be transferred to next Chair/committee

Agenda Item # 11 – New Business

Tanja: please add Anita and Kathy to new emails; send minutes to Kathy Cheong to post on our website.

Meeting adjourned 8:38PM – Next Meeting is Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 6:30 PM

Decision Log

Motion Raised / Raised By/On / Seconded By / Approved Y/N
Request for Council to allocate $500.00 in treasury line to newly formed book club / Shirley Lo-Cadotte on October 1 / Laurea / Approved
Council to pay for buses for skate day / Paul / Lori Bailey / Approved
Timekeeper should be assigned for each meeting / Lori Bailey / Penny Lee / Yes
We should consider Lunch Lady 2x a week instead of one / Paul Jackson / Deferred to next meeting
Process for NSF cheques –send back copy of cheque with request for paying cash going forward / Julia on Jan 14 / Lori / Consensus was this would be the best approach
NSF Cheque process:
Agreed one time offenders will be requested to submit cash only if
they don’t reimburse.Families that
reimburse the funds lost via NSF
cheque can re-send cheques / Julia on Feb 18 / N/A - Consensus / Consensus was that this would be the best approach
Minutes will be circulated to the entire group after each meeting. Feedback will be provided directly to Tanja via email with a time limit on comments / Tanja / Paul / Consensus was that this would be the best approach
New Community Rep will be Anita Klubal / Paul on Feb 18 / Vote not required – position acclaimed / Position acclaimed since we currently only have 13 voting members and our current bylaws allow up to 20
V3.0 Bylaws Approved pending changes to current draft / Melissa on Feb 18 / Paul on Feb 18 / Yes - Vote Passed
Spending $7/student for kindergarten welcome package / Naseema on
April 9 / Lori on April 9 / Unanimous vote; amount passed
PRO grant application for Sp. Ed. for new parents to the school and parents of kindergarten students / Anita on April 9 / Laurea on April 9 / 9 members voted and vote was passed

Appendix 1 – Principal’s Report

Principal’s Report

April 2015

To: William G. Davis Council Members:

As recommended by this council, I will continue to send out the Principals’ Report in advance of the meeting so that members can read these updates in advance and we can spend the Principal Report time focussing on curriculum. Tonight, please welcome representative from our Transitions Team, teacher, Sue Mailhot for coming out to share with us tonight. S. Ponka

Items for questions and discussion:

SIP: Transitions

MART (Methods and Resource Teacher) and P (Principal) set out to de-mystify the sea of Acronyms in the realm of Special Education. Handout will be provided.

Staffing Committee

Council reps Lori Bailey and Tanja Williamson-Jones have been consulted and provided input on the 3 models that our school staffing coming is considering. The final model will be sent to our Superintendent on April 8th for approval. Presentation of the models will be considered at our School Council meeting on April 2, 2015.

In April a message will be sent to parents indicating an opportunity to describe any special needs and or accommodations that need to be considered for your child when we are making class groupings.

Student Agendas

Our staff members are looking for input regarding student agendas.

Question: Does council support asking parents to pay for agendas or should we find other means of communication? Agendas cost: $5.00

Staff members support the use of the agenda Grade 1-6-find them to be a valuable organizational and communication tool. What do parents think/find?

Information Items:

Art Engage Program

William G. Davis is being considered for the Art Engage Program. I have put our interest forward to Debbie Cheng, TDSB Art Consultant. If we are accepted to the program we will receive 20 days of instruction with lead teachers and accessibility to the TDSB Creates Festival. Thank you to parent, Jocelyn Punoose for expressing interest in supporting this Visual Arts initiative.

Healthy Futures

A recent report has come out noting that nearly a third of Toronto students are overweight or obese. The Toronto Public Department has advised our school board to develop a health strategy to maintain and improve youth health. The Davis staff is responding by continuing to build and and support our “healthy snacks”, “no food sharing”, and following the School Food and Beverage Policy. This will also support our efforts to better support the possibility of a food allergy exposure. We are also looking at ways to improve our Daily Physical Activity. (DPA)

The new curriculum for Health and Physical Education has been released.

Caring and Safe Schools

Staff members will be taking part in a Mindfulness-Professional Development Opportunity on –May 7h.

Restorative Practice-2 Staff members are going for Part 2 of Restorative Practice Training this spring.

Technology Update

The Technology Fundraising Committee’s goal was to raise enough money reimburse the school budget for the 15 refurbished computers in the lab. The cost of the 15 refurbished computers was 174.90 X 15= $2,623.50. The Fundraising Committee raised $432 (Spook-o-grams), $900 (popcorn) and 3780 (Read-a-thon). This leaves and excess of $2488.50 which has been dedicated to the purchase of VGA cables for the classroom Ipads and 5 Refurbished Laptops.

We plan on selling popcorn again after March Break until June.

Goal for next year:

• 30 Ipads = 3 X 10 pack (4,143.00)=$12,439.00
• 30 slim grips=30 X 31.92=$957.60
• cart for up to 30 ipads=$1684.00

Total for 30 ipads, grips and cart=$15,080.60

Tech Plan for fall fundraising –QSP magazine sales. Orders will go home by Thanksgiving.

Volunteers

Volunteer Tea –Our committee will be planning an opportunity to extend our gratitude to our school volunteers. Please watch for date: all council members are included.

New Volunteers –New and returning volunteers need to report to the office at the beginning of the year. It takes some time to process a PRC so please encourage parents to come in as soon as possible. Starting September 2015, we will be requiring PRC’s for all parents attending school trips and excursions, as well as parent drivers.

Kindergarten Registration and Visitation-Our Kindergarten Staff are working in conjunction with our School Council Parents Reps and volunteers to provide a welcoming day for our new Kindergarten students on June 11. Among other items our SC members will be providing new parents the forms required to get a PRC done. This way, if done in advance they may be cleared for volunteering in advance of the school year.

New Photographer-Edge Imaging

Tentative Photo Date –Sept 30, 2015*(subject to change if school reorganization is required)

Bridget is eager to serve us and suggested a fundraising possibility for our next Curriculum Night called Family Photo Booth. Volunteers: please let me know if you are interested in organizing this fundraiser!

Music

Our music team is grateful for the funds our Dance-a-thon will derive. On the Music Wish list includes such things as: chinrests, repairs for cello, viola and cello cases and viola strings. Ms. Kim is comprising a cost list.

Next Council Meeting: May 6, 2015