School Council Minutes
Regency Acres Public School
October 23, 2007
Attendance
John Lester, Cathy Martino-Porretta, Heather Sulkers, Celine Tremblay-Steffensen, Suzanne Judges, Laura Parkin, Terry Hampson, Amanda Claveau, Maggie Thompson
Regrets: Lisa Neiles, Vicki Dietz, Shelley Rose, Kim Hosmer, Lora Georgiou, Larry Green, Mike Adams
Welcome
Amanda began the meeting at 7:12 p.m.
Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was approved as circulated. The motion was made my Maggie, seconded by Heather and carried unanimously.
Approval of the Minutes for September 25, 2007
The Minutes could not be approved as they were not available at the meeting.
New Business
Lunch Lady: We will discuss the issue of providing the services of the Lunch Lady at our next meeting.
Financial Report (Handout given to Council)
Celine stated that our budget is currently $58,811.85. We have $29,740.20 in committed funds, which leaves $29,071.65 in uncommitted funds. The lunch program figures are an approximation as the program is on-going.
Principal’s Report
Classroom Expenditures: (Handout given to Council) John circulated the “Recommendation to School Council for the Expenditure of School Council Funds” report and Council discussed the recommendations. The total expenditures are $14,534.00. Heather made a motion to approve spending $14,534.00 for all items requested (in the first section of the report). The motion was seconded by Terry and approved unanimously.
Staffing: The school has been given an additional half-time Education Assistant position. Debbie McDonald (currently half-time) will be full-time as of tomorrow.
School Council Forum: The School Council Forum will be held on October 29th. Anyone interested in attending should speak to John.
Bullying Survey: (Handout given to Council) Cathy explained that a survey will be given to the students, based on the Ministry survey. The survey was circulated to Council members. It will be given to students in grades 4-8. The school will then have information in order to address issues of concern. We will also be able to celebrate successes. It is a pro-active initiative and bullying is not viewed as a big issue at Regency. We will have a baseline for behavior at the school. Heather inquired about having speakers at Council meetings to increase parental involvement. John said that Council has had speakers in the past (mostly teachers explaining their programs). Based on the results of the survey, we may invite speakers to discuss issues (i.e. cyber bullying). This issue will be further explored after we have the results of the survey.
Midi-Lab: The lab is up and running. It is essentially computers hooked up to (music) keyboards to allow students to compose music. Mr. Moore is training students and eventually whole classes will be trained. There will be a composing contest at the end of the year and the winner will have a CD made. Students will be presenting their compositions to Council in a couple of months. We are the only school in this Board to have this system. Council members were given a tour of the lab in the library.
Remembrance Day: The assembly will take place on Friday, November 9th as November 12th is a P.A. Day.
Committee Reports
Fundraising Committee
The Dance-a-thon has collected $11,304.44 so far.
Regency Kids Care Committee
The Hallowe’en loot bags are being assembled and twelve classrooms are participating. Approximately 150-180 loot bags will be made and delivered to Rose of Sharon, Children’s Aid Society, Yellow Brick House, Sandgate and Sandlake by Oct. 30th.
Environmental Committee
The committee requested funds to maintain the gardens this year. Celine made a motion to approve spending $500.00 to maintain the gardens. Amanda seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.
Volunteer Committee
The directories have been delivered and 400 students participated this year. Every year this number has grown. The committee will be working on enhancing the welcome package.
Enrichment Committee
The committee is looking at including a book club for grades 4-6 and a Math Club for Grade 2, 5 and 6. The Winter Arts Program will be running for most of the classes.
Holiday Heritage Committee
This year’s theme will be New Year celebrations around the world. It will represent North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Takahashi, Australia and New Zealand. It will run on the night of the school Holiday Concert. The committee requested an additional $400.00 for this year. Last year many items were donated in order to stay with the $400.00 budget, but this cannot be expected every year. Council will discuss the budget for this committee at the next Council meeting. Cathy will contact Kim to ensure a representative is present at our next meeting.
Communication Committee
Laura will talk to Vic, and she would like each committee to have its own page of information on the website. Next month we will have a group picture taken of Council for the website.
Hospitality Committee
The Teacher Appreciation dinner will take place on the evening of Nov. 30th (Parent-Teacher Interview Night). Council members are welcome to attend.
Other
Pizza Lunch Update: Pizza Lunch prices have gone up slightly this year to cover increased costs from suppliers, and orders remain strong despite this action. A pizza now costs $3.75 while a sub meal is $4.25. The veggies increased in price to $1.50 (sold at cost). More healthy options may be added to the menu for the second term (i.e. salads from Mr. Sub). The desserts being offered are cookies, brownies and sugar cookies (on a three-week rotation).
Campbell’s Soup Labels: Council will discuss this program at our next meeting. Lisa will be asked to update Council on this issue.
Mail Bag
There was no information to report.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 p.m.
The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 20th at 7:00 p.m. in the library.