School Council Minutes

Regency Acres Public School

January 24, 2008

 

 

Attendance

John Lester, Cathy Martino-Porretta, Mike Adams, Celine Tremblay-Steffensen, Heather Sulkers, Shelley Rose, Laura Parkin, Sue Roy, Suzanne Judges, Larry Green, Maggie Thompson, Kim Hosmer, Vicki Dietz

Regrets:  Amanda Claveau, Lisa Neiles, Lora Georgiou, Terry Hampson

 

Welcome

Mike began the meeting at 7:11 p.m.

 

Approval of the Agenda

The agenda was approved as circulated.  The motion was made by Suzanne, seconded by Shelley and carried unanimously.

 

Approval of the November 20, 2007 Minutes

The Minutes were approved as circulated.  The motion was made by Shelley, seconded by Celine and carried unanimously.

 

Old Business

Lunch Programs: (Homemade to Go handout given to Council) Vicki reported that The Lunch Lady company did not respond to her calls, so she explained the Homemade to Go program.  Parents are able to go online and register their child/children and then they may order lunch up to 10:00 p.m. the night before school.  The products are nut-free.  The lunches are delivered to the foyer and lunch prices start at $4.99.  The school does not profit from this.  Since the Wednesday lunch order forms for the next session have already been returned to school, the remainder of this year’s lunch program would not be affected by Homemade to Go sales.  Council agreed that parents should not be able to order from Homemade to Go on Wednesdays or monthly hot dog days as this could interfere with school fundraising.  Sue made a motion to approve the use of the Homemade to Go program for the remainder of the year, blocking out Wednesdays and monthly hot dog days.  Kim seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.

 

Financial Report (Report given to Council)  

The current bank balance is $57,858.91.  The total committed funds are $22,330.00 and the total uncommitted funds are $35,528.91.  The profit from the second session of the Wednesday lunch program has not been reflected in these numbers, as the session has not yet begun.

 

Principal’s Report

Midi Lab: Mr. Moore explained that Regency is the only elementary school in the region to have a midi lab and he gave Council a demonstration of the lab which is set up in the library.  The Intermediate Division students (Gr. 7 and 8) are on a two-week rotation of six students each for the lab.  They are working on chords, melody and lyrics in partners to write songs.  The students seem to be enjoying this new experience.  They are using the programs “Band in a Box” and “Garage Band.”  There may be a song writing contest in the spring.  The grade 6’s will be introduced to the lab in the spring. 

 

 

Portable Lab:  The value of a portable lab for student use upstairs has been previously discussed by Council.  The school will be wireless in a few months. John stated that the cost of 22 laptops and a cart (to hold up to 30 laptops) is $24,800.00. 

 

Laptops for Teachers:  (Laptops for Teacher Demonstration/Preparation Report given to Council).  Cathy discussed the value of laptops for teacher use.  The research supporting a teacher laptop program and the benefits to students were discussed.  Regency staff was surveyed and 16 teachers are interested in having a laptop. They have each signed a Letter of Intent, stating their commitment to attend and seek out regular technology PD; provide PD and support to others; demonstrate effective use of technology in the classroom; use the technology regularly to enrich lessons using technology and peripherals; explore new technologies, programs etc. and work with others to further technology at Regency Acres.  The refurbished laptops would remain the property of the Board of Education and would move with the teachers from year to year. The Board would maintain the computers.  The school already has three LCD projectors for use with the computers.  The cost of the 16 computers ($700.00 each) would be $11,200.00.  Vicki made a motion to purchase the portable lab and cart and teacher laptops for a maximum of $36,000.00.  Kim seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously. 

 

Playground Structure:  The subject of the playground structure was brought up during the discussion of spending money on technology, as Council recognizes the importance of this expenditure as well.  Council has previously discussed the issue of replacing the playground structure in the future.  John said that the Board is responsible for maintaining the ground and the school is responsible for everything above-ground.  John stated that new equipment would cost approximately $25,000.00.  The current equipment was repaired last year for a cost of $3,000.00 and it should last for about five more years.  Kim made a motion that half of the Direct Donation fundraising money will go into a Playground Account for replacing the playground structure when necessary.  Larry seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.

 

Soccer Field:  John has a meeting with the superintendent in early February to discuss the situation with the soccer field between Regency and St. Joseph’s Catholic School (adjacent to Regency).  The field will be torn up and new sod will be put in place in order to fix the current drainage problem. 

 

Bullying Survey:  (Regency Bullying Survey Results given to Council).  The results of the survey were discussed.  No significant gender differences were found.  The results were encouraging, with 51% of students feeling very safe; 45% feeling sometimes safe and 4% feeling not very safe.  Regarding direct bullying, 55% of students said they were never bullied; 34% said they were bullied once or twice; 9% said they were bullied a few times and 2% said they were bullied a lot.  When asked how much of a problem bullying is at Regency, 69% reported it is a bit of a problem; 23% reported it is no problem at all and 8% reported it is a big problem.  The issue of bullying is discussed in the V.I.P. program and classroom programs as well.  Teachers deal with bullying but if it is an on-going issue, John becomes involved. 

 

Electives:   Electives will be held on Jan. 31, Feb. 4 and Feb. 11.

 

 

 

 

Committee Reports

 

Fundraising

Sue reported that the committee is in search of new Fundraising Chairs for next year.  Direct Donation will be held in the spring.  A raffle will be taking place as well.

 

Communications

Laura will e-mail Kim for the updates on the SCEC Committees.

 

Kids Care

The next initiative is Valentines for Seniors.  Teachers have been given notices.  A poetry contest will be held and a poem will accompany the cards.

 

Enrichment

The Art and Math clubs are up and running.

 

Volunteer

An information session is being organized to recruit new volunteers and re-connect and gain feedback from current volunteers.  Refreshments will be needed.  Kim made a motion to approve spending $50.00 for the refreshments for the volunteer information session.  Vicki seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.   

 

*Council briefly discussed ideas to encourage more parental involvement in School Council meetings.  Mike deferred this discussion to next month’s meeting.

 

Sunshine

The next Family Ski Night will take place on Jan. 25th.

 

Holiday Heritage

This event was a great success in December.  The committee went over their budget and the additional cost (about $150.00) was covered by the school budget.

 

Mail Bag

The nominations for the Awards for Teaching Excellence close next week (Jan. 28th).  If you are interested in nominating a teacher, please speak to Mike.

 

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 9:23 p.m.

 

The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 19th at 7:00 p.m. in the library.