St. Fidelis Catholic School Advisory Council

Meeting Minutes

December 17, 2012

CSAC Meeting Attendees:

Staff/Admin: Michael Caccamo (Principal), Maria Aloisi (Vice Principal), Anna Ricci (Staff)

Executive: Dominic Staniscia (Chair), Pat Lanni (Vice-Chair), Brian Jahoor (Treasurer) and Lucy Sestito (Secretary)

Members at Large: Pat Pacchiarotti, Stefania Sottile, Frank Sottile, Laura D’Ippolito, Vivian Pivetta, Joe Carretto. Gina Isabella

Others: Antonella Rizza, Rosa Serafino Anthony Cedrone, Mike Reonegro

Invited Guests:Angelo Sangiorgio (Associate Director of Planning), Doug Yack (School Superintendent), Sal Piccininni (Trustee Ward 3), John Volek (Senior Coordinator Planning and Accountability), Maia Puccetti (Superintendent of Facilities Services)

Meeting commenced at 7:02 p.m.:

Opening Prayer

Led by Ms. Aloisi

Agenda

TCDSB representatives were invited to this CSAC meeting to provide an update on the Board’s Capital Plan for the Full Day Learning Kindergarten (FDK) program and the Board’s Attendance Boundary Policy and Review.

The meeting was intended to be an information session for parents/staff.

St. Fidelis School is slated for FDK in year 5 (commencing September 2014) of the Ministry of Education FDK program.

Boundary Policy/Review

  • St. Fidelis School is slated for FDK in year 5 – Spetember 2014. Along with FDK comes a boundary review for JK/SK.
  • Pupil distributinon map was reviewed.
  • Boundary will help St. Fidelis control future enrolment.
  • Only 6-7 schools in the TCDSB have fixed boundaries.
  • St. Fidelis has been identified as one of the schools for a fixed boundary review.
  • It takes 6-7 months to complete a boundary review, which means the soonest it would be available is September 2013.
  • 67% of students fall within current catchment area.
  • Enrolment is projected to grow from 600 to 630.
  • 2 classroom additions have been approved for FDK by Ministry.
  • TCDSB is asking for 8-10 classroom additions to be able to remove portables and position the school to accommodate the projected enrolment growth.
  • TCDSB has requested additional funding but is not sure funding will be made available.
  • Building code and collective agreement dictate the enrolment of the school.
  • FDK is projecting 4 classes for our school.
  • In Jan/Feb 2013 boundary review to commence for St. Fidelis, St. Francis Xavier and Immaculate Conception.
  • Policy regarding grandfathering and boundary lines will be determined by boundary review committee, director and planning staff which ultimately recommends the boundary to the Board of Trustees

Capital Program

  • 21 schools fall into Year 5 FDK classes requiring FDK addition.
  • Facilities department is presently pre-qualifying architects.
  • Feasibility study will be started soon.
  • With a smaller addition, construction in summer/fall will give us a good shot at being done by September 2014.
  • By Jan/Feb TCDSB should hear back from the Ministry on its request for additional funding.
  • Advocacy group should be put in place to move this initiative forward.
  • Advocacy has to be done before the provincial election is called.
  • Best Start Program will likely disappear as a result of FDK but the provider will likely be asked to manage the before and after school program.
  • Space will be made available if the day care program is discontinued at the school.
  • It would be a good idea to reach out to other CSACs to advocate for extra construction funding.
  • MPP is supportive – to ask for 10 classroom addition.
  • A CSAC sub-committee of 7-8 people would work well.
  • Advocacy needed to help TCDSB get building permits required for a larger scale project.
  • For bigger addition we’d need site plan approval

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Debriefing Session

  • A debriefing session was held at 8:37 p.m.
  • Overall consensus was that meeting went well and was very informative

Action Steps

  • Reach out to other CSACs in similar position as ours (i.e. FDK Year 5, portables)
  • Advocate for the capital proposal that will be put forward by the TCDSB to the Ministry of Education
  • Reach out to MPP for support

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