William G, Davis Jr. Public School Council Meeting
October 1st, 2014, 6:30 PM
Attendees / Regrets1 / Kristy Doucette
2 / Lori Bailey
3 / Michelle Winstone
4 / Kathy Cheong
5 / Laurea Navratil Crewe
6 / Sara Tanouye
7 / Paul Jackson
8 / Carolyn Dunn
9 / Cathie Donald
10 / Carrie Gorman
11 / Lynda Kaiser
12 / Thea Kerkos-Moore
13 / Tanja Williamson Jones
14 / Julia Bronsteter
15 / Penny Lee
16 / Mindy Moore
17 / Shirley Lo-Cadotte
18 / Melissa Taylor
19 / Blane Saranchuk
20 / Rayaan Hamoui
21 / Shirley Ponka
22 / Naseema Singh
23 / Ashley Sondhi
Agenda Item #2 - Approval of June Minutes
§ Approved
Agenda Item #3 - Election Process/Roles Presentation – Nancy Angevine-Sands (Equal Step)
· Handbook developed by Board, references 4 stages of School Council
o Forming – elections – what we are doing tonight
o Storming – getting to know the council/figuring out key skills
o Norming – developing of skills/listening/talking
o Performing – execution of skills. Don’t expect to be able to execute/deliver right away – these stages take time, esp. when new members
· Conflict of Interest
o Employees of the TDSB may serve on council if you are member of Board at another school.
o If you are an employee of the Board at this school, you cannot be on council. Employees of the Board cannot have an exec position
o You can serve as a teaching or non- teaching member if you work at this school. Employees of board can hold exec positions, just not chair or co-chair
o Other conflicts – direct and actual (e.g. cannot vote if you own the restaurant that is bidding on pizza lunches)
§ Perceived conflicts – (e.g. your spouse has a job that does business with the board and may benefit from a decision – you must declare it and cannot vote)
Agenda Item # 3 - Election for Council’s Voting Members
Those who expressed interest in becoming a voting member had biographies summarized on a handout that was circulated. Introductions went around the table. All voting members expressing interest were acclaimed (current bylaws limit voting members to 20).
The 2014-2015 School Council Voting Members are:
1. Carolyn Dunn
2. Paul Jackson
3. Julia Bronsteter
4. Tanja Williamson Jones
5. Mindy Moore
6. Melissa Taylor
7. Ashley Sondhi
8. Blane Saranchuk
9. Linda Kaiser
10. Lori Bailey
11. Laurea Navratil Crewe
12. Michelle Winstone
13. Naseema Singh
14. Penny Lee
15. Cathie Donald
16. Rayaan Hamoui
Agenda Item #4 - Parent Engagement/School Council Presentation (Nancy Angevine-Sands)
· Council is only one small part of family engagement. Why is it important? All research shows when parents are engaged, kids do better
· Roles of School Council include:
o Promotion of student achievement
§ Enhances accountability of system
§ Focus should be what can you do to help students achieve to the best of their ability
o Consultation with parents about matters under consideration of Council
§ While you can’t consult with everyone on every decision – keep up ongoing dialogue
o Develop bylaws
o Keep minutes and financial records (4 years minimum)
o Produce annual report to be submitted to principal and Board
o Act as an advisory group
§ Provide advice to principal and Board on any matter, although this advice does not have to be taken
§ Principal and Board are required to report back what the decision was based on Council’s advice
· Membership of Councils:
o Parents must always out-number everyone else (quorum)
o Whatever quorum is, majority must always be parents
o Membership can include parents, teachers, guardians, local community member(s)
o Committees must have a school council member on every committee
o Mandate:
§ Elected and appointed are normally once a year
§ Elected and appointed members may seek additional terms
§ Bylaws should state any limitations on number of terms
· Executive in By-Laws:
o Chair or co-chairs or chair and vice-chair
o Secretary
o Treasurer
· Chair Responsibilities:
o Arrange for meetings
o Prepare agendas
o Chair council meetings
o Ensure minutes are recorded and maintained
o Facilitate resolution of conflict
o Ex-officio on all committees
o Communicate w/principal on behalf of council
· Parent Rep Responsibilities:
o Participate on committees established by council
o Contribute to discussion of council
o Solicit views of parents and members of community to share with council
o Observe council’s code of ethics and bylaws
· Principal Responsibilities
o Conduit between here and board
o Have access to all policies/procedures
o Act as a resource and assist council in obtaining information
o Solicit parent views
o Distribute annual report
o Distribute MoE materials for councils and post
o Give written election notice 14 days prior and post
o Attend every meeting of school council or send rep
· How to deal with conflicts:
o Responsibility of chair to resolve conflict
o Regulations state that councils have conflict resolution guidelines in bylaws
o Personal issues are not allowed to come before the council, councils may only address issues affected the broader school population
· How to have effective meetings:
o Create an atmosphere of trust & acceptance
o Address one item at a time
o Resolve issues in a reasonable timeframe
o End meetings on the agreed upon time
o Ensure Minutes are accurate
o Establish different communication strategies – e.g. newsletters, online, etc.
o Be aware of different languages spoken at school
o Be transparent, inclusive & accountable
· 4 Core Beliefs:
o All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them
o All parents have the capacity to support their children’s learning
o Parents and school staff should be equal partners in children’s learning
o The responsibility for building partnerships b/t schools and home rests primarily with school/school council
Book Recommendation: Beyond the Bake Sale– Karen Mapp. Excellent read on Parent Engagement
Agenda Item # 5 - Treasurer’s Report (Michelle Winstone)
· As per handout:
o Balance as of October 1 - $4865.91
o Aussie X total for school to absorb - only $208.15
Agenda Item #6 - Principal’s Report (Shirley Ponka)
· Thanks to everyone for coming out
· Safe and positive start to new year
· Traffic situation out front is much better, there was a scare on the last day of school when a toddler got out of car seat in car left in car park and wandered into East Ave. Was stopped thank goodness and no one was hurt. Driveway safety continues to be major concern
o Appreciate the ongoing help in the area
o Safety Patrollers have been trained and new team is out there
· Terry Fox Assembly and Run successful completed on Sept 24
· Developed Partnership with U of T and will receive funding for pollination garden out front
· Aussie X/Curriculum Night:
o Well attended and lots of fun
o Long evening but people really appreciated the less formal vibe to the evening
o Good feedback so far
o Aussie X were here for 3 days, kids were all taught the sports
o School was provided balls from Aussie X, will find out where parents can buy them as well and share in newsletter
· Teams and clubs ongoing
· September was very busy – staff reorg that happened affected students and staff
o Kindergarten projection was off – down 14
o All other classes were as projected
o Lost one FT teacher
o Had to reorganize 3 small kindergarten classrooms into two 30-student classrooms
o Fortunately did not lose the most junior teacher on staff as one teacher extended a leave to Christmas, and another agreed to start a leave early
o Kindergarten families had to make adjustments but all seems to have gone smoothly so far
· EQAO – scores declined in grade 6 math. Consistent with Board results, looking at where we fell down
o Grade 3s improved
o REFLEX (online math program)– has that made a difference? Something the committee should look at and we should determine whether or not we support it
· Cross Country – big meet at Thomson Park this Saturday Oct 4, rain or shine
· Annual We Day – Social Justice Program – students/staff attending this week
· Book Club – Open to Grade 3 to 6, once a week at lunch hour
· Special Ed group – putting together IEPs for students who need them
· Gifted Assessments occurring (Grade 3)
· Technology Committee – aggressively seeking more funds (Kathy Cheong). Popcorn, Read-a-thon, Spook-a-grams set for later in October.
· Admin Team has met
· Safe and Caring Schools team has met – basic covering all policies & procedures, fire drills and lockdowns
· All of teaching staff have been trained on duty to report child abuse & neglect – changes due to Jeffrey Baldwin inquest. Everyone has the duty to report it to children’s aid if you witness it
· Budget Committee
o Due at end of October
· Pizza Lunch & Direct Donation coming
· Looking forward to this year being positive & interactive
o Encourage use of agenda
o Get all facts if something is upsetting you & come in to discuss
o Communicate to students that school should be a safe place to make mistakes/learn
Agenda Item # 7 - School Statement of Needs (SSON) – Carolyn/Nancy Angevine-Sands
· Needs to be in by end of October
· While everyone wants the principal to be everything/do everything, try to make it specific to our school/school’s programs
· Try to contain it to what are the unique requirements at this school
· Top 5 things are usually looked at, and you maybe get the top 3
· In everyone’s best interest to have a smaller amount of things, so the right match can be found
· Copy of last year’s SSON distributed
· Committee selected
o Tanja, Penny, Paul, Julia
Agenda Item # 8 - Fundraising
· Acorn Cards (Shirley Lo-Cadotte)
o Need to determine where the $$ is going to
o Acorn actually provided suggestions this year
o Melissa raised reminder that we asked the design of the cards be a bit more personal/thoughtful/reflective of gratitude, etc.
o Melissa to write up blurb reminding what these wishes were
· Direct Donation (Carrie Gorman)
o No overhead
o All $ directly to school (technology fund)
o Copy of letter circulated
o Send any changes to Carrie Gorman
· Book Club (Shirley Lo-Cadotte)
o Open to grades 3 to 6
o Call went out last week – 44 responses and expect it to grow
o Group split – grade 3’s on Mondays at lunch, Grade 4, 5, 6’s on Thursdays at lunch
o Desire for kids to drive it themselves
o Permission letter sent home after kids expressed interest
o Requesting funding from Parent Council
§ 10 dollars per child ($500 total)
§ Goal is to get books free
§ Asking for money to be put aside in the treasurer’s line and only to be used when needed, not as a lump sum
§ Vote will happen at next meeting
Agenda Item #9 - Child Care (Carolyn)
§ We need someone to play the role Penny did last year in organizing child care for future council meetings - Rayaan volunteered
Agenda Item #10 – Schedule for Discussing Bylaws (Carolyn)
§ Deferred until next meeting due to time constraints
Agenda Item #11 - Council Insurance (Carolyn)
§ Deferred until next meeting
Agenda Item #12 - Council Meeting Schedule (All)
The 2014-2015 Council Meetings have been scheduled as follows:
§ Wednesday, November 12, 2014
§ Wednesday, January 14, 2015
§ Wednesday, February 18, 2015
§ Thursday, April 9, 2015
§ Wednesday, May 6, 2015
§ Tuesday, June 2, 2014
Executive Council Voting Results:
§ Co-Chairs: Carolyn Dunn and Paul Jackson
§ Secretary: Tanja Williamson Jones
§ Treasurer: Julia Bronsteter
Decision Log
Motion Raised / Raised By/On / Seconded By / Approved Y/NRequest for Council to allocate $500.00 in treasury line to newly formed book club / Shirley Lo-Cadotte on October 1 / Pending – vote to happen next meeting
Meeting Adjourned 8:55 PM. Next Meeting Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 6:30 PM