General PTA Meeting Jan. 22, 2013
Held in the Blaine Lunchroom6:30pm
Monica Scheiber, PTA President opened the meeting
October meeting minutes were distributed and approved by a majority vote with one nay.
Capacity Committee Update- Roy Zimmerman
The charge of this committee is as follows: to marry growth trends with a plan for developing a state of the art learning environment. What does that mean….? Combining good current and historical data with an effective physical learning environment (physical plant). Blaine may not fall into a “cookie cutter” school plan. We are an elementary school AND a middle school. Let’s utilize our space in the best way that we can.
Next meeting… TBD (3-4 weeks) If you are interested in joining the committee, send Monica Scheiber an email ()
Gala- Carolyn Dunn
March 9th, 7pm at Batch 206- 20’s theme- tickets go on sale as of Feb. 1st – on-line sales are available- $50 per ticket- no sit down dinner- no live auction- offerings will be fund an item, class projects, parking spots, teacher experiences and private parties
Safety Committee- Merilee Corbit, School Nurse
Members of this committee include: Doug Ouillette, Vivian Belcher, Barry Porter, Barbara Barden, 1st grade teachers… Cristobal & Newsome
Only one door remains open to the school (door closest to the right hand side). At 10:30 and lunchtime the recess doors are open. End of the day, doors are locked. Playground supervisors carry cell phones.
Teachers were planning a lockdown drill on the same day that an actual lockdown was ordered due to a bank robbery in the village. Vivian received information regarding the robbery and ordered the lockdown. The situation was then changed to a shelter in place for 45 minutes. Shelter in place means that teachers can teach as normal but no one is allowed in or out of the building.
ALL visitors should sign in at the front office and attach a “visitor” sticker onto the front of their body. All part time employees or substitutes will wear a green lanyard with identification. Vivian has also been in touch with someone at the district regarding new ID badges and scanners.
Doug Ouilette assures everyone that kids safety is their #1 concern. He and Julie Cox (Principal) have been working on safety issues with the safety committee and a Magnolia area police, John Paquette (sp?). Fatima is our “safe” school if we needed to evacuate our school. During a lockdown, Julie or Doug will lock the front doors and the doors to the gym. As always, Doug and Julie are open to receiving suggestions and feedback. Please be part of the safety solution and remind people that you see in the building to wear a visitor/volunteer sticker and resist the temptation to open doors for people wanting to enter the building from areas other than the front right hand side door. Ask people to walk around to the front at times that the doors are locked.
In a real lockdown, the word “drill” will not be used. If there is a practice lockdown or shelter in place then the word “drill” will be used. An email goes out to staff to follow up about the situation. During a lockdown, the classroom doors are locked and any kids in the hall will be scooped up by the teachers. Then the teachers will email the front office with a list of the children that are in their rooms and any children that are missing from their room. Any kids that are in the bathroom should lock the door until an adult comes to check on them.
The district asked about a fence to complete the area on the playground and make it fully secure. Vivian Belcher is working on this with the district.
A reverse evacuation is when kids who are on recess or at lunch recess are outside, and the P.E. teachers and 1st grade teachers check outside and shuttle kids indoors.
Vivian Belcher and Merilee Corbitt (school nurse) will put something together on the differences between a” lockdown” and a” shelter in place”.
A call for a “lockdown” can come from many places (gas company, fire company, police department).
Every classroom has a temporary potty facility.
Watch Dogs (Dads of Great Students)- David Rogers and Scott Kelly
Male role models are important for kids in school. One man can run a school program. Just follow the implementation guide. You have two functions as a watchdog: 1. Security of the school 2. Support in the classroom.
Questions: Startup cost is $225 for the initial kit and $200-$300 for a pizza/kick off party. Renewal is $200/year.
F.E.A.T. – Bernardo Ruiz, District Liason for School/Family Partnerships
See the handout that explains the mission of F.E.A.T.
Based on a lot of research they came up with 6 things that define family and community engagement. (see handout)
The F.E.A.T. at every school will look a little different. They can have any combination of members ranging from the Principal, Teachers, Families, Support Staff, Community Members, Assistant Principal, and even students.
They look at data to support student achievement by using family engagement. One example of how FEAT can be useful is to use data to help structure math and literacy goals.
What F.E.A.T. is not: an avenue for families to complain about their school, teachers, PTA, etc…. It’s goal is to UNIFY. FEAT and the PTA should work as partners. An ideal number for the FEAT is 10-16 people.
Middle and High School are the most important time for family support.
There are currently 43 FEAT teams currently and the district will be mandating that all schools eventually have a FEAT team.
February 7th- Bernardo will be back at Blaine with Eric Anderson to talk about data and how the FEAT teams can be most helpful, using this data.
CSIP (Continuing School Improvement Plan) is mandated by state law. This plan is due every year in about October. It is put together by a group of administrators and teachers with input from the BLT (Building Leadership Team). Every schools CSIP is publicly available.
Patricia LeRoy- Magnolia/Q A/Interbay Emergency Planning Committee
See handout.
If the state and federal emergency units cannot get to Magnolia then this volunteer group can help in the event of a disaster. It could be your last resort for relief.
Free CPR classes with the understanding that you will help in some way for a minimum of two years. March 23rd at Bethany Presbyterian and April 6th at Ascension Episcopal Church
Monica Scheiber, PTA President
Thank you to all who spoke for coming tonight. Next PTA General Meeting is on February 26th. We will be discussing the PTA budgeting process so all who are interested in how we spend the PTA money please come.
Lisa Evans stressed the importance of voting on the upcoming levies. Ballots are due by February 12th.
Respectfully submitted by Portia Gray, PTA Co-Secretary