Brentwood PAC Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Shelley Hardcastle, Melissa Austin, Allison Peters, Julie Ethier, Jane Trites, Christena Beaulac, Kelly Hoffmann, Keri Herle, Rima Munro, Mary Kaercher, Denise Tidman, Tracey Westwood
1.Welcome/Call to Order - 7:04 pm
2.Approval of Agenda and December 2011 Minutes
Motion to approve agenda (with addendum) by Mary Kaercher, Seconded by Julie Ethier, Carried.
Motion to approve December 2011 minutes by Kelly Hoffmann, Seconded by Rima Munro, Carried.
3.Reports
3.1 School Administration – Shelley Hardcastle
- Accident on Wallace St. this am – Strong Start Coordinator slipped on the sidewalk. She is okay and recovering at home. Corporal Bryant was present and able to provide immediate assistance. Strong Start will be up and running as soon as possible.
- Parking Lot – trying to be vigilant, with some additional help from Corp. Bryant. There have been several unsafe/threatening situations occur. Corp. Bryant will be sending a bulletin home. Looking at getting stop signs for the drop off area to ensure children are being dropped off where they should be.
- Grade 4 FSA testing will begin in a week or two, with admin staff overseeing. Teachers are not participating but are working with admin around the process. Are teachers assisting in preparing the children for the exam? The kids will do some preparation in the computer lab and there are practice writes available to classroom teachers. It is each individual teacher’s choice as to whether they use them.
- Basketball has started. There are four teams and they play at lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There will be in-house games over the next few weeks, with help from parent Kevin Ottewell. There will be a jamboree at the end.
- Ready, Set, Learn tomorrow – targeted at younger children and those entering Kindergarten.
- Symphony trip for Grade 4s and 5s in February. Admin will do all the paperwork.
- Grades 2 – 4 took part in a Protecting Species at Risk project sponsored by Parks Canada and the Saanich School District. Grades 2 and 4 had a one hour session and Grade 3s a two hour session.
- The Kindergarten information meeting will be held on January 24th at Keating Elementary School. This year they are combining the English and French Immersion sessions in one evening. The meeting will start with an overview of Kindergarten and then move to break out sessions for French Immersion. Kindergarten registration is the following week.
- WITS assemblies will be held at the end of the month.
- Question – With the placement of gates in the back parking lot to allow for emergency vehicles to enter the property, there is no longer a barrier to prevent other vehicles from going onto the school grounds. Are the concerns that the grounds will be vandalised? While vandalism is unfortunately always an issue, it is believed that a curb/sidewalk and perhaps a gate is going to be put up. Mrs. Hardcastle will follow up.
- Question – Had heard that Mr. Guiguet had been off work due to a health issue. Mrs. Hardcastle replied that he is back to work at Cordova Bay. It is hoped that he will return to Brentwood at the end of February.
- Ms. Gregory will be leaving on maternity leave mid February. Her position is being posted tomorrow.
- June retirements? Mrs. Hardcastle hasn’t heard of any.
- Author visit on Literacy Day, January 26th.
3.2 Treasurer – Kelly Hoffmann
- $ 16 858.22 in General account as of today.
- $ 16 725.57 in Gaming account as of Dec. 31st.
- Thriftys Smile Card money – have received $ 454.22 as of Dec. 16th.
- Canadian Tire money – have received $ 43.20, to be put towards Earthquake supplies.
- Save Around coupon book invoice – needs to be paid in U.S. funds. Rather than someone paying for it by credit card and being reimbursed, decided that a U.S. money order be purchased. Profit from this fundraiser is approximately $ 2 900.
- Question – Does anyone have issue with this fundraising being run by a U.S. company? Perhaps something to discuss next year.
3.3 Correspondence Secretary - Samantha Erskine
- Absent, no report
- Thank you note on bulletin board from Mrs. Munn for her retirement gift.
3.4 Fundraising Committee - Mary Kaercher
- Handout – overview of Spring Fling
- The school received a $500 gift card for Front Runners from the Eat Well Keep Moving program. The card will be donated to the silent auction.
- We will be getting a Gaming Licence for the raffle tickets. Looking at grouping some donated items, such as the stay at Long Beach Lodge, Whale Watching tours, etc for the raffle tickets and using the other items for the silent auction.
- Raffle tickets will be sold by the students in February. Perhaps look at doing an incentive (by class) for selling the most tickets (e.g. pizza lunch). Ticket pricing – $2 each or 3 for $5. Every child will get a package of 10. Tickets and money can be deposited in class envelopes and picked up by one or two parents daily. The draw will be held at the Fair.
- 50/50 draw – will do one draw (7:30 pm) and the winner does not need to be present. Post on board in foyer, along with raffle prize winners.
- Volunteers – will be divided into three shifts for the night. Will put lists up in school foyer for volunteer sign up for each area (i.e cakewalk, concession, etc). Put coordinator position at the top of each list. Distribute the same information via class reps for those parents who are not in the school often.
- Suggestion – perhaps sell food with tickets rather than having to handle money. Determined that money would be best as it will allow more flexibility for how parents spend their money.
- Rima Munro will oversee the concession.
- Food Court – need to look at how to do the money aspect. Perhaps money at each table. Need to have some control measures in place. Mrs. Hardcastle will contact Deep Cove PAC Treasurer to talk about system they used.
- Kelly Hoffmann will oversee the money.
- PAC and Spring Fling info will be photocopied double sided for Ready, Set, Learn.
- Thriftys will provide boxes for the cakes. Mary will touch base with them.
3.4 Volunteers/Class Reps – Keri Herle, for Shari Wierenga
- Class reps were helpful in spreading the message about the Smith-George family donations. Thank you to Rima Munro, Sarita Taylor and Christena Beaulac who helped sort through the donations.
- Will be recruiting Spring Fling volunteers in early February.
- In great need of more Safe Arrival volunteers.
3.5 COPACS – Denise Tidman
- Didn’t go to last meeting, but have read through the minutes.
- The School Board is going to revisit the idea to eliminate afternoon recess at their meeting tomorrow night.
- Upcoming parent conferences – info email has gone out. Need to register individually, but keep receipt and let Kelly Hoffmann know once you are registered. There is no upfront cost to register.
3.7 Earthquake Preparedness - Lindsay Tusche
- No report
3.8 Popcorn Day – Rima Munro
- Went well and raised $ 227.50
3.9 PAC Fun Lunch – Allison Peters
- Great volunteers
- Money counters are great
- Runs smoothly
- Trying something new this month from Villages Pizza.
4. New Business
4.1 Staff Funding Requests
- Request from Mrs. Hardcastle to help with equipping Grade 2 classrooms with projectors/document cameras/technology.
- Current ones in Grade 3 – 5 classes are being well used. Ability to connect with the internet is fabulous. Staff that initially weren’t sure how much they would use them are using them regularly. Has replaced the overhead projector. Quick and easy. Changes the way in which teachers engage with the kids.
- Question – Are the new classrooms wired for technology? Mrs. Hardcastle does not believe they are.
- Request is for $2000 per class, for a total of $6000. Mrs. Hardcastle has about $2000 from the school budget that could be put toward mounting two projectors in the Grade 1 classes.
- In an effort to be fiscally responsible, and discontinue the trend of running a deficit budget, this year’s PAC budget was kept very slim. The purchase of new technology was not included. Money from this year’s Smile cards will be contributed and additional funds can be reapplied for through Thriftys next year. If the Spring Fling does well, then perhaps the request could be looked at again. Suggestions: Could unused field trip money (due to job action) be contributed? Will need to wait and see where the job action goes. Perhaps the monies available from the school budget could be focussed on the Grade 2 classes? Decided that the request will be tabled and reviewed again in April, once the Spring Fling has taken place. The goal should be a balanced budget.
4.2 Upcoming Events/Bookings
- Fun Day BBQ – last year we booked the Lions Club for the BBQ and this worked well. Christena will touch base with Samantha to see if they have been booked for this year.
- Saleema Noon (Sexual Health Educator) – Do we want to book her again? Decided that the possibility of hiring someone local will be explored first.
- Artist in Residence or Performances – Mrs. Hardcastle reported that these conversations stopped when the job action began. Nothing is being booked at this time. Comment from a parent that other parents have been asking about a Xmas concert for next year. Determined that we need to wait out the job action before moving forward. Feedback from parents that there is a sense of a loss of community within the school.
5. Unfinished Business
5.1 COPACS Conference Registration
- Already covered earlier.
6. Newsletter – Keri Herle
- Spring Fling update
- Spring Fling volunteers – see bulletin board in lobby or email Lindsay. May want to consider putting out a paper notice if not getting much response.
- Vancouver Island Parent Conference
- Thrifty Smile Cards
- Free popcorn day – March 14th
- Movie Night – February 16th, 6 pm
7. Anything Else?
- Suggestion – What about a PAC sponsored movie night? Agreed, Thursday, Feb.16th. Mrs. Hardcastle will confirm the availability of the gym. Kelly Hoffmann will coordinate. Will serve popcorn, licorice and water. Funds raised can go towards the Grade 5 camp. Kelly will send out a list of potential movies.
8. Adjournment – 8:54 pm
