Minutes of Wednesday November 6, Whiteoaks Public School Council Meeting

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1 Minutes of Wednesday November 6, 2013 Whiteoaks Public School Council Meeting 1690 Mazo Crescent Mississauga, Ontario L5J 1Y8 Telephone: Greg Lorentz (Principal) Wendy Mundy (Teacher rep) Tracy Hutt (no-teaching rep) Jennifer Latimer (Council Chair) Erin Cassan (Council vice-chair) Kathy Kenzora (Secretary) Suzanne Jameson (Treasurer) Jan Rodman Tanya Voisin Jennifer Brandon January Wilson Lisa Webber Ginette Begg Alex Chambers Kathy Monek Barbara Gorzzyea Abel Scott Morrell Jeanette Perrin Maria Pezzente Kim Cody Yvonne Schut Kristina Gates Meghan Pichanick Heather Moffat April Napolitano Kathy Stewart Heather Jenkinson Kelly Black Patrula van Roon Attilia Morra Raelyn Hobbs Danny Monek Carrie and Dave Pattenden Wendy Dowling At approximately 7:10pm Jennifer Latimer called the meeting to order. The minutes from the previous meeting were put on the screen for review. Suzanne Jameson moved a motion to approve the previous minutes. The motion was seconded by Jan Rodman. Jennifer introduced the Council Executive and Administration. January Wilson moved a motion to approve the night s agenda. The motion was seconded by Jennifer Brandon. Jennifer introduced Peel School Board Superintendent of Education Wendy Dowling, who was at the meeting to discuss the recently announced plan for Whiteoaks to cap Grade 1 FI classes at 4 classes for the 2014/2015 school year. Ms. Dowling went through a series of slides: 1

2 Slide #1 Outlined feedback Ms. Dowling received at a council meeting last April regarding challenges facing Whiteoaks school. Concerns included: -overcrowding -shared access to multi purpose rooms -special programs (music) in the staff room -Program cohesion (dual track) ie aim for eng/french split at schools -Facility renewal concerns Slide #2 Ms. Dowling outlined the steps that have been taken following that meeting: -took info from council meeting to April meetings with planning staff, superintendents and principals to review future accommodation needs -September enrollment projections were revised (re-organization took place). Planning is accurate to within.5 % but still may need to have reorganization -In October 10 year elementary /secondary projections were developed Slide #3 Planning considerations if a school is overcrowded what steps can be taken: -school can be reorganized by grade i.e. k-5/k-6/k-8 -school additions (the Whiteoaks addition was funded with money from the province that had to be used only for FDK) -changing boundaries ( this is looked at every year to ensure space is maximized) -programing changes (dual track vs single track). This is new - Peel has always had dual track programing ie French and English streams together. As part of the FI review Peel will explore two FI singe track only sites next year. One is Corsair P.S. and the other is in North Peel. Slide # Capacity at Whiteoaks is 668 (with FDK addition) Enrollment/Projections for are as follows: boundary change (FDK) without cap / 648 with cap / / / / / /545 Without a cap Whiteoaks would be over capacity for an extended period of time Slide #5 2

3 The decision taken for next year is a growth intervention. It can change on a yearly basis. It is a flexible decision and is far easier to change this way than to do a boundary change. It will have the following effects. 1. mitigate growth 2. better balance French/English programming 3. flexible change/if numbers shift can change it again 4. shared p.s. solution Peel Board recently conducted an FI review and it was agreed to make changes to FI programming. The report is available on Board website. There were a number of key changes including grade 1 s now receive 50% French instruction instead of 80%. We will also limit the number of grade one FI classes to 25 % across the system. As a result last year we implemented a lottery. FI growing exponentially and we could not maintain staffing. If you had child in program last year - siblings were exempt from lottery. Only 4 schools of 22 had to use lottery. Whiteoaks did not have to use the lottery. Every family that wanted the program in Peel got the program, just not at the school they wanted. Attrition could possibly allow child to come back at grade 2 - if there is room. Moving forward existing families with children in grade 2 FI and above are not included in FI lottery system as long as there is a sibling in the elementary panel that was attending when the grandparenting provision was written. Questions: q. If this school becomes a one track school where does that leave English kids? a. If this happens anywhere there will be early conversations taking place. q. Has the board considered giving priority to kids whose home school is a French Immersion school? Would there be preference for kids who live in the English boundary.? a. No. q. People have made decisions to live here based on what is publicly known. How can you say no to a family? a. The board had initially operated the FI program on the basis that if there was an interest we will provide it. As it grew the board recognized we need to address the issues with physical space and staffing to continue offering quality program. Keep in mind you have a healthy English program here at Whiteoaks. 3

4 q. When does grandfathering stop? a. If in January they are in grades 2 to 7 the grandfathering applies. If lottery required the next year then grandfathering applies to grades 3 to 7. Q. Can you create FI programs in other schools. Is this something you are looking at? a. We need a base number of teachers and students to offer the program. Every single year we look at this. But not for this September. The program is not designed for every child - you should think about what s best for your child not based on what their sibling is doing. There is no cap on extended French Q. How do other school boards handle this? What are major factors causing problems in Peel? a. Our committee did an audit that looked at what other boards are doing. It s all over the map. In some boards students apply to the program and then they are assigned to a school. Every board does it differently. Having qualified French Immersion teachers is essential. We do go to universities trying to get FI teachers. q. Who can we contact at the board to voice concerns? a. The board trustees make decisions. Whiteoaks Trustee is Brad MacDonald. His contact info is on the Peel Board website q. Will this effect the English program? If this is a student s home school and they don t get into French they will probably choose English instead. a. Planning would have built that into their projections. q. What about concerns regarding the black top and ice in the winter? a. An estimate was provided of around $25-$30,000 to do what we need to do to extend the blacktop. With this cost, it is not feasible at the moment. Q. What about soccer posts? a. We are getting two new moveable soccer posts. Work will be done around baseball diamonds as well. Not sure when this will take place. q. What about the portables? 4

5 a. One is going to go for sure. Three will remain for now. As soon as not needed they will be removed as well, possibly as early as next year because of the cap. Principal s Report: (due to length of meeting Principal Lorentz gave an abbreviated report) Terry Fox Day: $5,591 was raised by the Terry Foxactivities that occurred in the yard this year. That total is independent of online donations that have not yet been factored into the total. The Pals program is up and running and is going well. A Remembrance Day Ceremony will take place at 10:30 and 11:20 on November 11th in the gym. Principal Lorentz noted that the other items to which he was to speak had been previously report in the WWW (Community newsletter). Treasurers Report: Suzanne Jameson ran through the Financial Report on the screen and indicated there were no changes from the last meeting. (The report is attached at the end of the minutes) Deposit of $6,777 from QSP was made. The final QSP deposit is expected to be about $14,000 The Open House BBQ deposit was $1036 The opening balance for this year was $40,972 $21,600 in expenses were pre-approved at end of last year which leaves $19,372 Motion to approve the financial report was moved by Tanya Voisin and seconded by Jan Rodman. Suzanne explained that there are some additional requests for funds: Pals has requested $1200 to cover playground items. A notice has also gone home asking for donations of items for the PALS program. Items can be donated to Mme. Ramirez. Mr. Lorentz has asked for $2500 for 50 Otter Boxes for school ipads. Outreach $500 Misc expenses $500 Music/Spring Concert $500 5

6 Grade 5 grad/year book $1500 Iju Vudu dance company $3500 Total is $10,200 A vote was taken. All council members voted in favor and the motion was approved. The meeting was adjourned at 9pm Next Council Meeting is January 8,

School District No.59 (Peace River South)

School District No.59 (Peace River South) BOARD OF EDUCATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO.59 11600 7 TH Street, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4R8 Open Session Minutes DATE & TIME: - 1:00 PM PLACE: PRESENT: School Board