Sowchea Parent Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes
Date of Meeting October 9, 2007; 7:00 pm
Present: Cathy DeMerchant, Jeanette Burdenik, Donna Robin, Sue Williams, Joanne Vinnedge, Lauri Deveau, Leslie Lantz, Sheila Unruh, Cam McCormick, Alisa Koch
1) Adoption of Minutes
Donna motioned to adopt minutes; Joanne seconded. All in favor.
2) Financial Report
$2,980.00 was deposited into the gaming account for student accounted for attending Sowchea School in the 2007/2008 school year bringing the account up to $3,047.04. The hot lunch account has $9,497.48.
3) New Business / Correspondence
a) Playground Audit:
A small committee is needed outside of SPAC regular meetings to address the high risk playground equipment. The adventure playground and the tether ball post are the items needing top priority for replacement. There are grants available for purchasing assistance for these items but the deadlines are November 15th and November 30th. This committee will address the grant application needs and also know what will be replaced in the playground. The school district will need to be notified of what equipment will be replaced. As far as we know, there is no deadline to having this equipment replaced as long as we¹re working on the replacement items being completed.
Action Item: Committee to meet at the school on October 10th at 4 pm.
b) DPAC Membership
Our BCCPAC membership has lapsed. To sign up for this membership again will be useful for one of the upcoming grants applicable for the playground equipment. They have also been very helpful with all the hot lunch changes that are happening. The cost to renew the membership is $65.00. DPAC arranges that we will get this money back. Joanne motioned to accept, Alisa Seconded. There will need to be a rep from our SPAC to attend monthly meetings. The deadline for application is December 15th.
c) Fundraising
Is there a need for a fundraising committee outside of SPAC meetings? Money will need to be raised to replace the playground equipment. There was a suggestion of a family movie night, spaghetti dinner, family corn roast night, no drive bottle drive. All was in favor of the family movie night, which will be held on November 14th at 6:00 pm with movie starting at 6:30 pm. All children must be accompanied of an adult at the cost of $10 per family. There is the need of a screen for the movie. We will look for white tarps that can be put up in the gym and used for other school uses as well. Joanne motioned the purchase of tarps and dowel suitable for a movie screen not exceeding $60.00; Jeanette seconded.
d) School Board Meeting @ Sowchea School
SPAC & SPC are invited to attend the school board meeting at 11:25 on Monday, October 15th. There will be a half hour lunch followed by a _ hour meeting. The public portion of the meeting starts at 5:00 pm. Although, any topics that parents might wish to speak about need to be brought to the school board¹s attention by October 10th.
Topics to be included in the SPAC / SPC meeting may include:
- Busing Issue
- Sowchea catchments area
- Hot lunch changes with little or no support along with the new guidelines
- Appreciation for the things they have done for our school
e) Gaming Deposit
See #2
f) BCCPAC Conference
There is a conference in Victoria on November 15-18 involving ŒParent Involvement¹. Deadline for registration is October 23rd.
g) Heart Health Presentation
Presentation tentatively set for November 19th at the school during the SPAC meeting that will be tied in nicely with the healthy guidelines being implemented. The presentation is approximately 30 minutes.
h) School Based Teams: Sue Williams
This committee is new to the school system and is being implemented province wide into the schools to allow teachers to look at students who might need further assistance with dealing with certain issues that have been noticed in the school. There are forms developed for parents or teachers to complete when referring a child. The committee meets the second Thursday of each month. The parents are invited to attend the meeting and create broader communication. This format is more formalized that how issues were being dealt with in the past. The district committee will be developing a flow chart for steps to follow after a school based team meeting.
i) Placement of fridges in kitchen
A work order has been submitted to deal with the Œextension cord¹ issue with the fridges. It was agreed that the fridges would not be moved due to the need for the counter space during hot lunch preparation.
j) BCTF Presentations for Parents
There are six total presentations available for the parents. At this time, if there is a parent that is interested in requesting / arranging for one or more of these presentations, they can ask Cathy or seek more info from the brochure in the filing cabinet within the storage room. Interest was presented from the parents to have a guest speaker talk about internet safety issues again. Cathy will see if something can be arranged for January¹s meeting.
k) Volleyball Tournament
The tournament has tentatively been set for December 8th due to the high school gym floor not being completed. The decision of what to do with concession will be tabled until November¹s meeting.
l) SPAC Purpose
Thank you to Joanne for typing out the SPAC purpose. It is posted on the SPAC board for anyone who is interested.
4) Old Business
a) Hot Lunch Planning Meeting
Stainless steel pots, reusable containers and new dish cloths are needed for the kitchen. There is an agreement that up to $250 purchase allowed without having to vote on it. Alisa will look into the pots and Cathy will look into the containers and towels.
There has been a strong indication from some parents that they do not wish to cook the pasta in the kitchen for hot lunch meals due to the difficulty in making it.
b) PFD Inventory
There are 5 left to sell. A notice will be put in the newsletter to be sold with $10 off price. Cam will complete.
c) Sign
Cathy brought in pictures of what would be a nice addition to the school. This may be a future purchase as the priority at the moment is the playground equipment.
d) School Newsletter
There is a ŒSPAC News¹ box added to the newsletter to draw parents attention to items involving SPAC. There are a lot of parents signed up to volunteer for the hot lunch program. Pizza pops will be added to November¹s menu.
5) Cam¹s Report
The running club has been going really well. The students attending morning gym is growing in numbers and been well received by the students. School board meeting will be October 15th and coincides with the month of our 25th anniversary. Cam wondered if SPAC would buy a cake for assembly (School board will attend assembly). Cathy will inquire at the bakery to see if they¹re interested in baking the cake for us even though they are closed Monday. If not, one will be picked up at Costco.
6) Other Business / Questions
Science fair will begin February 12th with the district fair to follow.
There has been a concern regarding kids being dropped off at a location where there has been bear sightings. Cam will discuss this issue with the bus driver.
Joanne attended a provincial ecosystem meeting regarding global warming and climate change. She wanted to invite the guest to Fort St. James to talk on the issue and maybe tailor it to elementary school presentations. Costs and dates can be discussed at further SPAC meetings.
7) Next Meeting Date
November 19th @ 7:00 pm
8) Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 9:32 pm.
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