PAC MEETING – April 7, 2015

Attendance List:  Amalia Cook, Gayle McLeod, Carolina Palacios, Stefanie Lewinson, Daphne Beck, Andrea Shrive, Annie O’Donoghue, Nicky McConnell, Kathleen Pender, Esther Rosillo, Cheryl Roehlig, Liping Wu, Caroline Dickson, Heidi Maclean, Averill Groeneveld-Meijer

Minutes from Feb/15: Accepted as isMinutes from March/15: Accepted as is

Principal’s Report: Annie O’Donoghue Preliminary school calendar for next year circulated: very similar to this year. Two Non Instructional days are potentially “moveable” as placeholder dates: this needs to be discussed with staff before a decision made.

Projections for next September being made: looks like 2 kindergarten classes for next fall. Conferences April 8 and April 9Artist in Residence: Deborah Sparrow has now met/presented to all our students now. Weaving will be done with her and with classroom teachers. She is now weaving a piece to be donated to Southlands.Track and Field: beginning in the next week or so. Looking for parent volunteers for morning practices. Usually is for grades 4-7, although occasionally grade 3s join in (set at District level). Talent Show: April 22 at 1 pm.VSB Budget: shortfall predicted to be 8.52 M. Proposals to balance include:

Sales and lease-back of copiers, cafeteria equipment, etc. Reducing maintenance services. Closure of classrooms spaces: this is closing of outbuildings, etc.,

that are not being used (NOT closure of schools). Holdback funds: monies held back by the province, then given back

to the school. Band/instrument programs: Strings to be moved to grade 5 and

band be moved to grades 6 and 7. Adult education: possibility to cut some teaching positions here and

streamline courses. Benefits surplus: extra monies with insurance companies from staff

not making claims. Additions that will be asked for include: digital support, infrastructure

improvements, 1 additional educational psychologist, learning

technologies mentor More reports are coming; budget will not be passed till late June

officially. However, schools will make plans regarding classes, etc., based on this preliminary budget

This information is available on the VSB website “2015/2016 Proposed Preliminary Budget”

Parts of the school will be painted while school is in session. 2 or 3 classrooms are slated to be painted: JKC area, special needs washroom, arts room. Will find out later this week. Affected classrooms will have to be moved to places like the art room, etc to accommodate. Will need to accommodate hot lunch prep: Annie will discuss and coordinate with the supervisor.

Dates to Remember:

Friday is Playground Day: Spirit DayApril 14 at 1:30: Welcome to KindergartenApril 16: Vandusen Field Trip Div 9/10April 20: K Vision ScreeningApril 22: 1:30 Talent ShowApril 23: IB Assembly Div 3 “Creativity”April 27: Pro-D DayApril 28: Subway Lunch

Playground Presentation: Andrea Shrive

Costs affected by downward spiral of Cdn$. Structure is about $32K. Flooring is additional $30K. Installation approx. $10K. Budget available:

Have applied for a number of grants; so far we’ve been declined for a few. Still waiting to hear from some, specifically to pay for the flooring. If we are unable to get these grants, we may need to look into woodchips instead of flooring. We are aiming for flooring instead of woodchips for wheelchair/walker accessibility. The flooring would only be for the new equipment. Andrea will ask if flooring can be added AFTER installation (in case we need to do this in stages).

Letters to community are out: to houses in neighbourhood and local businesses. Lots of “no” from local businesses. Creative Minds donated $5K. Musqueam unable to donate at this time. To date: $29,100 has been raised.

Bingo night planned as a fundraiser. Potentially at Musqueam, potentially at the school depending on other events and legalities. Date: June 4th evening (tentatively). Friday is Spirit Day: bring in a loonie or toonie for the playground. This is mostly to raise awareness among parents. Will send notice home. There will also be a direct appeal to parents with an incentive and recognition plan. Feedback: stress the accessibility feature of the flooring and Omni Swing. Question: Can we do installment payments? Answer: this is a good thought……we need to think of a way to do this. Cheryl and Andrea to look into this.Question: In the past, were playgrounds funded by the school board? Answer: yes, but it there has been no monies for this for many years. Question: how many other schools in the area are also fundraising for a playground now? What is our fundraising competition? Answer: there’s about 4-5 schools in the immediate area.

PAC thanks Andrea and Playground Committee for all their hard work.

Carolina has to leave early, so putting her suggestions for upcoming PAC budget forward now:

Carolina: Could we have some money budgeted for rental of Musqueam space for next year, OR increase choir/recorder fees to accommodate this. Suggestion: due to so many education cuts, some schools in the city have absolutely nothing. Suggestion to put $ into the budget to sponsor a program for a have-not school (such as Saleema Noon).

Fundraising Report: Heidi Maclean

Clothing sales done, order just placedThank you to those who ordered Purdy’s Easter Chocolates.Last big fundraiser of the year is the dinner/dance May 2 at La Notte.Teacher Appreciation Lunch upcoming in May/JuneSports Day coming up (June 12).

Grade 7 Grad: has taken over Subway, frozen foods fundraiser done, Ice cream sales on Wednesdays to come up. On track.

Treasurer Report: Nicky McConnell

Last year’s budget circulated for information. Discussion regarding choir/recorder: really a revenue-neutral program. If

concert rental down in Musqueam is wanted, prices will have to be raised. However, raising prices may result in decreased enrollment. Esther has some thoughts about it she would like to “present” to the PAC.

Gayle: can we get a copy of the budget before the AGM? Answer: yes, it is brought up at the May PAC meeting, and posted that week.

Next meeting: May 5, 2015