PAC Meeting Aberdeen Elementary

PAC Meeting – Aberdeen Elementary Minutes of the Meeting November 29, 2011 Attendance: Patricia Donald (Chair), Melanie Kopytko (Vice-President), Julie Drolet (Secretary), Krista Stolar, Anthony Remple, Erica Harding, Rebecca Ciriani, Jamie Killam, Annette Hooper, Tamara Vukusic, Jody Rushka, Renee Young, Shalyn Goddard, Lisa Paunsen

1. Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm.

2. Minutes of the October 25, 2011 meeting adopted. Moved by Jamie Killam. Seconded by Erica Harding.

3. Business Arising from the Minutes: None.

4. Trish presented her report:

a) Tentative dates were presented for PAC meetings, popcorn days, bottle drives, random act of kindness, spaghetti dinner ( February 23rd), fun fair (April 5th or 12th), teacher’s lunch (June 1st), and ongoing sponsored events (safe arrival, milk, concessions, fun fair, laminating, library).

b) Lockbox Thank you. Greatly appreciated by PAC, appreciation to Lori Young and her husband Marty Young.

c) Poinsettia campaign is over, with thanks to Melanie and the volunteers. Raised about $2,700. Campaign ran from November 1-15th. Timing before December 1st worked well.

d) Hot lunch program ran with a hot dog lunch raised $627.44. The fundraiser was successful. Hot dogs sold for $2.00 each. Another hot lunch may be held in January.

1 e) Random Act of Kindness is rescheduled for 12:20 pm on December 16th. Students will bring a mug for hot chocolate. Volunteers are needed to help with serving. Announcements for newsletter/doors and supplies need to be purchased.

f) Spaghetti dinner is scheduled for February 23, 2012. Volunteers are needed. Door prizes are welcome. Cake walk will be held. Cost is $5.00 per person for the meal.

g) Financial Report/Gaming Report; Meaghan and Karl are resigning as co-treasurers. Gaming account has $7355.89 and the Main account has $13,176.33 for a total of $20,532.22. Trish proposed that the PAC consider purchasing three smart boards depending on the financial situation in January.

h) Funding requests; Trish proposed a $50 gift card for Stacy. All approved.

i) Principal’s report. Me-to-We team has several fundraising objectives this year. The food bank drive will be held in December, with a date of December 15th. Anonymous donor pledges up to $2,000 to match food bank drive for new sport jerseys this year. An order of 60 jerseys has been submitted with the new logo. Each jersey is $50.00 plus taxes. A request to PAC will be submitted for the outstanding amount.

Mr. Orr is now providing administrative support in other schools (Dufferin elementary). Tiffany Clark (teacher) is providing some half-time coverage until December. There are two other teachers job-sharing. Nicki Olm (teacher) is covering the prep time for the Montessori class for two afternoons per week.

Mrs. Hrycan is planning to retire by the end of December. A new teacher will be hired in the New Year.

Christmas concerts: primary concert during the day (not evening due to job action). There will be two sections for the concert. Next Thursday. The band concert at 1 pm and 7 pm on Thursday, December 15th. They also played at the Blazers concert and Santa Claus parade.

Next Monday is a non-instructional day for teachers on writing.

2 Field trips are underway for skating, Big Little Science Centre, and Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Sagebrush theatre.

Report cards are still pending a decision depending upon the job action and ruling. The FSA test is still awaiting a decision. This affects the School Council meeting that reviews these results and data.

Battle of the books and Canspell are underway. Mrs. Elliott’s class was involved in a Canadian math challenge and finished 6th.

This year there is a First Nations support worker three days per week. She is organizing some special events like a breakfast, and a First Nations Cultural Day for the whole school. Performances will be organized with dance and crafts at noon hour.

All of the smart boards have been installed, with approximately half of the classrooms with the technology.

j) Any other business

A parent raised a concern about time available for lunch for the students. It seems that there is not enough time for students to eat lunch. There was discussion on reverse lunch and the 8-month trial last year. Several parents asked for more time for lunch. Since there are no staff meetings due to the job action, the teachers cannot be consulted.

Another concern is the number of dogs on the school property. A reminder could be placed in the next newsletter.

Parking continues to be an issue in the drop-off zone. Anthony oversees the parking drop-off zone after school. If anyone parks in the zone bylaws are notified.

3 The ‘rezoning application’ sign below the lower parking lot was raised as a concern. This proposed housing development construction will impact the school with less green space and affect parking. The school has not been consulted.

The proposed Ajax mine was discussed. Mr. Remple will see if this can be included in the newsletter. It was discussed if information could be shared with a link for parents to learn more about it.

CD for the xmas concert may be sold by the school. Some copies would only be available after the holidays. The CD could be sold for $10.00.

k) New PAC meeting is January 31, 2012 at 7:00 pm in the library

Melanie moved to adjourn; seconded by Erica.