ECE PAC -- Mon, April 19, 2010

East Chilliwack Elementary
Parent Advisory Council
Mon, April 19, 2010

Present: Anne Russell, Ruth Neufeld, Cheryl Hagen, Sandi Williams, Sarah Burke, Celia Stolee, Corina Barchard, Tia LeTexier, Alyson King, Tara Field,

APPROVAL of AGENDA

Moved by Tia; seconded by Anne
Approved

APPROVAL of MINUTES from March
Bonnie noted the need to change the report on the profits made by hot lunch slightly. Hot meals prepared from scratch by volunteers net us $150-180 (hot dogs, wraps, macaroni etc). McDonalds nets us $30-$40, and pizza brings in around $50.

Moved by Alyson; seconded by Sandy
Approved


TREASURER’S REPORT
(See Bonnie Kind’s report for full details.)

We started March with a balance of $7,500 in the general account, and ended with $8,277.

We plan to spend $1,000 on tents for shelter for sports day/waterslide day, etc; $1,200 on the sound system; $125 on Grade 6 keychains; $325 on photocopying; $300 on pizza for sports day volunteers; $400 on food for waterslides; $110 for teachers’ year-end presents, and $161 to supplement field trips (the bulk of funding for field trips comes from the gaming account. Will also be paying some parents for out-of-pocket expenses for hot lunch days.

We started March with a balance of 3,738 in the gaming account and ended with the same amount.

We plan on spending $400 on field trips; $1,200 on lights, and $2,300 on field trips.

The meat raffle in the fall made $3,620 in profit, which went to a new screen, microphones, and lights (still to be bought).

The movie night in February made $408 from pizza sales.

We are considering being strategic about our buying of bulk items such as juice next year. There are times when spending $250 at Superstore will net you a $25 gift card, and we may try to bundle our shops to take advantage of this.

To improve hot lunch reporting, we may create a form for the organizer to input what was spent on each occasion, to save us waiting for receipts and not knowing how much they will be for in advance.



PRINCIPAL’ S REPORT
(See Mrs. Ruth Neufeld’s report for full details.)


1. Staffing – There have been many reductions and administrative position jugglings in the district. We have retained the one principal model at our school, unlike some other small schools where admin duties are being shared among one or more schools. We have had a reduction in our non-enrolling positions from 1.26 to .9, which will have some effect. Nobody at ECE has lost his or her job due to these cuts. We are fortunate in that we expect to keep growing because of the subdivisions near by, which is good for keeping the school well funded and well staffed.

2. School Goal

To develop more powerful thinkers, listeners, speakers, readers, and writers.
• Intermediate teachers continuing to develop their use of formative assessments to inform their teaching.
• Social Responsibility—Canucks Autism Network – lessons continue to be taught by Dar Chand; walk went well – raised about $40. The program teaches that everyone is on a spectrum and that everyone deserves respect.
• Run for Water – May 12 – same route as last year. Grade Sixes did assembly to inform other students about the issue of water for Ethiopia. Intermediates will run to Gibson and Upper Prairie again. (One parent commented that we need to ensure the police officer stays for the whole run to quell traffic this time.)

3. School Events
• Jump Rope for Heart – raised $2,000
• Spring concert April 29; 9 am and 6 pm. Both full performances.
• Deb Chand is working with a group of students to prepare them for Bookmania.

4. Sports
• Basketball tournaments are April 27 (boys) and April 28 (girls). Both teams have done very well. Cross country is on May 19 at Cultus Lake.

5. District Budget Forums: Thurs, May 6: 3:30 to 5 pm
6. Bullying session. Bernard Klop (counsellor) is willing to do one session on bullying, focusing on giving tools to the victim and addressing the bully’s behaviour. Could be in June or Sept. There would be a small fee for families to pay.

Old business

Key chains vs. dog tags.
We will proceed with key chains for the Grade Sixes. This is a change from the dog tags of previous years.

Class photos
Are rebooked for May 5. The photographer had doublebooked for April 5.

New business

DI to Tennessee
As usual, our Destination Imagination (creativity competition) teams did very well at the provincials. Two teams placed first in their category, and one of the teams, consisting of five Grade 4 and 3 boys, wishes to go the global championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, in May. East Chwk teams also went to Knoxville in 2007 and 2008. To reach their goal, the boys and their families will be fundraising fervently for the next few weeks. As in the previous years, this year’s team requested some support from the PAC in the form of $100 per child for a total of $500.

Discussion about whether to provide the funding reflected two opinions: one that we should be celebrating excellence when children at our school do well at the provincial level, and that with ten percent of the school’s students participating in DI (and a higher percentage than that if only Grade 3’s and up are counted), most families connected with the school have a chance of having a child getting this opportunity at some point. The other opinion noted that like DI, the skipping team is a parent-run activity associated with the school, and yet families were all paying their own costs to go to skipping meets in Washington and provincials in Victoria, receiving no financial support from the PAC (and families paid their own way to DI meets in Vancouver).

The group voted to provide $500 to the DI team (with one abstention), and discussed the idea of creating a general “excellence” fund to support any ECE students who make it past the provincial level in an ECE-associated activity.

Spaghetti dinner
Building on the success of last year’s dinner, we decided to hold another one, this time on Friday, May 7. Funds raised will go to audio-visual equipment and field trips.

Jen Hansen will be handling ticket sales at the door. Alyson King and Verna Hoogeveen are handling games. Tia LeTexier is arranging baskets. Please send items to school for your child’s class basket (see list your child brought home). Bonnie Kind and Cheryl Hagen will be shopping and cooking all day. Anne Russell and others will help with last-minute preparations. Nicole Johnston is coordinating.

Everyone welcome. Get your tickets now!

New business

Events

Spring concert: Thurs, April 29

Class photos (rebooked): Wed, May 5

Spaghetti dinner: Fri, May 7

Sports Day: Fri, June 4

Awards Assembly: Fri, June 25

Waterslides: Mon, June 28


Next PAC meeting
We are going to continue with Monday evening meetings for the time being.
Next meeting: Mon, May 17, at 7 pm. Free babysitting in the gym available. All ECE parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Remaining meetings

Mon, May 17
Mon, June 21