LPCI School Council Meeting
In attendance: M. Freel, J. Jaffary, C. Poole, J. Bragg, L. Addis, W. Sheremata, S. Paetkau, L. Turkish, G. Wyett, P. Sweeney, N. Martins
Welcome by Co-Chair(G. Wyett)
Review and approval of agenda
Motion – S. Paetkau
Seconded by – W. Sheremata
Approval of March 3, 2014 Council Meeting Minutes
Motion – M. Freel
Seconded by – L. Addis
Student Update (Peter/Duncan)
- Student play will be taking place this week
- Semi formal on Feb. 28 went very well, tickets were sold out, clean up went well
- Starting to plan for student council elections for 2014-15 school year
- Gr 12 one acts also being planned
- Starting to organize the June afternoon for students
- Coffee house will be held Apr 16 at 7pm in the cafeteria for students and parents, focus of the night is on student music
Principal Update (N. Martins)
- Lillian is away at a PD event so VP provided report.
- 3 teachers and 1 admin took part in Taking it Global – 3 one-half days used to learn with other colleagues online and bring learning back into classroom. This is a kind of blended PD learning.
- Gr 9 teachers will spend Apr 30 taking part in feeder school meetings with Glenview, Bedford and Ledbury. This is in addition to regular transition meetings that take place in May. Focus will be on English, Math, French and Geography.
- Admin is continuing with instructional rounds, visit 5 teachers per week, are half-way through seeing all teachers, used to see students in learning environments.
- Looking at staffing process for next year – what courses will run, what are student choices.
- There may be some bumping next year (loss of LP teachers) due to board surplus, also some staff changes due to mat leaves and personal leaves, hope not to have any surplus LP teachers.
- Still experiencing issues with support staff due to bumping. LP trains office staff and then they are moved. Trying to find more stability in the office. Looking to improve attendance issues. Office staff currently are transient staff, all in acting positions. Hope to be more stable next year. Apologize for inconsistency and attendance issues taking place right now.
- Fire Chief Marshall took a tour of the school and looked at the school plan, had admin measure all classes to figure out optimal number of students for each class to ensure that the number of students and staff in the school were not over the maximum allowable per fire safety limits. Reports that at this time everything is fine. School has responded to parent who initiated this concern.
- Looking for best options for additional 3 classrooms required for the 2014-2015 school year, sent recommendations to the School Superintendent, he will be in to review and finalize on Apr 9.
- LPCI school calendar for next year is ready in draft form, waiting for ministry and board approval. Does anything needed to be added/deleted to calendar or Credo? If so, let Lillian know.
- Upcoming events – Classics conference May 8-10, music trip Apr 24-29, May lyrics May 15.
- Winter sports are finishing, getting ready for spring sports.
- Guidance is conducting leadership workshops for students. Over 200 showed up to first session. Adding a 4th session. Concern was expressed from a parent about all leadership workshops taking place on Wednesdays, which conflicts with music student credit class, so no senior students can take part in leadership workshops. Guidance will look into this.
- Concern expressed from a parent about all students having 1/2 day off for literacy test. Why not have 1/2 day of class? Nancy will check with Lillian.
Chair update
- Teacher appreciation breakfast will be held on Wed May 7. Talk to Cathy if you want to help (). Will be held for 75-80 staff, start about 7:30, take down at 11. Need help before, during and after.
- Evening of April 16 in the school auditorium, there will be an event open to parents, caregivers, teachers, students and siblings. A panel of experts will speak about mental health, including addiction, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm and mindset. Need volunteers to bring in coffee and cookies.
- As a follow-up to the last meeting, School Superintendent, Jeff Hainbuch, has set up a space program resource review committee. L. Addis will lead it with G. Wyett. See Gillian if you want to be on the committee or if you have any input. Looking at how to use this building to allocate space better. Jeff Hainbuch will be at the next Council meeting to talk about the review process.
- PRO grant due May 16. If we want to access it the grant to fund speaking events for parents next year, we have a better chance to get grant approved if topic is in line with TDSB focus. For 2014-2015, the TDSB is continuing its focus on mental health (this will mark the second of a three year focus in this area for the TDSB). Per discussion with the school administration, it was noted that LPCI students struggle with mental health issues, particularly around anxiety and the associated issues of substance abuse.
Motion – Develop a PRO grant submission for 2014 15 school year based on substance abuse and mental health issues (Motion made by G. Wyett, Seconded by P. Sweeney). Passed
- S. Paetkau will be going to a meeting at LPCI on mental health on Apr 28 (she is our parent rep on the committee).
- Parents have donated about $10,000 in unrestricted funds to the school this year. Lillian is looking at needs for funds within the school. The Council will deal with this issue at May meeting.
- There are only 2 more Council meetings this year. We need new council members for next year (Co-chair, treasurer, secretary, webmaster). L. Gray will be in her second year as Co-Chair, but G. Wyett will be stepping down as she has completed her 2 year term. If you are interested in any executive council position, please speak to one of the existing executive council members.
Other Business
- Updated provided regarding the TDSB and their volunteer policies. The School board is considering requiring police checks for all volunteers, even for one day/one-time volunteer events. This has arisen out of the Jeffrey Baldwin investigation. The inquest into his death suggested volunteer background checks in schools.
- Currently, schools are given leeway in terms of who needs a background check.
- Proposal is that every parent who comes into school will require a police check. Concern about losing volunteers, very time consuming process to get checks done, more impact at elementary level than at middle or high school level. Howard Goodman (Trustee) is looking for input, feedback, ideas, feelings about this proposal. Email him any suggestions at .
Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
The next meeting will be held May 5 at 7:00 p.m.