Minutes May 5, 2014

LPCI School Council  Meeting

In attendance: J. Hainbuch, M. Gurgol, L. Jovanovic, A. Foncesca, S. Kopyto, L. Addis, M. Rozemblum, G. Ljubic, L. Gray, G. Wyett, W. Sheremata, P. Trenton, C. Poole, J. Jaffary, B. Steep, J. Armstrong,
L. Turkish, D. Boughner, S. Paetkau, L. Sinclair

  1. Welcome by Co-Chairs (G. Wyett)

G. Wyett welcomed everyone to the meeting.

  1. Review and approval of agenda
    Motion for approval – L. Addis
    Seconded – M. Rozemblum
    Passed
  2. Approval of April 7, 2014 Council Meeting Minutes
    Motion for approval – L. Gray
    Seconded – J. Armstrong
    Passed
  3. Student Update (Evan)

Student Council Liaisons reported on various student run programs and activities:

  • Coffee house held April 16. Usually the music department organizes coffee house but this year the student council ran the event. There were 22 student acts (students both in the music department as well as those not in any music class) performed. There was music and food was available. It was a very successful event attended by many students as well as some parents.
  • Spirit days recently held – tank top day and bucket hat day.
  • Student council elections to be held later in May. Campaigns are running.
  • June afternoon being planned – fun afternoon with barbeque, and water events (extended lunch held to accommodate this event).
  1. School Superintendent Update (J. Hainbuch)

J. Hainbuch provided a follow up on various issues related to LPCI that were discussed during the March 3, 2014 council meeting:

  • A meeting was held on April 16 to discuss the capacity and resources issues at LPCI. The deputy director of TDSB (Gen Ling Chang), School Superintendent (J. Hainbuch), LPCI Principal (L. Jovanovic), Vice-Principals (M. Gurgol and N. Martins) and school council Co-chair (G. Wyett) attended. School capacity was discussed, the process for determining whether a school is open, limited or closed to optional attendance, resources available for students, and a walk around of the school to look at how the existing space is being used and planned classrooms for the 2014/2015 school year was performed.
  • Based on projected enrollment numbers, for the 2014/2015 school year and additional 3 classrooms are required. These rooms have been identified.
  • For 2014/2015 school year, the School administration, School Superintendent and the TDSB planning department will work together to determine whether the school should be listed as closed to optional attendance for 2015/2016. Based on current enrolment projections, it would seem unlikely that the school will not be closed to optional attendance.
  • Parents will be invited to participate in the walk through of the school and to provide input into the space and resources review which will start in the late fall of 2014.
  • The fire department has cleared the school for the current number of students (this year and projected for next year) so there are no questions regarding safety in that area.
  • A Q&A session focused around capacity and resources followed Mr. Hainbuch’s comments.
  • Follow up items for the 2014/2015 school year:
    • An idea was put forward to identify students who were in the catchment area but have moved and are not currently in the catchment area for LPCI anymore. Jeff indicated that when this option was brought forward during the PART reviews recently performed at Wanless and Allenby the TDSB legal department indicated that this was not a viable option. Jeff indicated that he would follow up with the TDSB legal department and will report back in the fall to the space review committee.
    • Planning department will also attend a council meeting in the fall to explain how capacity is determined (ministry calculation versus TDSB calculation).
    • Jeff will return to a council meeting in the fall, and will invite David Percival to come and talk about infrastructure.
  • Question regarding any available update on a TDSB school’s ability to use electronic payment systems – Mr. Hainbuch asked Ms. Jovanovic to investigate the status of an RFP which the board issued.
  • Question regarding whether or not the TDSB had a policy on using a Breathalyzer at school functions (a school within the TDSB was the subject of a news report on this topic) –
    Mr. Hainbuch stated that he or Ms. Jovanovic would need to investigate with legal as to whether or not there was a policy and what the associated legal issues would be.
  1. On-line resources for students (G. Whyte)

The LPCI school librarian presented some online resources which are available for student use (i.e. – the TDSB virtual library). The site is available to all TDSB students.

  1. Principal Update (L. Jovanovic)

Ms. Jovanovic provided an update on what has been happening at the school since the last council meeting:

  • Progress report – LPCI is a full school year school therefore only 3 full report cards are required. The February report is just an additional progress report with the percentages achieved in each subject noted, no comments. The full report cards are issued in November, April and July.
  • Exam schedule – the schedule has been finalized and posted. The schedule is fair and equitable. No student can write more than two exams on any day. There is a 10 day exam period and all exams must be written within this time period.
  • Technology – lunch and learn sessions held by teachers for teachers to help them develop their technological skills.
  • Ken Hazlett, the band teacher has announced his retirement effective the end of the current school year.
  • There have been some staff changes taking place at LPCI. Some teachers have had to take leaves for different reasons. As a result, in accordance with the required process, they have first been replaced with a substitute teacher and then replaced with a Long Term Occasional (LTO) teacher. This has been the situation with a math and a French teacher.
  • There are over 500 surplus teachers within the TDSB so although it is not expected that LPCI will lose any staff allocation for the next school year, it is expected that some of the younger teachers will be bumped by more senior surplus teachers from other schools.
  • Mental health committee has started to meet. Parent representative is S. Paetkau. She provided a brief update on the outcome of the first meeting which was held on April 28. An update on what is being done in the school will be included in The Eye. If there are any parents interested in participating in this committee, they would be welcome.
  • Staff will be taking PD on mental health in order to learn about the issues and learn how to better help students.
  • Ms. Jovanovic discussed the 3 rooms which will be moving locations for the next school year to accommodate the additional inflow of students which is expected – the student success and special education classes will be combined into one room and will take over the current music office. The classrooms these two programs are currently located in will be used for other classes.
  1. Chair update (G. Wyett / L. Gray)

L. Addis, Chair of the music committee, presented a report from the music parent committee:

  • April 4 – the Heavyweights Brass band visited LPCI.
  • 127 LPCI music students travelled to New York City on a performance tour between April 24 -29.
  • April 16 – Coffee house held at LPCI.
  • The new leadership program designed to prepare students for leadership roles within the school, was recently launched – the dates of the program conflicted with repertoire and orchestra practices which caused issues for some of the music students. Mr. Brown made allowance for the music students affected to miss class/practice if they wanted to attend the leadership course in order to be eligible for leadership roles at LPCI next school year.
  • Repertoire, an after school credit granting music course was cancelled in April and was not included in the courses able to be selected for the 2014/2015 school year. Ms. Jovanovic indicated that only 14 students had indicated they wanted the repertoire course and therefore it was not possible to run a course with that small a number of students. As teacher scheduling has already been completed for the next school year it is not possible to offer the repertoire course (another class would need to be cancelled in order for repertoire to be offered).
  • The rooms currently used for as a music office will be required to be used as classrooms for the 2014/2015 school year.
  • Mr. Hazlett, the band teacher, who has taught at LPCI for 27 years, has announced his retirement effective the end of the current school year.

A discussion followed regarding the retirement of the band teacher, Mr.Hazlett, and the fact that the replacement position posted was for a .5 teacher and not a full time teacher. It was explained by the school administration that due to a decrease in the number of students selecting music for the 2014/2015 school year, only 8 sections of music were required to be offered compared to the 10 sections offered in the 2013/2014 school year, and that therefore the position to be filled only required a half time teacher. Parents pointed out that the 8 sections to be offered in 2014/15 were originally scheduled to be shared between Mr Brown and Mr Hazlett, both full-time teachers teaching 4 music courses and 2 non-music courses. This is the staffing model that the music parents feel is most appropriate because it provides 2 full-time teachers, both teaching 4 music courses, to lead the extracurricular music program. Parents voiced their concerns about not having a full time teacher in the school. Parents are worried that if the teacher is not at the school for a full day, every day, the teacher will not be able to lead the 4 extracurricular bands currently led by Mr Hazlett. The principal indicated that even if a full time teacher was able to be hired, there was no guarantee that they would participate in extracurricular activities as these are considered volunteer activities and outside the union contract which outlines the responsibilities each teacher is to fulfill. Parents continued to voice their concerns and the issue was left unresolved.

G. Wyett provided an update of recent council activity:

  • On April 16 a speaker panel on mental health issues and teens was held in the LPCI auditorium. This was a free event open to parents/caregivers, staff, students and siblings in the LPCI community. The event was organized in coordination between the council, the LPCI guidance department and staff and the community (The Anne Johnston Health Centre). Approximately 120 people attended the event. The council would like to specifically thank J. Bragg (school council), C. Hall (phys ed teacher) and K. Mitchell (Guidance teacher) for their help in organizing the event.
  • The staff appreciation breakfast will be held on May 7th. Thank you to C. Poole for organizing this event on behalf of the council.
  • $10,000 in unrestricted funds has been donated by parents to the LPCI Foundation during the current school year. In coordination with the staff, Ms. Jovanovic has determined that they would like the money to be spent for the purchase of a computer cart. The total cost of the cart consisting of 30 computers is $20,000 and the school will contribute the balance of the funds which the council cannot contribute.

Motion for approval – The $10,000 in unrestricted funds being held in the Foundation be used towards the cost of a computer cart. – C. Poole

Seconded – G. Ljubic

  1. Other Business
  2. Adjourn

Meeting adjourned at 9:25pm.

Upcoming events:

  • June 2 – School council meeting – 7:00pm LPCI library