Wilkinson School Community Council
Meeting Minutes
September 10, 2007


Present: Bambi Alvia, Rachel Ault (staff rep), Carol Bennett, Karin Deane, Ruby Lederman, Tanya Sterioff (principal), Jacqui Strachan, Lisa Watt (vice principal)

Regrets: Karen Geraci, Susan Haney, John Hykel, Sunny Mills, April Moon, Paula Weekes Kahn, Karen Wiseman

Guest: Alison Motluk

Meeting called to order at 7:05pm

Recorder: Jacqui Strachan

1) Approval of Agenda
- Additions: update on school wear and Ward 15 Info session on French programs
- Motion to approve: Ruby / Jacqui, carried

2) Minutes from June 11
- Motion to approve: Jacqui/Karin D., carried

3) Principal's Update
- for Curriculum Night, Tanya will introduce teachers, then Carol will do a council overview while the teachers leave to get upstairs
- there are hot dogs for sale in the lunchroom as part of the evening Book Fair
- there will be two fire drills this week (one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so that all kindergarten classes will participate) and a lock-down drill later this month - Tanya will make sure that students are aware that the lock-down drill will take place so as not to frighten them. She will instruct kindergarten teachers to be very thorough in explaining the drill to the youngest students
- in response to the shooting at CW Jeffreys school late last spring, Tanya received a few inquiries about the possibility of installing a buzzer at the front door so that all guests would have to buzz in and would like to consult with the Council to arrive at a decision.
- ACTION: it was decided that the council will host a School Safety Night as part of the School Council meeting in November - Tanya will conduct a safety audit with Safe Schools and bring the results to that meeting, and we can discuss the safety measures that are already in place, and look at other steps (and the pros and cons associated with them) that may be taken if necessary - let parents know about the meeting well in advance so anyone who is interested can attend - Ruby suggested that we may want to do a bit of research before, i.e. what other schools are doing, what the advantages and disadvantages of different security measures are as well as their effectiveness.

4) Financial Update
- Statement of Financial Position distributed, approximately $9500 available for spending right now

5) Committee Updates
_ Arts
– April will confirm date for COC performance
_ Communications
– Carol and Kim Diamond working on "all-in-one" brochure to go out to parents this week that contains council info as well as all the forms we'd like them to complete. Sample distributed for review. Agreement to proceed with this.
_ Fundraising
– chocolates will be delivered to school on September 20 and sent home with kids on September 24, to be returned on October 12
– Some concern about nut allergies and selling almonds - concerns that we discourage students from bringing nut products to school, but allow sales of nut products - it was agreed that because the order has been placed, we will go ahead with the almonds this year, but will not sell individual boxes in the school or at movie nights - next year, we won't order the almonds, although it is a worry because they are the most popular
– Pizza lunches will be the last Thursday of every month this term - dates are Sept 27, Oct 25, Nov 29, Dec 20 - parents can pre-pay for the whole term this year! Forms will be available at Curriculum Night and will be sent home as well - money will be collected at Curriculum Night, and from 8:30 - 9:00a.m. from Sept 12-14 and Sept 18-20
– Fun Fair - April has offered to take the lead again for this year's event which will be held on June 7, 2008
* Discussion about having parent class reps to promote events such as the Fun Fair - before asking parents to be class reps, we need to look at defining what the role would actually entail as this should extend beyond Fun Fair, and speaking to staff to get their support/ideas.
– Movie Nights:
September 21 - Shrek the Third
October 12 - Surf's Up
November 9 - The Simpsons Movie

6) Council Elections
- because Curriculum Night is early this year to accommodate Ramadan, it does not allow enough time to organize the election - it was agreed that ballots will be sent home, along with candidate bios, and parents have the option of returning the paper ballot or voting on-line through the Council website - Carol to check with Phil about setting up a balloting system.

7) Funding Requests
- Kindergarten teachers inquired about a small play structure for the fenced-in play area - discussion regarding cost (very expensive), requirement to meet Board safety standards (must be approved and installed by Board staff), just spent $8,000 for kindergarten storage shed - Tanya said she would talk to the teachers about this and also explore the possibility of the students using the Dandylion play structure until they have settled in and can use the larger structure. Concerns raised that installing play area in kindergarten yard will create another place for teenagers to hang out in after school hours.
- Sunny requested approximately $800 for the movie licence - deferred until next meeting - if she needs approval before then, will do an email vote

8) Wil-Kitchen
- The date for the next Wil-Kitchen event is October 25 at 6:30, still working on the permit and getting permission to use the stove

9) New Business
- Welcome Night - to be combined with Curriculum Night, because of Ramadan; will not take place September 18th as originally scheduled - note to go in parent brochure
- Cathy Dandy, Ward 15 trustee, has a new website: www.cathydandy.ca
- School wear - Sweat shirts being finalized with hopes to get order form out next month. Still finalizing the team uniforms.
- Ward 15 Information Session on French programs to be held on October 3 from 6:30 - 8:30 at Eastern Commerce - a memo is going home with students
- Question raised about alternative schools - information is sent home by the school to grade 6 parents closer to the time when open houses are held

Motion to Adjourn: Ruby/Jacqui - carried

Meeting adjourned at 8:30.
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