Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Minutes-2012-02-21


Minutes – 2012-02-21

Principal (Pat)
  • talked about the productive PD day;
  • synervoice request to go out this Friday regarding the parent's input for March 8;
  • reports have gone home and we've moved into second term;
  • the second phase of the School Improvement Plan is on the way with Garfield Jenny Neuman and dealing with critical questions and critical thinking;
  • GC Cobra spirit days are proceeding well – every Thursday;
  • Gearing up for second term education plans for exceptional students;
  • March Break is only 3 weeks away;
  • A lot of students took on the challenge;

Treasurer (Rebeccah)
  • Pizza money is going in;
  • $1253 coming in for this round;
  • this round is down to about %60 of regular sales;
  • we should be looking into more fundraising;
  • Pat went over some of the values in the budget...

Pizza (Tracey)
  • more forms have been coming in this week;

OCDSB (Brian)
  • Brian was unable to attend

OCASC (Paul)
  • Healthy food presentation from the Health Nurse

Chair (Julie)

  • Odyssey Theatre Youth Matinee-NEW- a promise is a promise, outdoor theatre, wed in aug,1pm
  • Rideau Valley Middle School Information Night on Social Networking Safety-NEW feb 23
  • 2011-2012 Chamber Players of Canada Concert Series april 17
  • OCDSB Parent Involvement Committee Seeking Parent Members and Community Representatives feb 28
  • Arts in the OCDSB-Share Your Thoughts
  • CHEO Connect in partnership with OCDSB Session Five: "Children 9-13: The In Between Years" april 16th
  • Free Arts Advisory Committee Presentation
  • CDSB 2012 Community Member Recognition Awards Mar 9
  • Homework Help-math gr 7-10, all other curricula Ontario educational Resource Bank website, info online
  • People for Education Newsletter

School Council members should be aware that the upcoming March Human Resources Committee meeting is an important one in the annual cycle of Board business. It is the meeting at which the Committee is expected to take decisions re a recommendation to the Board on academic staffing, which includes teachers, principals / vice-principals, LST, ESL and other teaching staffing, for the 2012-2013 school year.

A draft information report was provided to the February HR Committee meeting, to provide an opportunity for questions and discussion on the tentative recommendations being proposed by staff regarding academic staffing for next year.  Please reference Report No. 12-030 to Academic Staffing for 2012-2013

It should be noted that the majority of the teaching positions assigned each year are generated to meet collective agreement and/or Ministry class size requirements.  Staff makes recommendations regarding changes to discretionary areas of staffing.  The following tentative recommendations were contained in the information report that went to HR Committee in February:
  • Increase by 3.00 FTE the number of secondary ESL/ELD teachers to provide greater support to ELD classes;
  • Increase by 5.00 FTE the number of elementary Learning Resource Teachers that are allocated to elementary schools;
  • Decrease by 1.00 the number of centrally assigned Instructional Coaches.
The approval of the academic staffing forms an important part of the Board’s annual budget process as it involves the commitment of a significant portion of the Board’s annual budget in advance of the formal budget process.  

School Councils who wish to appear as a delegation regarding this topic can do so by providing notice the week prior to the March 6, 2012 meeting, in accordance with the Board’s by-laws, or can sign up to ask a question at the beginning of the meeting.  
Allegations of misconduct are reported through Procedure PR.542.HR Alleged Employee Misconduct. The allegation may be reported to the school’s administration by a parent, a student, or a third party. In rare cases the allegation has been reported directly to Human Resources staff.

In some cases the parent may choose to report directly to the Ottawa Police or the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa (CAS). In other cases, the school’s administration or human resources staff will contact the police or CAS due to the nature of the allegation or based on information that becomes available during our investigation. There is a legal obligation to report suspected abuse of a child who is under the age of 16 years.

We have developed a good working relationship with both the Ottawa Police and the CAS. Ottawa Police will contact us if they are investigating one of our employees. CAS and the Board have an arrangement whereby the board’s Investigation Advisor will attend any interviews with students conducted by the CAS so that this minimizes the number of times students are interviewed.

Once an allegation is reported, the individual receiving the allegation (typically the principal) is responsible for advising the appopriate Superintendent and completing Form 297. The Principal or immediate supervisor is responsible for advising the employee (there are specific steps within Procedure PR.542.HR), and completing a Form 297. Copies of the Form 297 are sent to the Superintendent and the Manager, Human Resources.

Upon receipt of the Form 297, the Manager, Human Resources, reviews the allegation, checks to see if there have been other verified allegations against the employee, checks the human resources file, and in consultation with the Superintendent, decides on next steps.

Next steps could be: 1) refer the matter back to the school’s administration for review and follow-up; or 2) refer the matter to the board’s Investigation Advisor for investigation. If referred to the Investigation Advisor, the Advisor interviews the individual making the allegation and any relevant witnesses this individual identifies. Employees are also given the opportunity to provide their perspective on the allegation and identify any individuals who may be witnesses with relevant information to the incident leading to the allegation. Please note that in the event the allegation is being investigated by Ottawa Police or CAS, the board’s internal investigation process does not begin until their investigation is finished.
Book swap/read-a-thon-forms still trickling in, Hope to give out gift cards and award pizza party at month end gathering. Sorry we were away

Chapters/indigo night at the end of the year? 10% of sales or a gift card worth 15%
Parent survey results-Amanda Singer won the Maggie Mammen book and DVD, she has not claimed it as yet. Rocky pulled the name for it



Before school 1 after school 9 evening 16 during school 1
M6 T5 W6 TH8 F6
NO CHILDCARE 16 YES 1 CHILD 6 2 CHILDREN 8

TOPIC
VERY INTERESTED
SOMEWHAT INTERESTED
NOT INTERESTED
1.
 Improving student math skills
 14
 11
 2
2.
 Study tips and study skills
 14
 13
 2
3.
Improving reading skills/literacy at home
 20
 9
 1
4.
 Careers - what’s out there?
 10
 12
 7
5.
 Talking about drugs
 13
 11
 3
6.
 Creative Discipline/Parenting Tips
 17
 5
 6
7.
Anger management
 16
 2
 8
8.
 Bullying and how to deal with it at school or in the community
 22
 4
 2
9.
 Special Education-how does it work?
 12
 9
 6
10.
 Time management strategies for students
 13
 10
 5
11.
 Habits of effective teens!
 13
 7
 9
- June 22nd chosen as the date for the picnic

Picnic (???)
  • Solicit input;
  • Could existing co-op students be able to help with the picnic setup;
  • Possibly select students from AY Jackson to help get their community service hours through setting up or assisting during the picnic;
  • Meaghan to contact for AY Jackson;
  • Paul: Bouncy Castle – must call people and find out rates;

Resilience Video:
  • video camera is needed by Darlene Beauchamp to make a movie about Resilience;
  • we might purchase one for the use by the school;
  • we need parental volunteers

Pizza Volunteer for Next Year
  • none needed – Tracey can still do it until Annie Grade 8's out

Getting the word out to parents and staff at GCPS of parent council events:
  • need to beef up the announcements in the morning
  • send announcements to Linda Paul

Fundraising:
  • Possibly a family dance
    • it needs to count as part of our 10 selling days
    • need to find out if the gym is booked
  • Movie night?
  • Basket sales?
    • Sounds like a go – around Easter
    • for 2 weeks of soliciting, 2 weeks of bids

School Closure:


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