Muirlands Middle School Site Governance Team
Approved Minutes
Monday, February 27, 2006
Attendees: Mary Jane Linsky, Patricia Barton, Victor Totoris, Andrea Escobedo (ASB President), Jennifer Nash, Jorge Lobo, Peter Scott, Paul Abrahamson, Melanie Gold, Amy Hunt, Chris Hargrave, Derrick Mitchell, Joanna Hurley, Terry Schwartz, Edith Robledo, Margaret Ohara
Approval of Minutes:
Added Edith Robledo to attendees from January 30 meeting. Minutes were then unanimously approved.
Old Business: None
Committee Reports:
ASB: The ASB group purchased a poster-maker with a three-year warranty. Anyone can use the machine. Purchased a new cash register with a scanner so that inventory can be kept. Bought color printer for flyer making. Purchased several computers for ASB use only. Mr. Totoris approximated about $25,000 net profit from the magazine drive. He clarified that all fundraising money must be spent for all students, recorded with ASB, and must be used to promote positive school culture.
GATE: The last meeting with Ms. Hargrave went very well and was informative. Science and English enrichment opportunities are underway. The GATE Committee met with Superintendent to discuss instructional issues. All are parents are invited to next meeting.
Technology: The technology committee reported that the bulletin is being added to the website to cover weekly events. There are also student resources available on this site. Teachers have recently been modifying their own personal classroom websites and content (e.g. syllabi, assignments, resources, etc.).
Foundation: Casino Night is March 4. One hundred people have committed and there has been significant underwriting. John Ritter is coming in mid-March, funded by a mini-grant. Fifteen students are enrolled in his after school enrichment creative writing club. Dorie Gayner and crew, by painting the benches outside and spearheading the tiles, are really improving the overall school aesthetics. Work will start on the faceless mural next week. A powerwasher can be borrowed from our site for that wall. Pizza and taco days continue to do well on minimum-day Wednesday. Casino night tickets can be bought from Daniele or outside of school after school.
PTA: Ms. Ohara said that the committee was working on nominations for elections next year. The next meeting will take place at 9:30 on March 23 in the teacher’s lounge. It will be a thank you tea.
ELAC: Edith Robledo went to the DLAC meeting last week. Ms. Robledo was impressed by size of the group. The presentation was on GATE programs. Everyone is eligible to take the GATE test in 2nd grade and eligible 7th graders take it as well. We usually have 100% of eligible students take the test. Ms. Robledo and the Governance team discussed challenges in getting information to parents at the ELAC meeting. Parents are always welcome to call the school for more anecdotal information if necessary. Ms. Robledo was given a workbook and the next meeting is on 2/28/06 at Ballard Parent Center in Old Town.
New Business:
Budget: The budget situation was explained by Ms. Hargrave. We are required to cut 2.5% from our budget in addition to 5% we had to make two years ago. This is to build up a reserve in a time of retrenchment. We wanted to preserve teaching positions. We looked at a number of options in the teacher meeting held after school. Support positions were primarily considered nurse, library, counseling, etc. We created a library tech position at .50 along with reducing this position last year to .50. Other schools also reduced clerical positions. Last time, we reduced 1.0 positions. We are proposing to reduce two clerical positions by .25. We are allocated 3 full-time custodians. We are proposing moving from a Building Site Supervisor grade to a regular crew leader during the day. Administration and secretarial staff would take on ordering supplies, managing personnel. Hopefully reductions would be restored next year.
AA-AU (general budget; discretionary) is organized by FTE’s (Full-time Equivalent). Salaries/amounts are median amounts. 37.3 FTE teaching positions have not changed. Reduced librarian to .3 from .5. Visiting teacher column is for substitute money. School incurs cost if going beyond $31,381 (with exception of long-term leaves).
We did take money from instructional supplies especially with numbers of copies we make for students. Our carry-over is money from last year or year before. For example, there is a $40,000 carryover in AA-AU. We are saving $8,000 by cutting lunchtime supervision. Ms. Ohara expressed concerned about maintaining momentum in library, after recent improvements and accessibility. Can parents volunteer for library service?
Comprehensive School Safety Plan: Mr. Scott briefly reviewed the 2006-2007 Comprehensive School Safety Plan. This plan included ten criteria for safe schools and an analysis of Muirlands’ preparedness and action taken.