SAC-SMT Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, August 28, 2002

3:00 p.m. in the Media

 

Welcome Back:  The first SAC-SMT meeting of the school year was called to order shortly after 3:00 p.m. in the Media.  Thanks to Donna Catanzarite and Ginny White for the excellent refreshments.  We are celebrating the fact that Englewood Elementary is an “A” school and now the challenge is to maintain that level of performance.

 

Membership Roster for 2002-03:  SAC-SMT welcomes back its continuing members and also welcomes our new members.  Attached to the minutes is a SAC-SMT roster for 2002-03. 

 

SAC-SMT Notebooks – basic information, etc:  Each SAC-SMT representative received an information notebook for 2002-03.  Ginny reviewed the items in each notebook including a member information sheet, SAC meeting calendar, Strategic Plan for Excellence timeline, SAC-SMT Roster for 2002-03, a revised Operational Guidelines document (for discussion), and a preliminary Adequate Progress Report.  The group elected the following officers for 2002-03:

            Facilitator/Chairperson              Ginny White

            Vice Chairperson                  Melida Barton

            Secretary                                 Vicki Brewer

 

Code of Conduct Information:  Melida informed the group that all parents and staff members have received Student Code of Conduct for 2002-03 which details expectations for student conduct and consequences for violating these expectations.  A parent signature has been required for each student confirming that each parent is aware of the contents of the Student Code of Conduct.  Melida will provide a copy of the document to all SAC-SMT members and review the code at our September meeting.

 

SAC Member Training: On Thursday, September 19, 2002, PALS Partners in Education is sponsoring six training workshops at Brookside Middle School.  Sessions begin at 6:00 p.m.  Two of the sessions (SAC member training and Business Partner Coordinator training) are required in order to meet 5 Star School criteria.   Those attending for E.E.S. include:

            Volunteer Coordinator Training                                    E.E.S. Volunteer Coordinators

            Business Partner Coordinator Training                        Vicki Brewer

            Five Star School Training                                    T.B.A.

            School Advisory Council Training                        Diane Gomoll, Cheryl Roeder,

                                                                                    Barb Walker, Tonya Wampler

                                                                                    Pat Ryan, Liz Cole

            Grant Writing                                                 T.B.A.

            P.T.A./ parent group                                          Gina Bannan

 

Review of SAC-SMT Organizational Guidelines:  Ginny reviewed several proposed changes in the Englewood Elementary SAC-SMT Organizational Guidelines.  The changes were primarily the result of new language requirements by the county.  Specific changes included:

1.       change in terminology from “school improvement plan” to strategic plan for excellence.”

2.       review of EQuIP and other pertinent data as part of the needs assessment process.

3.       after two consecutive unexcused absences, a SAC-SMT member may be removed from the council and replaced according to established procedures.

4.       meetings shall be scheduled at times when parents, staff, and community members can attend.

5.       a quorum of members (a majority) must be present before a vote may be taken.

6.       meeting notices and agendas will be posted at least 72 hours prior to a scheduled meeting.

 

 

 

After review of the proposed changes, the group approved the proposed changes by consensus.  Changes will now be proposed to the entire staff for 2/3 ratification vote.  If the proposed changes are ratified, the revised Organizational Guidelines will be forwarded to the county office by their due date, October 4, 2002.  Team SAC-SMT representatives should be sure to share their copy of the proposed changes with each member of their team before the ratification vote.

 

Adequate Progress Report Items:  Ginny reviewed the preliminary Adequate Progress Report which reflects E.E.S. student performance measures of our 2001-02 Strategic Plan for Excellence goals.  There will eleven goals in total, and data has been evaluated for 4 of those goals.   Specifically, E.E.S. has shown adequate progress in the following 4 goal areas:

1.       Career Preparation – 93.67% of students K – 5 participated in a job for their class EMCOT project;  99%+ participated through E-TV.  Goal was at least 85%.

2.       Citizenship – there was an increase in the percent of students earning a VFW Citizenship award

(46% to 57%);  Citizenship – 50% or more students earned a VFW Citizenship Award. (57%)

3.       Citizenship – 85.6% of students earned a satisfactory grade in Work Habits at least 2 of 4 quarters of the school year.  Goal was at least 80%.

4.       Family/Community Involvement – the number of Business Partnerships between E.E.S. and community organizations and area businesses increased from 16 to 17 as documented in the 5 Start School portfolio.

The complete Adequate Progress Report is due to the county on September 16th.  SAC-SMT can review the entire report at our September meeting.

 

“Call to Action”:  The county wishes to maintain the “Call to Action” communications link that was created during the referendum campaign.  Last school year our e-mail contact was Donna Matherly, and she has volunteered to continue.  Thanks, Donna!

 

Parent Involvement Training:  Joanie LaBadie and Michaelene Brame have volunteered to represent E.E.S. at a training workshop to promote parent involvement in student education.  The workshop will be at the Landings, and Joanie and Michaelene will bring back the information to share with the staff.

 

Recognition Funds:  Because Englewood has been designated by the state as an “A” school, the school will be receiving over $50,000 in recognition funds.  The “A” school designation is linked to school performance on FCAT assessments.  Seven components are evaluated according to state benchmarks and criteria including year’s growth, and a point total awarded to each school.  Our school point total qualified us as an “A” school.  The disposition of the recognition funds is the mutual responsibility of the governing bodies of the school – the faculty and the SAC-SMT.  We begin the process with some background information at this meeting, and each SAC-SMT representative must discuss and brainstorm ideas for the recognition funds with their teams.  At a faculty meeting in early October, the faculty and staff will discuss and come to consensus on their recommendation to SAC.  Then the SAC can take action at their October meeting with the official action documented in the minutes. 

 

Our prior experience with recognition is an award of funds for significant improvement in school achievement three years ago at a time we were designated an overall “B” school.  At that time, the funds were split with a percentage going to staff merit bonuses and the leftover amount designated for training.  Melida also informed the group that the recognition funds have some restrictions --- they cannot be used to fund any item which has recurring costs, and they cannot be used to buy staff.

 

September SAC - SMT Meeting:   The next regularly scheduled SAC-SMT meeting for Englewood Elementary School is on Wednesday, October 23rd at 3:00 p.m. in the Media.  Anne Talbott-Wycoff and Liz Cole will provide refreshments.