Tuttle Elementary School

School Advisory Council

September 20, 2005

Minutes

 

The SAC meeting was held on September 20, 2005 in the administrative conference room.  In attendance were: Maria Rodriguez, Joanne Mainberger, Jill Boyd, Jody Woodford, Jerrilyn Palmer, Marcy Kennelly, Jackie Fountain, Garen Schaefer, Mary Beth Slane, Alan Osborne, Andy Grill, Patty Adams, Sandy Kleer, Michele Ralich and Thomas Buchanan.

 

Mrs. Schaefer called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m.  Mrs. Schaefer welcomed all in attendance and everyone was introduced. 

 

Mrs. Ralich presented the treasurer’s report.  She stated that the balance in the SAC fund is $11, 226.26.  This amount represents the current balance with field trip money already distributed.

 

The following proposals were presented and discussed:

1.             Jody Woodford, site coordinator for 21st Century Grant After- School Tutorial program, presented a proposal for $8,000.   This money would be used to hire another teacher and would cover wages, benefits and workmen’s compensation.  The additional teacher would help reduce the student to teacher ratio and increase student achievement and services.

 

Mr. Osborne expressed concern over such a large portion of the SAC budget being used at one time and so early in the year.  Mrs. Schaefer suggested funding a half-time teacher as an option.  Mrs. Rodriguez asked about using volunteers but Mrs. Woodford explained that volunteers can not be used to instruct children and that is where the biggest need exists. 

 

Mrs. Ralich shared that other proposals would be made to SAC throughout the year (i.e.  music, assemblies, supplies, etc.).   The option of requesting funds from PTA was also discussed.

 

Mrs. Kleer made a motion to fund a teacher for at least 1additional day. Mr. Osborne suggested we discuss other proposals before making a decision.

           

2.             Ms. Welch, music teacher, shared that SAC has funded either $500 or $900 in the past.  She is requesting $500 for a recorder budget at this time and will secure any additional funds for this purpose on her own. 

 

3.             Mrs. Ralich presented proposals for a Primary Focus Assembly for character education ($600) and Character Education Videos ($499.95).  The videos will be shown on TNN.

 

4.             Mr. Buchanan presented a proposal for SAC to assist in funding the Mr. Rick assembly.  Mr. Rick is a motivational and inspirational speaker whose assemblies focus on reading, test taking skills and test anxiety. His presentation incorporates the Fab 5 reading skills and helps students see reading can be fun.  The assemblies would take place in October and February.  The cost would be $1000 per assembly.

 

The total budget for the proposals included in items 2-4 would be $3600.

 

In regards to Mrs. Woodford’s proposal to fund an additional teacher for tutorial, Mr. Buchanan shared that he will be attending a meeting next week regarding the Title I budget as on option for other funding.   He would like to hold off on a decision until after that meeting and revisit this issue at the next SAC meeting.  Mr. Grill discussed providing funding for half a year at this point and finding funding for the remaining portion at a later day or from another source.

 

Motion to give $4000 at this time made by Mrs. Schaefer and seconded by Mr. Osborne.  Motion passed by a unanimous decision. 

 

A motion for $500 for Mrs. Welsh’s recorder proposal was made by Mrs. Schaefer, seconded by Mr. Osborne and passed unanimously.

 

A motion for $1000 for Mr. Rick on Oct 26 was made by Mrs. Schaefer,  seconded by Mrs. Palmer and passed unanimously.  The remaining money needed for the other assembly will be requested from PTO.

 

A motion for $600 for the Primary Focus Assembly was made by Mrs. Schaefer, seconded  by Mrs. Ralich and passed unanimously.

 

Mrs. Schaefer asked for clarification regarding the character ed. videos.  Mrs. Mainberger explained that the videos are Mr. Rick videos.  This would be a new program to Tuttle and the video set would discuss key character traits. 

 

A motion for $499.95 for character education videos was made by Mrs. Schaefer, seconded by Ms. Boyd and passed unanimously.

 

Principal Update:

Mr. Buchanan shared the following information:

1.  We hired a new 4th grade teacher (Rob Loeffel) from San Diego, CA.  He has taught for 5 years and received strong references from his previous employer.  His first day was today.

2.  We hired a new paraprofessional (   Dawna Hiers) for the ESE department.  She has 14 years substitute teaching experience and a wealth of experience.

3.  New Reading Assessment – SRI is a computer based assessment.  It allows teachers to test an entire class at the same time and determine student lexile (reading) levels.  We will need to implement a new leveling system in the Media Center to correlate with this new system.  The SRI assessment will help predict which students will score Level 1 and Level 2 on FCAT.  Testing will be done at the beginning, middle and end of the year.

 

School Improvement Plan:

Ms. Boyd asked SAC members to refer to their School Improvement Plan Draft. Members were asked to offer suggestions regarding the SIP.  Suggestions from SAC were as follows:

Page 1 – Question regarding 2005 grade.  Mr. Buchanan explained that this data had to be entered at the State level at a later date.  Ms. Boyd shared that there is a new template to follow.

Page 2 – Mr. Buchanan suggested changing wording to “16 plus” in reference to business partners as we are actively recruiting and will be acquiring new partners throughout the year.  Ms. Slane requested that we change Dairy Queen to DQ Grill and Chill to represent the specific store providing incentive coupons.

Page 4 – Mrs. Kennelly asked for clarification regarding the use of the term PLC.  Mr. Buchanan and Ms. Boyd clarified the terminology as something different than the 30 hours of PLC offered by the county.

Page 5 – Mrs. Schaefer requested that the ratio for the 21st Century program be changed to 15 to 1 based on the new data that Mrs. Woodford presented.

 

Mr. Osborne questioned the percentage used to describe the writing goal. Mr. Buchanan suggested removing the percentage and using the writing scores as indicators of growth.

 

Science – Mrs. Schaefer suggesting that we add the specific grade levels that the science lab addresses. Grades 3-5 will be added.

Mr. Buchanan asked for an approval from SAC regarding the content and information provided in the document.  Any substantial deletions or insertions by TMT will have to come back to SAC for discussion if needed.  A motion was made by Mrs. Schaefer to approve the document, pending edits made by the SAC team.  Motion was seconded by Mrs. Mainberger and passed unanimously.

 

Mrs. Schaefer asked for any old or new business.

 

Mr. Osborne asked about the status of the issue regarding the walkway across the street and problems occurring during dismissal.  Mr. Buchanan shared that he spoke with the police officer who is parked near the walkway on occasion. The officer stated that his focus was speeding issues and he was not stationed there on a full time basis.  Mr. Buchanan thanked the officer for helping keep our children safe during the morning rush hour but he wasn’t able to secure a commitment to help monitor the area after school. Mr. Buchanan will pursue other options and will continue to check in on the area himself. 

 

 The next scheduled SAC meeting is October 16th.

 

Mrs. Schaefer made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 3:55.  The motion was seconded by Mrs. Ralich and approved unanimously.