Venice High School

School Advisory Council

March 21, 2005

The monthly SAC meeting for Venice High School was held in the Administrative Conference Room with the following members present: Candace Millington, Terri Ramey, Greg Miller, Steve Joselson, Bill Mowry, Lisa Callaghan, Pam Groff, Marilyn Ruthardt, Mohan Vaswani and Ron DiPillo. Bill Mowry called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. All in attendance were welcomed.

Rotary Futures

Kim Kindell spoke about the Rotary Futures program and the benefits not only to our students but to area high schools as well. The Rotary Futures program has experienced so much success that Titusville High School received a grant to replicate our program. A grant has been received for the Futures program which will allow the purchase of thirteen new computers, printers and a server. Students will have the use of electronic portfolios for the 2005 – 2006 school year. Mrs. Kindell invited all SAC members to attend the upcoming awards ceremony in May.

FCAT Testing

Bill Mowry spoke for Anne McClellan regarding FCAT. Mr. Mowry confirmed that FCAT testing was successful. There is still great concern over the future FCAT Science Test. Results of the testing are anticipated back the first week of June.

SmartWeb

Mohan Vaswani discussed using SmartWeb as a tool to track a student’s attendance, grades, assignments and homework. This is available for all parents, students and staff. Mr. Vaswani gave a presentation on how to navigate through SmartWeb. This was presented as an additional tool for improving communication between parents and teachers.

Small Learning Communities

Marilyn Ruthardt gave a presentation on the VHS Student Centered Learning Organization. The focus of this program is to help students deal with big school syndromes in a smaller learning environment. TAG (Teach Academy Guide), is part of the SLC. Mrs. Ruthardt spoke about the multiple academies available. TAG allows students to stay with the same teacher for four years. This is designed to also help reduce the burden on school counselors. There are four broad-based academies in place at VHS. They are: VIBES (Venice International Business Education Services, SEMTA (Science, Engineering, Math, and Technology Academy), Life Sciences Academy and the Arts & Communication Academy. There is also the Honors Academy that prepares students for their post-education. Internships are available for seniors in all academies for one semester.

Facilities

Bill Mowry gave an update on the following facility items:

Swimming Pool – Almost completed.

Tennis Courts – Paving is done and painting has started. Courts should be ready within a week.

Portables – All have been painted except for New Deal portables. All are

getting skirts.

Music Suite – Construction is set to begin the first week after school is out.

VHS – Money has been budgeted for some painting during the summer. Man hours have not yet been budgeted. Locker pods will be renovated over the summer.

Mrs. Millington and staff continue to work on bringing deficiencies of school property to the attention of the school district.

Budget

Ron DiPillo and Candace Millington reviewed the 2005-2006 budget summary in detail. The budget was sensitive to lowering class sizes. Staff allocation and funding are short by almost one million dollars. If the Referendum is not renewed, the budget will be put in a large shortfall. At the next SAC meeting Mrs. Millington will present the budget as if the Referendum will not be renewed.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.