Minutes from February 20th 2008 Council Meeting

Meeting start: 7:00 PM
Meeting close: 8:00 PM
Attendees: Steve Cole, Jo-Anne Hennig, Jennifer Huntley, Julene Duncan, Lisa Hooper, Richard Marcil, Roger Boettcher, Ozzie Ahmed, Donna White, Elizabeth Ney
Next meeting: March 19th @ 7:00 PM

Financial Update
The current account balance is $47,194. Based on year-to-date performance, 2007-2008 budget inflows are forecasted to carry over approximately $27,000 to the next school year – a small decrease versus the original forecast. Council has therefore cut back slightly on discretionary spending, though not cutting deliverables to kids or teachers. A motion by Joanne Hennig was made to adopt the amended budget, seconded by Steve Cole. PRO Grants have been received from the Ministry of Education which awarded our school with a grant of $1,000 for the 2007-2008 school year and $1,200 for the 2006-2007 school year. Only 40% of the grant applications were funded and CMPS has received a grant for the past two years. The pool of funds from the ministry is shrinking and money may not be available next year. Lastly, the playground GST carryover of $ 2485.87 has been received.

2008 Elementary School Boundary Review
Population in the Silverheights area in Hespeler has created need for the school board to propose new elementary school boundary, however the impact on Clemens Mill School may be minimal as the school is already operating a full capacity. Preliminary discussion suggested busing children from the Mattamy south subdivision to Ryerson PS or W.G. Davis PS, though this is very early in the process. The Boundary Study Working Group meeting was attended by Richard Marcil and Roger Boettcher on January 31st. Meeting minutes are posted on www.clemensmill.ca, and the next meeting is scheduled for February 21st.

2008 Seminar Planning
The plan for the first seminar promoting internet safety was scheduled for early March. Unfortunately, it has been postponed to early April due scheduling conflicts on the part of our community constable. Richard attended the Avenue Road PS session held in late January and reported on its success. There was an overwhelming interest for a parent-only seminar whereby any questions about internet use could be posed. The community constable would hold a seminar for parents at the school free of charge but requires a guarantee of at least 40 attendees to warrant the cost of police overtime and council members are asked to put out the word to other parents. The community constable did in-school presentations to Primary, Junior, and Intermediate students on February 12th, which was also well received. Council members discussed the idea of purchasing fridge magnets or mouse pads promoting internet safety to be given to Clemens Mill students. Roger will let council know of a suitable date for the seminar in April.

2008 School BBQ planning
Planning for a year end BBQ to be held June 12th is underway. Volunteer captains for the following are sought:
• Food/Equipment – Lisa Hooper/Steve Cole have volunteered
• Pre Order – Joanne Hennig to volunteer in the school
• Volunteer Organizer – Steve Cole has volunteered, Jennifer Hundley to send a copy of the spreadsheet list of parent volunteers who signed up early in the school year.
• Set Up Crew – Volunteer required
• Treasurer – Ozzie Ahmed has volunteered
• Take Down Crew - Volunteer required
• Communications – Richard Marcil will provide announcement to parent community asking for more volunteers to work with each captain.
• Music – Air Band
• Games for the younger crowd – CMAC students
• Photo Slide Show of the school year – Mr. Boettcher to ask teachers to provide photos from each division.

Principal Profile
Each year the Waterloo Region District School Board asks School councils to complete a principle profile and discussion was focused around the following questions:
1. Identify the school council priorities/expectations.
2. School Focus – Identify the special programs/innovations which your school provides to support student learning.
3. Identify any issue or concern for your school community which you would like taken into consideration when looking at leader transfers or changes for your school.
A copy of the CMPS profile was completed by council chair Richard Marcil and forwarded to council members for comments prior to submission to the WRDSB.

School Update
Roger Boettcher provided council with school update, which included:
• A number of board and ministry initiatives require that Roger be absent from the school close to 50% of his time.
• At the next school council meeting, Roger will spend 30 to 45 minutes to update council on ministry policies changes, including Bill 212 on discipline proceedings. The School Behavior Code will also be reviewed.
• Report Card time is fast approaching and teachers are very busy. The snow days have been somewhat disruptive to schedules.