December 15, 2011 FOSB Minutes

FOSB meeting minutes 12/15/11

Attendees: Jodi Russell, Michelle Pearson, Suzanne Walter Linda Kjarstad, Nancy Shah,Zara Kublin, Andy Grow, Lance Adams, Beth Armitage, AJ Silva, Caleb Banta Green, Anastasia Samuelsen, Marian Wagner, Caitlin Racey, Jen Miller, Susan Motte, Bridget Goglia, Sara Kopf, Melanie Shelton, Jodee Reed, Hillary Leonard, Karine Dahmer

Introductions were given.

Treasurer’s report: Kate Banta- Green reported that our direct giving campaign is just about to end. As of today we have raised $29,713. Kate is confident we will reach $30,000 as the last donations are received.  Total number of families participating was 118. About 2/3 of the receipts have been mailed out and all receipts will be sent by the end of the year. Great job Kate! Thank you.

Secretary’s Report, a motion was made to accept minutes from October and November. Minutes have been posted on the website. Motion passed.

BLT (Building Leadership team) report.

• The district is not currently planning to place portables at Salmon Bay next year.
• 8th grade project check in. Approximately half the kids are signed up. The project will run January through June and credit will show on student transcripts. A celebration will be held at the end of the year as well.  A question was asked regarding the 8th grade project for next year…will it be run the same way? Jodee will meet with staff to look at potential scenarios. A request was made to let parents know decisions regarding the 8th grade project as soon as possible.
• A clarification was given regarding camp. Everyone attends the fall camping trip. The spring camping trip does have some requirements.
• As we move into the next phase of expansion, we will need to review core services such as supervision on the playground and at lunch. Budget impact will need to be discussed.

Volunteer Coordinator’s Report

• WEP is coming!
• The Salmon Feed has been moved to February 3rd. It will still be a playground fundraiser and playground tiles will be sold.
• Background Checks:  We need to tighten things up to make sure all background checks are completed and kept up to date. It is important we follow our policies.
• Lantern Festival will be held tomorrow evening, and in the morning.
• All school Directory has had challenges.  It will hopefully be distributed in January. We have $250 in advertising revenue to help with the cost. But we need to look at a way to make it easier and potentially look at software to help with layout/organization.

Principal’s Report:

• The School will actually be closed during break.  New Lights will be installed in the hallways on the first floor.
• In January Salmon Bay will be honored at a celebration hosted by the Alliance for Education. Last year, Seattle students met or exceeded standard on the state exams at a higher rate than the statewide average in every tested subject in grades 3-8. The Alliance for Education & Seattle Public Schools are celebrating the schools making the largest improvements. And Salmon bay is one of the honored schools!
• The District has a new way to assess is a school is meeting standards by looking at growth and progress toward closing the achievement gap.

Committee Reports

Legislative Update:

• Please contact your legislators for the special session.
• Students of Washington for Change: SWAC is a new school group focused on School Legislation. We also need to educate ourselves about what Charter Schools are,at the State Level it is Called Innovative Schools. Zara has Scripts for Legislative updates i.e. a primer, a phone script, and an email script.
• Marion  Mory Lou and Rueben and Cole Wells, have been talking to them and is hearing how awful the funding is in some areas and not  supporting teachers.
• The Paramount duty is to fund education. And they aren’t doing it.  We need to clarify our vision as be clear about what we need to meet our educational goals and standards.

Auction Committee:

• Suzanne: Auction will be held March 31st.
• Next  Meeting January 10th.
• Donations are starting to come in, please solicit after the first of the year. We still need someone to help coordinate the live auction. Checkout has been taken care of.

Playground Committee: 

Significant change has been made to the design. The new design will not include rain gardens due to the drainage issues. If anyone has questions about the drainage issues please contact Lance.  the infiltration rates are unknown. So we will not be able to put in rain gardens.

• More fundraising  information will be available at the next FOSB meeting. ANDY GROW can answer questions. Ed is helping a lot with looking for corporate money. Tiles will be sold at the 2/3 Salmon Feed.

Communication Committee:

• Hilary, Linda, and 2 more people
• feedback was collected from families, what are the ongoing needs for communications, etc.
• Parents have also expressed interest in being able to communicate with one another, business to business or parent-to-parent. Or advertising classes, events etc. We need to determine the best way to allow this communication to grow.
• Second communication issue is when our PTO wishes to express our own opinions that may be critical of current policy. We want to be mindful of how we can communicate, when we are being critical of what’s going on district wide, or Legislatively,  and we want to do it appropriately.  
• Hillary presented a handout with all the collected information. She wants FOSB to prioritize what the committee should focus on.
• Sarah and Jodi will go over it, and will let Hilary know how best to communicate with parents and move forward. This info will go out to the directors.

Alternative Schools Coalition Discussion

• A suggestion has been made to have a standing agenda item related to our vision ( a discussion: i.e… what is our purpose, what is our current vision, what are we doing?)  We have a definition of what Alt. Ed looks like at SB. We should be talking about it regularly. It would give us a more purposeful retreat every year and be a way to keep our vision current, authentic and alive. . Our vision should be all about what we want for our kids and our teachers.
• For example, if our goal is project based learning then how do we focus on it as a whole community? How do we incorporate families into the discussion? BLT? Can this be a way to increase communication between BLT and FOSB? It was noted that talking can get very abstract:  Can we get concrete examples of our actions and progress?
• A motion was made to have an agenda item that is “a discussion of our vision.” Seconded:  Passed.
• An update was given regarding Creative Approach Schools. This is what had previously been called “innovation schools.” There is an MOU from the district and SEA. SEA voted to postpone their decision until Jan. 23rd.
• An application is being created for schools that wish to apply, may be out in January but could be later. Deadline to apply as early as March. It may not be the only way but might it be a way to get us where we want to go? Schools will need to individually make decisions to apply or not.
• Caleb Called an Urgent Meeting last week to discuss among the alternative schools. Creative Approach status can give more Flexibility in assessment and curriculum, but Staff has to agree by 80%. Schools can decide what they are asking for in terms of waivers…enhanced autonomy and accountability. 
• Zara:   Concerned about unions, and union representation
• Concerns were raised that the district is taking a tough budget year and adding in an application deadline.  There will be more discussion to follow on this complicated issue. 
• Meeting Adjourned.

Submitted By Linda Kjarstad on 1/10/12