Sperling PAC
General Meeting Minutes for September 26, 2022
Meeting called to order at on or around 7:03 pm. Meeting was held electronically (via Zoom).
Attendance: Kelly, Sheeba, Jessica, Livia, Kristin, Jason, William, Principal Mr. Chow and Head Teacher Ms. Venos
Adopt Minutes from Last Executive Meeting May 19, 2022
The previous Minutes from the General (AGM) meeting held on May 19, 2022 were reviewed and no corrections to be made. The motion to approve and adopt the Minutes was moved and seconded.
Items discussed:
Outstanding Business (from Last General Meeting)
There was no outstanding business discussed.
New Business
1. General Introductions
The PAC Chair started with a self-introduction, followed by a general introduction by each PAC Executive member:
- Kelly Zecca – Chair
- Sheeba Faqih – Vice-Chair
- Jessica Liu – Secretary
- Livia Hong – Co-Secretary
- Kristin Wessel – Co-Secretary
- Jason House – CPF Co-Rep
- William Au/Gloria Au – CPF Co-Rep
The DPAC position is currently available and the Exec team is looking for new reps – ideally 2 co-reps to spread the load. A brief explanation of the role was given (attend monthly meetings, represent Sperling PAC); If anyone is interested, Please contact chair@sperlingpac.com
2. Meetings
PAC General meetings are held every 2 months – November, January, March, May (AGM). The Exec team will meet shortly before each General meeting as well as monthly in between General meetings. All meetings will continue to be held via Zoom.
3. PAC Committees
There are various PAC sub committees and ongoing events that welcome volunteers:
Fruits and Veggies
Big thanks to our parent volunteers who were in the school Monday delivering blueberries to the students. This program is facilitated by the PAC. Suppliers will deliver fresh produce weekly or bi-weekly to the school to be distributed to all classrooms. If you’d like to volunteer to help on delivery days (around 1:30 pm to wash and dry fruits/vegetables and deliver to the classroom) please email hotlunch@sperlingpac.com
Grade 7 Committee
A committee is usually formed by the parents of grade 7 students to help with fundraising and grade 7 events throughout the year. If you would like to organize or be a part of the committee, please contact chair@sperlingpac.com and Kelly will connect those that are interested.
Lost and Found
The Lost and Found is managed by 1-2 parent volunteers (Alessandra and one other) throughout the year. There is an Instagram account @ecolesperlinglost where lost and found items are posted. Please keep an eye on this account if you’re missing something! The lost and found items/rack is located in the hallway just beside the primary boys’ washroom (near the school doors nearest the portables). Your child can ask their teacher to check the lost and found if they are missing anything.
Emergency/First Aid Supplies
Sperling has a large earthquake bin (behind the basketball court facing Adair), as well as emergency backpacks in every classroom including the library. The bin and backpacks will need to be checked over for supplies to see if anything needs to be restocked or replaced. Ms. Venos, Mme Day and one parent volunteer (Phil) have currently been on top of this duty each year. The school and PAC would like to do a bit more for the earthquake bin.
Hot Lunch Committee
The committee is currently comprised of about 6 parent volunteers who are ready and excited to roll out hot lunches again – planning is underway and help is needed! There are lots of opportunities for volunteering, in various capacities and both during school (about a 1 hour commitment on lunch days) and outside of school hours. The hot lunch dates and vendors are currently in the works with a projected start of mid October. The PAC committee is also planning to send out a survey shortly to get some insight, feedback and provide more volunteer information. If you are interested to help with the committee or volunteer, please e-mail hotlunch@sperlingpac.com Stay tuned!
4. PAC Table
The PAC Executives plan to set up a PAC table on a Friday morning for a meet and greet and to welcome any families to stop by with any questions or sign up for volunteer opportunities. There are lots of different ways to help out with the PAC and the Sperling community.
The PAC has its own website, separate from the school site (although you can find the link on the school’s tab titled “Parents”). The site is currently being updated but you can check it out and find out all the Meeting dates, Minutes to meetings, and PAC Team contacts at: https://new.sperlingpac.com
5. DPAC Update
As there is no current DPAC representative on the committee, there was no update to provide at this time.
6. CPF Update
The first meeting was held last week. Flyers will be sent out next week.
CPF will be holding French lessons/classes for parents again – a great way to learn or refresh the language skills. Sign up asap to get a spot as the courses are very popular and fill up fast.
The AGM date is coming up – October 15th – there will be an option to have an online presence if it is not in-person.
7. Budget
The Treasurer shared (on-screen) a copy of the 2022/23 Proposed Budget. The PAC has 2 accounts – a Fundraising account and a Gaming account.
Fundraising Account
These funds are generated through the school’s fundraising efforts and community donations. The proposed revenue (incoming) budget for this school year is estimated at $13,400, which includes various items such as:
- parent donations
- Sperling Sprint
- hot lunch sales
- Other small fundraisers
The proposed expenses (outgoing) budget for this school year is estimated at $14,545, which includes:
- Classroom consumables ($150 per teacher; 22 divisions)
- Community night (see further notes below regarding discussion)
- Hip/Hop dance class (to be confirmed)
- School bus rental (re Track and Field)
- Banking/Admin expenses (ie stop payments and cheque replenishments)
- Teacher/Staff Appreciation (see further notes below regarding discussion)
- Pumpkin Patch
- Special School Project (extra curricular activities) – ie, this could be for tennis
- Fruits and Veggies
- Traffic Safety
- School bus rental (Cultus Lake)
- Sport boxes (rainy days)
- CPF/DPAC membership fees
- PAC domain name
Gaming Grant/Account
These funds come from the community gaming (ie casino revenue) and is distributed by the government and based on the amount of students in the school – approx. average $20/student as an estimate (can change each year). The school must apply for this grant; the cutoff to apply is June 30 of the prior school year; submission of financial statements and other documents required; it takes a couple months to process; if approved, funding will be released to the school around September/October; the school does not know the amount until it actually comes in. There is also a guideline that must be followed on how and where these funds are used.
The proposed revenue (incoming) budget for the grant, based on previous years, is anticipated at $10,000. The proposed expenses (outgoing) budget is estimated at (estimated amount to be confirmed), which includes various items such as:
- Emergency supplies
- Body Science Workshop (see further notes below regarding discussion)
- Mental Health Workshop (for parents only) (see further notes below regarding discussion)
- Other budget items typically accounted for in past years
The account appears as a negative balance but this is due to residual funds which were unused from last year.
Summary of new proposed budget items:
Community Night
- Thought it would be nice to budget for this community event; looking into this to build community; PAC has been discussing for a while and want to do this for the community
Teacher/Staff Appreciation
- In the past the Teacher/Staff Appreciation has been an in-house potluck luncheon with a small budget allocated towards a gift; since Covid we shifted to a catered lunch ordered from a local restaurant for the Sperling teachers and staff at the end of the year
Body Science (Saleema Noon)
- Thinking about trying to organize workshop(s) by Salima Noon
- Targeting age groups
- Discuss body science – a sexuality component for older children
- Get a different perspective on things and learning information
PAC is working to see if we can make this happen and will follow up with Principal Chow on details/approval on Body Science Program from Saleema Noon.
Guest Speaker Presentation
- Meant for parents/caregivers
- Presentation that discusses mental health, anxiety, how to help parents cope and manage
- Provide information and guide us on these topics and during this pandemic time
Motion was made to adopt the proposed 2022-23 budget. The motion to adopt was moved and seconded. Budget passed.
8. Principal’s Report
Introduction from the new Principal, Kelly Chow with school updates. The first week of school went smoothly from a staff perspective. The principal read a book “Circles All Around Us” – encapsulates our circles and extend out and make bigger connections; why we are doing this and what we are doing, all over the world; building community; reconnecting with each other; school is one place to do that and other places as well (ie. PAC table is a way).
The first staff meeting talked about building community; getting clubs back on track, re-introducing programs. Covid is still around. The recent Pro-D Day on September 21st was a jam packed day for Sperling teachers who discussed building community, under the idea of 4 pillars:
(1) Vision (what do we value most, what does it mean as a Sperling student) – want to engage the staff and parents throughout the year.
(2) Expectations – are they clear? Not just to students, but to everybody; let’s not make it a mystery.
(3) Instructional Practices – social emotional learning – what are teachers needing to help support students.
(4) Home school piece – what are the current things we’re doing and what more can we do to build even stronger connections.
The principal also mentioned a Coffee Curriculum – an opportunity to engage parents with the principal about questions around school matters; another way to bridge the connection between school and parent community; goal is to try and gather more parent engagement and we will continue to do things moving forward as to what’s best for our community and work with everyone’s comfort levels.
Teacher updates – welcome Jackie Schroeder to the LSS department to provide support to the classroom teacher (social, academic, or both). Mme Rachel Montague has returned from maternity leave as one of the French Immersion teachers for Kindergarten.
Student learning used to just be exchanged through report cards and maybe a parent-teacher conference or two; now we are focusing on building ways to understand how kids are doing and bringing the learning to the parents outside the 9-3 pm daily basis. That’s what schools are trying to change to make things resonate a lot more.
Parent Teacher Intake sessions were scheduled through an online scheduling process. Hoping it was streamlined and easy to navigate. The principal would love any feedback from parents on how it was, helpful, frustrating, etc.
Upcoming Events
National Day for Truth & Reconciliation – no school for students on Friday, September 30th; Thursday September 29th will be Orange Shirt Day and the students will attend an assembly and talk about what trust and reconciliation meants to them.
Terry Fox Run – the date has been changed and will now be on Friday, October 7th in the afternoon. Volunteers are requested from 1:30 pm to help supervise along the run/walk route.
Pro-D Day – the next Pro-D Day is October 21st and is province wide.
Pumpkin Patch – scheduled for Wednesday October 26th, to be supported by the PAC who will also provide hot chocolate to the students. The setup will be how it was in previous years, with pumpkins laid out all across the field.
8. Other Business
Question: What is the school protocol on parent presence on-site?
- The school is considering procedures/best practices for opening the school up to parents for assemblies and school events as well as hot lunch help. Still in consultation phase. No decisions yet.
Question: Will we have a Fun Fair this year?
- The PAC Executives discussed this at the end of June last year. This requires a lot of planning and work by the PAC. It was decided to put it on hold for this coming year and more realistic to start now and plan for 2023/24 school year.
Question: Will there be a Winter Concert this year? Grade 7 Band?
- Mr. Martin is working on a plan for a Christmas Concert with the hope that parents can attend. Expect there to be limited attendance. Grade 7 Band Concert is also in consideration.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.
Prepared by Livia Hong and Kristin Wessel