Meeting called to order at on or around 7:04 pm. Meeting was held electronically (via Zoom).
Attendance: Sheeba F., Jessica L., Livia H., Jason H., William A., Cliff L., Irina R., Jevy W., Kelly Z. (Past-Chair) Principal
Andrew Lee and various parents
Absent: Head Teacher Casey Armstrong
Adopt Minutes from last General meeting (AGM) held May 17, 2023
The Minutes from the last General meeting were reviewed and a motion was made to adopt them; a motion to pass
was made and seconded. Minutes adopted.
Introductions
The PAC Chair welcomed all attendees and started the meeting with a self-introduction, followed by a general
introduction of the principal and head teacher and the PAC Executive members appointed during the AGM in May.
The PAC Chair spoke briefly about recent attendance of a PAC 101 information session (hosted by DPAC) including
emphasis on encouraging parent commitment, volunteerism and support for all students and the community.
Executive members and vacancies/nominations
Subsequent to the appointments made at the AGM in May, William A. wished to step down from him role as CPF
Representative with an interest to fill the vacant DPAC role (subsequent to Clifton L.’s appointment as Chair). It was
reminded further that Livia H. and Kristin W. had stepped down as co-Secretaries, leaving both positions vacant. Livia
H. further expressed interest to fill the co Vice-Chair role.
The PAC Chair proceeded to open the floor for nominations for the following: co-CPF (1 vacancy); co-Secretary (2
vacancies); co-Vice-chair (1 vacancy) and co-DPAC (2 vacancies – it was noted at the meeting that a school of more
than 500 students may increase their DPAC representation from 2 to 3 members).
The following nominations and appointments were made:
CPF Rep: Nomination made for Vicky P. and seconded. No other nominations were brought forward
and Vicky P. was voted in by acclamation. Adopted.
Secretary: Nomination made for Senanur T. and seconded. No other nominations were brought
forward and Senanur T. was voted in by acclamation. Adopted.
*Note a co-Secretary position is currently vacant.
DPAC: Nominations made for William A. and Jennifer J. and both were seconded. No other
nominations were brought forward and William A. and Jennifer J. were both voted in by
acclamation. Adopted.
Co-Vice-Chair: Nomination made for Livia Hong and seconded. No other nominations were brought
forward and Livia H. was voted in by acclamation. Adopted.
The 2023-2024 PAC Executive Committee is as follows:
Chair: Clifton L.
Past Chair: Kelly Z.
Co-Vice Chair: Sheeba F. and Livia H.
Co-Secretary: Senanur T. and (open vacancy)
Co-Treasurer: Jessica L. and Jevy W.
Co-DPAC Rep: Irina R., William A. and Jennifer J.
Co-CPF Rep: Jason H. and Vicky P.
It was noted that the PAC Volunteer Coordinator role was under consideration to be an Executive position but will
remain a committee role for the time being. Jason H. was considering this role.
Subsequent to the meeting, Jason H. advised his intention to withdraw from fulfilling this position due to capacity
limits while remaining a CPF representative. This committee position currently remains vacant.
If anyone is interested in this role, please contact the PAC Chair at chair@sperlingpac.com.
The PAC is looking for someone to help maintain and update a volunteer database. This person would also coordinate
and liaise with committee members on PAC organized events and activities held throughout the school year, such as
hot lunches, pancake breakfast, Sperling Sprint, Fun Fair and would work together to set up volunteer sign ups.
Committee Updates
Lost & Found. The committee plans to continue posting lost and found items on Instagram (handle is
@ecolesperlinglost). The committee is looking for help with sorting and organizing items from time to time. Please
contact the PAC at chair@sperlingpac.com if you are able to assist.
The committee is also proposing a Grade 5 stewardship program, to get those students more involved and help within
their community. The committee will work with the school (Head Teacher) to potentially bring that forward.
Safety. The Emergency Preparedness committee discussed emergency backpacks and the items inside; there is one in
every classroom. A reminder that the school has a kiosk outside (near the basketball court); inventory includes tarps,
shovel, hard hats, 2 canopy tents, some first aid kits, emergency water (replaced once in the past 2 years). There was
past discussion on having bottled water (would be $600 for entire community) but storage would be an issue; hence
changing the water out every 6 months would be the route for now. The committee would consider increasing the
amount of supplies in the first aid kits (perhaps even more kits in general). With the Great Shakeout coming up, the
school will work towards a full earthquake release (quite overdue on planning and preparing for).
PAC Website. Information was provided about the PAC website (https://new.sperlingpac.com/). It is a good source of
information and is being updated
Hot Lunch. The Hot Lunch Committee has been busy planning for Term 1 and will be launching the dates and food
themes later this week; there will be 5 hot lunches this term. As in past years, the orders will go through
Munchalunch. There will be a new vendor this term (PeriPeri) and another round of in-house Hot Dog Day. Volunteer
signup will be setup online similar to last year; it seemed to work really well.
Grade 7 (Grad) Committee. This school year’s committee has yet to be formed and identified but is in the works.
Grade 7 Quebec/Ottawa Trip Committee. This year the trip is open to all grade 7s in both language track programs. In
the past, it was planned for those in the French Immersion program only. The first meeting was held tonight. This
school year’s committee has yet to be formed and identified.
Executive Updates
DPAC Update. (summarized with minutes notes from DPAC meeting) The first DPAC meeting of the school year took
place on September 18 th . The executive team from the School District was there to update DPAC reps on upcoming
programs for the year:
- This school year will be the implementation year of new initiatives such as student evaluations/ feedback and
Indigenous studies - Another area of focus will be supporting select elementary and high schools through Feeding Futures Fund –
subsidized lunch for students in need will be expanded to 6 additional schools. High school food cards will be
expanded to include breakfast (this is new) in addition to lunch (already included). Survey will be sent to
parents later in the year to identify students in need
- Letter grades and percentages will remain in place for grades 10-12. Younger grades will receive strength
based feedback/scale. Proficiency is the goal for all learners - Indigenous studies – grades 10-12 will have some required courses for students to complete in order to
graduate
CPF Update. The PAC representative spoke briefly about CPF – Canadian Parents for French. CPF has their own formal
executive team; our PAC is a part of the local BC chapter. The PAC representative(s) attend meetings and are invited
to certain events and also inform our school of upcoming events hosted by CPF. They are a wealth of resource for
French immersion families and also provide many different programs.
Budget Update. The co-Treasurers went through the budget and financials in detail (incoming and outgoing) of the
PAC’s fundraising account (incoming revenue and outgoing expenses) and PAC’s gaming account (government grant
funds used for specific purposes and under specific guidelines). It was noted that the budget is very tight based on
the anticipated proposed revenue/incoming funds for the fiscal year. There is anticipation that revenue from hot
lunch fundraising will be above the proposed estimate.
Principal Andrew Lee made a request to the PAC to propose an increase to the budget expense for the Pumpkin
Patch, in particular the fees for the pumpkins due to increase in costs. The proposed increase is from $1,500 (initial
expense) to $1,800 (difference o $300). A motion was made to propose the amendment and was seconded. Majority
vote was in favour and the amendment was approved. Adopted.
PAC Sponsored Events and Fundraisers
Pumpkin Patch. The PAC has funds set aside in the budget to provide pumpkins to the school for a pumpkin patch.
The school organizes the pumpkin orders and delivery; the grade 7s help lay the pumpkins out on the field and then
divisions are scheduled to go out with their buddy classes to pick out pumpkins together. The Hot Lunch Committee
also organizes hot chocolate to be handed to the students and staff during the event. There will be a chance to
volunteer for this event.
Pancake Breakfast. The PAC is anticipating to run its annual holiday Pancake Breakfast (usually the last day of school
before winter break). A brief summary was provided on how the event has run in past years and plans to reach out to
past committee members to get the ball rolling. The event is run entirely by the PAC and Sperling community and will
need many volunteers for the event.
Stay Safe/Babysitting. The PAC has organized these courses to be offered at the school and acts as a fundraiser as
well. The sessions held last year were very popular and this year we are hoping to schedule at least 2 session dates
(one more than last year). Tentative dates have been booked for November, April and June (on pro-d days). Each
session would be held at Sperling in a classroom.
Fun Fair (2025). The Fun Fair has been proposed for this upcoming Spring, which has been overdue since Covid. It
has typically been done every 2 years in the past; the last one was in 2018. The Fun Fair is usually planned with a
specific ‘need’ for fundraising efforts that will benefit the school. One of the possible needs might be Emergency
Preparedness items. The Fun Fair requires lots of help and will a main committee with smaller sub-committees will
need to be formed soon. Kelly Z. is happy and willing to chair this committee; another parent, Christina C. has also
offered to assist.
Principal’s Report
It has been a busy start to the school year; the first week had a great deal of influx with approximately 16 to 17 new
student registrations. There was consideration to expand an additional division class but eventually the District
approval remained at 22 divisions for Sperling.
The principal reported on some great opportunities coming up as well as ongoing:
- Grade 6’s are off to camp in October (Timberline Ranch)
- Grade 7 parents/families meeting on upcoming plans for Quebec/Ottawa trip in May
- Traffic concerns and patterns:
o Focus on safety and accessibility
o Some are learning experiences to work on; some are already in place and how to improve
o City of Burnaby are making improvements – committed to making a crosswalk along Adair Ave.;
traffic calming methods along Sperling St. and create more crosswalks; improve signage, curbs and
sidewalks
o School District is committed to working with the City as well
o Some discussion on a multi-use pathway on Sperling St. such as a bike path/walking pathways
will require removal of some of the older trees along Sperling (with a plan to plant new trees
as replacement)
will remove parking along Sperling eventually - School accessibility updates:
o new paint job over the summer on various exterior parts of the school
o School staff are installing new walkways and stairs; making sure we have full accessibility pathways - Educational updates:
o School Goals – to provide focus on where the development is going to be
o Focus on reading
o Touched upon the Heart and Mind from the Dhali Llama Institute – a program to work on social
emotional wellness and learning; students needing this type of support; how to self-manage
o Teachers and staff will be spending some pro-d days on these reading, social emotional and
Indigenous learning goals - Emergency Preparedness:
o Focus on keeping students safe
o Sperling is fairly well prepared; but looking at the size and capacity of the school, we need to
consider the accessibility for every supply we have and how well we can use the supplies, such as
lifting items out of the kiosk rather than being able to roll it out - Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) tests:
o Tests will occur around October to mid November for grades 4 to 7
o FSA’s can be found as a useful tool to finding out where your student is at
o Should not be taken as an assessment of your school’s learning
o Information regarding FSA’s have gone home to all parents (grades 4 to 7)
Overall, the school and administration have lots of goals for this school year and the principal and head teacher are
excited to get to know the Sperling community more.
There being no further business to attend to, the meeting was adjourned (time unspecified).
The next General meeting is to be determined.