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CSAC Minutes for 2001-2002 School Year

September 26, 2001

October 11, 2001

October 17, 2001

October 17, 2001 Allergy Sub-Committee

October 17, 2001 Health and Safety Sub-Committee

October 17, 2001 Fundraising Sub-Committee

October 17, 2001 Treasurer Report

November 8th, 2001

November 21, 2001

December 12, 2001

January 16, 2002

March 20, 2002

April 17, 2002

June 12, 2002

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St. Cyril Catholic School

Advisory Council Meeting

Minutes – Wednesday September 26, 2001

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In Attendance:

 ·        Meeting started with an opening prayer

 1.                  Selection of 2001-2002 Executive Council

·        The following members volunteered for the Council.

Chair– Annissa Lall

CO-Chair-Gillian Douglas

Treasurer- Margaret Codrinaton

Secretary- Jeanette Sarkissian

Action: Subcommittee’s and committee members to be determined at next meeting.

·        Next CSAC meeting to be advised.

·        Meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm

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 C.S.A.C. 2001-2002

Member Orientation Session

Meeting Minutes

Date: Thursday October 11^th, 2001

Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM  

Location: St. Cyril School Library

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 ATTENDEES:

Chair-Annissa Lall, Co-Chair Gillian Douglas, Secretary-Jeanette Sarkissian, Gina Raposo, Daniela DiGiuseppantonio, Lisa D’Ugo, Patty Wen, Liza Karunakaran, Gail Vallance, Bianca Sanchez, Toni Masci, Mario Loreto, Daina Perna

 REGRETS:

Treasurer-Margaret Codrington, Isabel Valdez de Escala, Enid Reyes

 Meeting began with an opening prayer followed by introductions

 1^st Agenda item:

  Introductions

 2^nd AGENDA ITEM

 NOTES: 

·        The “Handbook of Policies and Procedures” governing C.S.A.C was reviewed.  This handbook is published by the Separate School Board.

·        All C.S.A.C. members will receive the “School Council Guide For Members”

·        The Roles and Responsibilities of C.S.A.C. members during meetings were also reviewed. .

 ACTION:       Request for general distribution of “ School Council Guide For Members” to be faxed to the Catholic School Board. 11 copies to be requested       

WHO:             Gillian Douglas

WHEN:           By: Wednesday October 17^th, 2001

3^rd AGENDA ITEM

NOTES: 

·         The team assessed all the current issues that we received back from parents. A number of additional issues were added to the list.

·         All 47 issues are identified and assigned to five committees.

·        C.S.A.C’s “Mission Statement” as defined by the Catholic School Board was handed out to everyone. This handout is to remind all of us of our priorities as we work together in our service to the children of St. Cyril this year.

4^th, AGENDA ITEM

NOTES: 

·         The following 47 issues were discussed and grouped under five committees.

 Communications & Curriculum:  (Currently grouped together)

1.       Communicate results of student performance on Province-wide testing

2.       Keep up-to-date on emerging educational trends

3.       Improve communications in all areas

4.       Communicate performance results

5.       Allow parents to have input on creating school action plans with continuos improvement goals

6.       A more detailed “Curriculum Night”

7.       Lower grades seem to perform at a higher level than upper grades numbers change why?

8.       Communicate information regarding school budget and allocation of resources

9.       Need for more French materials

10.   Plans for continued “French “ curriculum despite teacher absenteeism

11.   Send out reminders of activities, P.A. Days

12.   Send home 2 copies of notices for separated parents

13.   A plan for consistent communication between classrooms and parents (newsletter? Including schedule and planned activities

14.   Improve C.S.A.C. in all areas (orientation of new members, smoother transfer of information)

15.   Improvement of student achievement

16.   Parent involvement in collaboration with teachers

17.   After school program support

18.   Distribution of paper communicate to youngest child only

19.   French support to struggling students, French classes for parents

20.   Parent/Teacher communications

21.   Presentation of curriculum related topics

22.   Awards

23.   Create criteria for future selection of a principal

24.   Student agendas

Community Relations:

25.   Car pooling

26.   School Image

27.   Survey? On parents

28.   Build stronger school community relations

29.   A need for more male staff a concern about how this affects extra-curricular activities

30.   Improved first day procedures a posting in June of class lists

31.   Provide art/recreational activities during lunch hour

32.   Invite speakers/performers to school more often to inspire, educate children, parents and staff

33.   Develop positive relationship between school and community

34.   Catholicism: a) masses, b) Father Jon at monthly meetings

35.   Community: friends, McDonald’s night, Leisure skating, Social i.e. Halloween dances

Fund-raising:

36.   Improve/Increase library materials

Health and Safety:

37.   Broken projectors

38.   Cleaning of school

39.   Create student profile

40.   Need for improved school yard safety and increased supervision

41.   Need for increased allergy awareness and education

42.   Communication to parents on classroom disruptions e.g. extended teacher absence

43.   Need to allot more time for lunch (30 minutes)

44.   Need for a gate and improved playground safety and increased supervision

45.   Stronger implementation of uniform Why is it optional?

46.   Need for morning supervision (daycare) not comfortable with morning drop-off procedure (lack of visible supervision)

47.   Cleaning bathrooms

*Some of these issues are repeated in one or more than one committee that is to show that more than different parents raised this particular issue.

5^th, AGENDA ITEM

NOTES: 

·         The following individuals volunteered to be the Chair for these committees.

·         “The Complete Individual “ the philosophy that Gillian Douglas spoke of at “Curriculum Night” on Thursday September 27^th, 2001, was used as the foundation for the 5 committees. There are 5 aspects of an Individual and they are Emotional, Intellectual, Spiritual, Social and Physical.

Communications:       

(Emotional)                              Chair-Liza Karunakaran

Volunteer-Annissa Lall (will support chair until a full committee is convened)

Curriculum:                           

(Intellectual)                            Chair required

Volunteer-Bianca Sanchez for “After school program support”

Community Relations:           

(Spiritual)                                Chair-Mario Loreto

                                                Volunteer-Gina Raposa for “Welcome Package”

Fund-raising:                         

(Social)                                                Chair-Gail Vallance

                                                Volunteer-Lisa D’Ugo for “Pizza Lunch” (involvement limited to this activity)

                                                Volunteer-Daina Perna for “Milk Program”

                                                Volunteer-Patty Wen for “Donations”

                                                Special Events also fall into this committee

Health and Safety:                 

(Physical)                                Chair-Patty Wen

                                                Volunteer-Jeanette Sarkissian for “Playground Safety” (involvement limited to this activity)

Volunteer-Daniela DiGiuseppantonio

      For  “Uniforms”

 ACTION:       1. Chairs to propose “Action Plan” for their committee

                        2. Recruitment of members for committees

WHO:             Liza Karunakaran, Mario Loreto, Gail Vallance, and Patty Wen

WHAT:           1. Propose an “Action Plan” on how each committee will prioritize and achieve each issue.

                        2. Complete the recruitment and selection of members for each of the committees

WHEN:           1. Wednesday October 17^th, 2001

                        2. Wednesday October 31^st, 2001

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 C.S.A.C. 2001-2002

Member Orientation Session

Meeting Minutes

Date: Thursday October 17^th, 2001

Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM  

Location: St. Cyril School Library

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ATTENDEES:

Chair-Annissa Lall, Co-Chair Gillian Douglas, Secretary-Jeanette Sarkissian, Lisa D’Ugo, Patty Wen, Liza Karunakaran, Gail Vallance, Bianca Sanchez, Toni Masci, Mario Loreto, Anna Gauci, Cathy Rapier, Carol De Miglio, Mira Gredicak, Marie Houghton, Connie Valencia, Pat Tari,

Lina Di Rienzo, Sylvie Talarico, Christine Zayouna, Wenchelle Lao, Frank Kutas, Jeanette Bertheau,

 SPECIAL GUEST:

Peter Delfino Principal of “Our Lady of Wisdom”

 REGRETS:

Daina Perna

 Call to order: 7:02 p.m.

 Meeting began with an opening prayer

 approval of agenda:

                   Annissa Lall moved that they be accepted.

       Patty Wen seconded the motion.

 REVIEW & APPROVAL OF SEPT. 26^TH, MINUETS

       Annissa Lall moved that they be accepted.

      Patty Wen seconded the motion.

SUMMARY OF ORIENTATION SESSION:

           NOTES:         

·         Review of the Orientation Meeting from October 11^th, to all the

                              Attendees

BUSSINESS ARISING:

UPDATE ON “SCHOOL COUNCIL GUIDE FOR MEMBERS” 

NOTES:

·         2 copies of this guide were received. Until all copies of this guide arrive C.S.A.C. members may access the guide by Internet.

PRESENTATIONS:

Each Committee Chair was had 15 minutes to present their proposal of

“Action Plans” for the year.

COMMITTEE:          Health & Safety        

CHAIR:                      Patty Wen

            Please see attachment included in minutes

 COMMITTEE:          Community Relations           

CHAIR:                      Mario Loreto

·            Please see attachment included in minutes

 COMMITTEE:          Fund-raising  

CHAIR:                      Gail Vallance

·            Please see attachment included in minutes

COMMITTEE:          Communications/Curriculum

CHAIR:                      Liz Karunakaran

·            Please see attachment included in minutes

 NOTES:

 ·Isabel Valdez de Escala and Enid Reyes both volunteered to Co-Chair the Communications Committee together.

 ·         Isabel volunteered to help in the “After School Support Program” by teaching French to students.

TREASURER’ REPORT:

·         Please see attachment included in minutes

 ACTION:             Treasurer to allocate funds to the committees once the “Annual Family Donations” are received and calculated.

 Patty Wen moved that Gail read the “Annual Family Donations” letter and the team to immediately give their input.

 Anna Gauci seconded the motion.

 NOTES:       

·         The team suggested to include in the letter what the sum of the donations would be used for i.e. curriculum support, “Special Events” such as grade 8 graduation etc.

·         The team made a recommendation to state in the letter for parents to consider an increase to their donation from last year by $10-20 if feasible. In order to drop less profitable fund-raising programs, such as Chocolate sales.

 ACTION:             Gail and Margaret will meet following this meeting to make changes on the   “Annual Family Donations” letter.

 WHEN:                Letter will be sent home on Friday October 19^th,

 CHAIR’S UPDATE:

 NOTES:

·         In reference to the “School Councils Guide for Members” and the draft of the “Handbook of Policies of Operating Procedures” it is now mandatory to produce an annual report of the budget. The report must specify what each committee has achieved throughout the year and the money which has been raised.

·         The Chair proposed that the team establish a “Code of Ethics”

Suggested the following to be included:

1.      It is mandatory for all members to attend C.S.A.C. meetings.

2.      It is required to be on time for all meetings.

                              ·         We need to appoint a Community Representative

·         We need to appoint a liaison with the “Ontario Association for Parent & Catholic Education”

ACTION:             Establish a “Code of Ethics” for C.S.A.C. 2001-2002

      To consider and all to be ready to discuss appointing a Community     

      Representative and a liaison with the “Ontario Association for Parent &

      Catholic Education”

WHEN:                 By Wednesday November 21^st, 2001

WHO:                   All C.S.A.C. members

PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE:

NOTES:

·         Quick review of the budget was discussed ---- $74.00 is budget for each pupil this year

·         Other expenses are for the photocopy machine

·         Textbooks ----- approximately $60.00

·         Last year the school paid for Internet connection

·         Telephone bills

·         Teacher’s manual range from $150.00 ---- $200.00

·         Paper, pencils, erasers, glue, paint, scissors etc.

·         We have the best textbooks in the market

·         The Boards goal is to increase Literacy. We will support this by providing books in the classrooms, library and provide a wider range of computer software programs.

·         One of the goals that the Board has is to have all primary students be able to read by the end of grade 1.

·         Books are not the only tool that teach children how to learn, we need to take children to “Young People’s Theatre” Let them experience what the theatre is like and write a story about the play they saw.

·         On October 22^nd, to October 25^th An artist who has a T.V. show on TV Ontario called “Kids Works” will be coming to our school to teach grade 6 students how to create a film. They will write the story, design/make the character puppets and eventually film the story.

·         February 22^nd, 2002 the students will be going to see a play called Andrew’s  Tree cost $400.00

·         The Community Health liaison is offering a 3 night seminar for 3 consecutive weeks to help children to deal with stress and staying home alone.

·         Currently we have 285 students and approximately 220 families. The numbers will fluctuate due to families moving away.

·         1 communication letter will be sent home as a budgeting measure. Youngest child will receive the letter. If you require 2 for separated/divorced parents request it from your child’s teacher.

·         You may contact Anna either by telephone or via e-mail.

·         Skating schedule has not been finalized for this year. The contact person from “Mitchell Field” has not contacted Anna on this issue. Gail Vallance offered her time to follow-up with the contact person.

ACTION:             Write up and send a survey to all parents to see if there is an interest for the 3 night seminar with the Community Health liaison.

                              Gail will call “Mitchell Field” and schedule the skating times for the year with the contact person.

WHO:                   Anna Gauci

                              Gail Vallance

WHEN:                 To be determined at next C.S.A.C. meeting

                              Skating issue will be dealt and discussed by next C.S.A.C. meeting

TEACHER’S UPDATE:         Carried forward.

STUDENT COUNCIL UPDATE:

NOTES:

·         Halloween Masquerade Dance for grades 7 and 8 on Wednesday October 31^st, after lunch hour in school gymnasium.

·         On Tuesday October 23^rd, Student Council will be selling raffle tickets for a “Halloween Gift Basket”. Draw will be held on Tuesday October 30^th. Everyone may participate.

·         The results are in for the survey that was conducted a couple of weeks ago for Student Yearbooks.

                       131 agree to have Student Yearbooks

                        26 did not wish to pursue this option

      The cost to publish the Yearbooks would range from $10.00-$12.00 per book.

·         Student Council has a sum of $169.01 in their bank account as of today.

·         If anyone needs to contact the Student Council their mail box is above C.S.A.C.’s mail box in the office.

Meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m.

Next C.S.A.C. meeting Wednesday November 21^st, 2001

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Proposal for Action

Being in the St. Cyril environment for 2 years now, I see a need to raise awareness of the needs of children with allergies; and, to take some initiatives to make the environment safer for these children.  I’d like to propose the formation of a sub-committee to address these issues. 

Mandate:

1.       Communicate with Teachers, Students, Parents on the issues facing children with allergies,

2.       Bring community activities; and, relevant news worthy items from allergy societies/associations to the St. Cyril community,

3.       Discover what other schools do to make their environment more allergy friendly,

4.       Act as a focal point for parents with concerns because they have children with allergies,

5.       Recommend policies that could be put in place to make St. Cyril more allergy friendly, and

6.       Where funding permits, implement changes at St. Cyril to make the school more allergy-friendly.

I have some personal concerns with what I have seen at St. Cyril.  I’d like to explore these concerns; and, where possible, address them.  These concerns include:

1.       While Teachers have some EPIPEN instructional training, few have had practice in the use of EPIPENS with an EPIPEN trainer.

2.       Peripheral support people are not given training in the use of an EPIPEN; and, signs of allergy issues (i.e. lunch room duty people).

3.       Placement of EPIPENS may not be best for the students; and, may not be readily available when an emergency occurs.

4.       Hand-washing policies are not in place so that cross-contamination of food onto of school property is minimized. (this was done in Stephen’s classes in JK and now SK; but, will be more difficult in higher years – where other allergic students now are)

5.       Young children with allergies are left for snack with older students who may not be trained in how to cope with an allergic reaction. 

For the 2001-2002 school year, the following outcomes are targeted:

1.       Ensure the whole school community has some training and awareness on life-saving allergy techniques,

2.       Implement a “phase 1” hand-washing policy for all children following food consumption at St. Cyril. 

3.       Explore the use of food as a treat in the school community and determine if other recommendations can be put in place.

4.       Establish a list of issues, as seen by other parents of children with allergies, so that they can be assessed, prioritized, and rectified either this year – or, in future years.

A budget of $1000 is requested.  This is broken down as follows:

I am personally becoming aware of a growing number of parents who have concerns about their children with allergies.  As well, as my child grows and becomes more independent, I have additional questions and would like to ensure that the environment at St. Cyril is allergy friendly. 

At present, most comments are observations and may/may not be accurate.  A sub-committee will open up communication between the school administration/teachers and those parents that have made observations and have concerns.  In this way, the concerns can either be dismissed as not being issues or prioritized and addressed accordingly.

It is hoped that the sub-committee can gather information from a variety of sources including:

·         The St. Cyril Community,

·         Other School Communities,

·         The School Board,

·         Outside Bureaus: Public Health, Anaphylaxis Society, Medical Alert Society

·         Business etc. that may offer help: e.g. Shoppers Drug Mart

A mandate focused on allergy issues will include those items in the executive summary. 

Membership of the sub-committee will include:

·         a Chair to report to the CSAC,

·         Parents of children with allergies,

·         Parents of children without allergies; but, are concerned about changes suggested to the school environment,

·         Teacher representation, and

·         Student representation.

A minimum of the following communication will be held:

·         A kick-off meeting with parents to establish the sub-committee and obtain feedback on this document and their issues,

·         A meeting with teachers and students to solicit ideas to address high-priority issues identified,

·         Report on plans to implement any changes to the principal and the CSAC,

·         Progress reports on implemented changes to monitor costs and effectiveness.

The outcomes for 2001 will need to be further defined as comments from parents, teachers, and the school administration are taken into account.  However, based on my current observations and the perceived resulting issues, I’d like to recommend the following outcomes as our goals (to be molded with those others who are assigned to the sub-committee):

Training/Education:

Ensure the whole school community has some training and awareness on life-saving allergy techniques. 

a.       Establish a list of people who should be trained (teachers, substitute teachers, librarian, administrative staff, lunch room attendants, parent volunteers, and older students who are alone with children….)

b.       Determine level of training and awareness required for each type of person; and, create training options for each.  Implement training wherever possible.

c.       Promote training and awareness in the use of the EPIPEN and signs of an allergic reaction.

Handwashing:

The strongest recommendation from doctors and allergy societies is to implement a hand-washing policy.  If children wash after eating, there is less of a risk of cross-contamination of allergens. 

To my knowledge, children at St. Cyril are not washing their hands after eating as part of a routine.  This was done in the JK classroom last year; and, is done in the SK classroom this year. But, is not implemented school wide.  Implementing a policy and procedure may have its challenges.  As such, a start on the policy is targeted for this year; and, follow-up recommendations for future years will be outlined.  Some possible alternatives are explored in the funding section.

Food as a Treat:

Food is a part of our lives.  Many healthy and fun initiatives at St. Cyril involve food:

·         Holidays (Christmas, Holloween, St. Patrick’s Day,….)

·         Celebrations for the children (Birthdays, Graduation, First Communion…)

·         Fun-Days (Carnival, sports day, fun-day),

·         Fund-Raising: Popsicles, Pizza Lunch, Milk Program

I must confess that some of these activities make me cringe. 

·         At the Teddy-Bear picnic last year, Stephen sat alone – with a single dedicated friend.  

·         Cheesies and chocolate are a childhood favorite; but are life-threatening for him. Like peanut butter, these 2 items are hard to wash off.  Residue can cause problems – and, is often found much later (at laundry time on clothes). 

·         In the past, I have provided snacks for the whole class; but, after attending a few realize that this is not benefiting Stephen.   Even as part of the “laying out of the food” by good-hearted parent volunteers, his food is contaminated.  For example, they’ll put his cupcakes on a plate with someone else’s, or put nachos and chips on the same plate.  This year, I’ll be packing his own snacks for him alone. 

·         I’ve also heard teachers advise that often too many treats are donated to these events.

I’d like to explore what can be done to ensure a festive but safe environment for all children.  Some options may include:

·         distributing lists of safe snacks in classrooms of children with allergies,

·         focussing on non-food treates such as stickers, erasers, fun pads, pencils, extra play time, or

·         collecting money from parents to be used at the teachers’ discretion for snacks and treats.

What are Other Parents Concerns

To be effective as a sub-committee, the issues must address the needs of the entire community.  To this end, I have proposed a start.  Obtaining feedback from teachers and other parents will be critical to a successful sub-committee.  All issues/comments/concerns can be tabled; and, then, prioritized to determine the order they will be addressed. 

Providing a focus for communication will aid in this.  The sub-committee can form the basis for a support group to disseminate information on what St. Cyril does to help parents live with their children’s allergies.  And, with a single focus, issues can be filtered and prioritized against a set of criteria. 

Besides a list of issues, the criteria for evaluation will be set as an outcome for the 2001-2002 school year.

Education/Training:

A number of options are available and will be investigated for appropriateness to the St. Cyril Community. 

Membership Fees:

Hand Washing Initiatives:

Options and alternatives need to be explored to determine what will work with the St. Cyril Environment.  Some considerations include:

1.       There are no washrooms on the 2^nd floor.

2.       Children eat snacks outside for recess; and, are not usually permitted to enter the school to wash hands following eating.

3.       Many special activities are celebrated with food at St. Cyril.

4.       Having all children file to the bathroom after eating times may not be practical.

5.       There have been times that no soap is available in the washroom facilities.

Some alternatives, listed in order of effectiveness, that can be explored for fit with the St. Cyril environment and their expense include:

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Health and Safety Sub-Committee

Proposed Priorities and Goals

2001-2002 School Year

Presented at the Oct 17, 2001 CSAC meeting

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Issues Raised by Parents in Priority Order

1.        Allergy awareness and steps to reduce risk of allergic reaction.

2.        Request removal broken/dangerous equipment from school as noticed (currently, overhead with broken glass in the caretaker’s room).

3.       Communication to parents on classroom disruptions e.g. extended teacher absence

4.        Improve school yard safety.  Items under this umbrella include: requesting increased supervision, and requesting a gate.  Morning drop-off was of particular concern.

5.        Uniforms: administration of sales this year, how to continue to encourage school uniform wearing.

6.        Increase school cleanliness and teach children  better hygiene.   Items here include: Can we reduce dust in the schools?  Can we encourage hand-washing before and after lunch? Can we improve bathroom cleanliness during the day?

7.        Create a student profile (i.e. what type of children is our school made up of: nationalities, mother tongue, languages spoken, how many non-traditional families (single parent,  guardian vs parent…), where do people live.  Knowing this will allow CSAC to be more proactive about community concerns.

8.        Replace worn and broken items in school as needed (currently, couch and chair in front lobby noticed as unacceptable.  This couch is used for child illness)

9.        Investigate request from Lina for more ergonomic furniture due to health injury.

10.     Follow-up on vest wearing for support staff in the playground

11.     Follow-up on previous year’s request for a gate on Kemford

Action Plan for the Year based on 2 parents volunteers and the chairperson

Request for help and commitment to specific items from the parent community will be required; and, will be requested as part of solicitation.