JO PAC Meeting Notes – Dec 7, 2022

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• On January 11, 2023
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JO PAC Meeting Notes

Date: Dec 7, 2022

Location: Zoom

Attendance:  Samantha Anderson  –Acting Chair + DPAC Rep, Linh Lam – Sponsorship Coordinator, Alec MacInnes JO Acting Principal, John Silver –Teacher Rep, Celeste Munger – Incoming PAC Exec +many others 

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Meeting called to order – Samantha Anderson

Approval of Meeting Notes from Nov 2, 2022 – Linh, Celeste

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Item 1 – Finance Update (Sue Bains via Celeste Munger)

• Gaming Account

• These funds are granted to us through the BC Lottery Co and are based on the number of students at the school.  
• We have received our grant for the year ($19560) and our current balance is 

$20, 832.17

• There are regulations about what kinds of activities we can use these funds for
• The main regulation is that the funds cannot be used for anything relating to regular, curriculum based school activities and learning such as for classroom textbooks or classroom supplies
• Teachers and Staff have put in requests for funds for the 2022/2023 school year
• The total amount of these requests is over $30k
• The PAC will go through the requests to determine what we can afford to fund
• Out of the $20k the PAC should hold back $750 x 3 for PAC Scholarship awards
• We will grant $16k of the $20k that is currently in our account – these amounts have been mostly finalized

• Consultative Account

• These funds are from previous years of fundraising by the PAC
• These funds can be used for anything that PAC deems appropriate
• Because of the pandemic in the past 2 years, PAC fundraising has been minimal
• Our current balance in the account is $4189.17

• Legacy Account

• These funds were granted to us from a family who at once attended the school and left JO some money from their estate
• The funds were to be used for scholarships until the funds were entirely used up
• The account now sits at $332.14
• We will likely consolidate this money and close out the account

 

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Item 2 – Teacher Liaison (John Silver)

• BCTF has ratified the contract 
• Contract for the next 2.5 years
• 94% approval
• Still bargaining for language around class sizes and composition
• Semester system pace is very quick

 

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Item 3 – Principal Report (Alec MacInnes)

• 2nd month at JO 
• Will be at JO until Jan 20th, 2022
• Report 

• Remembrance Day Assembly on Nov 10th was wonderful
• Lots going on in Athletics; Senior Boys soccer team went to provincials, Cross Country athletes qualified for provincials, JO Jokers Classic was in full swing.  Girls tournament took place Nov 30, Dec 1, 2, Boys tournament underway Dec 7, 8, 9
• Grade 11/12 had an assembly surrounding post secondary, as well as options for trades
• Grade 8 had assembly to learn about ADST (applied skills and tech) electives at the school
• White Ribbon campaign week
• Nov 25th there was pro d learning how to include idigenous content into school curriculum
• Winter Spirit Week Dec 12 – 16
• Grad breakfast Dec 14
• Currently visiting catchment elementary schools to promote JO.  JO loses numbers to neighbouring schools during articulation.  WHY?

• Student & Family Affordability Funding

• JO has been granted (one time grant) $80k to be used for food security and off setting school related costs for families
• Decision to offset costs in the following ways: 
• 1. Any unpaid fees have waived
• 2. If fees have already been paid, you can submit a form and be reimbursed
• 3. All athletic fees have been waived by $25
• 4. Grad ceremony fees have been waived
• 5. Families that have reached out to counsellors/administrators have received grocery and walmart gift cards
• Approx 50% of the funds received through the grant are going to gift cards
• If any families are concerned about Artona grad photo casts, please contact Alec or counsellors or other admin.
• Samantha adds that DPAC has a working group to discuss the funding and the possibility of having the grants continued, DPAC is looking for feedback about this program from families who have participated and have been recipients

• Surveys have gone out to ask for feedback from families, students and staff about the Semester system and FIT schedule

Questions for Alec

1. Is Robotics Club full?  

Alec says he is certain that all students would still be welcome into the club.  Contact Mr. Thind

1. Is the $2 fee for entry into Joker’s Classic mandatory or a donation?

Alec asked Mr. Lee (Athletic Director) and this is the response: For classes signing up during the school day it (or donations to the food drive) was encouraged but not mandatory as we gave wristbands to every student in the classes who came down regardless of what was collected; after hours it is a mandatory admission.  Wristbands are good for the whole day (all 8 games).

 

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Item 4 Fundraising (Linh Lam)

• Purdy’s order is in, pick up at school office
• Purdy’s fundraiser made $400 this year
• Plans for the spring: 

• Movie night in February for all grades and the entire neighbourhood
• Bingo/Silent Auction in April

 

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Item 5 Communications (Celeste Munger)

• Celeste has taken on the role of communications for the JO PAC
• Currently she has access to the JO PAC Blog
• Meeting notes will be published there
• Do we have a JO PAC fb page? Is it allowed? Alec was not sure he will look into it
• We will start a new FB page for Parents to find information.  We need to be able to be “found”
• Celeste asks “how do people wish to receive their communications?”

 

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Item 6 DPAC (Samantha Anderson)

• DPAC stands for District Parent Advisory Committee
• Samantha is our JO representative at these district wide meetings
• New trustees have been sworn in
• Their 1st motion is to reinstate the SLO program (student liaison officer program) however the program needs to be reimagined
• The reason it had been canceled was due to some students/families feeling unsafe or unwelcome because of the presence of uniformed police presence in the school
• There are surveys available on the VSB website to ask for feedback and suggestions to what the reimagined program will look like
• DPAC working groups!  There are lots of different groups and Samantha will post links to the various groups in case anyone is interested in joining

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Item 7 PAC Exec (Samantha Anderson)

• No objections to holding elections to the new positions at this time
• 2022/2023 PAC Exec electing two positions tonight

• A poll was sent during the meeting (annonymous)
• Results: Samanthan Anderson for Co-Chair 13/14 1 abstain +  ⅚
• Results: Gabriel Mugaruka for Co-Chair 12/14 2 abstain +  ⅚
• Results: Celeste Munger for Communications 12/14 2 abstain + ⅚
• Maria Lopez also interested in joining exec however not present this evening and not sure what her role will be, will revisit this at a later time

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Any Other Business

 

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Meeting adjourned

 

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Next meeting Jan 25th, 2023 on Zoom