JO PAC Meeting Notes November 2, 2022
JO PAC Meeting Notes
Date: Nov 2, 2022
Location: Zoom
Attendance: Darnelle Moore – Secretary, Samantha Anderson –Acting Chair + DPAC Rep, Sue Bains – Treasurer, Linh Lam – Sponsorship Coordinator, Alec MacInnes JO Acting Principal, John Silver –Teacher Rep +many others
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Meeting called to order – Samantha Anderson 7:02pm
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Item 1 – Account Balances (Sue Bains)
- 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 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 $15k of the $20k that is currently in our account
- 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 $4,189.17
- 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 – Principal Report (Alec MacInnes)
- Welcome to JO from Samantha on behalf of the PAC
- Alec is replacing Brent for 1-2 months while he is on medical leave
- Alec is a retired administrator who has been a principal in the past at Brittania, Gladstone, McGee, Rock Ridge
- Report
- School Dance was a big success! Impressed at the great behaviour and school spirit of all the kids in attendance. No issues reported.
- Numeracy/Literacy exams currently being written by grade 11/12 students as per BC graduation requirements
- Parent/Teacher Conferences have happened, if you haven’t been able to see your child’s teacher, please email them directly. Conferences are likely to remain online going forward as most families prefer this format
- Remembrance Day Assembly coming up next week. Drama and Music students are putting together the assembly
- Grade 12’s had an assembly about what to expect this year
- Post Graduation Assembly for grade 12’s (and maybe grade 11’s) coming up on Nov 15th
- Pro D on Nov 25th is focussed on Indigenous Learning
- Report Cards issued on Nov 25th
- Robotics Competition at JO coming up
- 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
- Alec is putting together a plan on how the funds can be distributed equitably
- There are two streams for the funding distribution: 1) targeted to individual families who have self identified through the school counsellor or other staff as in need of financial support, 2) universal to benefit the entire school through reduction of fees etc
- There is a VSB Principals meeting next week in which the Principals will share ideas in how to distribute the funds
- Alec is welcoming any suggestions that he can bring to the table
- Concern is raised over privacy issues in self identifying financial need
- Families can contact school staff, counsellors, administrators via email and/or School fee waivers can be picked up at the office
- Question: Can the fees be used to reduce grad photo fees (Artona)? Alec will find out.
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Item 3 – Teacher Liaison (John Silver)
- After 50 days of bargaining a settlement has been reached and will be ratified somewhere between Nov 16-18
- Bargaining was amicable
- Teachers will have a new 3 year contract in place
- Looking forward to Indigenous Learning at the Professional Development Day on Nov 25th so they can implement new strategies into their classrooms
- Robotics Club meets Monday and Friday after school in room D116
- Contact jsilver@vsb.bc.ca
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Item 4 Fundraising (Linh Lam)
- Because of pandemic, there has not been a lot of fundraising activities in the past 2 years
- We will continue with the Purdy’s Chocolate fundraiser
- Plans for an in person Bingo Night in the Spring
- Plans for a Movie Night fundraiser utilizing the auditorium
- Many people have volunteered to help in fundraising this year! Please contact Lihn to arrange meeting for this sub committee
- Darnelle brought up the idea of Raffle Box which is a company that helps non-profits with online 50/50 draws. This could be a possible source of monthly income for the PAC https://www.rafflebox.ca/ The Mountain Bike Team used it last Spring to raise funds for their trip to provincials, a bit tricky to set up but now that we have all the numbers and licenses etc, it may be easier, there are some fees involved with using this service
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Item 5 DPAC (Samantha Anderson)
- DPAC stands for District Parent Advisory Committee
- Samantha is our JO representative at these district wide meetings
- At these meetings we learn about what Vancouver School district has been planning in terms of: curriculum, earthquake upgrades, school closures etc.
- The DPAC advises school trustees on VSB policy
- They are calling for more transparency in how the VSB are coming up with their numbers and statistics when they are creating their long term plans
- They are calling for more collaboration between city planners and school boards such as is the case in other districts
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Item 6 Call for PAC Volunteers (Samantha Anderson)
- We need two positions filled: PAC CHAIR, and COMMUNICATIONS
- Maimona Gabriel Mugaruka has stepped forward to help, please contact the PAC to arrange THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- We also had a number of people step forward to help Lihn with fundraising THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
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Any Other Business
- Question about grade 9 basketball – please contact Mr Pat Lee, Athletic Director ptlee@vsb.bc.ca
- Possible “in person” PAC meeting being planned for February.
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Meeting adjourned
