September 23 2020 Minutes
At this online Zoom meeting on September 23, 2020, in attendance were:
- JO PAC Executive – Sheril Gelmon (Chair), Wendy Sinclair (Secretary, seeing co-secretary), Lara Spence (Communications), Sheri Wiwchar (Purdy’s Fundraiser), Sue Bains (new Treasurer)
- JO Staff: Brent Schieman (JO Principal), Nancy Palejko (Teacher, JO Staff/PAC liaison)
- 37 parents.
Meeting Details
- The meeting was called to order at 7pm. A welcome from Sheril Gelmon to all.
- Discussion of May 20, 2020 meetings minutes (available at https://blogs.vsb.bc.ca/jo-pac/). Sheril Gelmon moved the minutes be approved; seconded by Darnelle Moore. Passed.
- Brent Schieman – Principal – a welcome from Brent. Staff and students doing well in this challenging time. Some students need to be reminded to bring a mask; parents please help remind; students should not congregate in the hallways or outside after school. Some clubs are forming. Band, choir are taking part. All in all, many are enjoying the 2-classes-system. If you have concerns about how your child is receiving information, or any questions, please call your child’s counsellor. – call the main office to get in touch 604-713-8938.
- Fundraising – Sheri is in charge of the Purdy’s chocolate fundraiser. Sheri reported that we may still be able to run the fundraiser. We raise about $250-300 a year with this fundraiser. It happens late November, with chocolates arriving at JO right before the Winter break. Sheri will check we can still do this this year. Lara shared about the Gift Card fundraiser, which is ongoing for the year. See the JO PAC website https://blogs.vsb.bc.ca/jo-pac/ side column for details on how to buy gift cards which can make 3-8% for JO but require that you spend money by debit (not credit card) to buy these gift cards.
- There was an update on the balance of PAC accounts, which are held at Vancity. Balances as of Sept 22, 2020:
| Account | Current Balance | Must Keep Aside | Theoretical, we can spend this year – decisions may be made at our October meeting: |
| Gaming Fund – can only be spent on certain things | $5507. We anticipate we will get $18,000 from BC Lotteries this winter – our application was submitted correctly in June. | $3000 for 4 scholarships, and keep $500 just in case. | $2000 |
| Consultative Fund – can be spent on anything | $6358 | $1000 just in case | $5300 |
| Legacy Fund – money collected at the 100 Year Reunion, should be spent on “legacy” school projects | $3732 | $1050 [kept aside for the Ken McLeod memoriam project; we are holding the money for them as a courtesy]
$750 for June 2021 scholarship |
$1932 |
| School-held PAC account – VSB requires that online donations to PAC through School Cash Online must remain with school. We plan to spend this first through inter-department transfers, such as if we need to send money to Mini or the school. | $0 | $0 | $0 |
- PAC Financial Support of School Projects: Sheril and Brent discussed the process by which the school will request funds from PAC. Brent will ask all staff to submit requests to him in early October (athletics, clubs (writing, robotics, dissection, new-to-Canada etc.), “welcome to grade 8” week, music, drama, auditorium upgrades, student council, grad breakfast/dry grad are usual request centers). The school finance committee (Brent leads) will vet these requests, ensuring all other plausible existing funding options are considered and ideas are reasonable. A list of possible requests will (we hope!) be presented to PAC Exec before the October 21 meeting (Oct 16-ish) and we may have people join us on Zoom to discuss their requests. The PAC may decide all requests during the Oct 21 meeting. We hope all parents/guardians can be present to hear about what’s going on at JO and help us vote.
- Teacher liaison Nancy Palejko introduced herself and discussed the challenges that many teachers/students are facing. She recommended that our kids should be doing 2 hours of homework every school day (if taking one online and one in-person course), to ensure enough time to cover the material in this new delivery system.
- Helping Out – Lara mentioned that all parents/guardians of JO students are members of the JO PAC. We exist to provide an avenue for parents/guardians to contribute ideas to the running of the school and advocate for the best possible student experience for all. Sheril noted that there are some opportunities for volunteers this year. She thanked the departing co-secretary and DPAC members (whose children have graduated) for their years of service. Highlighted that this will be Sheri’s last year as her daughter graduates next spring, and Sheril Gelmon will be stepping down as chair after this year. Parents new to the school are encouraged to join the PAC exec.
- Staying in Touch – Sheril encouraged everyone to check out the JO website for news. Lara reiterated that it was fantastic that JO Admin submit content to the site and make it up to parents to come find it. A good way to be connected to the school. Lara encouraged families to set up once-a- week reminders to review the JO website as the VPs put up “news posts” as news/info comes to their mind. https://www.vsb.bc.ca/schools/john-oliver
- The meeting opened up to general questions. One attendee (adult cousin of new student) asked how he could get his email on the school’s email list for course work so he could help out the student along with the parents. Brent offered his email address. One attendee was concerned what would happen in a COVID-lockdown situation. Brent said that the school would inform parents and students if this situation occurred.
- Upcoming PAC meeting dates were discussed – all will be on Zoom at 7pm unless otherwise noted. Pre-registration is required through the link on the school calendar and the PAC website. The dates are:
-
- Oct 21 2020
- Nov 18 2020 – will start at 7:30 if this is the same night as parent teacher conferences
- Jan 20 2021
- Feb 17 2021
- April 21 2021
- May 19 2021.
The meeting ended at 8:15pm.
