Parent Council
Wyevale Central Public School
School Council Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting March 7, 2011
In Attendance: Mrs. Archer, Lorelei Wells, Deanna Woods, Colleen Elson, Sharon Foster, Kim Berry, Kim Powell, Ms. McMurdo, Kimberley Marion.
Apologies: Angela Wagner, Allison Walker
Last Minutes from January Accepted by Colleen Elson.
Lice Checks: Checks went well, the process was smoother than Ms. McMurdo has ever seen it run, and it was very discretely done. There were 2 cases. Given the low number of cases, we will not likely run another one this year.
Fundraisers: Coffee going on now. Primary Bake Sale in April going to happen.
Nancy Astin: is our Ecoleader who raised $1000 for E-Waste last time, and is happening again on Easter weekend. She has been to a conference and is looking to get an outdoor classroom. She is trying to get $5000 grant that will go towards growing a sustainable garden. She would like to run a ‘sustainable’ fundraiser such as Tupperware in the fall. One concern raised with the plan is the significant amount of vandalism in the area. Other ideas were doing a fundraiser with Vasey’s Bulbs. Also contacting the board rep Rick Mutuchky for ‘school pride’ might help with the vandalism issue. We will be observing Earth Hour at the school on March 25th where everything electronic will be off for 1 hour. Also Chris McCool is coming on March 24th.
Volunteer Surveys-Mrs. Powell found it very difficult to get them going because phone contact with parents is difficult at the best of time. Options are to continue calling which is not likely a feasible option. It was noted that there are 60 names on the list of volunteers for the school, but no details on how, what, or why they may or may not want to or end up actually volunteering. Colleen Elson will scan/send a copy of the chart Elmvale uses to best utilize their volunteers.
People for Education Survey-not done yet.
Principal’s Report:
-the board is creating a parent portal where parents can access all information on the school and pay for milk.
-$500 Parent’s Reaching Out $ is available and Mrs. McMurdo is thinking of trying to create an e-newsletter and a new website.
-People for education want to get membership of $50. They are a political group in Ontario, not linked to any particular group, their goal is to support education for parents.
-crossing update—->no news from any aspect. Now will likely be a spring issue or a fall issue. Still would prefer a flashing light system for school zone.
Building Parent Engagement Resource-photocopy of ‘vision’ is attached from the Ministry of Education 2010 mandate to ‘engage parents’. Most of it is already happening or we already know but Government has now put it in writing. This plays a role in Leadership framework for teachers and principals. Mrs. McMurdo is introducing herself at Kindergarten Registration and they get a tour…and that is an example of the kind of thing that the Ministry is now supporting.
***We are not slated for full day Kindergarten until 2014.
Also as a reminder Ms. McMurdo wants us to know we can put whatever we want in the newsletter, and maybe we should try to alert parents to one important fact a month.
School climate survery-biannual survey that is given to students from Grade 4-8 as an electronic survey. Mrs. McMurdo says it is a valuable resource to see how students feel about their school and flag any issues that they feel are important. This is done in class time. Mrs. McMurdo is very impressed with the kids themselves and the character they show on a daily basis.
Girls Volleyball-did very well
Boys Volleyball-made it to finals and lost in the finals.
School X-Country Skiing-did really well and many children placed.
Leadership Team-ran the Valentines dance all on their own.
-working on a talent show and are making announcements and tryouts which will happen at the end of April.
-also having a famous person day, OSPCA fundraiser which was collecting Canadian tire money and critter call outs.
There will be a student teacher in Mr. Price’s class.
There will not be spring photos again after this year, and Ms. McMurdo will try to cancel this spring’s booking if she can.
The Grade 5-8’s are working on a Media Unit and persuasive letter, Grade 4-Medieval Times, Grade 2-3 Fractured fairy tales.
Mrs. Powell brought to the table the possibility of fundraising for Christchurch in New Zealand that was hit very hard by an earthquake. 18,000 children at this point have no school to go to. Should we/could we from an international outlook link up with a class from there. Perhaps the leadership team could take some social responsibility and create a possible fundraiser.
Monday, May 2, 2011
PRESENT: Mrs. Kim Powell, Mrs. Allison Walker, Mrs. Leann Raven, Mrs. Deanna Woods, Mrs. Colleen Elson, Mrs. Angela Wagner, Mrs. Kimberly Marion, Mrs. Janice McMurdo and Mrs. Pat Smith
GUESTS: Mayor Ray Millar (Township Of Tiny), Mr. Chris Doherty (County Of Simcoe), , Ms. Cindy Hastings (Wyevale Parks and Rec.), Const. Dave Hobson(Southern Georgian Bay OPP), P/C Rick Roulston (Southern Georgian Bay OPP), Sgt. Doug Marshall (Southern Georgian Bay OPP), Mr. Ross Hastings (Wyevale Policing Committee)
Mrs. Kim Powell started introductions around the table.
SCHOOL SAFE CROSSING DISCUSSION AND SCOPING:
Mrs. Powell has done extensive research into the safe crossing issue.
- Safety affects both the children and the elderly in the area
- Also looking at the healthy lifestyle for our children – how can we encourage health with road safety.
- Mrs. Powell put together a report and key points (see below). These two reports were used as a basis for our discussions
Wyevale School Safe Crossing Assessment- April 2011
Key Points:
- Country Rd 6 and Concession 5 are NOT currently safe roads for school children at Wyevale School to cross independently on foot or with bicycles. County Road 6 is reported by many adults in the community as being unsafe for ALL pedestrians.
- Crossing Concession 5 outside the School is particularly unsafe for children leaving or entering the school across the East Parking Lot to and from the Forest Path across the street.
- The East Parking Lot entrance shared with the bus driveway entrance is unsafe for
- children having to cross a driveway that is not clearly marked where vehicles are entering and exiting
- for reduced driver visibility of children when drivers exit the driveway or when drivers approach the east parking lot entrance way when they are traveling east or west past the school on Concession 5
- Clear, specific, visible and accurate signage in the vicinity of the school and the main village intersection is needed for clearly alerting drivers to pedestrians crossing and for indicating safe parking procedures.
- The Parks and Recreation parking lot has safety issues for children being picked up or dropped off at school due to disorganized parking and an entrance way that is too close to the school’s west driveway.
- The majority of children walking or biking to and from school live in the East Wyevale region (streets within the quadrants north and south of Concession 5).
Wyevale School Street, Car Access, Pedestrian Crossing and Child Usage Assessment – April 2011
Reason for Assessment:
- Concerns have existed for many years about the pedestrian safety of children and adults in Wyevale, but particularly for children walking or cycling independently to Wyevale school. Anecdotal evidence indicates several ongoing complications for drivers and children entering or exiting Wyevale school grounds or adjacent parking lots.
- An assessment of children leaving or arriving during school hours may provide some insight into how children currently navigate the streets, driveways and obstacles within the school access perimeter.
- Children under age 10 are not generally capable developmentally of assessing accurately the speed, distance and depth of vision needed to calculate safe crossings in relation to cars on the road.
Method:
- Photos were taken of all driveways, sidewalks and adjacent pedestrian areas used by school children and their families
- The assessment encompasses Concession Road 5 in school vicinity and County Rd 6 intersection
- Also includes Parks and Recreation parking lot west of the school
- Observations of children’s exiting patterns at school home time made on two successive days (one fine day, one rainy).
- Informal conversations with parents were undertaken.
- Speed of cars was not assessed on County Rd 6 or on Conc 5 – further assessment needed.
- THREE (3) major incidents of serious safety concern observed among 11 children crossing Concession 5 within 10 minutes on first day of observation (drivers had to stop or children had to jump back from cars).
Overview:
- Concerns exist about poor signage around County Rd 6 crossing and also on Concession 5. CROSSING BOTH THESE ROADS CANNOT BE CONSIDERED SAFE AT PRESENT FOR ALL CHILDREN WHO INDEPENDENTLY WALK TO SCHOOL. EVEN FOR CHILDREN WALKING IN GROUPS, CROSSING CONCESSION 5 IS NOT SAFE AT ALL TIMES, EVEN ACCOUNTING FOR CHILD AGE.
- Bus and bike exit routines are followed in a safe manner by students with good staff support for bus departures and arrivals.
- The majority of children NOT exiting the school by back school yard entrances into north Wyevale walk to the EAST of the school and continue into east Wyevale at home time. On the observation days, fewer children appear to walk west.
- Rainy days see more parent vehicles in the east parking lot and Parks and Rec lot picking up or dropping children off. Greater volume of cars in Parks and Rec lot.
- Concerns exist about driver visibility or children, driver information overload, child safety, and signage around the east parking lot entrance shared with the bus entrance off Concession 5.
- Education of children, parents and community needs to continue regarding safe crossing, but infrastructure upgrades to curbs, cross walks, and signage from local roads authorities (county and township) as well as the Board could possibly assist in this regard (county and township engineers to advise).
Issues highlighted in the photos:
- The school has a designated bus parking/ drop off zone upgraded 2002 that easily accommodates 3 buses. No safety issues noticed.
- The bus drive is shared/ can be shared by cars, particularly those dropping off special needs children.
- No signage exists in the bus driveway to indicate usage for vehicles or that bikes and children may be entering or exiting.
- Vehicle access to the school is by an east and a west driveway, the east being shared with the bus eastern entrance.
- Sidewalk access is available for students on part of the east entrance and for the bus loading area as well as into the school office area on the west side.
- Students must cross the east parking lot drive, but no cross walk markings exist here. There is no signage or visual demarcation for children crossing the EAST parking driveway – the most often used point of entry or exit.
- Parking and backing up in the east lot can be problematic for drivers with respect to clear visuals of children and of other cars.
- No signage exists at the front of the school thereby reducing visual obstructions for street traffic due to cars parked too close to drive entrances and the east parking lot exit or crossing of children in two directions (east on sidewalk, across to forest path).
- A 10 metre space is evident between trees at the east parking lot (query new drive entrance to east lot?)
- No visuals/ signs exist alerting drivers on 5th Conc to children crossing at forest path/ east parking lot area. There are no road crossing markings here.
- Looking East along Conc 5 from School or Parks and Rec lot, drivers cannot accurately ascertain that children will be emerging from east parking lot area. There are not signs or markers to indicate children crossing and existing school sign (blue) east of the school traveling west is not a vivid traffic warning.
- West driveway is very close to Parks and Rec lot entrance (query location of Parks and Rec entrance to lot). Possible issues for driver visual overload.
- Parks and Rec lot is most popular for dropping children. Not well organized for vehicle parking with respect to child safety– no signage.
- County Road 6 crossing is in very poor condition for child and community use.
- The crossing lines are almost invisible re road markings.
- Curbing for pedestrian waiting is non-existent. No handrails, fences or barriers exist to alert drivers to pedestrians and encourage pedestrians to wait in safe areas before crossing. (Query curbing and other upgrading).
- Signs at the crossing point are largely ineffectual in slowing down drivers. (Query signs with lights or installation of a proper cross walk with overhead signs and advanced driver warning signs).
- Query location of parking at mechanical business and Jug City – are there measures such as fencing to make their parking less hazardous to pedestrians using the crossing?
Some Questions arising:
- Where should child pedestrian entrances be located at the front of the school for children who walk, children who bike, and for the public?
- If the bus and parking areas are to remain as they are, what types of signage should be used to enhance driver usage and therefore child safety?
- What can be done to make the roads in front of the school safer (signs, curbing, better shoulders, more side walks?)
- Should marked cross walks be considered for the east drive entrance, Concession 5 and anywhere else?
- Should existing parking lots be upgraded in any way to enhance child safety?
- What forms should signs, lights and crossing indicators take near our school and on County Rd 6.?
- What further road safety is needed in our school community and in the Wyevale community as a whole?
Based on the reports the following are notes that were taken during discussion:
- County Rd 6 and Concession 5 are full of safety concerns
- Signage is an issue/things have changed over the years (Block Parent sign is still up and we are not a Block Parent community anymore)
- Problem with Parks and Rec entrance so close to school exit for buses
- We have 225 kids in the school – 66 students live East of school, 23 students live West of school (15 around Jug City, 8 behind church)
- Mrs. Powell drew a diagram of the area around the school – broke it up into 7 zones, with the main area of concern being 6 and 7
- She tracked kids alone, on bikes (Mrs. McMurdo felt the students were doing really good with exiting on their bikes) and with parents
- She also took photos – she showed the photos and went over the issues she had written in the report
- Question was raised about what are the rules to parking on the side of road in front of school. Other school have “no parking” in front to school. Suggestion to contact New Lowell about their parking
- East parking lot was in the past only for staff, then staff started parking in west parking area, so parents started parking in east area
- There is a municipal drain in the ditch around the east exit
- Mayor Millar’s concern with a crosswalk off the east parking lot is that the forested area is not owned by the township. The trail is unassumed/unmaintained which could put liability on the town by encouraging kids to use the trail if there is a crosswalk leading right to it
- What about speed bumps in the area of the school? Flashing lights?
- How do we educate traffic more
- County Rd 6/Concession 5 there are no markings left on the road = the County of Simcoe will look into the road markings. Also white lines around the corner
- A four way stop is not warranted due to lack of traffic numbers
- Flashing beckon light won’t work either as people start to ignore it
- Concern that there are no street lights on the corner of county rd 6 and conc. 5
- Traffic counters will be put on County Rd 6
- Mr. Doherty and Mayor Millar will communicate with each other about signage
- If the County doesn’t have money will look into Township to cover costs
- We could get School Zones signs on Concession 4 = Township will look into on both sides of the County Rd
- The speed limit is 50 miles/hr. on County Rd 6
- Question raised about adult supervision for walkers crossing at the east entrance – Mrs. McMurdo will look at standing at the east entrance for a while
- Mrs. McMurdo will look at signage and exit signs = only enter at east entrance and exit at west entrance
ITEMS FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:
- EQAO testing for the grade 3’s is May 31-June 2, and the Grade 6 is June 6-8
- Education week – week of May 2nd. There will be a WCPS Art Gallery in the gym all this week. Judy Green is doing a writing workshop on Wednesday the 4th for Grade 1-8. Grade 2/3 is having a Mother’s Day Tea and Poetry reading.
- BBQ – year end BBQ will take place on Tuesday June 21st. Mrs. Walker will get a copy of last year’s letter that was sent home to the parents. Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Raven and Ms. Elson will help to co-ordinate. BIKE RALLY = this will be co-ordinated with the police. Mrs. Walker will also meet with Mrs. McMurdo.
- Electronic newsletter update/PRO grant = we received $500 from the Parents Reaching Out grant. Some of the money will be used to have emails inputted to receive the newsletter electronically. What to do with the rest of the money – books, workshops, towards the BBQ
- Jump Rope/Hoops for Heart – Mr. Price arranged. The grade 8 students were a great help. Families can choose whether they want to collect or not. It is done every second year.
- Soccer has started. Girls running club has 47 participants. Track and Field will run as team event.
- Grade 4 is heading to Camp Kitchi on May 24th. Grade 8’s head to Ottawa on May 30th.
- Will look at having a Pizza night in the Fall to tie in with Meet the Teacher Night?
- WCPS raised $2000 for Red Cross
- Mrs. Walker presented information about two fundraising companies – Lamontagne and Norcard. After looking over the information it was decided to go with Norcard. We will not be doing chocolate or cookies. We will be doing cards/calendars, jewelry, candles, and fruit smoothies.
Monday January 3, 2011
In attendance: Mrs. Allison Walker, Mrs. Bev Archer, Mrs. Leann Raven, Mrs. Deanna Woods, Mrs. Lorelei Wells, Mrs. Kim Powell, Ms. Jan McMurdo, Mrs. Kimberley Marion, Mrs. Kim Berry, Ms. Sharon Foster
Regrets: Mrs. Melissa Peterson, Mrs. Angela Johnston
Acceptance of last minutes – Mrs. Raven 1st, Mrs. Archer 2nd
Head lice
- We need to pick a date
- Find a space
- Need to let the parents know we are going to have one = permission forms need to be sent home
- We had one case in the Spring of 2010 = child was returned to class and then parent called
- We have never had to do follow ups
- Mrs. Raven explained about the kits we have put together in the past = she will also check for the name of a lady that said she would help last spring
Board Liability Information
- School council is covered under the Board Liability, unless it falls under something that the board does not cover, ie. A boat cruise after grade 8 graduation
Principal’s Report:
- Book Fair of January 17th
- Snuggle Up and Read event on Tuesday January 18th in the evening = families rotate thru the classrooms; come in PJ’s; guest readers – Ms. Foster, Mrs. Walker
- Forest of Readers in the library = has started with the youngest grades and will continue up thru grade 8
- Student Leadership helped with the poinsettias; made $718.78; will start earlier next year
- Grade 4 French Immersion information night at Mundy’s Bay on Jan 5th
- Term 2 Sports Events = Ms. Lefaive and Ms. Brinovec are doing girls volleyball; Ms. Rose is arranging the Cross Country Skiing; Mr. Price and Mr. McCormack will help with the Boys Basketball during the day practices, and other staff members will help attend afterschool games
- School Letters have arrived; points letter cards are ready; grades 4 to 8 should have 80 points upon graduation = this will be prorated depending upon what grade you are in at the present time
- Transaction Reports showed the adopt-a-family which we used funds from the Treasure Sale for
- we were able to adopt 2 families thru the Salvation Adopt-a-Family program
- the Holiday dinner came up $640 short = any suggestions for the future
- Norcard/Lamontagne fundraiser had a profit of $7030.99
- Ms. Brinovec is planning a fundraiser towards the Camp Kitchi trip = free trade coffee
- Mrs. Johnston would like to know if we could do a Tupperware Fundraiser = it is not in the fundraiser plan, so will have to wait until the Fall
- The Treasure Sale made $1192.46
Holiday Dinner
- Need to have 2 serving stations = this was an oversight, but we got thru with the one
- Need more corn, less dressing
- Older kids (the servers) should make sure to let the volunteers who are dishing out the food that this plate is for a Kindergarten so there wouldn’t be so much waste
- A question was raised as to whether to order on Turkey/stuffing/gravy and have families do the potatoes/veggies/buns (we purchase and send home). It was decided that this was a no and to stay with the old tradition as parents are already busy enough
- What about cookies instead of sorbet. Have the classrooms makes them in advance – an idea to look at for the future
- Have volunteers for the dinner sign up in advance for a specific job, ie. Serving turkey, potatoes, corn ,stuffing or gravy (x2 tables), or serving water/tea/coffee
- Money collection is a big job = talk to Ms. Caston to see how this could be made easier
- The Treasure Sale works best after the dinner so we have the tables
- Tables are still here from Wildfire = Mrs. Peterson can take them over on Thursday the 6th, but needs help
Parks and Rec Support for Crossing Issue
- Parks and Rec committee haven’t had a meeting since school council met in Nov.
- Ms. Cindy Hastings from Parks and Rec. had suggested a letter from school council
- There are 2 different jurisdictions for the roads and cross walk = the Board and the county/municipality
- Suggestion to send letter to the mayor, county, township, board
- Ms. McMurdo will speak to the Community Policing Officer (Dave Hobson) about doing a presentation on crosswalks
- Idea to put a petition at the store
- Can the new Township lighted boards put a notice up = check into it
School Volunteer Survey and Database
- If we do a survey how to do we collect what they are willing to do
- If we could figure out what people are willing to volunteer with then we could have a chart which would help the teachers when they need assistance
- Volunteering is down in general in many organizations
An idea was to have a snapshot of what each class is doing or working on presented to School Council – Mrs. Archer will do this
Sub Days
- What day works for the sub place
- What is offered that matches the Healthy choices (whole wheat, multigrain buns – NO white)
- Ms. Foster will call
Snowshoeing
- Cost/storage
- Ms. McMurdo will look into the possibility of purchasing some for the school
- Does Wildfire have some the school could borrow?
We have more volunteers now for the Milk Program
Next School Council meeting Monday, March 7, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. in the Library.
