E. H. Sutherland Elementary School10015 S. Leavitt Avenue 773-535-2580
Catherine Gannon Maureen Elwood Ms. Maria Pullos Counselor Ms. Cira Ms. Rose Pickett
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LSC Minutes March 8, 2011Sutherland School Meeting convened at 4:38pm Members in attendance: Laurie Ach, Debbie Barnum, Melissa Boyd, Dawn Craan, Laurie DelFavero, Paul Faeh, Catherine Gannon, John Griffin, Jr., Cheryl Kite, Kevin McGuire, Julie O’Connor, Aronzo Traylor Julie O’Connor addressed the concerns that arose about adding items to the agenda and when. There were new items added to the agenda under New Business that had not been discussed at the previous LSC meeting. The procedures for adding items to the agenda were distributed to board members. Every member was asked to look at the agenda and note what items were added. The board members were allowed to make comments concerning these new items on the agenda. Mr. Traylor stated that in the past, agenda items were discussed and decided at the previous LSC meeting as a body. He feels allowing individuals to add items to the agenda after the previous meeting would take time away from the present meeting trying to decide what items would be discussed. Mrs. O’Connor agreed but stated that the LSC might not want to have to wait an additional month or two to discuss something that comes up between meetings. Mrs. Kite stated that since the Principal Evaluation Committee had been discussed in prior meetings, this topic would not be new business. Mrs. O’Connor stated that the Principal Evaluation Committee under New Business would be different from the committee discussed previously. John Griffin made a motion to approve the agenda with the New Business items. Paul Faeh seconded the motion. Vote called to approve the agenda with the new items. Motion passed with 7 yes and 4 no votes. Ms. Barnum was unable to vote because of her new member status. Principal Report ISAT testing to take place March 8th – March 18th. The SIPAAA committee will meet on Monday, March 14th to work on the SIPAAA mid-year review and next year’s budget alignment. The budget is expected to be the same as this year. The SIPAAA and budget will be presented at the April LSC meeting. The LSC RFP was sent and confirmed by the LSC and Designs for Change has been paid. The capital improvement is moving along, bids are being collected. The project is scheduled to begin in April/May and expected to be completed in September. The cohort teachers plan on meeting April 1 to work on MAP strategies and differentiation. Dr. Tanner is bringing the AMPS CAO to observe DDI strategies and LEAD 21 next month, April 14. Our Tier II and Tier III RTI intervention implementation continues with our Teacher Tutors and certified paraprofessionals. Individual and team meetings with teachers continue to discuss student progress. After school programs are not in session this week because of ISAT testing. The 7th and 8th grade students attended Macbeth at the Shakespeare Theatre last month. The 7th grade begins yoga on March 14th. This class helps supplement the PE hours requirement. The A Capoiera performance is scheduled for March 30th for the 6th grade. Eight out of 38 eligible students have committed to the Morgan Park IB Programme. Fifty-one 8th graders have completed their service hours. April 30th is the deadline for completion of service hours. Room 008 is going to the Art Institute on March 22. Mr. Wax is preparing for his annual French event. Ms. Simons will participate in the Art Reach program on March 25th. Mrs. Ryan has been invited to attend the annual regional conference in San Antonio. Cultural enrichment programs resume after ISAT and will continue through the end of the year. Spring Choir and Drama are in the planning stages and information will be distributed by March 15. We will officially need to set the agenda at each meeting to ensure all members are considered. Public Comment Mrs. Nuzzo stated the kids seem excited about the new reading program but experienced some stress at home due to ISAT testing and introduction of the new reading program occurring at the same time. Mr. Finnegan stated that he is aware of some behavior problems in the 7th and 8th grade and would like the last few months his son has at Sutherland to be positive. He asked what behavior plan has been used and will be used. Mrs. Elwood stated that she hopes that the New Business items added to the agenda have been investigated and have not been put on because of someone’s individual agenda, hearsay, or misinformation. Ms. Connoly stated that the teachers and administration should be extremely proud of the foundation started at Sutherland, it is second to none. The educational programs are constantly being re-evaluated and having the staff jump onboard and carry it to success is something that should be starred. Mrs. Meyer stated that sometimes you have to give children candy and sometimes you have to take it away in light of recent behavior problems with the Junior High students. Some of the students liked not changing classes and would like it to stay that way. Our kids are good and the bar is high. She feels that a different message may have gone out about what occurred rather than what actually occurred. Mrs. Cira stated in the grand scheme of things we are very lucky to have our students, and our parents and our supports. Ms. Craan stated she was the person that asked for the PAWS/Positive Behavior Intervention Program to be added to the agenda for today, simply because as LSC one of our responsibilities is to monitor behavior per the SIPAAA. Also, not everyone on the board has 8th graders so they may not be aware of the events that took place. At the same time she felt it was important for all of us as a board to know what was going on. It has been taken care of and it was only two days and everything is under control. She did not have ulterior motives for putting it on the agenda. She thinks it is important for us as a board and as a community to be aware and to help the teachers and Ms. Gannon implement and insure that the PAWS/Positive Behavior Intervention Program is working so that the teachers can teach without all of the interruptions and adding to the stress they already have. How do we monitor these programs if we don’t talk about it or if we don’t know what is going on? Ms. Somerville stated that open communication is important for the school community. And likes the email invites to the LSC meetings. Delegate Reports PPLC – Did not meet this month. The Science Mobile Lab May 11th-12th. PTA – Mardi Gras dinner is March 8th. A school wide pizza lunch is on March 18th. The Men’s Club sponsored Texas Hold ‘Em is also March 18th. Eight Grade Social is March 18th. PR Committee – LSC Corner is in the PTA Newsletter. Emails sent to new mentor families inviting them to come to the LSC meetings. School Climate – The Spring musical is Beauty and the Beast with performances set for June 2 and 3. Auditions will be March 21 and 23. The next Athletic Board Meeting is scheduled for May. New Business Principal Evaluation Committee – A proposal was made to establish a new Principal Evaluation Committee. This committee would be different from the committee established at the organizational meeting. This committee would allow the LSC to delegate the information gathering process in an efficient manner so that the LSC members could focus on the critical task of analyzing the results and vote on recommendations of ratings for the principal evaluation. No one would be eliminated from the evaluation process. In October the LSC met and reviewed what supplemental materials they would like from Ms. Gannon as part of the Principal Evaluation. That letter was given to her on November 9, 2011 and as of March 8, these supplemental materials had not been received. It was Ms. Gannon’s understanding that she would provide all supplemental materials by April 1, 2011. Some LSC members believed the materials would be presented as the information was compiled. A member said receiving the materials April 1 has not been a problem in the past and in order for the LSC to do a thorough evaluation it would take all members reviewing the information. The question was asked if there is something wrong with change or doing something differently in regards to the Principal Evaluation. The question seems to be why change the process at this late date when the LSC had the opportunity in July to suggest something different. The new committee would bring new voices to the process and allow other community members to be part of the process. This new committee would strictly be advisory. Budget Committee – One of our chief responsibilities is to monitor the budget which includes internal accounts. We now have a PTA and a Foundation that raise money for the school. The proposal of the Budget Committee would be to coordinate with the Foundation and PTA to ensure that the money being raised is going towards the SIPAAA and to create communication between these different entities. A motion was called and made to table further discussion of the Budget Committee. The motion seconded. A vote was taken to table the discussion and passed unanimously. Motion made to move to Executive Session to review survey results including Valencia Rias made by Aronzo Traylor. Motion seconded to move to Executive Session. Unanimous vote to move to Executive Session at 6:00pm. Returned from Executive Session at 6:53pm The next LSC meeting is April 12, 2011at 4:30pm Meeting adjourned at 6:55pm. Please note: This site is best viewed in a full browser window. |