Chair: Beth Hall

Present : Wayne Allison, Isabella Beattie, Lisa Buesnel, Rosemary Clarke, Lee Ann Fraser, Candace Hyatt, John B. Kyle, Doug Marlatt, Lynn Anne McEwen, Deb Plunkett, Pam Robinson, Dee Thompson, Tammy Trozzi, Bill Vermeersch, and Kelly Wright

Regrets: Kathy Evans and Beth Hall

1. Lynn Anne McEwen chaired the meeting.  She welcomed everyone for attending.  Commented on how it was nice to see the full tables.

2. Minutes of Last Meeting: Were there any errors or omissions noticed in the last minute’s meetings?  None were offered.  Lynn Anne thanked Tammy on a good job of the minutes.

3. Additions to Agenda: No additions were added to the agenda.

4. Principal’s Report:

a) Results of Fun Fair were very successful.  We had a 77% turnout of parents to the Fun Fair/Meet the Teacher.  The students all seemed to have a good time.  Ms. Beattie even saw a situation where the parent wanted to go home but the student wanted to stay.  Ms. Beattie has a slide show for us to view later on in the evening of some pictures of the fun fair that were not displayed on the web-site.  Purpose of the Fun Fair was not to make money.  It was to have to be a different way to attract parents to the school to meet the teachers and have fun with their kids.  We did however make a profit of $630.00 and we sent half of that ($350.00) to the Canadian Red Cross for the Katrina Hurricane Relief Fund.  Ms. Beattie asked for our feedback on the Fun Fair.

► $650.00 profit is very good and commendable for a school event that was not intended as a fundraiser.

► There were some concerns as to the food service line was a long wait and there were not enough tables to sit down at.

► Some parents felt that 50 cents a ticket for each raffle and game was very high, especially those parents who have 3 or more children.  Maybe next time you could do 5 tickets for $1.00 or something to that affect.  Or some kind of a family discount for these types of families.

► One question asked was: What the teacher’s perspective was?  Parents couldn’t really have the opportunity to ask or talk about their children in this kind of an atmosphere.  Will this increase the number of parent interviews?  No, because Meet the Teacher night is not the place to address student concerns.  There is no privacy.  Meet the Teacher is to be about coming to the child’s classroom and seeing their environment and briefly meeting the teacher.  Parents are encouraged to contact the school and arrange a meeting with the teacher as soon as any concerns arise.  It should not be done in a Meet the Teacher venue.

► Ms. Beattie thanked everyone for their feedback and acknowledged the concerns.

b) Fall Fundraiser did very well.  We made a profit of $3,597.23.  It was very successful over last year’s Bulb sales.  The purchases should be in sometime next week.  Details of the fundraiser will follow in the November newsletter.  The students were already given their prizes and the draws have taken place.  It was done in an assembly format.  The money raised for the fundraiser goes towards Graduation, year-end awards, Field Day, Guest Speakers in the school and each teacher is given an amount to offset any class field trips.  The money raised was up by $1500.00 from last year.

c) School re-organization: Ms. Beattie explained the school re-organization from Grade 2 to Grade 5.  We were very lucky to not have a teacher taken away from our school.  However the Board Superintendent called and told Ms. Beattie that classes had to be capped at 20 students per teacher/class.  But he did not want to further upset the community with more changes.  So Ms. Beattie had to do some juggling.  Which lowered the primary classes but raised the Grade 5 class to approximately 28 students.  Our average was approximately 19 and now it is lower at approximately 16.  Ms. Beattie handed out a chart showing our averages.  However, it probably means that we will lose a teacher next year if our enrollment does not increase.  But the positive side is that our primary students will benefit greatly from the re-organization.  More one on one with the teacher and students.  Ms. Beattie mentioned that we are not the only school losing students.  Having a daycare and French immersion at schools helps keep the numbers up.  This is what Harwich-Raleigh has in their favour.   Ms. Beattie apologized for the re-organized but explained that it was out of her control.

d) Best Start Program: Ms. Beattie could not say much on the issue.  She said it is looking more positive by the day.  However, stay tuned for a public announcement in the next couple of weeks.

e) EQAO results: Today was the provincial announcement.  Ms. Beattie cannot share the school results at this time.  Will have them at the next meeting.  Students will get their individual results soon.  She said that she is very elated by Baird’s results.  They have jumped up and she will share detailed results next meeting.  Feels that the increase was directly related to all the extra resources that we had last year.  More details to follow.

f) An issue was brought to Ms. Beattie’s attention and she asked for our input regarding the matter.  It has come to her attention that our breaks coincide with the High School Student’s. It was agreed that an FYI to parents be mentioned in the next newsletter.
g) Ms. Beattie was approached by 2 ladies who do BK lunches at the St. Anne’s and St. Mary’s schools.  They provide hot lunches to students 4 days a week.  The lunches are $4.00 each.  Ms. Beattie’s concerns were:

► Are we interested in this?

► Should we offer this to Home and School first?

► Should we do a parent survey to see what the parents think?

► If we went this route do we offer it to Home and School first?  They would make the money off it.  If we go with the BK ladies then they make the money from it.

► It was discussed in length and agreed that we feel we have plenty enough food days already.  Ms. Beattie expressed her concern of the financial burden placed on some families to buy food on these days because their children come home complaining that their friends got it and they didn't.  Home and School would not be able to handle any extra food days.  We all felt that we are happy with what we are already providing.  It was agreed that we want food days to be special days and not routine.  We did not want any more undue hardship to be placed on the Home and School committee.

► Ms. Beattie will feel comfortable saying no to these ladies.

7. Home and School Report: Dee Thompson had nothing to report for Home and School.

a) Beth Hall and Lynn Anne McEwen will be attending the Lambton Kent School Board Council Chair Meeting in Wallaceburg.  They will update us at our next meeting.
b) Next meeting: Ms. Beattie is not available, so it was decided the meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 9th.
c) Reminder that Mike Neuts will be at the school on Friday.  The presentation is at 11:45 am and parents are welcome to attend.
d) Ms. Beattie wanted to give a special thank-you to Home and School for having the Blenheim Optimist Club bring the Truck to our Fun Fair.  It was very much appreciated!

10. Next Meeting: Wednesday November 9, 2005