Site Council Minutes, September 14, 2009
Palo Alto High School Site Council
Monday, September 14, 2009
ITEM 1 CALL TO ORDER
Lorraine Brown called the meeting to order at 3:30 P.M. in the ERC. Everyone introduced him/herself. Members present were Lorraine Brown, Ning Xu, Cherie Sopkin, Faith Brigel, Kathie Laurence, Kathy Himmelberger, Kevin Sharp, Margo Wixsom, Kelli Hagan, Jenny Stone, Gail Roby-Frazier, Emily Kenyon, Nabeel Sami, Ashley Swendseid, Principal Jacquie McEvoy and Coordinator Edie Miller. Not present were Jared Swezey-Gleason, Cathy Fitzgerald (PTSA) and ninth grade rep.
ITEM 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of June 1, 2009 were approved with one change: the date at the top should be June 1.
ITEM 3 OPEN FORUM
Margo handed out flyers about an upcoming photojournalism forum. She is looking for funding for it.
ITEM 4 SITE COUNCIL ORGANIZATION
Edie circulated the roster list and refreshment sign up. She then gave an overall explanation of the Site Council Binders. She also explained a few unwritten policies: the need for confidentiality, discussion of an issue at one meeting and voting the next and that Open Forum is a time for the Council to hear concerns without commenting. Edie also explained about the election of Officers and the responsibilities involved. Kelli Hagen and Margo Wixsom (trading off semesters) and Lorraine Brown volunteered to run for Co-Chairs. Cherie Sopkin volunteered to run for Secretary. Additional nominations are welcome. The Election will be held at the next meeting.
ITEM 5 PALY BUDGET
Jacquie introduced the topic of the Paly budget. She explained the details in four handouts: overall view of the 09-10 budget, details of allocations and accounting of department expenses and details of certificated staff allocation (class size). The fourth handout was the slide show presented at the School Board. She added lots of detail to the printed sheets and answered questions. Jacquie explained about basic aid districts and expanded on the projections for this year.
ITEM 6 PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
The enrollment is just over 1780 and includes 480+ ninth graders. More students registered than anticipated so there was some class juggling but less than last year. The first dance went well and attendance was up about 25%. .
Jacquie reported that this was a very smooth opening for the school year. About 60 upper-class students are participating in Linkcrew. They ran a ½ day orientation for ninth graders and helped at Back to School night. Emily said Ms. Johnson and Mr. Najar are doing a wonderful job. Margo said the Custodians said the campus has never been so clean, thanks to the coaching of Linkcrew kids! The Linkcrew kids will continue working with ninth grade, helping them with spirit week etc.
Associated Student Body will have a school wide meeting later this week. Club Day is on Friday, Sept. 18. There will be about 50 clubs handing our information. ASB is going to have a club that meets after school on Tuesday for students who want to be active in school activities but did not get elected or are not in Leadership class. Spirit Week will begin on Oct 23 and end with a dance on Halloween.
Jacquie reported on the building plans. In Sept. 2010, construction will start on a two story building for math and social studies and a media arts building. The soccer and lacrosse field should be ready by late November. Football will get new bleachers. The Baseball filed will be refurbished. Jacquie hopes to get a landscape plan for the entire campus soon. The Embarcadero entrance will include a stoplight and a left hand turn. Trader Joe’s will open soon. It was suggested that a group of Leadership students meet with Trader Joe’s and give the manager an idea of how many students will come etc.
Faith said that Back to School night was wonderful. She particularly appreciated the student guides.
ITEM 7 FUTURE MEETING AGENDA and ADJOURNMENT
- Election
- Timeline of annual responsibilities
- Site Council budget- philosophy
- Camp Everytown
Nabeel moved for adjournment. It was seconded and passed. Meeting adjourned at 5:25 PM.