PEC Minutes - March 2017

Minutes of Parish Education Committee Meeting – March 28, 2017

A. Call to order

  • Meeting Called to Order at 7:08 PM
  •  Present: Jason Borkowski, Luisa Cenedese, Viola Baptista, Derek Christo, Deborah Harms, Megan Bolton, Chris Brant, Layna Neilson, Father Anthony Ho

B. Opening Prayer

  •  Opening Prayer led by Viola Baptista

C. Review of February 16, 2017 Minutes

  •  Minutes of the February 16, 2017 meeting were approved by email.

D. Discussion Items

1. Chairperson’s Update:

  •  Acceptance packages will be going out to parents soon. Every year the office staff must contact several families who mistakenly return incomplete packages; this is a time consuming task. In order to avoid this unnecessary burden on the office two proposals were made:

1. That acceptance packages must be returned at a special registration night, where all packages will be checked for completeness and any incomplete packages will not be accepted; families will have to complete the information in order to have their child(ren) enrolled for the coming school year.

2. That acceptance packages can be returned to the school office by the deadline, but all packages will be reviewed for completeness by the PEC and any incomplete packages will not be accepted and will be returned to the families. Families will then need to complete any missing information and return the package to the office by the deadline in order to have their child(ren) enrolled for the coming school year.

After a discussion it was decided by vote that option 2 is preferred. Luisa, Layna and Deborah volunteered to check the packages.

  •  The time has come to renew our contract with Top Marks. The contract was reviewed and discussed. Luisa will get in touch with Top Marks to clarify some wording regarding possible price increase in the 3 rd year of the 3 year contract. With clarification the contract is agreeable.
  • The PEC Elections will be coming up in May. This year 3 positions will be elected by parishioners and 1 positions appointed by Father Anthony. Derek, Deborah, Megan and Viola are coming to the end of their terms. Luisa and Layna have volunteered to coordinate the nominating committee. More information will be presented to the parish community as we approach the nomination time.

2. Principal’s Update

  • We have currently received applications for the 2017-18 schoolyear for 313 students, including 21 international students. With this number of students we will have 11 classrooms.
  • The revised wording to the Uniform Policy was previously approved via email. The new wording will be included in the acceptance packages. 
  • Parents are encouraged to attend a screening of the documentary Over 18 on Wednesday April 19 th . Please note that this documentary is not suitable for children or teens.

3. Financial Report

  •  A preliminary budget for the 2017-18 school year was presented. For the past several years there have only been slight tuition increases of $5 per category per month. Based on the preliminary budget it was decided after discussion that for the coming year there will be an increase of $10 per category per month.

4. Family Service Update

  •  After speaking to other schools an online tracking system for Family Service and Maintenance hours has been selected. The easy to use system called On Volunteers will be ready to use beginning this summer. Families will register on the website onvolunteers.com and the Family Service and Maintenance Coordinators will be able to list available volunteer opportunities. There will be no need for any manual tracking or reviewing of forms. More information will be presented at the AGM.

5. Maintenance Update

  • The window project was completed during spring break. The new windows are a wonderful improvement to our classrooms.
  •  The April Work Bee is coming up on Saturday, we are hoping for a good turnout.

6. Parent Fundraising Group (PFG) Update

  • The Gala went well with an estimated $27,500 - $28,500 raised; we are waiting for all the final expenses to come in before we have the actual amount. Planning the auction and other fundraisers takes time and commitment from the PFG committee members; it also requires the support of parent volunteers. It was suggested that having mandatory fundraising hours would be beneficial in supporting the PFG. As this would require a change to the Family Service Policy this suggestion was tabled for future discussion.
  •  There is one more fundraiser this year, the Go Bananas fundraiser, more information will be coming soon.

7. Secretary Report

  • No report.

8. Vice-Chair Report

  • No report.

E. Closing Prayer

  • Led by Viola Baptista

F. Meeting Adjourned

  • Meeting adjourned at 9:50 PM following the in-camera session.