Minutes of the February 7th, 2017 meeting of

The 19th Ward Community Association Schools Committee

Attendees: John Boutet, John Laing, Dan Ross, Sarah Yaworski

Approval of January minutes

Accepted

Feedback from Superintendent meetings

As was the case for previous superintendents very few people take advantage of the opportunity to meet with the superintendent. In the morning one I was the only outsider in attendance for the first half. Barbara had much of her staff there to be able to answer any questions. She has had herself and central office staff spending mornings in schools and classrooms, and following that the day in central office starts at 2pm. She is looking at the funding and spending, and trying to match spending with demand. She is also focused in getting all students to grade level, and making sure that every child is known by name. The district added an ombudsman late in the fall and her role is to help people solve their issues.

School 16 Statuses

The most recent drawing shows a double gym attached to the present cafeteria, such that these two areas can be sealed off from the rest of the school and be used for community events. The present gym will be transformed into a library. Air conditioning will be limited to those spaces without windows, or to be used for summer programs. There is more information available on location19, but there has been significant progress both on the design and funding sides. The next meeting of the building advisory council will be Feb 22

Spelling Bee Update

The Spelling Bee will be held at U of R on April 8. The fraternity brothers are engaged and working with students at the library Saturday mornings. The budget for this year was discussed and is attached. We have budget for some additional tokens for the participants to go with the pencils, erasers and markers. There were some issues concerning the funds that were provided to the schools, which will be pursued by John L.

We brainstormed ideas for volunteer opportunities (also attached) with the Spelling Bee, which Jay will take to the delegate’s council meeting Thursday.

Dana Miller has agreed to emcee.

School 44 update

Nothing new

School 29 update

Plans are being developed between school 29, Foodlink and the SouthWest Rotary club for a community garden. A book to read on this is Closing the Food Gap by Mark Winne.

Old/New Business

Next Meeting

Wednesday, March 8th at 7 pm in the 19th ward association office.