Davis Senior High School

Site Council Meeting Minutes

May 25, 2006

Present: Sarah O’Keefe, Gail Heckemeyer, Jean Meyer, Bill Wheeler, Sarah Davis, Kaitlin L., Dipan P., Kevin W., Patty Smith, Amy Schulte, Steve Williams, Ajay A.

1. Approval and review of minutes.

The minutes of the May 11, 2006, meeting were approved as amended.

2. Update: School Site Plan 2006-09

An updated site plan was distributed (and copies given last month collected), with Ag included. Any grant request must be aligned with the site plan for that department or with the overall plan.

3. District Draft Policies:  Site Council Statements

-A spelling error in the Naming of Schools or Facilities was noted.

-In the Student Board Reps policy draft, the provision (#3) requiring election by all the high schools seems unfeasible. C&I also suggested rewriting this.

Our rewrite suggestion has a period after the word “term.” Then the sentence “The Student Board Member shall be the candidate receiving the most votes” added.

-C&I suggested 10-12 grade students voting as we do not have 4-year high schools. This committee concurs.

- Controversial Issues draft policy: we will respond that we have a substantial concern or question: does the scope of this policy cover whether the teacher is allowed to profess a personal opinion on a controversial issue? The site council would like to have language included that the teacher may voice an opinion if requested by students as long as the guidelines of the policy are observed and as long as students have had a chance to discuss the issue prior to the teacher disclosing. One member had a question about the use of the word “bias” in item #3 of student rights, claiming it an impossibility to guarantee an atmosphere free of bias. We also recommend and request that teachers have the opportunity to comment on the revised policy before adoption (via C&I).

Sarah will forward all suggestions to the board as requested.

4. Allocation of 2006-07 SIP funding – final part of the process.

Today we will complete the process of allocation. We have $35,000 to distribute.

Proposals A-D: see discussion at the end.

What follows is a summary of each request and the discussion held by the council.

1. Friendship Day. They request help for 7 Friendship Days from a number of organizations. Cost for each is $325-300. Partial funding possible – the last two years we gave $500 each year. Does the program serve at-risk students? There was a discussion about whether more direction could be given to teachers who nominate students to reach out to at-risk students. $300 granted.

2. Music. English Horn. $4395 #1 priority

3. Music. Soprano Saxophone. $2395. #2 priority

4. Music. Acontra Bass Clarinet $3399.

5. Music. Tuba. $5399.

Sarah got priorities #1 and #2, English Horn and Soprano Sax, from Mr. Lange, as well as answers to questions posed in March. Used instruments have not worked out well. Some money would be helpful, according to Mr. Lange. Band Boosters provide some help as well. Mr. Lange requested funding last year and we did not give him any. We would like to fund one instrument at least partially. The concern is that an instrument will be played by just one student. Funding: $2200.

6. Home economics. Sewing machines with quilting foot accessories. $2058.94. We will see if funding one or more of these is possible. A third of the amount, one machine and one quilting foot, would be $686. $1373 granted.

7. Agriculture/Ag Mech. The total for shop supplies listed is close to $35,000. The list was prioritized; other recent funding sources considered. $4000 granted.

8. Student supervisors. Additional funding for more positions during lunch. This is not something we can fund legally. No.

9. Math department. Three multi-media projectors at $3,600 (formerly called LCD). One at $1400 granted (possibly the same model as discussed in item 16).

10. Library. Four computers to replace old ones. $5,000 total. These benefit all students: fully funded.

11. Special Ed., inclusion. Reading materials, $1176.33 including tax given.

12. Social Studies. Slide projector. $500. We will not fund this.

13. Model UN/International Relations Club. This is for students to attend conferences, and we do not fund these. No.

14. Art. $2,686.96. Bulletin boards and display cases. Partial funding possible: we will ask for priorities. Different prices possible on bulletin boards. Patty Smith could assist with pricing. Reduced price: $1313 – we will grant $1000.

15. Art. $950 for 2 video cameras and accessories granted.

16. Foreign language. Opaque projector. $1,122.95 before tax. $1,207.96. Steve Harvey reported on a Toshiba projector and document camera about the same price. $1400.

17. English. Readers. $3000. We did not fund any English reader money last year. Partial funding would be helpful. New teachers especially need help. Sarah asked the English chair who reported 60-90 essays per month in American Lit. New teacher money $1000 – new meaning 3 years or fewer – is granted.

18. Foreign language, Japanese. Readers. $1000. We have supported this traditionally. $500 is granted.

19. English. Films. No – should come from department.

20. English. Turnitin.com software; $1,750 for annual site license granted.

­­­­21. Special Education. $353.42. This is for journals for student that have poor attendance and low achievement, funded.

22. Art. $10,700 for 6 computers, 6 digital SLR cameras, 2 color printers/scanners. The revised proposal is for $6350. We will fund $3,500.

Up to this point: $25,910 allocated; $9090 remaining.

Proposals A-D

A. Staff development (admin) $20,000 requested. New teachers, 1^st and 2^nd year.

B. Library materials $15,500. The library received a bequest but it is for library books only and will not be for the books listed in the grant. For EL students and reading level of grade 5 and below only.

C. Tech Coordinator (no amount). Nothing will be granted.

D. ASB Bookkeeper $10,000

$3030 each for A, B, D would partially fund each of these.

The committee approved the slate as listed above to spend the full amount.

5. Other business: farewells. This is the end of school year and the site council’s business. Sarah Davis thanked Sarah O’Keefe. for keeping us on track during this process and during the year. Bill Wheeler will be here again as will Amy Schulte. Dipan P. is going to UCSD to study Poly Sci with an Econ minor. Kevin W. and Kaitlin L. will be back next year. Ajay A. is at the end of his term and will be in India next year; Sarah D and Steve Williams have another year. Jean Meyer and Sarah O are continuing. This is Gail Heckemeyer’s last meeting and she will be missed.

There was no further business. The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 P.M.

Minutes recorded by Jean Meyer