Minutes October 7, 2013

LPCI School Council Meeting

In attendance: C. Poole, L. Turkish, D. Boughner, L. Sinclair, L. Addis, H. Coady, S. Kopyto, J. Bragg, J. Rother,
S. Paetkau, A. Fonseca, L. Jovanovic, N. Martins, P. Gilbert, C. Dosset, G. Wyett, L. Gray.

1.     Welcome by Co-Chair (L.Gray)

2.     Review and approval of agenda

  • Motion by D. Boughner
  • Seconded by P. Gilbert
  • Motion passed.

3.     Approval of September 16, 2013 Council Meeting Minutes

  • Motion by C. Poole
  • Seconded by J. Rother
  • Motion passed.

4.     Student Update (Peter and Duncan)

  • Student council liaisons Peter and Duncan updated the council on student activities including spirit week, grade 9 activity day and the Terry Fox run. The next spirit day will be denim on denim. The student council feels that the school year is off to a great start and the student body has a lot of school spirit this year, as usual.

5.     Principal Update (L. Jovanovic)

6.     Chair update (L. Gray and G. Wyett)

  • L. Addis reported on the first music parent group committee meeting which was held on Thursday October 3. The meeting was well attended with approximately 24 parents in attendance. The purpose of the music committee is to support the LPCI music department, and to provide a forum for the sharing of music related information among parents of LPCI music students. There will be two more music committee meetings this school year.
  • Addition to the Council executive for 2013/2014.
    • Motion to add J. Bragg to the council executive. Janet will be responsible for the speaker events, primarily researching potential speakers. Motion put forward by G. Wyett. Seconded by L. Gray. Motion passed.
    • J. Bragg then presented the options for speakers for the current school year.
      • The first speaker event is scheduled for December, and the topic is social media. Two speakers were proposed: a) Chris Vollum – presentation is titled “social media fitness – you will be googled.” His cost is $895 including HST and he will do a total of 3 seminars (2 during the day to the student body and one at night for parents). J. Bragg has heard Chris speak at another high school and found the information to be very interesting and informative as did her teenage son who attended a student seminar. As well, the presentation has recently been updated (over the summer months) by Mr. Vollum as a result of interviews he held with teenagers on the topic of social media. b) The second speaker proposed on this topic was Steve Chapelle – his presentation is entitled “Social media and you”. His cost for the 3 seminars (2 for students and 1 for parents) is $795 + HST.
      • A second option if the topic was changed from Social Media to “boys and learning” was discussed. This option came about as a parent had heard about a speaker, Dr. Adam Vox, who had presented on this topic at a nearby private school. As the speaker had only very recently been suggested, limited time was available prior to the meeting to investigate availability and price, however, it was determined that, Dr. Vox lives in Rhode Island New York, and based on this fact travel expenses would be required to be paid for on top of a speaker fee. It was felt that this speaker would be out of the council’s budget. [Note – subsequent to the council meeting it was determined that Dr. Vox’s fee would be $4,500 plus travel expenses].
      • J. Bragg proposed a motion to book Chris Vollum for December 9 (date subject to confirmation by L. Jovanovic that the auditorium is available). Seconded by G. Wyett. Motion passed.
      • The second speaker session has been tentatively scheduled for April 2014, and the topic is to be mental health (PRO grant request granted based on this topic). J. Bragg indicated that she had been in touch with the Anne Johnston Health Centre who would be willing to work with the council to develop a program that would be suitable for students and parents. It was noted that the LPCI guidance department would also like to work in partnership with the council on this topic. Further discussions with both the guidance department and the Anne Johnston Health Centre will occur.
      • S. Paetkau put forward some potential speakers on the topic of mental health as well – a performance based option entitled “Talk to youth lately;” and Leo Barbe, a speaker on emotional intelligence (website: http://www.thinkdontshoot.com/).
      • The speaker for the session on mental health will be revisited at a later council meeting and a motion put forth at that time.

7.     Other Business

  • P. Gilbert, a teacher and football coach at LPCI and C. Dosset, a former football player at LPCI, and a generous contributor to the LPCI scoreboard, attended the meeting to express their concern about the status of the field. In July, the TDSB commenced work to renovate the field. This work was completed on July 21 and the area was fenced off. Instructions were given that the fences were not to be removed for 16 weeks (November 3). Mr. Gilbert indicated that the fencing is still up and the field is not being used but that the grass within the fenced in area has regrown and the renovated field looks great; however, the TDSB will not provide approval to remove the fences, they are insisting the fences remain in place for the full 16 weeks. Mr. Gilbert indicated that comparable field renovation work had been done at other schools (i.e. – Richview) and the required timing the field had to be left fenced off was only 8 weeks. As a result of the field not being available for use, many school teams have had to find alternative places to practice and play games (i.e. – field hockey, rugby 7s, soccer, football) and of students in phys  ed classes cannot access the field either. Currently 100 football players have been practicing in the school’s south field which is less than desirable or safe due to the sewer grates, large metal plate with exposed hinges and a padlock and many holes dug by local dogs. A meeting is required with the relevant TDSB staff as well as the school trustee and superintendent so that some sort of resolution can be reached and the field can be put back in use as soon as it is ready.
  • It was further noted that much of the reason for the field requiring renovation in the first place was not the use by the school nor the use by the local community, but rather as a result of the permits given out by the TDSB to North Toronto soccer who use the field rain or shine 7 days a week during the soccer season. If the school was able to limit the use of the field to school and local community (non-permitted) use only, the field would be able to remain in good repair and further significant renovation would not be required.
  • As an action item it was decided by the council that a message about this situation would be sent out to all school families through the school council email. Further, the council co-chairs would contact Howard Goodman (school trustee) and Jeff Hainbuch (school superintendent) asking them to help arrange a meeting between themselves, the co-chairs, Mr. Gilbert, Ms. Jovanovic and the relevant staff from the TDSB as soon as possible on the school field so that the status of the field could be reconsidered.

8.     Adjourn

  • Meeting adjourned at 8:40pm.

The Next meeting will be November 4. School Trustee Howard Goodman will attend.