CVPO Business
Roberta Lundeberg opened the meeting with introductions.
Correspondence: Valerie Rosenburg has taken on the role of correspondence secretary. We received thank you's from the staff for the conference dinner.
Treasurer report: Available funds of $5993.09. There has been no financial activity this last month. No bills have come in from the dinner. We still plan to pay $1000 for summer mailings.
Roberta reported that we have received several grant requests from teachers. She estimated that they add up to approx. $4500. We have allocated $1500-$2000 for first semester requests. She briefly summarized the requests. They included:
Learning Lab-pencil sharpeners, headphones, books
Pam Matthews-extra RAM for Imacs
Library- surge protectors
Art-Lining for Raku kiln, shop vac, repairs to a kiln, salt soda kiln
Math- 25ft. VGA cable for infocus projectors
Language Arts-international short stories
Math-50 protractors, 50 compasses
It was discussed how some of these items may be obtained thru a "wish list" or through other avenues.
A committee consisting of Roberta Lundeburg, Debbie Cassidy, Bill Brock, Lori Hediger, Debbie Killeen, and Tammy Davis will review the requests and bring back their recommendations to the general meeting in Dec.
A question was brought if the committee could meet and discuss the requests and decide on which to fund without coming back to the general meeting so that the items could be acted on before the December meeting.
A motion was made by Ruth Ayres to let the committee meet, decide and act on the requests. It was seconded by Julie Gardner. A vote was taken and the action passed.
Principal Topics
Conferences: Cherie reported that approx. half of the parents came to conferences.
Levy Impact: There will be a district letter coming out that explains the impact of the levy passage. CV should be able to add 4 more teachers for core area subjects. This will allow there to be fewer students per class. These teachers will be added to the 9th grade language arts classes first, then science classes. Also a teacher will be added to the professional /tech ed. department. The levy will last for the next 5 years and start in the fall of 2007.
$300,000 of the levy will be divided between the two high schools to help support athletics and activities. At this time sports rely on fund raising for the majority of their expenses. Around 70% of the student body participates in athletics and school sponsored activities.
Questions were raised about the checks and balances of the funds that are raised by the different sport teams. It was suggested to invite Craig Ellingson, our athletic director, to a Parent Coffee to address their questions and concerns.
Transportation: There is a bus that runs between CHS and CV. One arrives in time for A block classes, and there are 2 buses at the lunch hour. One for Orchestra students and one for tier I classes.
Cherie is talking with Fred Wright about using a van with a certified driver to go back and forth between the schools at other blocks to accommodate those students taking tier II classes. There was discussion about if parents would be willing to pay a fee for this to happen. Also if there is a way to get a list of students who might be in a particular class for the purpose of carpooling.
Winter break: Cherie explained that impact of leaving early for winter break. Parents need to contact the attendance office for a pre-approved notification if they will be taking their child out of school early for the winter break. The state doesn't accept family vacations as a valid excuse for absences.
Healthy teen survey: The "Healthy Teen Survey" is funded through a grant from the Oregon Dept. of Education and is given to all 11th graders. It is a voluntary survey that covers the use of drugs/ alcohol, nutrition, doctor access and sexual behaviors. Cherie went over the results of the survey from last spring. The results will be in the Parent Newsletter and possibly on the web site.
Semester vs. All year classes: There was much discussion about the benefits and detriments of all year vs. semester classes, especially in the math and languages. Cherie explained the teachers feel they can get feedback to students quicker with semester classes as each teacher has a smaller class load. The math teachers feel the need to meet everyday and don't feel that a 45 min. class time is enough time to get the concepts down and practiced before class is over. Parents expressed concerns and anxieties of their students when they have not had math for 9 months to a year. Especially when getting ready to take the SAT test or an AP test.
A request was made to see the "Best Practices" National standard for how often and when a class is scheduled.
Next meeting; Dec. 14th CVPO 11am Principal coffee 11:30am in the staff dining room.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Adamski