Lamarque Elementary School

School Advisory Council Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.

S.A.C. Members Present: Sally Mancheno, Kirk Hutchinson, Tish Temple, Mary Pedro (stand-in for Carla Johnson), Lori Ackling, Kimberly Disney-Gillis, Mary Kirsten, Don Knoepfle, Pat Robison, Yasmin Rodriguez, Nina Schwartz, Elaine Stewart.

Lori Ackling made a motion to approve last month’s minutes. Don Knoepfle seconded the motion.

Budget Update:

· Mrs. Mancheno reported that the School Board was in session today. Lori White is our new superintendent effective June 1, 2008. She has been with the district for years and knows its ins and outs.

· Updated budgets are expected soon.

· There will be cuts in many areas including staff positions and other areas to help compensate the thirty-two million dollar deficit.

· The budget will be a unit-allocation. Based on enrollment, the district will determine what each school is entitled to concerning positions.

· Lamarque will have a staff meeting on Thursday, April 10, 2008.

· The district has a timeline so that when teachers leave in June, they will know what positions they have.

· The hiring freeze will open up positions to be filled by teachers.

· The Instructional Tech Program will be changing to district-managed technology support.

· When we meet again, it will probably be with S.D.M.T. to review the staffing model.

· Our projections for student enrollment are 1096 which is a decrease.

· The charter school in North Port has a play in what our enrollment may be.

Ongoing Review:

· P.T.O. getting ready for the luau and Silent Auction.

· Details are forthcoming

· Quilts coming in from classrooms

· Assistant Supt. Hal Nelson spoke about Lamarque Elementary’s Take Home Work Club. Mrs. Mancheno thinks that it is a fabulous program and wants to keep it going.

· First grade- King Kittens tutoring

· 5^th grade – Social Studies Fair - North Port Symphony, Promotion ceremony upcoming at North Port High School on May 28^th from 6:30-8:30. Students will go on a visit to Heron Creek.

· Literacy Coach progress monitoring. Receiving new materials for reading program. We will get 8 pallets of materials between now and May 23^rd. Consumable items are arriving.

Look at programs to implement, refine and change.

· Don noted that N.P. sales tax revenues were only down 1% compared to a decrease of 29% in Charlotte County. Baseball flashcards for Math are in.

· Lori A- Calusa Bank will be building a new branch.

· K – K is completing the last round of On the Mark Testing. Reading groups are in place. We are getting ready for Earth Day. Read Around The World was a success. Each class chose a country and learned facts from each country. Next year will extend the time from 30 minutes. Incorporated culture-grams from the Activ Board.

· Specials – Jump Rope for heart video shown on the Education channel. The children were shown at stations. Art Show at N.P. City Hall. Wall art and clay work. Nice event. Will be up for a month or so.

Filming of our ORF ensemble for North Port.

Spring concert and ORF will be upcoming.

· Butterfly garden coordinated by Meaghan Beasley. Each class is making a stepping stone. Meaghan, her class and her family all planted the butterfly friendly plants.

· ESE wrapping up paperwork and transitioning students form PreK to K, and 5^th graders to the Middle School. We will have Summer School here for ESE, VPK and third grade and possibly second grade. Students will come from all four North Port Elementary Schools.

Close of S.A.C. meeting

We will tentatively leave the next meeting as scheduled on May 13, 2008. If we have our budget, a special meeting will be called.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:45.

Respectfully submitted by,

Carla Y. Johnson

Recording Secretary