Minutes from Minutes from ECFS Advisory Council Meeting: October 20, 2015 ECFE & SR
The meeting was called to order at 6:19 p.m.
Members present: Nicole Arness, Heather Blair, Michelle Doepke, Josh Gaffke, Emily Heinis, Jenny
Kidambi, Chris Knight, Caroline Koerner, Heidi Krech, Deena Laugen, Molly Lorenzen, Jenna Maye,
Melissa Nielsen, Melissa Rogan, Lori Rogers, Wendy Sawyer, Nicole Wensmann, David
Wermerskirchen and Lori Wondra.
Staff present: Jenna Ruble, Karen Heaton
The minutes from the September meeting were approved.
Program Updates – Jenna Ruble
• The final budget for 2015-16 was discussed. The state funding is up $200,000 this year.
This allowed our budget to be balanced!
• We have been hearing a lot about Universal Pre-K. This new concept will enable parents to
have access, if they so choose, to high quality Pre-K. The legislature is still trying to figure
out how to implement this plan.
• The district is hoping to create space in every elementary school to house the Pre-K
programming. This will be a priority when the bond passes this fall.
Kidspo – David Wermerskirchen
• This event was held at the Eagan Community Center. Emily had a table there for her
business and she allowed us to share. We noticed that most families had children in the five
to eight-year-old range. Our playdoh and book making didn’t seem to interest them. We
discussed if we should do it again next year. The general consensus was no.
Square1ART – Lori Rogers
• The Square1ART stickers should be in sometime next week. We had over 800 works of art
returned this year. Parents must order by November 9 and the product will be here at the
end of November or first part of December. For next year, the council thought that having
step-by-step instructions available to all teachers might be helpful to speed the process
along.
Discussion – Emily Heinis
• Chris and Laura Polikowsky have volunteered to host the annual Advisory Council holiday
gathering at their home this year on Tuesday evening, December 15. A very short business
meeting will be held that evening. Maps and more information will be available at next
•
month’s meeting. There is NO childcare for this meeting. We will be inviting the ECFS
Foundation and encourage everyone to be on time for this event which will start at 6 p.m.
The Tuesday Night Committee Meeting Schedule was reviewed by the council. Committees
were able to meet and decide when they wanted to meet as a group. The schedule will be
available at next month’s meeting. When the Tuesday night committees meet, they will be
using Room 103 nearest the front door which will allow members to let each other in and also
keep the building safe and secure.
Children’s Concert on February 13, 2016 – Lori Rogers
• Lori reported that the concert committee had checked into children’s performers for our
February concert. There are none available at this time. The council decided to ask Melissa
Nielsen’s husband Matt to be our DJ. He did a wonderful job last year and everyone was
pleased. We will give him a fee so he can rent/purchase more equipment. There will be many
activities for the children to participate in.
Committee Reports
Education Planning Committee – Melissa Nielsen
• The committee met and discussed ECFE classes and how to get resources out to families who
aren’t able to or don’t come regularly to class. The Saturday format might be changing such
as offering a short two or three week seminar or roundtable.
Family School – Caroline Koerner
• There are currently three Family School participants on this committee. This program
requires a significant commitment on families as they are required to be in school every
Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon. They can only be in Family School for two
years maximum because of waiting lists.
• Advisory Council should be on the lookout for children’s books that can be donated for the
book drive in the spring.
• Caroline also showcased the literacy toolkit for each Family School family.
District Community Education Advisory Council – Jenny Kidambi
• We had to move this item to our November meeting due to time constraints.
Parent Leader – Deena Laugen
• We are all encouraged to tell five people about the bond referendum coming up in November
and those five will tell five more, and so on. The word will get out.
• Rosemount City Hall will be hosting the School Board Candidates Forum on October 28. We
have five incumbents and three new candidates looking to be elected.
• The Sheridan Project is being implemented district wide to support hungry students over
the weekend.
• The district is looking into school start times for the future.
The next Advisory Council meeting will be on Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 6:15 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Caroline Koerner