St. Benedict Catholic School – School Advisory Council Minutes
for Tuesday April 5, 2016
Members Present:
L. Bolzon
K. Daponte
L. Way
L. Marsiglia-Bulpit
L. Quick
R. Marini
J. Hickey
H. Kostuch
S. McNally
M. Merrick
M. Melo
Welcome: Laura B
Opening Prayer: Laura B
Chair’s Report: Laura B
 Approval of minutes: Leslie and Sonia approved the minutes.
 Skate Night: Biggest turn out since Laura has been around. Possibly around 150 kids.
Not many kids from the older grades.
Discussed ways to increase participation from older grades. Do we want to consider
having older kids attend without parents? Marianne suggested the larger issue may be
the helmet requirement. Other equipment may be a reason as well (some kids don’t
have skates)
Concluded that helmet rule would not be changed. Possibly seek extra skates from
school community for those without. It was also suggested that we have Faith
Ambassadors promote the event next year
 PRO Grant Workshops: Two have been run. Very little turnout. Great workshops.
Discussed ways to increase parent participation. Ideas included: incorporate an activity
for the kids – Laura Q. advised there may be limits with this if the activity is considered
“baby sitting”.
Discussed scheduling issues with DCAFS. Two previous dates were re-scheduled and the
same has happened with the third date. Laura Q. will follow up with DCAFS on new date
for the last scheduled event and report back Laura B. by Monday April 11, 2016
 Community Event Announcement – Silken Laumann is doing a presentation on
depression and anxiety in town. Event date not known. Tickets available at Booklore
Snack Program Report: Sonia
Financials
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Pending Income: the pending amounts reflect actual figures, except for Live Free - not
sure how this will look
Pending Expenses: This is based on 20 snack days between March and June, at
approximately $150.00 spending per snack day (over budgeted amount)
Budget Status: The program is in great shape after we received the additional funding
from Food and Friends. We received $1,000 plus $750.00 in grocery gift cards.
The projected closing balance gives us plenty of room in case we go over the projected
cost of $150.00 per snack day. It also will leave a healthy opening balance for next
year's program.
Fundraising suggestion for next year: Dina Branco has been leading the program and
has suggested a fundraiser for next year of possibly selling seeds (flower and vegetables)
to support the Live Free campaign. Thoughts to consider: a) fundraising efforts should
definitely be co-ordinated (multiple campaigns not running at the same time) b) those
who are putting in volunteer hours on a daily basis should not be burdened with further
volunteer time to run fundraising. c) historically, Council has tried to limit the amount
of fundraising events so as not to exhaust our parent community with constant requests
for support. d) perhaps the main fundrasier next year include the goal of financial
support for the snack program.
Operations
 Volunteer Pool: Sonia reported the volunteer pool is shrinking. At the beginning of the
year, we were seeing 10 different volunteers participating in the program in a given
month. In January and February, there was only a pool of 5 volunteers. I have spoken
with the core group, and we have discussed soliciting for more volunteers - no action
has been taken.
Suggestion by group: volunteer recruitments in June instead of September, speak
about volunteer opportunities at next PRO Event (movie night), Kindergarten
Registration Evening, ongoing recognition to volunteers in School Newsletters,
Volunteer Recognition event will be run by the school as well
 Daily Operations: Lina reported daily operations are going well. Some new menu items
have been introduced. Nutrition guideline should be reviewed to ensure they are being
met with new menu items. Lina does reach out to volunteers regularly on an individual
basis to encourage attendance.
Treasurer’s Report: Jane
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Items approved at the March 8th budget meeting have been added to the committed
funds list. The current Projected Funds Remaining at the end of the school year is
$5,314.27.
It is already evident that some committed items have been over budgeted (example:
Snack Program additional funding, Agendas and Anti Bully Presentations). As a result
our closing balance may be closer to $7,000.00.
Principal’s Report: Mrs. Quick
 Parents Guide to the New Health Curriculum: Laura Q. distributed copies of pamphlets
that were sent home with students a while ago. She wanted to highlight Family Life –
Theme 3 and report that final curriculum development from the Council of Bishops has
not been received. The curriculum will not be taught until this is received. If you have
reviewed the curriculum, be advised that the information will be presented to students
through the catholic lens, and may not be exactly as you read online.
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Staffing next year at 398 students. School has been given more leeway with Grades 1 to
3 (reduced cap). The projection looks fair, and there will be split cases in most grade
levels. Hoping that re-organization will not be as drastic next year.
Scientists in the Schools visited Grade 3 and Grade 7. Well received.
School Mass was held at the school today instead of the church, due to the snow day
yesterday.
Dance Team Competition date is April 19th
Ms. Souza is off, Melanie Bettencourt is replacement for the remainder of the year.
Teacher’s Report: Marianne/Rosemary
 Intermediate Basketball Tournament will be held here on April 20th
 Chess Team to Brampton tomorrow. Next week, St. Andrew’s comes here for a larger
chess tournament.
 Grade 8’s created an amazing piece of art with the Art Supplies funding.
 Staff Request: new barbecue. This request brought up some debate. Laura Q will
investigate protocol at other schools and advise if this will be considered.
Parish Rep Report: Tina (not present, delivered by Laura B)
 Edge – youth have fun with games and challenges, make new friends, experience our
faith through talks and prayer. Next Edge Nights are April 8th and 22nd at the church. All
students in Grades 6,7,8 are invited and are welcome to bring friends.
 Edge Camp – registrations now available at the Church
 ROC Candidates – please pray for our candidates. Next ROC session is April 9th.
 Fundraiser – Specialty Food Orders – MacMillan Fine Foods from Acton currently being
run. Proceeds will support youth at our parish.
 Volunteers – Youth Ministry is looking for parents to assist in the faith formation of our
youth.
 Helen reported on first ROC retreat this past weekend, April 3rd. Event took place at the
church from 1pm to 9pm. Kids attended Lifeteen mass, and had participated in the
Lifeteen session after mass. The event was very well received. Kids enjoyed the games
and had a good time
New Business:
 Janet Jones Award: Time to start thinking about this for outstanding volunteer of the
year. Sonia will update forms and send to Laura B. and Laura Q tomorrow. Deadline is
May 2nd . Selection Committee should contain principal, teacher and council chair.
 Student Volunteer Appreciation – Laura B. will handle this event. Duties include:
gathering the names of student volunteers order pizza, drinks and freezies.
 Confirmation – Karrie Daponte will handle this event, assisted by Lina M and Laura B.
Duties include: list of confirmation candidates (Laura Q), print certificates (Laura B),
organize attendance of youth minister, order cupcakes, purchase juice deliver food
items on event day (Lina M.).
Date of event will be provided by Laura Q – review this event with staff members as this
year we have two grades participating in confirmation.
 First Communion – Lina M. will handle this event. Duties include: gather names of
candidates (Laura Q), print certificates (Laura B), organize date with staff, plan and
purchase supplies for craft, order pizza, purchase juice, order cupcakes, run craft and
serve food on the day of the event
 Staff Appreciation Luncheon – Leslie W. has volunteered to handle this again with the
assistance of Lina M.
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Emergency Phone Chain: suggestion by Laura B. to handle emergency parent contact
situations (like afternoon busses are cancelled) Idea is, with parent community
approval, volunteers are assigned a small group of parents to contact by telephone –
speeding up the notification process. Laura Q. will review with Mrs. Wasyliw. Laura Q.
advised that she does tweet emergency information. The school handle was not
available.
Concerns from a Parent in our community – Laura B. was asked to address some
concerns brought forth by a parent in our community. The list included:
Rainy Day Fund: Laura Q. advised that spending policy dictates that funds raised in a
school year, should be spent in that school year – unless there is a larger project defined
that we are saving for.
Graduation: concern was that there has not been consistency in the way the staff
celebrate graduation. Council agreed to implement approval guidelines to help (see
below)
Council’s Money Concept: the parent expressed a concern about Council’s spending
being subject to Board rules. The policy surrounding council generated funds was
implemented many years ago and we must abide by the policy.
Board Approved Vendors: the question was why do some items go through Board
approved Vendors, and others not? Laura Q. advised that not all items purchases (for
example, Pizza) have a Board approved vendor. If there is one, then we must use that
one. If there isn’t one, we can purchase anywhere. It depends on the item.
Funding Approvals: in an effort to ensure consistency in spending, and staying within
spending guidelines, we will try to develop a guideline that will be reviewed with each
funding request. This guideline may include:
a) category spending allocations (determine at the onset of each year how much
we will commit to the various spending categories ie: 10% for academic, 10%
for drama)
b) A quick reference list of questions – eg. does this meet spending guidelines?
Jane H. will ensure this is reviewed at the onset of next year. Sonia and Jane will try to
include this process in the Treasurers Process document.
Adjourned: 9:05 p.m.
Next Meeting:
Our next formal meeting will be Wednesday May 4th @ 7:00 p.m.