School Family Council
December 8, 2011
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Meeting Called to Order at 4:08.
Introductions all around.
o Present at meeting: Christopher Battaglia, Sandy Mason, Claude Call, Dante DeTablan, Heather
Chapman, Albina Joy, Deborah Woolley, Gay Shackelford, June Risley, Alan Rineholt, Joshua Harrold,
Richard Blissett.
Mr. Call (Chair) posted some suggestions for Group Norms to the Council:
o We will begin no later than five minutes past scheduled time.
o Respect all questions.
o Monitor your own airtime.
o Remain on agenda.
o Probe ideas; avoid criticism.
o Assume positive intentions.
o Avoid use of cell phone/checking personal emails.
o Avoid territoriality; think of the overall good for the students, the teachers
and the community at large.
o It’s OK not to know the right answer—practice and experience humility.
o It’s OK to be the messenger with the bad news. We’ll take a problem-solving approach to matters.
o Strive to continuously improve and achieve the team's strategic goals.
To this was added a recommendation that there be standards for attendance; specifically that three (3)
unexcused absences can result in removal from the Council. Further, members should respond to the email
invite via “Reply to All”. This suggestion was accepted unanimously via voice vote.
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Minutes of the SFC meeting for November 22 were distributed and corrections made. Mr. Call also noted
that in the near future, meeting minutes will be posted to the school’s website.
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Subcommittee reports—
o
Climate: Mr. Battaglia polled the school’s staff to determine what their “20 percent” is, i.e. what
really matters to them. After compiling the responses, he noted that the biggest focal point is
consistency with policies regarding student behavior. He used this as an opportunity for teachers to
join teams in order to review behaviors and identify what may need to be addressed. Specifically,
what systems/structures need to be put in place, and what are the expectations and/or roles of the
stakeholders involved? Similarly, there would be a second group for developing and maintaining
positive relationships with the students.
o
Attendance: This was also addressed as part of Mr. Battaglia’s “20 percent” initiative. To that end,
he solicited another team to review District policies and establish a school-based policy/procedure
system for attendance. They would also be expected to find a creative solution to some unexpected
roadblocks.
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SFC Meeting 12/8/11
The hope is that the school-based Attendance and Climate-related committees will meet for
the first time (or, at least, be approached by Mr. Battaglia for a first meeting) before the
holiday break.
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o
Achievement: Mr. Rineholt noted concerns with creating a program based on achievement: what
can be done for the students performing at the upper end of the spectrum, the gifted/talented
students, and how can we use this program to promote the school? Can we get students to consider
BFHS@MC as a high school choice based on academics? Mr. Battaglia noted that the Administrators
will start reviewing the school’s Master Schedule in January. There have been some stumbling
blocks, e.g. Environmental CTE and State standards—which aren’t in place, thus giving us a tough
time to get it off the ground. However, there should be some opportunity created in the near future
for all the people who are involved in environmentally-related programs to meet. Mr. DeTablan also
pointed out that the Achievement Team is expected to review test scores and report to parents;
achievement is usually connected to climate.
o
Family/Community Team: Mr. DeTablan noted that the team met the previous week to discuss
the various needs of different groups. Some partners come with needs, for example one group
needs about $30/participant. Some questions were therefore raised: How can they write grants
better? How to address oncoming issues? How to raise funds for groups that need it?
It was also noted that about 30 activities have been arranged for Friday afternoons (between
faculty, community and SWCOS)
Other issues: How do we address homelessness/prostitution in the area? Mr. Battaglia noted that
the school is using a new referral form and, if it does what it’s supposed to, there will be greater
integration of information among the people who may need it. He also said that, during a recent
visit, MSDE asked about parent involvement, so there’s interest at levels beyond the school and the
district.
Other Business—
o
Apropos of the attendance discussion above, it was noted that a meeting was held last week with
people from Network 16 regarding attendance; perhaps Mr. Birenbaum can address this at the next
meeting since he isn’t here today.
o
There were some questions raised with regard to student participation on the SFC. Student
representation was supposed to emerge in the wake of class elections; what happened there
appears to be a little murky. Some follow up with a more specific outcome will be pursued.
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Graduation Exercise Planning: There are two potential spaces currently under review; One is the Myers
Soccer Pavilion on West Bay, and the other is the BCPSS Professional Development Center/NACA II High
School building at 2500 East Northern Parkway. PDC is available at a very low cost to the school relative to
the soccer pavilion. There have been suggestions that perhaps faculty and staff could also wear caps &
gowns at the ceremony; perhaps the community partners would consider the same.
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Next Steps: School-based Committees should meet for the first time before the next SFC meeting.
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Next meeting: December 21 at 4:00 PM.
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Meeting adjourned at 5:10 PM.
SFC Meeting 12/8/11
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