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Minutes of Meeting-HGI Parent Advisory Council
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Members Present: Peggy Hobson, Mike Pizzi, Nancy Melnychuk, Harriette Miao,
Leanne Ruby, Connie Torossi, Idelle Kowalchuk, Christine Musk, Julie Woo, Tom Albig,
Nancy Brown
Regrets: Leanne Lawless, Kim MacRae
1. Meeting came to order at 6:30 PM. Nancy Melnychuk chaired the meeting. The
minutes from the January 15th meeting were read and approved .
Congratulations to Peggy Hobson being recognized as one of the top 40 Principals in
Canada. Peggy has been doing some press related to the award and will travel to
Toronto next week to attend a celebration and attend a 5 day business course that was
offered in conjunction with the award.
2. Treasurer’s Report- Tom read the Treasurer’s report. Pinnies were purchased for
track events to be able to easily identify HGI students at track meets. There is still
money in the budget and we are waiting on suggestions and requests from the teaching
teams.
3. Lunch Program Report- Prepared by Silvana but read by Nancy
Financial: All post- dated cheques dated February 1st, 2015 for parents that chose the
semi-annual payment option have been deposited.
Registration: New rates for the lunch program for Sept 2015 – June 2016 were
discussed with Ms Hobson. The new fee schedule is as follows:
Full Time fee changed from $160.00 to $180.00.
Full Time semi-annual payment fee changed from $85.00 to $95.00.
Families with 3 children, fee changed from $400.00 to $450.00.
Monthly fee changed from $25.00 to $30.00.
For three years (2010-2012) the lunch fee remained at $180.00. The program consisted
of a 2 to 1 ratio of two classrooms supervised by one supervisor. After accumulating a
profit over a 3 year period, the fees were decreased in 2013 to $170.00 and then
decreased again in 2014 to $160.00. To date the accumulated profit also allowed the
lunch program to provide a one to one ratio of supervision to 8 of the 18 classrooms. By
providing 8 classrooms more attention and structure, this format has resulted in fewer
problems throughout the lunch hour. Also, Ms Hobson and I reviewed a survey
regarding lunch program fees for 7 schools in the Pembina Trails School division. We
determined that based on the number of students that attend the lunch program in the
schools, 32% of the lunch fees are within the $150-$200 range for the year. This range
was the highest percentage of other schools offering the same rate. The increased rate
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is consistent with what other schools are offering and we can continue to maintain a
safe, happy and stress free program.
Meetings: A meeting is scheduled for Thursday February 18, 2015 for all lunch
supervisors. The meeting will be facilitated by Mr Roe. Mr Roe has an abundance of
knowledge on first aid and he will review common playground and indoor injuries at
school. A list of questions has been prepared and sent to Mr Roe to discuss the
following: What steps to take to perform CPR, choking, frostbite, head and neck injuries
and bleeding ( nose bleed is common).All supervisors were also asked to email any
questions or concerns regarding first aid to me prior to the meeting date for follow up.
Canteen: No change in the canteen since our last meeting of January 13.
Program: We had a tie for the month of January for the“ Win a Pizza Lunch”.
Congratulations were emailed to Mr Erb’s grade 5 class and Ms Bouchard’s grade 8
class.
New Idea: A survey was prepared and distributed to all grade 9 lunch supervisors to
provide some feedback regarding two changes that took effect October 31 st, 2014. The
first change was for all grade 9 students to eat in the gym on Fridays. The second
change was for grade 9 students to have the option of eating their lunch with their
friends Monday through Thursday in another classroom. The most common results
amongst the four supervisors are as follows:
1. The supervisors found that students like to eat in the gym but their behaviour to
clean up in the gym became more irresponsible verses in the classroom. They
are less likely to clean up after themselves and it is more difficult to see who is
responsible to get the mess cleaned up. Most Fridays after sweeping the floor it
is not uncommon to gather empty juice boxes, saran wrap, fruit, and other
wrappers from the floor. Also it is not uncommon to see food being tossed from a
distance in the garbage. In the classroom, supervising is much more visible to
notice negative behaviour, therefore easier to manage and easier to keep the
classroom clean.
2. The supervisors found that eating in other classrooms is manageable. If there are
over 30 students in a classroom, the other supervisors that supervise only one
class will assist with the larger class.
Other: All lunch fee tax receipts have been printed for 2014. Envelopes and stamps
were purchased. The office staff have kindly printed all address labels. A team of 4
lunch supervisors, including myself are meeting on Wednesday at 9:00am at HGI to
prepare envelopes for distribution. All receipts will be mailed out by Friday Feb 20 th.
On January 27th I connected with Steve Kaltchev from Permission Click who provides
business development to many of the schools in the city. Steve assisted me with
implementing the on line registration for the lunch program. To find out the effectiveness
of the program as there are service fees involved, Ms Hobson and I agreed to provide
this service to the parents of all grade 8 students entering grade 9. The information has
been approved and ready for parents to use “Permission Click”.
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4. Admin Report- Peggy
 Staffing
o Position for Carla Bouchard (Grade 8 LA and SS) has been posted; Amber
Finch will be on Maternity Leave after spring break; Carla will be stepping
into Amber’s Grade 6 and 7 resource role and the new hire will be Grade 8
LA and SS teacher
o Position for Kathy Stardom will be posted; she will be on Maternity Leave
after spring break
o Two EA positions have been posted
 Attendance at Grade 9 is taken each period; the automatic call system has been
implemented for grade 9’s; we apologize as during the implementation, when the
grade 9’s went out on a field trip, that information was not entered and all
students received an absence call even though they were involved in a school
program
 Shared information re: grade level fees and how sometimes changes are made
during the year; each year the planned events and fees needs to be sent in the
spring to senior admin and sometime plans do not unfold exactly
 Registration process
o Grade 9 to 10 – On February 20 VMC presents info to each Grade 9
homeroom at HGI; On February 24 HGI students will visit VMC in the
afternoon; On February 24 in the evening VMC will host feeder schools in
an orientation evening; on March 3 VMC counselor will be at HGI assisting
students with registration forms and course selection; on March 3 in the
evening, VMC will be in HGI Library to talk with parents about registration
details, questions.
o Grade 8 to 9 – On February 17 and 18 Admin visiting HGI Grade 8 classes
to talk about Grade 9 registration; HGI Grade 9 Registration Info Evening
at 7:00 p.m. for students and parents; online registration opens on Feb 20;
all info is posted online (go to HGI homepage and click the Grade 9
registration link)
o Intensive French Program – HGI Admin will visit Grade 5 classes on
March 4 and explain the program; Family Information Evening for
Intensive French Program will happen on March 5 at 7:00 p.m.; Parents to
indicate registration in the program beginning on March 6
o Grade 6 – 8 – Registration packages will be sent home on March 9 and
will be due March 23
o Grade 5 – Registration packages will be sent home on April 6 and will be
due April 20
 Japan Exchange – Peggy explained why the program is no longer offered at HGI;
although the program is a fantastic education opportunity, the monetary and
staffing costs (2 teachers away for 4 weeks) were too great given only 8 students
from HGI participated
 Clarified information about the video contest; information was communicated that
indeed attention was paid to the quality of the video, not simply the number of
votes
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Peggy and Mike will put parent communication and weeblies, parent volunteers
on the March staff meeting agenda
Although it was not shared at the PAC meeting: Thank you PAC for the support
and purchase of the pinnies for Cross Country; Peggy and Mike will bring the
“wish list” to the next PAC meeting (this year the funds for science equipment and
material is very appreciated)
5. New Items
-Discussion about offering more volunteer opportunities for parents in the school.
-There was a discussion about communication from classroom teachers.
-There is a Judy Aiken memorial Award for volunteering in the school. Nominations for
the award are welcome.
- The MAPC is holding its Annual General Meeting May 1 and 2. If anyone is interested
in going let Nancy know. No one at the meeting was able to go and that is also the
weekend of Run at the Ridge.
6. Round Table
-Discussion about the Mutimedia students winning an award for their work along with a
cash prize. Most of the money will be used for equipment to make more movies. The
students clip won for best editing, sponsor’s pick and will be used for a PSA nationally.
There will be an update on the award in the HGI news.
-The Japan student school exchange will no longer be taking place. Peggy explained
that they could no longer rationalize the cost to the school for 8 students and 2
teachers. She is also concerned about international travel right now.
-Discussion about communication from the school to home and how it could be
improved.
-Staff Appreciation was discussed after the meeting adjourned and Peggy and Mike left.
Leanne Ruby, Harriette Miao, and Julie Woo agreed to head up Staff Appreciation and it
has tentatively been scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, 2015. We will look into
donations from Starbucks and McDonalds as well as other ideas. Details to be
discussed at the March meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm