Inman Middle School
Local School Council Meeting Minutes
September 16, 2013
Meeting called to order: 4:30 pm
Members present: Tim Langan, Kathy Boehmer, Lynette Slovensky, Paula Herrema, Lori van Rossem, Mary Jo
Bryan, Michelle Constantinides, Morna Gailor, Parry Ruder
Members absent: Dedra Evans, Aiesha Kahn
Approval of Agenda: agenda approved unanimously with the following additions: 1) discuss change of March
meeting date; 2) discuss new start/end times of middle school day.
Approval of August minutes: minutes were approved 6-0-2 with newly elected members abstaining.
Welcome new members and introductions: The election process is complete. New members ran unopposed and
were seated by affirmation. The three new LSC members were present and introduced themselves: Parry
Ruder (teacher member), Michelle Constantinides (Parent Member Business Partner), and Morna Gailor
(Parent Member Business Partner).
Principal Update:
1. One LSC teacher position is open due to Jatisha Marsh accepting a position elsewhere in APS. That
position will be filled prior to the next scheduled LSC meeting.
2. Enrollment is 976: 6th—353; 7th—319; 8th--304. Projection was 1012. Since Inman is below the APS
projected enrollment we will lose 3 core teachers through leveling. Ms. Marsh’s position will be one of
the reductions, as she has moved to Human Resources (a substitute will finish the quarter teaching her
health connections classes). With the loss of Ms. Marsh, we have 4 remaining PE/Health teachers.
Health classes are scheduled in the portables where class size limits are 28. Given these constraints, we
don’t have enough teachers to cover health requirements for all of our students. Ms. Herrema plans to
communicate with APS about this issue. One option is to offer the course online during a school
connection.
3. For the second year we have been named as a Title 1 Reward School.
4. Ms. Herrema would like to work on surveying other high achieving middle schools to compare
programs.
5. Spanish vacancy: Ms. Herrema has made a recommendation and hopes to fill the vacancy soon, but the
teacher is not here yet.
6. Inman and Grady have a $10,000 three year grant called Sources of Strength that involves training
twelve students of diverse backgrounds to be peer leaders and receive training in eight categories. Skills
taught include teaching students how to tap into help resources in the school and community. Ms.
Blevins and Ms. Delaney are the teacher mentors who will incorporate the curriculum in our advisory
sessions after they are trained.
7. Student assemblies have taken place over the past month to teach the three core value Rs (Respect,
Readiness, Responsibility) and promote adherence to behavior rules. Next month’s assemblies will
focus on the Speak Up box and “caught being good” award program. Later in the semester the AntiDefamation League will lead anti-bullying assemblies.
8. Infinite Campus has been upgraded to allow staff to better track attendance and behavior incidents.
Nine behavior incidents have been recorded so far this year, which is decrease compared to last year.
Attendance is also better so far—fewer absences compared to last year at this time. Success is attributed
to students being better assimilated in the second year of our new zone and also having a better
understanding of our school’s expectations.
9. The administration will lead a book study with the staff on the book How Students Succeed which was
issued to all staff to promote understanding of character development and positive behavior in students.
10. Mr. Ruder and Mr. Walker are attending an upcoming seminar on classroom behavior management:
Safe and Civil Schools.
11. All Inman classes except one 6th grade math class have 33 or fewer students. Ms. Herrema is working
on a solution to bring us fully in compliance with the 33 student maximum.
New Business:
1. Officer elections: Chair—Tim Langan’s nomination was made by Lynette Slovensky and seconded
by Michelle Constantinides. No other nominations were made. Tim Langan was elected 8-0-0. Vice
chair—Kathy Boehmer’s nomination was made by Mary Jo Bryan and seconded by Morna Gailor.
There were no other nominations and she was elected 8-0-0. Secretary--Lynette Slovensky’s
nomination was made by Tim Langan and seconded by Mary Jo Bryan. There were no other
nominations and she was elected 8-0-0. Mary Jo Bryan mentioned that PTA has set-up an email address
for LSC –all three officers will receive forwarded emails from that address.
2. Inman Expansion Proposal/Planning: Mary Jo Bryan reported that Erroll Davis clarified that a board
vote is not needed to approve the proposed expansion at Inman. Ms. Herrema has not received much
communication with APS about any expansion plans, although a group did come out early in the school
year to survey the building. LSC members discussed how our council can facilitate involvement of the
Inman community in the planning process. Tim Langan made a motion to form an Inman LSC
advisory committee on the Inman Facilities Expansion to be chaired by an appointed LSC
member. The motion was seconded by Morna Gailor. LSC members discussed and agreed that the
Inman PTA board should be invited to appoint a member to serve on the committee. LSC members
discussed that the committee should be small in size and that ideal committee members should be
knowledgeable in relevant fields such as architecture, construction, and engineering. The motion passed
7-0-0. Tim Langan appointed Michelle Constantinides as the chair of this committee. Tim Langan
made a motion to send a letter to APS informing them of our plan to form this committee and our
desire to be involved in the facilities expansion planning process, with a specific request for APS to
provide to us a contact person related to the project planning. The motion was seconded by Mary
Jo Bryan and passed 7-0-0.
3. Inman School Improvement Plan: deferred—new data was made available and the plan is being
updated. Ms. Herrema will send a draft to LSC members to review prior to our next meeting.
4. Inman LSC Mission Statement for 2013-2014: Tim Langan suggested the council adopt a mission
statement. After discussion, Kathy Boehmer moved to approve the following mission statement:
The mission of the 2013-2014 Inman Local School Council is to support the educational and
operational needs of Inman Middle School and to further the record of academic excellence and
quality extracurricular opportunities for ALL students. Lori van Rossem seconded the motion and it
passed 8-0-0.
5. Change of March meeting date: Tim Langan made a motion to change our March meeting date to
March 10 due to the previous date of March 17 conflicting with a Teacher Work Day. The motion was
seconded by Lori van Rossem and passed 7-0-0.
6. Start/end times of middle school day: discussion deferred due to time constraints.
Public Comment: no visitors present
Meeting adjourned: 6:10 pm