J.W. Gerth Public School – Council Meeting
Wednesday, November 20 6:30-7:30pm

Virtual
Meeting Minutes

1   Welcome & Introduction
● New members were welcomed and introductions were made.
● Review & approval of agenda
● Review & approval of previous minutes
● Trish read the Land Acknowledgement (Waterloo Region version shared.)
● Natalie will be chairing the meeting tonight in Kirstan’s absence.

2   Previous meeting action items 5 min. All
● Items brought up in the September meeting are laid out in the agenda ahead
● No action items from the October meeting as it was spent discussing the classroom reorganization
● The superintendent has or is in the process of following up on some items

 3   Decision/Voting Items
● Outdoor play equipment
● The idea is to ask teachers what equipment they need and the School Council could donate a bucket per class filled with outdoor play equipment.
● Trish suggested we should vote on this and noted that there are currently large rubbermaid bins near entrances for all to use. This is an alternative
to having students bring in their own ball because this can lead to play that is not always inclusive. For example, a student may say, “It’s my ball, you can’t play.”
● Council unanimously approved having Trish propose the offer of a bucket of equipment/class to the staff.
● Trish to take this to teachers.
● A full playground would cost upwards of $300K and Council has deemed this to be too expensive and unrealistic. Is there a desire for standalone
structures or features? For example, more basketball nets? Trish will ask the staff.
● Is artificial turf of interest? One school in town is raising money towards this and is estimating this to cost around $60K. The JWG fields are often
very muddy and children have to stay on the tarmac. Is this initiative of interest? Trish can ask the staff.

● Specialized sports equipment
● Should we look into and apply to a jumpstart grant for this. For example, equipment for those who have disabilities (balls with bells inside),
equipment for Spec Ed, equipment for ACE classroom.     Council voted in favour of looking into the grant.
● Purchase fans for classrooms
● A parent noted that her daughter came home and said that it is too hot in her classroom. Another parent noted that her kids complain the gym is hot.
● One parent asked why the school has to be kept at 23 degrees.
● Trish replied that this decision was made by the WRDSB and they are not allowed to adjust the temperature at JWG.
● Trish has asked the WRDSB in the past if they could make it cooler and the board declined. This was after staff noted that it was hotter than normal.
● Council voted in favour of looking into whether money can come out of the school budget for the purchase of fans. If it cannot, we will consider using some of the School Council funds.
● Funding field trip buses
● Council voted in favour of funding a portion of bus costs/student for field trips.
● Trish will take this to the staff for consideration.
● Once we know if the teachers support this initiative, we will decide how much money to put towards it.
● Supporting classroom/grade level activities
● Council would like to give money to each class for popcorn and a movie to be watched in class, or towards something else fun, such as supplies
for a cool STEM activity. We would likely give $60 per class.
● In the past, School Council purchased popcorn and the movie Wild Robot for classes.

4   Updates

● Chair
● Kirstan was absent, Natalie was filling in.
● No report for today

5   Financials
-We currently have approximately $5600

6   Book Fair
● Natalie has been organizing the Book Fair.
● It is scheduled for December 3, 5 (classes only) and December 4th (classes and evening for community).
● Books arrive November 28th for set up
● Natalie asked volunteers from last year if they would volunteer again, as well as school council. There are currently enough volunteers.
● Last year Connie (librarian) made a sign-up sheet for teachers to schedule class visits. Natalie will send Trish a schedule from last year that Trish can pass along
to the person covering for Connie.
● Natalie would like for each teacher to make a wish list. Last year, parents bought books for teachers off of their lists and then the council completed the lists.
● We have leftover Scholastic dollars from last year. Trish said the staff leadership committee has been pouring over scholastic resources to determine what gives
them the best bang for their buck, but options are limited.
● Trish noted that going forward, it may be more useful to choose cash over Scholastic dollars.
● The Book Fair items will be picked up by Scholastic on December 12th
● The Book Fair kick off kit has arrived. Natalie to pick up from Trish.
● Luisa has a little basket meant to be for mail for School Council in the office. Any promotional items to be kept there.

7   Yearbook
● Lindsay will lead the Yearbook again.
● Trish has approved the quote.
● Kirstan started a Google Drive for teachers and staff to upload photos.
● Trish noted that we can no longer cover student faces with smiley faces, they must not appear at all if they do not have consent.
● Luisa and Trish have prepared a document to be sent home for parents to give consent for their child to appear in the yearbook.

8   Nutrition for Learning
● Thank you to Majlinda and Anita for running NFL.
● Majlinda noted that this is their first time running it together, but it’s been going well. She asked if in the future, students could help out.
● Last month, they were over budget by $300. The funding is not federal funding, it is provincial, and the amount per month is very small at $120/week. The amount only feeds about 10% of the school.
● 75% off the money comes from donations. Could Council donate?
● Perhaps we could start a fundraiser and say School Council will match donations up to a certain amount.
● Majlinda noted that we can take food donations as well as monetary donations.
● Majlinda and Natalie could create a list of suggested food items for parents to donate, i.e. most requested items like Cheerios.

9   Fun Fair
● We will likely forgo a fun fair but do some sort of community night event. More information to come as we figure this out.
● Grants & Opportunities
● Natalie suggested a workshop that covers how to support prepubescent children and those going through puberty. Could we have a parent workshop about mental health and puberty, etc?
● Trish can reach out to the school’s Social Worker for information/resources
● Parking still continues to be an issue. Could a parent volunteer step up? Bylaw has been involved as well as the WRPS.

10   Principal’s Report
● Boundary review – second public meeting took place on October 24th at JWG (Trish volunteered to host). Boundary final draft report was sent out via School-Day today. JWG is not impacted.
● October highlights:
○ Nutrition for Learning up and running well. Thank you to Majlinda and Anita.
○ Grade 4s visited the Ken Sieling museum, Kindies to Steckle Farms
○ October 16th Fun Run took place and JWG Wolves represented the school well. They had been training since September by running 1.5-2km/week
○ October 31st was Halloween/Black and Orange Day
● November highlights:
○ Remembrance Day assembly was very impactful
○ JWG Dance Club Demo and Dance Along took place
○ Blair Outdoor Ed Center trips have taken place every day this week (Grade 6s) – this is a lottery, so these classes were fortunate to be chosen.
○ Progress Reports went home
○ Grade 1s and 2s to visit the Museum
○ Grade 3s to visit Crawford Lake

○ Dairy Education presentations will take place at the school
○ November 29th – Decades Day

11   Upcoming/Other:
○ Book Fair Dec 3-5th,
○ Many clubs and activities are taking place (Primary and Junior Dance, Soccer, Handball)
○ Kodaly Choir (Mrs. Scott and Mme Atack running this)
○ Junior Handball and Primary Choir up and running now.
○ Gerth Gives – staff committee to discuss donations (last year food, clothing, and toy) – still mapping it out. Information to come via weekly messages. Shared goal of
giving no matter what your religion or holiday that you celebrate.
○ December 20th to Sunday January 5th – School closed. Monday January 6th is return for the Winter.

12  The following items were deferred to next meeting:
● WRAPSC and/or PIC
● Student Updates
● Teacher Updates
● Community Partnerships

12  New Business

Discussion, Q&A
● Meeting format
A Parent asked what the process is to become a member of council – council said that all you have to do is attend meetings.

13  Parking Lot & Agenda Items for Next Meeting 5 min. All

 

Future Meeting Dates: School Council Meetings are generally the third Wednesday of the month from6:30-7:30pm alternating between in-person and virtual. September meeting will be to nominate new member roles. There will be no meeting in December. Due to the holiday break, the January meeting will be the fourth Wednesday. Final meeting will consist of wrap-up discussion and planning for September back-to-school activity. 2024/2025   Meeting Dates: Sept. 28, Oct. 23, Nov. 20, Jan. 22, Feb. 19, Mar. 19, Apr. 16, May 21, June 18

November 2024 Supportive Documents

Decision/Voting Items
● Outdoor play equipment
○ Proposal: Trish to go back to teachers to discuss Council providing some funds to purchase outdoor play equipment for each classroom to distribute amongst their students.
● Specialized sports equipment
○ Proposal: Researching the cost for specialized sports equipment for the inclusion classrooms and students requiring inclusion support.
○ Apply for JumpStart grant https://jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/pages/community-development-grants

● Purchasing fans for classrooms
○ Proposal: Trish to determine if classroom fans are school budget or can be purchased by Council. If part of the school budget, Council to discuss at the January meeting the purchase of additional fans for upper level classrooms.
● Funding for field trip buses
○ Proposal: Set aside a specific set of dollars to be split equally amongst classrooms. 2023/2024 year sponsored $3,000 towards buses.

● Supporting classroom/grade level activities
○ Proposal: Trish to go back to teachers and ask them to send forward any requests for financial or resource support for classroom and/or grade level
activities. (Example: Grade 4’s watched Wild Robot with popcorn in class.) Request teachers to send requests as they come up to Trish and Kirstan for discussion at the next council meeting, or through email with Council if request is time sensitive.

4. Updates

● Financials
○ September balance: $5706.24
○ October expenses: $63
■ Purchase of movie license for Wild Robot (grade 4 classes) and popcorn

○ Year-to-date balance: $5,643.24

● Book Fair – December 3-5
○ Delivery of supplies November 28; pick up of supplies December 6 ○ Funds toward classroom libraries through the Scholastic Dollars ○ Grade 4-6 students to support the fundraising and discussion re: where to spend dollars so they feel empowered as school and community advocates
○ Action Required: volunteer shift/duties sign up and recruitment ● Yearbook
○ Google Drive has been created for teachers and staff to start uploading documents
○ Action Required: need to have media forms sent out to all students

● Nutrition for Learning
● Fun Fair
○ Propose to postpone Fun Fair and instead hold a school community event.
● Grants & Opportunities
● PRO Grant ideas
○ Parent workshop on children and adolescent mental health during puberty and the effects on relationships and education

9. Parking lot items
● Volunteer recruitment plans