MINUTES

SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING

December 1, 2004

  1. Call to order—5:06 pm
  2. Flag Salute
  3. A quorum was confirmed.
  1. Student Reports—
    1. Events

                                                               i.      Homecoming Games Day—seniors won

                                                             ii.      Homecoming Carnival

                                                            iii.      Blue Pride Day

                                                           iv.      Night Pep Rally—seniors won

                                                             v.      Homecoming Assembly/Luncheon/Football Game/Dance

                                                           vi.      Canned Food Drive—Brought in 4,888.25 lbs.—seniors won

                                                          vii.      Began fundraising for Prom

1.      Donations coming from South Shore Financial and Bagel Sales

  1. DAC—
    1. Reviewed Minutes of DAC Meeting

                                                               i.      Improving reading instruction in grades K-3

                                                             ii.      Priority is low performing students

  1. Special Ed.—Nothing to report
  2. Title 1—Nothing to report
  3.  GATE—
    1. Applying for a grant from the College Board for $25,000

                                                               i.      Looking to establish SAT program in addition to other programs

  1. Administration—
    1. 40% of freshmen met proficiency standards
    2. CAHSEE was successful—March will be the next opportunity
    3. Julie Ellis addressed the council

                                                               i.      Athletics:

1.      Ray Elliot was honored with the Cross Country Team—they have won 4 championships in a row—haven’t lost a meet since 2001—came in 12th at CIF

                                                             ii.      Gymnasium:

1.      Looking at our options—the gym floor we have now was the best at the time it was installed—requires sanding every 5-7 years—determined in 1992 that it won’t take another sanding (not enough of the floor left)—considering the mid-level flooring to replace

2.      Looking at pre-fab for the new gym—can be done at half the cost in half the time

                                                            iii.      Principals’ Meeting

1.      Elementary school administrators having trouble seeing the bigger picture

2.      Kids fall behind exponentially

3.      Need a district level articulation between schools

4.      Most principals were receptive—resistance came from those who see themselves as the “have-nots” (high school is the “have”)

5.      Meetings are held every 3rd Monday of the month from 3:30-5

6.      Cal State is now aligned to UC system—district was unaware until now

  1. Scholarship/Fundraising
    1. Agreed to a recycling of cell phones drive

                                                               i.      Information was just received

                                                             ii.      Competitions among classes suggested

1.      1st place=$500

2.      2nd place=$400

3.      3rd place=$300

a.       willing to give half of proceeds directly to students

                                                            iii.      Maybe become an annual event

1.      perhaps a certain % to students, a % to scholarship, and a % to the new gym

                                                           iv.      decide upon drop-off sites

                                                             v.      Earth Day wasn’t feasible because it isn’t until April 22nd—not enough to tally money and award scholarships

    1. To start a non-profit bank account, must be declared a corporation—must have a tax number and one individual would be liable

                                                               i.      We can’t use kids unless we go through ASB

                                                             ii.      Money has to stay in students account

                                                            iii.      Possible to get permission from Boosters to run the drive through their account—agreement made before-hand that we would allocate funds to scholarships

    1. Manuel Cruz talked to the Quarterback Club

                                                               i.      Agreed to give one scholarship to them for the use of their account

    1. If we just open an individual account, it would not be tax deductible.  However, it would place all funds in our control—control/liability can be assigned to new members.
    2. Julie will check with Boosters and district to see if SSC can arrange a prior agreement for something that won’t take effect until after current ASB members are gone
    3. We would all like to see this continue after we’re gone
    4. We need to offer students an immediate incentive because they’re doing much of the work
    5. Scholarship/Fundraising will be an on-going Action Item
  1. El Rancho Pride Day—
    1. On January 29, 2005 El Rancho will host the Academic Decathlon.  The campus is in dire need of clean-up and beautification.  Therefore, will be having the first annual El Rancho Pride Day in order to provide this service.
    2. Students, staff, parents, and community members are invited to participate.  We need manpower, tools, food, plants, and other donations.
    3. We will place a needs list on the Don page as soon as possible.
    4. Advertising will appear on the Don page, on the Marquee, and on the Access Channel—would also like it placed in the Whittier Daily News
    5. Ron will talk to a local nursery about donating a tree on behalf of SSC
    6. Either Frank or Ron will talk to Lowe’s
    7. Aurora will talk to Home Depot
    8. Ray Chavez will advertise the event in the City PROFILE 
  2. Grant Program—
    1. Ray Chavez advised the council

                                                               i.      Come up with a goal

                                                             ii.      Look up resources—find those that cater to the specific projects

                                                            iii.      A dilemma is that most foundations require a non-profit organization status  (would need to go through Boosters or a similar organization

                                                           iv.      Training equipment would be an ideal project for which to search for a grant

  1. Public Comment—
    1. Frank Moreno donated about a dozen books to the library from the Amazon wish list
    2. Need to work on getting money to fund the gym as one of our projects—look for a facilities grant
    3. Aurora invited everyone to go to the Rose Parade—there will be 300 students from the district playing and marching in the parade—about30 parents will also appear in the parade
    4. They will also be in a parade on December 28th
    5. Students will march and hike during Winter Break in order to get in shape for the 6-mile Rose Parade
  2. Agenda—
    1. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2005  
  3. Meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.