Minutes November 9, 2020

PTAC General Meeting Minutes– November 9, 2020

In attendance: Deborah Villarreal-Hadley, Broan Fleischer, Tessie Thomas, Courtney Redfern, Kristin Wood-Werner, Holly Lehr Hahn, Andrew Gideon, Kevin Quinn, Ana Christina dos Santos, Brad Haggerty, Dave Schottland, Jada Roman, Jaime Bedrin, Kathryn Fogliano, Linda Kow, Natalie Sullivan, Norrinda Hayat, Patti Gamcsik, Sarah Spagnola Young, Simone Robinson, Steophan Powell, Yoko Takebayashi, Marco Pederson, Mary Ann Vanco, Meg Cavanaugh, Najla Nazeemuden, Selma Avdicevic, Christy Crawford, Colleen Dougherty

Minutes of 10/20 meeting unanimously approved
President’s Report

Discussion of high school principal search.
Discussion of the last BOE meeting. District is providing Comcast Internet essentials for families. New 2.25 mile requirement for busing was announced. Various capital projects are being done now that were approved last year by the BOSE.
Discussion of frustration with district communications. Brian Fleischer reminded meeting attendees that the district is not permitted to hire a full time communications person.
Discussion of parent comments at BOE meetings. Online attendees cannot see others who are attending or signed up to speak, There was agreement that this might inhibit input from parents and/or make them feel excluded. Not the same as in person attendance at BOE meetings.

PTAC Committees Update

— SEPAC– In a holding pattern at the moment. Parent support meeting tomorrow. Administrators are invited to the CPAC meetings. The start of ABA self-contained classrooms was not planned to be staggered.

— Policy. Kevin attending the virtual legislative summit of the PTA. There may be some Covid-related changes to policies.

— Finance (see Community Bldg)

— Curriculum and Special Education. As with other committees they are kind of in a waiting game.

—- Communications Committee. Discussions were underway about creating a survey of parents about communication. Morphed into a plan to create a document about the district and how it operates, who the players are, etc. Goal is to educate parents.

— Community Building. Event planning is becoming difficult because we are all competing for the same zoom spots in the evenings– affects attendance. Thinking of a number of sessions on various topics. December would be budget/finance 101 which is being headed by Colleen Dougherty working with Brian Fleischer.

— EAROG. Several meetings with Dr, Morgan. Subcommittees put together a consolidated information request which was presented to Dr. Morgan on October 12th. Followed up two weeks and was directed to Amber Reed. No response as yet. Jada will keep following up.

PTAC Schools- PTA Presidents’ Updates

— Renaissance

— Glenfield

— Buzz. MemberHub working very well.

— Watchung

— Northeast. Working on MFEE Grant. Very low engagement in the PTA. Fundraising 10% of goal. Halloween book distribution went well– they were able to give two books to each kid.

— Nishuane

— Hillside. Parents discussing with Dr. Anglin what the five day hybrid schedule would look like. Kids would have four core classes and one related arts class per day. The current plan is that teachers will rotate rather than kids. As with other PTAs, parent engagement and fundraising are suffering. They are currently working on getting holiday meals out to families.

— Edgemont

— Bullock. They just received an eight page document regarding how hybrid instruction would work at that school. Had a very successful book swap and a food drive that took place at the same time. Also a pancake breakfast. Reporting a high level of parent frustration. Keep hearing about people leaving the district. Some parents consider it a wasted year.

— Bradford