October 18 2000 Meeting Minutes

Farallone View Elementary
School Site Council
October 18, 2000
APPROVED MINUTES

Principal Bachicha described the Site Council as a forum for parents’ input, and as an organization which should be equally representative of parents and staff. The Site Council has two primary tasks: one, to budget the state tax dollars of School Improvement Funds as well as certain categorical funds; and two, to create and monitor a 3 -year School Site Plan,

which sets educational goals linked to the standards. The Site Plan is scheduled to be rewritten in the 2001-2002 school year.
He noted that the School Improvement (or SIP) budget is approximately $30,000 out of a $1.3 million annual budget for Farallone View. The Site Council also monitors funds such as GATE (Gifted and Talented Education), Library, Title I, Title VI, and site block grants when applicable to the school.

Principal Bachicha noted that the school is going well overall. The next few weeks will see the Halloween Parade as well as Parent-Teacher conferences.

As acting chairman of the SDAC (School District Advisory Council), Principal Bachicha signed the Consolidated Application for Cabrillo District to submit to the state. He reported that the Coastal Commission tabled their decision on the new middle school building project until December.

Principal Bachicha reported that although FV had the 2nd highest percentage of Title I qualified students (based on applications for Free and Reduced Lunch), we will not receive Title I funds because FV does not have enough percentage of students at or below the 23rd percentile academically.

Bill Strom reported that all new computers are up and running, and that there is a multimedia computer in every classroom. There are also 6 multimedia computers still available. The new server for K-2 classes is up and running, but Cornerstone will not be installed until we receive the signed permission from the District Tech person.

He reported that the new server has increased security for student users and it should cut down on maintenance. We have a lot of donated Mac equipment, but the district is phasing out the Macintosh platform. He also noted that the PTA has reduced the amount of funding for computer software and equipment, and that the Ed Fund is very tight on money as well.

Principal Bachicha reported that there are 19 students who qualified for GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) this year. 7 are fifth graders and 12 are fourth graders, which represents about 10% of our upper grade students [as compared to 4% GATE in California as a whole]. 31% of our GATE students list their ethnicity as “other than white” , which compares favorably to the 33% in FV as a whole. Gender is fairly balanced. Notification has gone out to parents.

He brought up the question of whether the GATE committee should continue as a subcommittee of the Site Council, or become a separate entity. The decision was tabled until next month.

The GATE budget has been approved for the next two years. Two coordinators have volunteered for the GATE programs: Erika Dinelli and Georgia Wright for the chess program.

Open Forum Items: Pamela Teige announced that Mary Balciunas, Literacy Coordinator for FV, has ordered the leveled library for first grade, to be used by parents to support literacy education at home. M. Bachicha noted that the purchase has been submitted to the Back to Basics organization for funding, as approved at the September meeting.

Election of Officers: A slate of candidates was nominated and approved by majority vote. President will be Bill Strom, Vice President will be Pete Zell, and Stacey Fitting will act as Secretary.

Principal Bachicha reviewed the tentative budget, which includes $2,580.24 carry-over, plus SIP funds of $30,639; as well as the GATE budget of $2,414 and library funding of $9,914. FV will not receive Title I funding this year.

He noted that FV is eligible for the API funds, which will be announced Dec. 7. FV should receive funds between $29,949 and $67,050 depending on the state's decision of how much per student to fund.

Principal Bachicha presented a summary of the RESULTS reading assessment data, which indicates that FV should focus on facilitating student improvement in literacy skills. Specifically, 14% of all students, 24% of 2nd graders, and 42% of ELL (English Language Learners) did not meet the benchmark book standard.

He presented a list of targeted needs to address this goal, and noted that RESULTS staff development will be added as strategy to the existing Site Plan.

Principal Bachicha also presented an in-depth analysis on the SAT-9 tests which showed general school improvement over the last three years, and an item analysis using a cohort comparison which showed general improvement at every grade level. FV met and exceeded our API school of 722 with a growth target of 4, and is eligible for the API funds to be released by the state in December 2000.

Principal Bachicha presented the Site Plan Report and Revisions, and the Site Plan Summary of Goals, which will be submitted to the CUSD School Board.

The goals focus on improving literacy skills and meeting API growth targets. A motion was made, seconded and approved to remove the section “To support the Fine Arts at FV” from the Site Plan Summary of Goals and include it in the Site Plan Revisions and Additions document.

The Site Action Plan, Site Plan Summary, and Site Plan Revisions and Additions were approved by majority, with revision as noted above.

Approve Tentative budget: The tentative budget, allocating the carry-over and SIP funds, as presented by Principal Bachicha, was approved by majority vote.