PAC Executive Meeting - 6 June 2019

George Jay PAC Executive Meeting

6 June 2019
6:30-7:20 pm
George Jay Parent Room

In attendance: Angela Cooper-Carmichael (Past co-President, Future President), Kim Drapeau (Past co-President, Future Vice President), Scott Laming (Past Treasurer), Andrea Walker Collins (Future Treasurer), Lilli Bauer Patey (Past Secretary, Future Member-At-Large), Roberta Hamme (Future Secretary), Maritia Gully (Future Member-At-Large).

Meeting called to order by Angela. Acknowledgement of Songhees & Esquimalt Nations on whose traditional territory we live, we learn, and we do our work. Pledge to begin every meeting with acknowledgement. Quick discussion of a cheque that was written out for use of a button machine. As the machine did not work, the cheque will be destroyed.

Official unveiling of the George Jay mural on Cook Street wall will be 4pm on Wednesday 12 June. City councillors and media will attend; all are welcome. Refreshments will be near totem pole with a walk past the mural, as not safe or pleasant to hold the whole celebration on the sidewalk in front of mural. Sincere thanks to Castle Hardware who donated all the material and to Cara Gibson (the artist) who plans to donate her honorarium to the PAC for sports equipment for gym. PAC has applied to city for a grant that would supply honorarium, but hasn’t heard outcome yet. Action item for Andrea to check on grant.

Discussion of the planned fundraising raffle, particularly what items the raffle money can be used for. The raffle requires a gaming licence, which has created confusion about whether the funds raised will be subject to the same rules as the funds the PAC applies for and receives from BC Govt from Gaming Revenues. Those BC Gaming funds can only be used for extracurricular expenditures. Scott stated that there are likely specific rules that govern raffle fundraising for schools and what those funds could be used for. Such regulations likely exist to prevent districts relying on PACs to fund schools directly, creating large disparities between schools.

Action item for Andrea to check the specific rules for raffle fundraising for PACs. Discussion that a good use of raffle funds would be to create a within-school grant program that teachers could apply to for special projects / opportunities. Such a program would create greater transparency in asking for funds from the PAC and be clearly available to all teachers. Ms. Roberts (teacher at George Jay) stopped by the meeting to thank the PAC for her VCPAC Parent’s Choice award and for the PAC’s service.
Report on food items paid for by PAC for upcoming school events. Ordered fruit (oranges, apples, bananas) for Beach Day on 26 June that will be delivered to Willows Beach by Save-On-Foods. Ordered hot dogs for Teacher Fun Day on 24 June.

Quick discussion of transferring treasurer’s notes and accounts to Andrea. Easiest to wait for the last cheques to clear first, so Scott will meet with Andrea over the summer for this. Action item: Scott to transfer treasurer duties to Andrea over summer.
Welcome Back BBQ planning has begun. Coastal Community Credit Union has offered a
substantial donation this year. Other donation request letters have been prepared and will be sent out soon. Meeting attendees offered many suggestions: 1) Put up large signs to indicate which lines go to which food (veggie vs. hallal vs. regular). 2) Set up information tables near lines to interact with people as they go past. These could include: giving out the Thriftys and Fairways cards that parents can put funds on where company donates back to the PAC, signing up volunteers and getting e-mail addresses of parents, the Entertainment book and raffle book roll-outs for fundraising. 3) Put together a poster that details the PACs fundraising goals, i.e. what we want to use the funds for. Action item: Angela to send out donation request letters. Andrea volunteers to spearhead a PAC table at BBQ.

Discussion of inclusive playground equipment. The PAC has raised $20,000 that has been given to George Jay to pay for inclusive playground equipment. PAC members are excited about seeing this new equipment come to George Jay, would like to work with the school / district administration in any way that helps expedite purchasing and installing the equipment, and hopes for rapid progress on completing this project.

Discussion of new development planned near Gladstone and Chambers. Development will bring a lot of new families into the area, which will significantly impact the George Jay, Central, and Victoria High catchments already at or over capacity. A meeting is planned at the Fernwood Community Centre at 7pm on 20 June.

Action item: Angela will attend and speak at the meeting about the impact on George Jay. Discussion of PAC website and increasing transparency / inclusiveness for all parents. Andrea has taken on updating the PAC website. Scott sent necessary log-in information to Andrea for this. Idea to create meeting agenda on google drive with a link posted on the PAC website and pinned at the top of the Facebook page so that anyone could view the agenda before meetings.

Minutes from meetings will be posted and archived on the website as well as posted on the Facebook page. A welcome-to-the-PAC letter should be prepared for inclusion in the parent information packets sent home at the start of the school year. Discussion of how to ensure more parent e-mails are part of the PAC e-mail list, so that PAC communications reach more people. $100 of PAC funds were approved for the Health and Wellness Committee’s program to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to classrooms. Short discussion of whether the rules of the Gaming Accounts would allow it to provide funds for this in the future.
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Next Meeting: 6:30pm on 11 September 2019 (Wednesday) in the George Jay Library