Oct 09 Minutes

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MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2009

MINUTES

Attendees: Barbara L Kitty O Carla D Dina V Jane F Marc B Theresa G Lisa L A Kathleen R Courtney M Andi B Scott P Desmond W Fiorenzo B Katey L Joni B

ITEM

Co- President’s Report

Paul J Judy B Leigh Anne O Barbara G Ray S Martha S Eileen S Linda N Casey F Jon L David B Amy L Marcelo P Randall P Larry C Michael A

Adam C Lisa D S Maria S Marina O Beth G Clara R Lisa J Havana L Sue Joe R Sarah B Greta P Corinna L Alison H

REMARKS

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COMMENTS

Casey announced that because of the importance of political advocacy, that we would like to change the bylaws to nominate Beth Gehry ( [email protected] ), our political action co-ordinator (she organizes parental involvement in political issues) to be able to attend Executive Parents Association meetings so that she is kept abreast of any new issues. It was voted upon and approved. An example of recent issues has been protesting mayoral control. It was announced that Daniel Squadron, our state senator, would be attending the PA meeting at about 8:45am, so a brief précis was given by Corinna on his political background and how we might be prepared to ask pertinent questions. Corinna is a former ESPA copresident and is a member of the CEC (Community Education Council) and is well-informed on all aspects of educational policies. There is usually at least 1 candidate to represent the school. There are still positions open to anybody interested in joining. For more information, contact Corinna Lindeberg at [email protected]. We have won the battle of siblings admission and are working on guaranteed entry into K from Pre-K, but we still need to fight for diversity in the school. The centralization of the Dept of Education means that the school has no control over admissions, and although as a school we are over-subscribed to by white families, we need to try to get a school population that is reflective of the community in which we live in terms of ethnic and socio-economic diversity. Alison explained that in the past, the 4 progressive schools in District 1 were able to issue their own admissions forms that requested identification of ethnicity, and then get together and pool applications so that the composition of the schools was a reflection of the neighborhood. Jocelyn, the parent-teacher coordinator, spends time doing outreach to local community (childcare centers

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Events Coordinators Report

State Senator Daniel Squadron

etc) to explain that we are a public school of choice and to encourage applications from a wider pool. The Dept of Education lacks outreach so the onus is on the schools to inform the greater public. • Fall Fair is coming up Saturday October 24th 11-4; this is one of the schools biggest events in terms of both fund raising and community building. Lisa and Kathleen ([email protected] and [email protected]) have initiated a couple of new ideas; firstly the idea of sponsorship; they have made up a form to be given (in hard copy and pdf e-mail-able form) to potential patrons (local businesses and friends) who can donate as sponsors of the event and receive signage and advertising. Secondly, this will be a mainly ticket-only event to conform to the city’s rules about handling cash and the only cash exchange will be for rummage and sustainable crafts. Tickets will be pre-sold in the school during the week before the fair and there will be a bulk discount ( 11 for $10, 22 for $20). Tickets are $1 each the day of the event. A farmers market is being organized by Abbe and the students to sell herbs from the school garden and produce donated by local suppliers. • Volunteers are badly needed; sign-up sheets have been posted on the community board outside the ES office. Help is needed with distribution of flyers (post around the local community and Brooklyn and e-mail to friends and family; posters to be found in the lobby), set up (cars needed to transport everything from the school starting at 7:30am), contributions of food and clean, sorted rummage (clothing and books; leave in the PA room), doing shifts for the various activities (crafts, ticket sales, maze, photo booth, nature activities, cupcake decorating etc etc) from 11-1:30 and 1:30-2, or simply turning up as a “floater” to help people where needed, and to allow everybody who is working to take bathroom breaks or have time with their own families. Break down, clean-up and transportation of things back to the school is also important; people who have been manning tables for the whole fair need to be able to go home at a decent hour. • We also need students and parents to sign up for open mike; dance, sing, play instruments etc. Senator Squadron is familiar with The Earth School as an good example of an elementary school that works, and he knows several parents. Pre-K to K admissions: he is working on eliminating this problem. This past year several parents were told (at the last minute, so they were facing possibly not getting into any local school of choice) that their Pre-K children would not find places in Kindergarten and several parents attended meetings to discuss this. Pre-K is not considered an official point of entry into the school, so admissions policies follow different criteria. Mayoral control: Senator Squadron voted for mayoral control and justified this by citing structural changes that would address issues of accountability and the complaints of lack of parental involvement in important education matters.

MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2009

! Testing; he acknowledged the incompetency of school progress reports and testing and the fact that the test results were skewed by making tests easier among other things, and that qualitative reports should be carried out by educators and not by an outside (foreign) facility. Budget cuts: funding for education should have increased but it didn’t, and at a time when budgets are flat, it signifies less money to schools because of inflation and increased costs, and this was exacerbated by higher admissions. 67% of principals surveyed said that they would like to see smaller class sizes as the most important priority. Diversity: the centralization of admissions by the Dept of Education has taken away the efforts of District 1 schools of choice to be able to have a school population that is reflective of the diversity of the neighborhood. The current policy was implemented to prevent school admission methods that took the “cream of the crop”. He promised that more money would be spent by the Department of Education on outreach. Free after-school: Squadron was going to meet with Oasis after the PA meeting and when Alison asked why PS64, in the same building, gets free after-school and as a Title 1 school we do not, he promised to look into this. The school has lost students over this issue when parents cannot afford to pay for child care when they work. Bake Sale Ban. This is a new ruling (supposedly to prevent child obesity) that would prevent many schools from a popular form of fund raising for classroom improvements and field trips etc. Senator Squadron acknowledged that this was a ridiculous ruling and did not say how it would be enforced. Parent Resource Guide: his office has published a useful booklet that lists parent resources in the city from free or low-cost after school, summer camps, etc. Extra copies can be obtained from the PA room. He also said that the office would spend more time and money on outreach to balance the institutional barriers to admissions. Fifth Street Farm (green roof garden); Squadron knows Michael Arad, the ES parent who is spearheading this project, and has said he would discuss with him about getting additional funding so that the garden can be opened by the start of next year as planned. Accountability: Squadron stated that his office is open to parental suggestions and input and that he would return to the school within the year and at that time would be able to revisit any issues. School Tours

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Kitty Overton is co-ordinating this and needs parent volunteers to help conduct tours to prospective families. They are held on Wednesday mornings after drop-off and the next one is November 4th. For more information, pls

MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2009

! contact Kitty at [email protected] Upcoming Events Next Meeting

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Curriculum Night Thursday October 15th 6-8pm Fall Fair October 24th Tompkins Sq Park, 11am-4pm rain date Sunday October 25th Wednesday November 25 8:30am.

MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2009