Notes for Stacey as Acting Chair

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for agreeing to serve as co-chair tonight! Please find below some notes amplifying agenda items 6 and 7. Here is the agenda.

Agenda

1. Introductions
2. Approval of Minutes from last time 2010-10-26
3. Principal’s Report (Jim S.)
4. Treasurer’s Report (Lori K.)
5. Fund Raising Report (Rebecca S.)
6. Proposed Purchases?
7. Principal and Vice Principal Profiles Discussion
8. Ward Council Update (Jennifer B. and Leslie C.; time permitting)

Item 6: Proposed Purchases.

From the minutes of the last meeting (2010-10-26) we have:

TDSB requires that all funds are spent on an annual basis. This year, there is a surplus of funds, and a discussion took place around how these funds might be allocated. Council requested more information on areas of need, and it was decided that Jim will compile a list of high need items from the school improvement committee (with potential involvement from parents). Parents were invited to come to the next council meeting with additional ideas for additional purchases.

Jim S should report on staff ideas.

Lori K and Rebecca S should speak to our extra funds raised last year to be spent now.

Council should vote to spend the excess money.

• Council should vote to give $250 to staff to support their holiday party.
• There has been some discussion about Council giving some money to teachers for the purchase of books.
• …or for supplies?
• ….reading resource center?

Item 7: Principal Profile

TDSB requires school councils to provide a description of the type of leadership they feel their school needs. This is not a forum for evaluation of current staff. Instead, this is a research document that will inform the TDSB when it addresses our staffing needs in the future.

Most of the things highlighted by TDSB as talking points all sound good. Below, I have tried to reply in a way that I think distinguishes our school from the typical. The council needs to complete replies (like I have started) as soon as possible since we are already late.

Council should approve my replies to TDSB with improvements stemming from any discussion at the meeting.

TDSB Principal Profile Report from Huron Street Public School

• School: Huron Street Public School

• School Council Co-Chairs: James Eberhardt; Jim Colliander (JC below)

• Date: 2010-11-30

Equity and Diversity

Sample discussion items for School Council:

• Ensures fairness is present in all aspects of school life.
• Embeds equity in all aspects.
• Encourages true parental involvement and seeks for innovative ways to guarantee a diverse School Council.
• Leads by example.
• Provides many meaningful opportunities for staff, students, community.
• Facilitates meaningful communication among home, school and community.
• Ability to advocate for all students.
• Promotes and acknowledges the richness of the community encompassing all diversity.
• Strong community base - one who celebrates the community’s diversity and promotes it and inclusiveness within the school.
• Welcomes the community into the school and ensures the community is reflected within the school.

Please provide the leadership characteristics best suited to the needs of your community:

JC: My view is that Huron is a unique school and requires a Principal with unique leadership skills. Huron’s location in downtown Toronto and proximity to the University of Toronto presents challenges and opportunities that require thoughtful leadership. Our parent community is actively engaged in our school through parent council activities, parental volunteers in the classroom and excellent communication among parents, teachers and administration. Things at Huron are going very very well. The right kind of principal at Huron will encourage this activity. The wrong kind of principal will highlight rules and constraints, assert authority and discourage our community’s enthusiasm.

Program Review and Implementation

• Ability to implement sound program.
• Understands ministry and curriculum policy.
• Demonstrates knowledge of curriculum requirements, including the development of Individual Education Plans (lEP’s).
• Conducts systematic reviews of all programs.
• Sets a tone that is fair and fosters mutual respect.
• Promotes co-curricular activities and fosters positive school spirit.
• Knowledge of effective transitions and facilitates these transitions for students and parents (eg. Grade 5-6, or elementary school to secondary)
• Ensures a variety of achievement measures, including for example EQAO assessment results form and integral part of program reviews and subsequent development of plans for student achievement.
• Communicates School Improvement Plans to staff, parents, the School Council and the school community.
• Uses a variety of assessment results to review programming for students.
• Ensures that school results are clearly communicated to parents.

Please provide the leadership characteristics best suited to the needs of your community:

JC: Huron’s Principal needs to be an effective communicator who values and respects the opinions and insights of staff, parents and kids. We are not in the midst of a morale crisis or plagued with badly behaved students. Ours is not a school that requires an authoritarian or rule-based Principal. We also value our ability to experiment and explore new ideas so our community seems less concerned with EQAO results or other standardized measurement tools: we want Huron to inspire our kids to want to learn and succeed. We know when our kids are successful without being told of their exam scores.

Parent and Community Engagement

• Highly visible and interactive with parents.
• Appreciative and supportive of parents’ role in the school community.
• Shares School Improvement Plans, School Budget and Staffing models.
• Ensures measures of school results are clearly communicated to parents.
• Regular communication with parents including newsletters and meetings.
• Establishes a clear process for communicating problems that is positive and respectful.
• Open-minded and collaborative.
• Develops meaningful parent engagement programs.

Please provide the leadership characteristics best suited to the needs of your community:

JC: Our school requires an excellent communicator in the role of principal. Our community has developed new methods for the Principal to communicate with us through a broadcast system built on google groups. This system is working reasonably well but I believe it could work even better. We are a community that wants to know what is going on in our school and how we, as parents, might be able to contribute to the school. A successful principal at our school absorbs the creativity generated by our community and finds ways to direct our enthusiasm toward improving the school. This requires an open minded individual who can envision success in many different forms rather than something that emerges following a narrow pre-planned route.

Safe & Caring School Culture

• Highly visible, friendly and interactive with students.
• Sensitive to the needs of all students.
• Encourages staff involvement in all aspects of school life.
• Demonstrates ability to communicate and interact appropriately with all school stakeholders.
• Commits to the enhancement of morale and positive working relationships among staff, students, parents, and the community at large.
• Regular communication with parents and staff.
• Establishes a clear process for communicating problems that is positive and respectful.

Please provide the leadership characteristics best suited to the needs of your community:

JC: We like our principal to set the tone of a safe place where ideas and concerns can be brought forward. We want a Principal who uses process plans to encourage communication rather than discourage it.