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Site Council Minutes for September 11, 2006

Members present:  John Hines (Parent Co-Chair), Valerie Atkinson (Non-Teaching Staff Co-Chair), Jennifer Purtell (Parent), Bonnie Bellows ( Teaching Staff), Ashley Tuhy (Student Member), Marilyn Mauritz (Alternate Teaching Staff), Sam Buffington (Community), Kandy Hedlund (Parent), Lauren Rekonen (Teaching Staff), Dave Mergens (Teaching Staff), Tim Hausker (Non-teaching Staff), Steve Aeilts (guest), Catherine Fredrick (guest), Andy Mosca (Parent), Michael Sodomka (Interim Principal), Israel Moses (guest), Jackie Lundgren (Non-teaching Staff), Marshall Omar (Student), Preston McMillan (Union Representative), Joe Laconic, Deb Pridgen (guest)

All members present.

I.                    Agenda approved unanimously

II.                 August 14^th Minutes Approved unanimously

III.               Open Forum:

a.       Dave Mergens:  Homecoming is coming up October 2-6.  Alumni invited to the football game.  Boosters and alumni will be honored at half-time.  Staff and clubs will be encouraged to sell food and fund-raise at the game. 

b.      Andy Mosca:  Concerned with the lack of staff at Humboldt sporting events. 

c.       Valerie Atkinson:  Sign up to bring treats to the meetings

d.      John Hines:  Would like to change December 11 Site Council meeting location to his home.  Motion to change venue made by J. Hines.  Seconded by T. Hausker. 

e.       Joe Laconic:  Grass is not mowed around the school and it looks bad.  (aside from J. Hines:  Sidewalks look unkempt.  Aside from M. Mauritz:  Nice new signage!)

IV.              Title I Report (Catherine Fredrick)

a.       Title I in its second year at Humboldt Senior High.  Catherine is here to share information on parent/family involvement.  All Title I students/teachers/parents must sign a compact indicating their dedication to success in the Title I program.  Last year Title I parent involvement went well.  The Title I .5 EA has been cut due to funding.  Title I has changed their methods of targeting Title I qualifying students due to the lack of BST’s this year (their old method of identifying Title I students).  They are still working out how to accomplish the task of identifying new Title I students.  Last years’ numbers:  about 160 in math and 80 in reading students.  Motion made by D. Mergens to approve the Title I Parent/Family Involvement Guidelines and Humboldt Senior High School Compact.  Seconded by K. Hedlund.  Unanimously approved.

V.                 Community Outreach (Tim Hausker/Dave Mergens)

a.       T. Hausker has contacted the community outreach contact at Girl Scouts regarding using their facilities and other available resources.  The Girl Scouts are already here at Humboldt with 3 different organizations.  They are a resource available to Humboldt in several different capacities and their spaces can be used for a small fee.

b.      D. Mergens:  Chris Romano from REDA is a good contact for Humboldt as a liaison between Humboldt and local businesses. 

c.       M. Sodomka/S. Aeilts:  Gil Zamora from the Boys and Girls Club would like access and space within Humboldt to recruit Humboldt students for the West Side Boys and Girls Club in order to focus on programs such as homework help/tutoring and the new drumline that will be headed up by Humboldt band director Aaron Perrine. 

VI.              Open House and Principal’s Report (Mike Sodomka)

a.       On August 24,  a committee (Tom Kranz, Bonnie Bellows, Catherine Fredrick, Andrea Dickinson, Michele Martinson, Isreal Moses, Tim Larson, Blanca Eguia, Sue Bobrowski) to hire the new AP hired Steve Aeilts as interim Assistant Principal for the 2006-2007 school year.  Steve has taught here 12 years as a business teacher and filled in as interim AP last school year for Mike Sodomka.

b.      August 30^th Open House:  Over 200 people attended, as opposed to last year’s 50 attendees.  Letters in multiple languages and phone calls home helped to increase attendance.  2 automated phone calls were made to each household announcing this event. 

c.       Enrollment has gone up:  734 students at the start of the 2005-2006 school year.    880 students at the start of this school year (2006-2007).  925 students as of today (9/11/06).  10% of these 925 students are projected by the district to not show up, leaving us at a projected 840 students for the October 1^st count for the 2006-2007 school year.  This is not foreseen to effect our staffing as we are currently staffed for 835 students.  We are hoping to bump capable and driven students into AP classes to even out our class sizes (our regular classes are large and our AP classes are small [generally]).

d.      ELL teacher added Thursday.  This caused a positive impact on our enrollment. Craig Cass filled this position.  He used to teach at Ramsey Jr. High.

e.       Opening Week staff training:  AVID training, POL training w/ Michael Thompson.  (AVID is a college access program for students in the academic middle.  Targets students who traditionally do not go on to college after high school.  Focuses on academic skills, behaviors, and content.  Only in grades 9-11 this year.  Will begin in 2^nd Trimester).

f.        Ecolab/St. Paul travelers’ donating money for AVID and Admission Possible, 20 new (i.e. used, refurbished) computers, .3 college access coordinator (Karen Woodward, who will coordinate between the several different college access programs), and a truck-load of school supplies!

g.       Homecoming:  several different activities. 

h.       Field:  bid going out Oct. 13, back in mid-November

i.         Sat. Oct. 7:  150 SPPS anniversary celebration, including a parade.  Our band will participate.  All encouraged to attend/participate. 

j.        Senior staff has been visiting our building and all others under the direction of M. Carstarphen.

k.      Next Tuesday, 9/19/06:  BST retakes occurring due to state error.  No late start. 270 students on list to be tested in grades 10-12.  Retesting all students who failed with 12 questions pulled from the test.

l.         Oct. 2:  first progress reports going home.

m.     Oct. 12 and 17: conferences (4:00-7:00 p.m.)  (Oct. 12 = in classrooms, Oct. 17 = in cafeteria) 

n.       Andy Mosca:  Concern over bumping students to AP classes without effecting the integrity of AP.  Guidance counselors and teachers will only recommend students who are perceived as academically capable, willing, and inclined to be successful with AP curriculum.  Some Juniors will be taking an online AP English course supervised by the guidance counselors.  Student Site Council members are not concerned by the small or large class sizes. 

o.      Dave Mergens:  Field turf bid.  We will need more funding to make our field look appropriate and attractive (beyond the funds that will be given by the district).  This will cost us $30,000 and will need to be done when the turf goes in.  Alumni are being contacted for donations.  New businesses and new ideas are needed to raise these funds. 

VII.            Our Principal Selection Process (Valerie Atkinson)

a.       We need to look ahead at the task of hiring a new principal for the 2007-2008 school year

b.      We are in a transition time with an interim principal and an interim assistant principal.  We need to establish a direction through this process.  We will review past processes, but will develop a new process that suits our current needs. 

c.       The Site Council is only capable of giving our recommendation for the new principal to the superintendent, not of actually choosing the principal

d.      Site Council members are asked to brainstorm ideas regarding the process for hiring a new principal and for compiling a list of criteria that we would like our candidates to encompass.  

VIII.         SLC:  S. Aeilts.  The change in small learning communities was due to our small school with a small staff.  Electives were suffering and successes were minimal.  The focal point for the small learning communities (academies) is now in advisories. 

IX.              New Business

a.       Guest from the local Girl Scout Council on Robert Street, Deb Pridgen, here to speak.  3 clubs running through Humboldt currently.  Here to establish a connection and contact for Humboldt with the Girl Scout Council.  Their space is available for students and staff in the capacities of holding meetings, events, outings, etc.  We do not know if there would be a fee for use of the space.

X.                 Adjourned at 7:22.  Unanimously approved. 

Respectfully submitted, Lauren Rekonen

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