Site Council Minutes

Monday, December 11, 2006

Present:  John Hines (parent, co-chair), Bonnie Bellows (staff), Mike Sodomka (acting principal), Preston McMillan (staff, union), Lauren Rekonen (staff, secretary), Marilyn Mauritz (staff), Derby Campo (non-teaching staff), Joe Laconic (staff), Jennifer Purtell (parent), Kandy Hedlund (parent), Saul Castillo (student), Israel Moses (guest, assistant principal), Lois Rockney (guest, Director of Business Affairs)

Absent:  Dave Mergens (staff), Valerie Atkinson (non-teaching staff, co-chair), Tim Hausker (non-teaching staff), Andy Mosca (parent), Sam Buffington (community)

I.                   Approval of Agenda

a.       Motion made by J. Hines, seconded by M. Sodomka.  Unanimously approved.

II.                Approval of Nov. 13, Minutes

a.       Motion made by J. Hines, seconded by B. Bellows. Unanimously approved.

III.             Open Forum

a.       No open forum items

IV.              Referendum Allocations-Lois Rockney-Director of Business Affairs

a.       The reason we invited Lois Rockney here to our meeting today is so she could explain the allocation of referendum funds to the various high schools.

b.      L. Rockney: The money to the schools was calculated before the referendum was passed.  They do not anticipate changing the funding at all due to the promises made to the voters before the election.

c.       $16.5 to schools:  $10.5M for school’s SCIP and $6M to ELL and Special Education programs. 

d.      $8.1M for All-Day Kindergarten for schools who had to charge a fee to students attending all-day, ECFE, and 4-year-old K. 

e.       $4.2M to prepare students for post-secondary, particularly in math and science.  In the past, it has been a policy of SPPS to give more money to elementary schools in hopes that reading levels would improve.  This referendum would balance that formula and give more money to secondary schools.

f.        $1.2M for technology upgrades for our wide-area network.

g.       How do Humboldt’s allocations compare to the other high schools? 

                                                               i.      The formula is strictly a per-pupil formula ($236.63/pupil)

                                                             ii.      Humboldt’s 07 projected enrollment is 803 students

                                                            iii.      Humboldt’s money:  $209,951 direct, $209,951 for ELL, $149,095 for Special Education    Total: $569,576

                                                           iv.      Why is it that we receive the lowest amount of money compared to the other high schools but we are in the top 3 for both ELL and Special Education populations? (I. Moses).  The numbers will be brought to the attention of those in charge of the allocations (L. Rockney). 

                                                             v.      Special Education is funded according to the number of staff needed, not according to the number of students.  360 has discussed changing the way Special Ed. funds are allocated to the schools.

                                                           vi.      Why aren’t the high schools equal in their percentages of Special Education students?  (J. Hines). 

                                                          vii.      District-wide budgets for district-wide special ed and ELL funding will be provided to our Site Council for us to review. 

V.                 Automotive Department Update – J. Laconic

a.       We have been advised to wait to draft a letter regarding the movement of the Monroe Transportation Center to Humboldt Sr. 

VI.              Principal’s Report

a.       Luz Maria Serrano recommends for us to write a letter regarding the Phase II funding. 

b.      Dave Mergens will send out a letter asking for funds for graphics for our field.  He has some of the funds already. 

c.       The play is in January.  There will be a show for the Junior High, the Senior High, and public shows on a Friday night and Saturday afternoon. 

d.      Humboldt was in the paper as the 3^rd school in the district for police calls, however, those numbers are on a per-incident basis and do not reflect the severity of the calls.  We feel that these numbers do not reflect how violent the school actually is.

e.       We have a parent information fair on Saturday, January 21 at Roy Wilkins Auditorium from 9am – 2pm.

f.        Humboldt Jr. and Sr. applied for and were awarded an AP grant to align our math curriculum to the AP tests (about $90,000).    

g.       Humboldt Jr., Sr. St. Matt’s, and GAP are in cooperation with West Side Neighborhood Organizations to apply for the 21^st Century Grant to fund after-school programming.  We are particularly looking for activity buses. 

h.       Lunch-time announcements will begin within the next two days. 

i.         A survey geared towards giving the students a voice to the administration has been developed and will be given out to the students within the next two weeks. 

VII.           Adjourn

a.       Motion made to adjourn by M. Sodomka.  Seconded by K. Hedlund.  Unanimously approved.