Minutes of Ray Local School Council
March 9, 2009
Staff lounge

In attendance: Bernadette Butler, Blake Davis, Heather Edelman, Christine Lancaster, Ray Lodato, Sean Murphy, David Myles (arrived 7:34 p.m.), Jennifer Washington, Willie Walter (arrived 6:52 p.m.), Angela Williams-Walker. Absent: Ken Schug.

1. Ray Lodato called the meeting to order at 6:36 p.m. and welcomed new LSC member Blake Davis.

2. Approval of agenda
C. Lancaster asked to add an item to discuss changing the date of the April meeting. On a motion by J. Washington (second: B. Davis) the LSC approved adding a discussion about changing the date of the April meeting.

3. Approval of February minutes
On a motion by H. Edelman (second: S. Murphy) the LSC approved the February minutes.

4. Report from the Principal (see attached)
*Discipline report – B. Davis asked for a key to explain the codes for the discipline reports.
*Lottery - The lottery for out-of-boundary applicants to the school will be held soon. Principal Butler explained that former Superintendent Arne Duncan supported principals’ decisions to accept all pre-K students into Kindergarten. The new superintendent has not indicated his position, and Principal Butler said she was advised to offer no guarantees.
*Budget – The LSC will need to hold a special meeting to approve next year’s budget.
On a motion by B. Davis (second: A. Williams-Walker) the LSC approved the principal’s report.

5. Status of Friends of Ray
A. Williams-Walker is drafting a description of the functions of PTA and FOR. She is collecting examples of bylaws from other Friends organizations.

6. Subcommittee reports
*Bylaws - no report
*Vision and Priorities – C. Lancaster and H. Edelman agreed to survey teachers again on their priorities in order to inform budget discussions. B. Davis asked about the desired class size, and B. Butler said smaller class sizes were needed in the lower grades.
*Principal evaluation – A survey for teachers and parents has been developed and LSC members will be responsible for administering it.
*Budget committee – J. Washington explained that a technology line item had been added because there will no longer be a separate cell tower fund. She reported that $30,000 is expected in rollover money in the fall. H. Edelman and B. Butler suggested leaving space for a teaching position in the budget. J. Washington said she was opposed to setting aside funds for a teacher without covering definite needs first.
*Facilities – D. Myles explained that a request for bids had been put out for the peeling paint. Work could be done during spring break or the summer. Neighbors have complained about cars speeding out of the driveway; D. Myles will investigate installing a mirror.
*PPLC – The committee met Feb. 28 and will meet twice a month for the next few months. The committee is discussing aligning curriculum.
*Bi-lingual education – no report
*Special education – no report
*Technology – Sun submitted a proposal that put the cost of installing their thin client model at $134,000, without discounts. S. Murphy is asking for a new proposal.
On a motion by A. Williams-Walker (second: B. Davis) the LSC approved the subcommittee reports.

7. February  PTA Meeting
H. Edelman reported that the PTA will be looking for volunteers for festival, picnic and art fair. PTA budget meetings are coming up. And the PTA continues to accept nominations for officers for next year.

8. New meeting date
C. Lancaster asked that the April meeting be moved from the morning of April 13, the first day back from spring break. LSC members agreed to move the April LSC meeting to April 15 at 8 a.m.

9. Old Business
None

10. New business
*R. Lodato said he planned to attend a hearing about the removal of LSC members for whom the downtown LSC office does not have records of attended trainings. He questioned why LSC members who had actually attended trainings received the letters.
*R. Lodato asked the Vision and Priorities committee to draft a statement about the school that could appear in the Hyde Park Herald. The Herald printed information about local schools that described Ray as a backdrop for the Art Fair, but did not include other, more descriptive facts. H. Edelman said she would contact the Herald.

11. Public comments and discussion
Librarian Leslie Travis thanked the LSC for its work and participation in subcommittees.

On a motion by D. Myles (second: B. Davis) the LSC voted to adjourn at 8:04 p.m.

Submitted by H. Edelman

Ray School
Principal’s Report to the Local School Council
March 9, 2009

Family Reading Night
PTA sponsored this family reading night as part of Black History Month.   Families brought favorite books written about African Americans.  After taking turns talking about the books, individuals reflected on their most outstanding memories about African American History.
Discipline Report (See enclosure)
Lottery
We have 37 lottery applications for kindergarten for the 2009-10 school year from out-of-district students who are currently enrolled in the Pre-K program at Ray.  Of these 37 applications, 10 are siblings.  We have an additional 6 applications for kindergarten from students who were not in Pre-K at Ray but have siblings here at Ray.  We have 16 in district students who will automatically go into kindergarten.
A letter is scheduled to go out to parents of out of district parents tomorrow to inform them that the CPS Policy will be adhered to in view of the change in CPS administration.
Special Student Mentions
The David R. McDonald Foundation is inviting a select group of students to the MVP Chess tournament.  The best scholastic players are invited to compete for top honors and prizes. The event takes place on Tuesday, April 7 from 9:30 until 5:00.  Our selected students are Allen Dai, Karen Dai, and Philip Parker-Turner.
Zhixin Shou has won second place in Dongfang Chinese Education Institutes Composition Contest.  The organization offers Chinese language immersion in pre-k though 12th grade.  It is reportedly a very prestigious institution.
Communication
State of the School Mid-Term report was published last week on the e-news and is also posted on the Principal’s Podium on the ray website.  I will attempt to update that blog regularly.  I will meet with Gordon Mayer on Tuesday, March 10 to publish another version with pictures in the Ray News.
Use of Technology
More teachers are beginning to use the website to publish classroom news.  Mrs. Clement, Ms Jack, Mrs. Travis, Ms. Pitts, Mr. Gillespie, Ms. Averill and Ms. Sheridan all have active Websites.  It is my goal that all teachers begin to have websites that inform the community of classroom projects and news. I would like to show some of our sites at one of our next meetings.  Russ from CUIP works with any staff who asks for assistance, including me.
Food Establishment Report
We were inspected by the Chicago Department of Public Health and passed.  Peeling paint was noted once again.
Budget
We should be receiving our budget allocations for s.y.2009/2010 sometime this week.
Internal Accounts
We have $ $149,565.08 in our account.