Funding Survey Results
South Eugene High School
Parent Council Funds Appropriation Survey
Summary
The South Eugene High School Parent Council receives funds from parent donations and the sales of e-Scrip, Chinook Books and directories.
Our 2007/2008 budget is:
$69,491 in Assets
$69, 491 in Liabilities:
$7,000 in reserves,
$3,650 in expenses
$24,088 in undesignated funds
$34,753 to support staffing at South*
*Over the most recent years we have annually funded 2.25 hours a day of library staff time (to keep the library open longer for students), .12 FTE of additional music instruction and 2.0 hours a day of the Volunteer Coordinator position, which is not funded by the district. In addition to this staffing, we must pay a certain percentage of 4J equity, which was $2,250 this year.
Each year in February the administration approaches the Parent Council to ask for support for various staffing deficits. This year we thought that we should step back and take time to assess our funding priorities as a parent group and to solicit feedback on whether you want to continue current staffing funding with parent funds.
So, over the course of this past fall, Parent Council meeting attendees brainstormed priorities on spending parent funds and a process for making these decisions. We arrived at the importance of health, wellness and safety as priorities and funding that will help the largest portion of students.
In addition to our need as parents to weigh in on whether we are going to continue to support the current staffing above, we are in a position to make a decision to spend a one-time surplus of $25,000. This amount is a result of funds that had accrued in a Mental Health fund, which will not be replenished or available in future years.
Please respond to the following survey questions and return your responses to the Parent Council at sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net by February 11th. We will tally the responses and report the summary of the survey results out to parents at the February 12th Parent Council meeting in the cafeteria from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.
Based on the feedback from the surveys and the discussion at this meeting (which is open to all South parents) we will set our funding priorities for 2008/2009 and will convey them to the administration through Principal Randy Bernstein. We acknowledge that we aren’t presenting you with exact figures at this time, because we are looking for input on your priorities for funding for the 2008/2009 academic year and once we know the will of the parents, we will focus on the exact amount to fund at the February Parent Council meeting. We are also looking for additional suggestions not listed below.
Note: We e-mailed 88 people the survey and 55 responded, that is a return rate of 62.5%.
Please indicate whether you would like to continue the current staffing (check any that apply):
47/55____Volunteer Coordinator for Parent Council and school support,
2 hours/day (Approximately $10,600 annually)
45/55 Additional Library staff time for 2.25 hour per day (Approximately $11,925 annually)
47/55___Music staff time at .12 FTE (Approximately $9.978 annually)
Comments: (Type as much as you wish!)
Each of these are vital and can benefit a large number of students and should be continued.
I believe all three of these funding priorities are important for differing reasons and would be very disappointed if we withdrew our support.
I am not in favor of funding certified staff from parent-raised funds, due to sustainability and equity issues. And why these fte, instead of math, say, or PE or anything else? I don’t like to separate them out as though they are “extras”, any more than any other fte.
Having said that, I’m not in favor of just pulling the plug on this ongoing support, either. As part of the downsizing of South that looks like it will happen in the wake of the Shaping 4J process, I would have a look at this funding, too.
Parent-raised funds are, I believe, more appropriately used as (1) the source of funds for one-time needs, and/or (2) “seed money”, for example, for a grant writer position which, if successful, would then come out of general funds, and/or (3) spending that supports both the school and parents, e.g., the volunteer coordinator position, or an information booklet for parents.
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Having the Library open even more morning hours would be especially helpful for IHS students and other students who take early (all that’s available) buses. It is hard to work effectively in the cafeteria.
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Until the music department is willing to put together a group of musicians that is willing to play at sporting events and be part of the student body like every other High School in the State I will not support anything having to do with music! I’m not talking a marching band, just a pep band who would sit among the students and enhance school spirit. See South Medford High School or Churchill!
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Volunteer Coordinator and Additional Library time can benefit all students and could have an adverse effect on all students if funding is not continued. Music is a MAYBE for me depending on how many students are benefited by the .12 of Music staff time.
Please rank the following suggestions for possible uses of the $25,000 one-time surplus in priority order, with #1 being the highest. Rank as many as you wish. (Suggestions are in alphabetical order)
39/55 Approach the South teachers for wish list items
19/55 Create college scholarships funds for seniors
27/55 Fund Driver’s Education scholarships for students
46/55 Fund time for a grant writer to write grants for more funds
26/55 Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field
_26/55_Mount projectors in classrooms
33/55 Purchase extra sets of textbooks for classrooms to allow
students to leave textbooks at home
28/55 Purchase “smart” boards that interface with classroom
computers
26/55 Support purchase of additional cardio and fitness equipment
Do you have suggestions for funding that were not listed above and if so, how would you rank these among those previously brainstormed by Parent Council attendees?
Something that is very important to me is making sure we can continue all of the current AP science classes at South. I attended the meeting on this topic, so I realize that it is a complex matter that ties in with declining enrollment, 4J policy to prohibit school choice in favor of neighborhood schools, changes to the IB diploma requirements, etc. One thing that was mentioned at the meeting was that the loss of teachers for these classes is one problem—if money from the Parent Council would help to preserve the AP Science classes through funding science teachers, I would rank it as my #1 priority.
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I would like to know more about where the fund came from and try to honor it by using it in a way that reflects it’s donor. If it was truly a mental health fund, that I would advocate for using the funds for the benefit of our students in a mental health way. Can we look at funding a school counselor? Can we look at funding a home tutoring program for students who are battling severe depression/anxiety and need a time-out from our large sometimes-intimidating campus? Can we fund a resource (counselor?) to be available to a student who finds herself pregnant or diagnosed with an STD? Perhaps we have some of these programs in place already and I’m just not aware of them. I know we have a school nurse but I’m not sure how much she delves into the realm of mental health. If we can create a successful program, we would most likely want to be able to continue on with it and would need to find a way to fund it in future years.
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How about utilizing some of the funds for collaborative/community arts projects or visiting artist programs to have more active/positive/enthusiastic art staff?
Also, I am all for having more staff of almost any nature - because better student/staff ratio is one of the best options, even if for a limited time.
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In light of the science transition that must occur to continue to offer IB
Biology I think it would be most important to fund staffing for the next 2
-3 years to allow the students that have already taken Biology not to be
forced into a 2-year biology block therefore making them take 3 years of
biology in 4 years of HS. From what I could understand at the science
meeting earlier this week it is important to transition to the 2 year
science block of biology for incoming Freshman however I do think funding
should allow current Freshman, sophomores and juniors that have started down this track to complete the appropriate classes either through parent council funding at SEHS or using funding to send these kids to the wonderful
resource called U of O to allow them to complete their science track.
This is my absolute #1 priority for these funds. I cannot be more specific
as the information presented at the science info night left me with lots of
questions.
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This may not be a parent council topic … maybe it’s an idea for the administration.. but over time I’d like to see investigation of moving from heavy books to electronic versions of class materials (whether e-books or some other form). This would obviate the problem of carrying every-increasing loads of heavy books back and forth in back packs. This has to be done in a way that does not disadvantage students without home computers, so it’s not a short-term or straightforward switch, but now seems like the time to start investigating it with a target of a pilot program (e.g., replacing texts in one subject) in 2-5 years, as e-book technology improves and becomes cheaper and as network access continues to grow more ubiquitous.
I rank the field issue as #2 for a variety of reasons even though I am not sure that is not the only field to be looking at. I believe that at the same time you are looking at the grass east field you should also be looking at the baseball fields. In fact, I am deeply concerned about the state of the athletic
fields at SEHS and the space allocation not only among the school’s groups, but also between the school and the City.
• There is active discussion at the 4J Board level about selling Civic which is the SEHS varsity baseball team’s game field. The Board frankly seems unaware of the issues this will cause at SEHS and there have been no public discussions of the need to take some of any funds received from selling Civic and plowing it into the athletic infrastructure at the school.
• Our facilities are not comparable to others in the district. There are three teams at SEHS with one practice field and one batting cage, and that practice field is under water for often more than 1/3 of a season. (I’m an ex-baseball mom.)
• In addition, when the current state of the fields force games to be cancelled (think ducks literally swimming on a pond of water) on our JV/Freshmen field (west end of school), for some contractual reason they cannot be played at Civic, which means we are out of luck and must travel.
• Furthermore, with the current state of the baseball fields on the west end of the property this means significant congestion on the turf fields – 2 boys lacrosse teams, one girls lacrosse team, 3 baseball teams, 2 or 3 softball teams and even some of the track athletes are all competing for space.
• Scheduling might be easier if the turf was reserved later in the day for SEHS purposes and not turned over as early to the City for other scheduling, but as is that is not the case which means that competition for turf/practice fields is at an all time high. To date the SEHS fields are considered highly attractive for City leagues due to their central location and are significantly booked at a higher level than other schools in the district. Proof? Just ask the person who does the central booking. Teams at Sheldon and Churchill can easily get access to their fields later in the day and schedule practices and games so they do not conflict. We cannot.
• What would I do about this? Yes the grass fields need help since they are heavily used by the teams above that cannot get turf access as well as soccer, ultimate, and rugby. Plus I think I would take start making a concerted effort to raise funds or put down some sort of contribution to be matched by the Baseball Booster Group for drainage on the baseball fields or turfing the baseball fields like at NEHS. This would help alleviate some congestion and help out a block of teams where I believe the problem is only going to get much much worse if Civic is sold.
I would actually love that we fund more music so that we are comparable with other schools such as Sheldon. There are two more Jazz Bands that now meet one day a week and are funded through parent donations. To move one of those into a full class would be an excellent addition to the music program. Also excellent would be an AP Music Theory class, which many of our students who are interested in pursuing music as a career and college program need to study individually or through Arts Umbrella when they offer it once every 2 years.
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I am not opposed to any of the above ideas, though some of them probably have other funding sources, e.g., district (improvements to field) and EEF, Fred Meyer, and the like (equipment, teacher wish list). The nice thing about a grant writer is that they could take this kind of a wish list and match the items to those other funding sources and write the grants that would fund a larger number of items than we could by ourselves.
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There may be requests for funding of staffing as the school determines how best to meet the transitional needs for IB/AP Science programs. These might be considered to allow us to respect students that have already begun a certain pathway and will possibly have choices limited if the school faces a need to pay for additional staffing.
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School Health Nurse/Clinic
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My suggestions for funding at South is to not only channel money into a scholarship fund, but also to pay for SAT test prep for underserved students. This will help to level the playing field for college entrance for students whose families CAN afford to pay for test prep and gain admission to college.
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Which ever you choose, put the money to work even harder by combining it with other groups with the same interest. Examples: MADD for Driver’s Ed Scholarships, SEHS Soccer Club Board for improvements to that East field, teachers. If this is parent raised money, I agree with the staff funding, but the “surplus” should be for activities outside of school like Driver’s Ed and sports. These are things that help keep kids in school.
Definitely do not get more textbooks—they do not get used very much at home when they are taken there. If anything, rely less on textbooks and go to electronic based information—it is more up to date, is paperless, and prepares them for college work.
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I would ask the teachers for their prioritized ideas – as well as the administrators. It seems to me that they understand the needs the best. Re: the grant writer – if there are funds (grants) to be had and we’re only lacking the grant writing time/skills, then that is as important (if not more) as asking teachers for their ideas.
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I would always look first to funding additional staff time. Every year we seem to cut more and more of our talented staff, as enrollment declines, and it seems as if we’ve gone beyond cutting “frills” (if there ever were any frills to cut anyway) and are now eliminating core curriculum. I would like to be able to keep art, music, drama, AP/IB classes, etc. This would be my highest priority. Second priority would be what I ranked #1 (and only) above, which is whatever the teachers think they need to enhance the learning experience for the students.
I know this is going to sound elitist, but I also think it might be worthwhile to look into funding comfortable and safe transportation (charter buses?) for the ridiculously long road trips the sports teams have to do on school nights, especially in the winter. It’s hard enough for those kids to get their homework done and eat a decent meal when they’re on the road, that I feel like we should at least provide them with a comfortable place to sleep on the way home from Grants Pass or whatever.
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Address the drug problem at South. Ask counselors/students for their best thinking on how to most effectively do this.
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Assuming they are not already in place—I ‘d like to see full spectrum lighting placed in every room, hall, gathering space in the school.
Considering the documented importance and effect of light on mood, attention, etc. I think this would have significant impact for all. At a minimum, all classrooms and the staff/teacher offices should be supplied with quality, full spectrum lighting.
This would be a number ONE choice, with all the others listed previously moving down 1 level.
There is considerable research on the effects of various kinds of lighting. If you would like more information, please contact me.
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How about purchase enough textbooks so everyone could have one. In my daughter’s math class, there wasn’t enough text for everyone, so no one got a book!
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I placed Driver’s Ed scholarships first because it fits with the Parent Council’s health, wellness and safety priority. Although the question of whether Driver’s Ed is a school issue any longer is up for debate, it is none the less something that can devastate the whole school if there were a tragic accident.
I placed asking the staff next because there is probably a range of needs including more projectors, Smartboards, or extra set of textbooks, but those needs are individual to teachers and their departments. (We routinely purchase used textbooks online for our student’s home use at sometimes extremely reasonable rates.)
I also support the idea to use the extra money to let the current students continue on the AP Science track and phase it out over the next few years. I’d place this as number 2 priority after Driver’s Ed.
Help support and promote the clubs – possibly have grant writer to work with this area for extra curricular activities for students.
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Teachers and/or departments could each be allotted an amount. Seems to me, though, that teachers would have more of a sense of the greatest need(s) and how to best meet them. While all of the above ideas are appealing, I keep thinking that the staff would have a greater sense of which would best support the school and students.
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This school needs increased sensitivity to gays and lesbians. Common casual phrases like "that is so gay" abound with these students. I would like to see sensitivity training or special speaker address this insensitive language and attitudes.
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Resurface the tennis courts #4
Reduce class size #1
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It has been my experience that the academic counseling staff is overwhelmed with the sheer numbers of students that they are responsible for. I would like to see a better counselor to student ratio. Students need competent and caring advice in choosing classes that keep them both on the right track academically, as well as more content to be in school.
I do not have further suggestions at this time. I believe that we can use funds to support a grant writer as a way to maximize the funds by bringing in additional dollars. Secondly, I think it is necessary that teachers feel supported by parents and, thus, asking them for their wish list items is incredibly important. I ranked Numbers three and four in this way to cover the financial needs of the student population. Thank you for your consideration of the parents’ input.
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Pat Tyson, the new director of Track and Field at South, is looking into new uniforms for the track and field team. The fact that track is back, in a big way, in Eugene is refreshing, motivating for students and a definite plus for South Eugene High School. I’m guessing he might like a donation from this money to support his endeavors for the track and field program, be it uniforms or equipment. (South will be the practice track field for the June, 2008 Olympic Trials.)
Since parents on this committee have spent their valuable time working on the above proposals, it would be best if they did the ranking. This is just an idea. Something I heard about this weekend. . . . . .
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The Italian program at the U of O has been working to offer Italian at South Eugene. The Italian government will provide us with some funds, but additional resources will be needed to start the program. Generally, at other schools where this initiative has taken place, parent council funds subsidized the necessary expenses, such as text-books and part of the teacher’s salary.
Will it be possible to do the same at South?
In the past, some South students came to the U of O to attend Italian. However, since we don’t offer courses in the afternoon, it was very difficult for them to do so.
Italian could start as a club activity at South and I am sure it will attract students.
The number of Italian students at the U of O (300 in first year Italian) show considerable interest in the language.
I would list this suggestion first, just because we have been trying for years to have Italian started. This year seems that we will be able to get funds from the Italian government.
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Any additional comments?
I appreciate the opportunity to comment on this issue. Thanks for making the effort to check in with parents!
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I have missed the Parent Council meetings during basketball season as I have been in the stands supporting our student athletes! Thanks for allowing me to be involved virtually in this format.
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Thanks much for creating a forum on it
The technology for classrooms is a good idea—whichever the teachers is feel the way to go.
Hi Helen,
I just read your suggestion list and I want to let you know there is money available for scholarships for driver education. The program is run through the school district in cooperation with Oregon Drivers Training and the state
allocates money to be used for scholarships. There are very few requests and because of the amount allocated, we have not come close to using
our share. I wanted you to have that information as you decide how to best use your Parent Council
funds.
Good luck!
Brenda Down, SEHS Office Manager
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Regarding Funding a Grant Writer: I think the SEHS teachers need to start getting a little bit more aggressive about going out for grants for things they need and could use some support in terms of grant writing. I rank it #1 since it is funding a multiplier effect.
Regarding Purchasing Extra sets of textbooks: This can easily be done – and cheaply - by having someone troll the used textbook shops on amazon.com, half.com, textbooksrus.com and powells.com etc. I personally purchased my son’s trig and bio books this year on the internet and paid $4 for the bio book and $2.50 for the trig book. Leverage the used textbook market that is easily searchable. In addition, give parents who did purchase books the option to sell them back to the school (or donate them) for next year’s group. Do a textbook swap like that which is common in many private and parochial schools.
Thanks for asking. The ‘black hole’ of where money goes is often frustrating and while the uses I think are not only justifiable and great bang for the buck, it is nice to think that perhaps if we are raising it we get some input. Otherwise it is an administration only decision – which may differ from parental priorities. Open debate about priorities and transparency about spending is a good strategy.
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Regarding Creating college scholarship funds: (We’d be better off spending the money to strengthen SEHS alumni networks and their efforts to get donations to alumni scholarship funds, because that’s where the real potential for funding of scholarships lies—not from this one time pot of $ or the annual monies that PTO raises.)
Regarding Fund Time for a grant writer: (in conjunction with “Approach the South teachers for wish list items”) NB A successful grant writing program takes years to get a system going to meet funding cycles, learn funders’ programs, get feedback from funders, etc.
Regarding Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field: (would this include helping SEHS have its own softball field, rather than sharing with the city and all the scheduling problems that entails?)
I support continued funding of the library position only if those additional hours of service have proven to be useful and used by students. If they are not proven significantly useful, I would not favor continuing the position.
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Yes, I think that SEHS could really have a few more fund raisers each year. I believe most parents and family of students are much more willing to buy products (from school fund raiser companies) than to contribute money directly to the school. I know that I feel that way. If any child knocks on my door with a school fund raiser, I feel obligated to buy at least one thing, and before you know it, you have found many things you like. I have never understood why schools don’t have more fund raisers. And there are more than just the cookies, candy and wrapping paper fund raisers out there!
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Thank you for all your hard work!
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Regarding “Approach the South teachers for wish list items”: THIS SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE. AT THIS POINT, EITHER YOU CONTACT THEM AND DO THIS SURVEY OVER, OR HAVE THEM COMMENT ON SURVEY RESULTS
Regarding “Create college scholarships funds for seniors” NOT ENOUGH $ TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Regarding “Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field” DO SEPARATE FUND DRIVE FOCUSED ON FAMILIES OF ATHLETES
NEED MORE INFO – RANK AT TOP IF TEACHERS SUPPORT THIS__6___Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field DO SEPARATE FUND DRIVE FOCUSED ON FAMILIES OF ATHLETES
Regarding “Mount projectors in classrooms” NEED MORE INFO – RANK AT TOP IF TEACHERS SUPPORT THIS ************************************************************
Thank you for allowing parents to help determine where & how parent raised money is used.
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Regarding “Approach the South teachers for wish list items” An open checkbook is not a good idea
Regarding “Create college scholarships funds for seniors”. Not a health, wellness or safety suggestion. Funds should be used for current students at South.
Regarding “Fund Driver’s Education scholarships for students”. Would like to see this changed to fund a class for all students, not scholarships.
Regarding “Fund time for a grant writer to write grants for more funds” Should be a district chore for all schools.
Regarding “Mount projectors in classrooms” Not a health, wellness or safety suggestion.
Regarding “Purchase extra sets of textbooks for classrooms to allow
students to leave textbooks at home” Not a health, wellness or safety suggestion.
Regarding “Purchase “smart” boards that interface with classroom
computers Not a health, wellness or safety suggestion.
Improving that east field is a great idea. That field is not usable pretty much after the first rains in the fall. Providing drainage, etc to it would open the field to year round access. It currently is unsafe as is to our students.
In fact, I would support using these funds to make this field a turf field like the soccer/football field. Then it would be guaranteed 100% access.
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Thank you for considering health and safety, but I feel like having healthier food choices (including palatable vegetarian options) in the cafeteria and decreasing the number of kids who chose off-campus lunch would be the best use of funds in that area. (Except to the extent that kids walk to off-campus lunches, they are getting exercise, so I guess that’s a counter-argument for keeping bad food in the cafeteria!)
I’m not really concerned so much with on-campus safety – I’m much more concerned about safety off campus, but even then, I can’t really think of anywhere in Eugene that I’m really worried about my kids’ safety anyway.
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In my opinion, based on the above suggestions, making
improvements to the east practice field would be the best use of the $25,000! That field is used by many student athletes and is UNSAFE!! Fixing this field would certainly fit the priority of promoting health, safety and wellness!
I would support Driver Ed if classes were made available at little or no
cost to all students.
I do not support any of the above suggestions for creating scholarships with the money. It does not benefit enough of the student population.
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Thanks for your all your efforts.
Improve the leadership training for the students who lead the freshmen in the peer group. My son reported that this was a waste of time. I attended the alcohol and drug parent evening in December and was very impressed by the seniors who attended and the program that they have created only to be completely disappointed to learn that they are reaching such a small segment of the student population. It would be amazing if this senior project could be integrated into the peer leadership training or whatever it is called. I would also like to see podcasts made of their work. ***********************************************************
Most of Parent Council funds currently come from e-scrip and scrip sales, but it's just a drop in the bucket compared to what we could be earning if the majority of South families were involved in scrip. I would suggest exploring the hiring of a marketing firm to develop a marketing program and strategies for South to use year after year to get more families participating in scrip. It might be a large one-time expenditure that could potentially yield great results. A recent conversation with another parent illustrates the potential: Other Parent: "So this e-scrip thing doesn't cost me anything extra?" My response: "No. You spend the same amount whether you're enrolled in e-scrip or not." Other Parent: "Well, why haven't we been doing this for years?" My response: "Don't know. Guess you didn't really realize how e-scrip works." I would rank this #7 and move funds for a grant writer to #8.
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Regarding Approach the South teachers for wish list items:
Absolutely! How can we allocate funds without knowing what our teachers think the needs of the school are?????
Regarding Create college scholarship funds for seniors:
No. While scholarships are a wonderful thing, Parent Council funds should be used to benefit programs at South and students attending South, not students who will no longer be at South. In addition, there are many scholarship opportunities that graduating students can pursue.
Regarding Fund Driver’s Education scholarships for students:
No. There is a scholarship fund through 4J and/or the Oregon Driver Training organization already in existence, and only a fraction of the funds available are currently being utilized. Until all the funds are utilized, Parent Council funds should not be used for this. Perhaps Parent Council can assist in advising South students and families that driver education assistance funds are available.
Regarding Fund time for a grant writer to write grants for more funds:
Since this is an item to help us obtain more funds, it ranks after more tangible items like textbooks, field improvements, etc. for me. Although this has the potential to raise significant funds for grant-specific items and is definitely worth exploring for the longer term. Without knowing what would need to be budgeted, it's really hard to rank this one.
Regarding Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field:
This field is already utilized for many activities, and is currently an accident waiting to happen because of its poor condition. Plans are already under way to develop this field into a softball field and a soccer/lacrosse/general purpose practice field. Depending on the level and/or avenues of funding already available, this would be an excellent use of some of the Parent Council funds, since many students and programs would benefit. Randy should have more specific information on what is currently in the works.
Regarding Mount projectors in classrooms:
I believe this would be a fairly "inexpensive" thing to fund (depending on the number of classrooms) and could really enhance teachers' ability to teach.
Regarding Purchase extra sets of textbooks for classrooms to allow students to leave textbooks at home”
Just last year, my daughter was having trouble in Geometry and I wanted to help her, but since it's been at least 30 years since I took Geometry, I needed a textbook to "refresh" my memory. South had no extra books, so my daughter was going to have to schlep the book home every day so we could go over her homework. Instead, I obtained a used book on-line through Amazon.com that only cost $20 including shipping (opposed to $80 new) and was in better shape than hers. Having the book at home made it simple and easy to review the assignments and homework. As a result we were able to raise her grade and drastically improve her performance. Students don't like carrying books back and forth (who can blame them when they weigh so much??), and if more students were able to leave their books at home for reference, how many might improve their performance also????? If we pursue this option, we should definitely look at obtaining used books through sources like Amazon.com instead of purchasing them new. I think this might be especially beneficial for math and science textbooks.
Regarding Purchase “smart” boards that interface with classroom computers:
This is comparable to mounting projectors in classrooms to me. It could be a great way to enhance teachers' ability to teach.
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Thanks for all of your hard work…some great ideas. I really like the grant writer proposal…would love to see that coupled with some NHS volunteer hours to aid in research and completing documents…could stretch the paid hours and some students could pick up a valuable tool.
Note: All responses will be confidential and responses will be shared in summary form. If you would like a reply from the Parent Council when submitting your responses via e-mail to sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net please indicate this in your e-mail.
Parent Council Funds Appropriation Survey
Summary
The South Eugene High School Parent Council receives funds from parent donations and the sales of e-Scrip, Chinook Books and directories.
Our 2007/2008 budget is:
$69,491 in Assets
$69, 491 in Liabilities:
$7,000 in reserves,
$3,650 in expenses
$24,088 in undesignated funds
$34,753 to support staffing at South*
*Over the most recent years we have annually funded 2.25 hours a day of library staff time (to keep the library open longer for students), .12 FTE of additional music instruction and 2.0 hours a day of the Volunteer Coordinator position, which is not funded by the district. In addition to this staffing, we must pay a certain percentage of 4J equity, which was $2,250 this year.
Each year in February the administration approaches the Parent Council to ask for support for various staffing deficits. This year we thought that we should step back and take time to assess our funding priorities as a parent group and to solicit feedback on whether you want to continue current staffing funding with parent funds.
So, over the course of this past fall, Parent Council meeting attendees brainstormed priorities on spending parent funds and a process for making these decisions. We arrived at the importance of health, wellness and safety as priorities and funding that will help the largest portion of students.
In addition to our need as parents to weigh in on whether we are going to continue to support the current staffing above, we are in a position to make a decision to spend a one-time surplus of $25,000. This amount is a result of funds that had accrued in a Mental Health fund, which will not be replenished or available in future years.
Please respond to the following survey questions and return your responses to the Parent Council at sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net by February 11th. We will tally the responses and report the summary of the survey results out to parents at the February 12th Parent Council meeting in the cafeteria from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.
Based on the feedback from the surveys and the discussion at this meeting (which is open to all South parents) we will set our funding priorities for 2008/2009 and will convey them to the administration through Principal Randy Bernstein. We acknowledge that we aren’t presenting you with exact figures at this time, because we are looking for input on your priorities for funding for the 2008/2009 academic year and once we know the will of the parents, we will focus on the exact amount to fund at the February Parent Council meeting. We are also looking for additional suggestions not listed below.
Note: We e-mailed 88 people the survey and 55 responded, that is a return rate of 62.5%.
Please indicate whether you would like to continue the current staffing (check any that apply):
47/55____Volunteer Coordinator for Parent Council and school support,
2 hours/day (Approximately $10,600 annually)
45/55 Additional Library staff time for 2.25 hour per day (Approximately $11,925 annually)
47/55___Music staff time at .12 FTE (Approximately $9.978 annually)
Comments: (Type as much as you wish!)
Each of these are vital and can benefit a large number of students and should be continued.
I believe all three of these funding priorities are important for differing reasons and would be very disappointed if we withdrew our support.
I am not in favor of funding certified staff from parent-raised funds, due to sustainability and equity issues. And why these fte, instead of math, say, or PE or anything else? I don’t like to separate them out as though they are “extras”, any more than any other fte.
Having said that, I’m not in favor of just pulling the plug on this ongoing support, either. As part of the downsizing of South that looks like it will happen in the wake of the Shaping 4J process, I would have a look at this funding, too.
Parent-raised funds are, I believe, more appropriately used as (1) the source of funds for one-time needs, and/or (2) “seed money”, for example, for a grant writer position which, if successful, would then come out of general funds, and/or (3) spending that supports both the school and parents, e.g., the volunteer coordinator position, or an information booklet for parents.
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Having the Library open even more morning hours would be especially helpful for IHS students and other students who take early (all that’s available) buses. It is hard to work effectively in the cafeteria.
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Until the music department is willing to put together a group of musicians that is willing to play at sporting events and be part of the student body like every other High School in the State I will not support anything having to do with music! I’m not talking a marching band, just a pep band who would sit among the students and enhance school spirit. See South Medford High School or Churchill!
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Volunteer Coordinator and Additional Library time can benefit all students and could have an adverse effect on all students if funding is not continued. Music is a MAYBE for me depending on how many students are benefited by the .12 of Music staff time.
Please rank the following suggestions for possible uses of the $25,000 one-time surplus in priority order, with #1 being the highest. Rank as many as you wish. (Suggestions are in alphabetical order)
39/55 Approach the South teachers for wish list items
19/55 Create college scholarships funds for seniors
27/55 Fund Driver’s Education scholarships for students
46/55 Fund time for a grant writer to write grants for more funds
26/55 Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field
_26/55_Mount projectors in classrooms
33/55 Purchase extra sets of textbooks for classrooms to allow
students to leave textbooks at home
28/55 Purchase “smart” boards that interface with classroom
computers
26/55 Support purchase of additional cardio and fitness equipment
Do you have suggestions for funding that were not listed above and if so, how would you rank these among those previously brainstormed by Parent Council attendees?
Something that is very important to me is making sure we can continue all of the current AP science classes at South. I attended the meeting on this topic, so I realize that it is a complex matter that ties in with declining enrollment, 4J policy to prohibit school choice in favor of neighborhood schools, changes to the IB diploma requirements, etc. One thing that was mentioned at the meeting was that the loss of teachers for these classes is one problem—if money from the Parent Council would help to preserve the AP Science classes through funding science teachers, I would rank it as my #1 priority.
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I would like to know more about where the fund came from and try to honor it by using it in a way that reflects it’s donor. If it was truly a mental health fund, that I would advocate for using the funds for the benefit of our students in a mental health way. Can we look at funding a school counselor? Can we look at funding a home tutoring program for students who are battling severe depression/anxiety and need a time-out from our large sometimes-intimidating campus? Can we fund a resource (counselor?) to be available to a student who finds herself pregnant or diagnosed with an STD? Perhaps we have some of these programs in place already and I’m just not aware of them. I know we have a school nurse but I’m not sure how much she delves into the realm of mental health. If we can create a successful program, we would most likely want to be able to continue on with it and would need to find a way to fund it in future years.
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How about utilizing some of the funds for collaborative/community arts projects or visiting artist programs to have more active/positive/enthusiastic art staff?
Also, I am all for having more staff of almost any nature - because better student/staff ratio is one of the best options, even if for a limited time.
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In light of the science transition that must occur to continue to offer IB
Biology I think it would be most important to fund staffing for the next 2
-3 years to allow the students that have already taken Biology not to be
forced into a 2-year biology block therefore making them take 3 years of
biology in 4 years of HS. From what I could understand at the science
meeting earlier this week it is important to transition to the 2 year
science block of biology for incoming Freshman however I do think funding
should allow current Freshman, sophomores and juniors that have started down this track to complete the appropriate classes either through parent council funding at SEHS or using funding to send these kids to the wonderful
resource called U of O to allow them to complete their science track.
This is my absolute #1 priority for these funds. I cannot be more specific
as the information presented at the science info night left me with lots of
questions.
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This may not be a parent council topic … maybe it’s an idea for the administration.. but over time I’d like to see investigation of moving from heavy books to electronic versions of class materials (whether e-books or some other form). This would obviate the problem of carrying every-increasing loads of heavy books back and forth in back packs. This has to be done in a way that does not disadvantage students without home computers, so it’s not a short-term or straightforward switch, but now seems like the time to start investigating it with a target of a pilot program (e.g., replacing texts in one subject) in 2-5 years, as e-book technology improves and becomes cheaper and as network access continues to grow more ubiquitous.
I rank the field issue as #2 for a variety of reasons even though I am not sure that is not the only field to be looking at. I believe that at the same time you are looking at the grass east field you should also be looking at the baseball fields. In fact, I am deeply concerned about the state of the athletic
fields at SEHS and the space allocation not only among the school’s groups, but also between the school and the City.
• There is active discussion at the 4J Board level about selling Civic which is the SEHS varsity baseball team’s game field. The Board frankly seems unaware of the issues this will cause at SEHS and there have been no public discussions of the need to take some of any funds received from selling Civic and plowing it into the athletic infrastructure at the school.
• Our facilities are not comparable to others in the district. There are three teams at SEHS with one practice field and one batting cage, and that practice field is under water for often more than 1/3 of a season. (I’m an ex-baseball mom.)
• In addition, when the current state of the fields force games to be cancelled (think ducks literally swimming on a pond of water) on our JV/Freshmen field (west end of school), for some contractual reason they cannot be played at Civic, which means we are out of luck and must travel.
• Furthermore, with the current state of the baseball fields on the west end of the property this means significant congestion on the turf fields – 2 boys lacrosse teams, one girls lacrosse team, 3 baseball teams, 2 or 3 softball teams and even some of the track athletes are all competing for space.
• Scheduling might be easier if the turf was reserved later in the day for SEHS purposes and not turned over as early to the City for other scheduling, but as is that is not the case which means that competition for turf/practice fields is at an all time high. To date the SEHS fields are considered highly attractive for City leagues due to their central location and are significantly booked at a higher level than other schools in the district. Proof? Just ask the person who does the central booking. Teams at Sheldon and Churchill can easily get access to their fields later in the day and schedule practices and games so they do not conflict. We cannot.
• What would I do about this? Yes the grass fields need help since they are heavily used by the teams above that cannot get turf access as well as soccer, ultimate, and rugby. Plus I think I would take start making a concerted effort to raise funds or put down some sort of contribution to be matched by the Baseball Booster Group for drainage on the baseball fields or turfing the baseball fields like at NEHS. This would help alleviate some congestion and help out a block of teams where I believe the problem is only going to get much much worse if Civic is sold.
I would actually love that we fund more music so that we are comparable with other schools such as Sheldon. There are two more Jazz Bands that now meet one day a week and are funded through parent donations. To move one of those into a full class would be an excellent addition to the music program. Also excellent would be an AP Music Theory class, which many of our students who are interested in pursuing music as a career and college program need to study individually or through Arts Umbrella when they offer it once every 2 years.
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I am not opposed to any of the above ideas, though some of them probably have other funding sources, e.g., district (improvements to field) and EEF, Fred Meyer, and the like (equipment, teacher wish list). The nice thing about a grant writer is that they could take this kind of a wish list and match the items to those other funding sources and write the grants that would fund a larger number of items than we could by ourselves.
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There may be requests for funding of staffing as the school determines how best to meet the transitional needs for IB/AP Science programs. These might be considered to allow us to respect students that have already begun a certain pathway and will possibly have choices limited if the school faces a need to pay for additional staffing.
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School Health Nurse/Clinic
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My suggestions for funding at South is to not only channel money into a scholarship fund, but also to pay for SAT test prep for underserved students. This will help to level the playing field for college entrance for students whose families CAN afford to pay for test prep and gain admission to college.
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Which ever you choose, put the money to work even harder by combining it with other groups with the same interest. Examples: MADD for Driver’s Ed Scholarships, SEHS Soccer Club Board for improvements to that East field, teachers. If this is parent raised money, I agree with the staff funding, but the “surplus” should be for activities outside of school like Driver’s Ed and sports. These are things that help keep kids in school.
Definitely do not get more textbooks—they do not get used very much at home when they are taken there. If anything, rely less on textbooks and go to electronic based information—it is more up to date, is paperless, and prepares them for college work.
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I would ask the teachers for their prioritized ideas – as well as the administrators. It seems to me that they understand the needs the best. Re: the grant writer – if there are funds (grants) to be had and we’re only lacking the grant writing time/skills, then that is as important (if not more) as asking teachers for their ideas.
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I would always look first to funding additional staff time. Every year we seem to cut more and more of our talented staff, as enrollment declines, and it seems as if we’ve gone beyond cutting “frills” (if there ever were any frills to cut anyway) and are now eliminating core curriculum. I would like to be able to keep art, music, drama, AP/IB classes, etc. This would be my highest priority. Second priority would be what I ranked #1 (and only) above, which is whatever the teachers think they need to enhance the learning experience for the students.
I know this is going to sound elitist, but I also think it might be worthwhile to look into funding comfortable and safe transportation (charter buses?) for the ridiculously long road trips the sports teams have to do on school nights, especially in the winter. It’s hard enough for those kids to get their homework done and eat a decent meal when they’re on the road, that I feel like we should at least provide them with a comfortable place to sleep on the way home from Grants Pass or whatever.
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Address the drug problem at South. Ask counselors/students for their best thinking on how to most effectively do this.
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Assuming they are not already in place—I ‘d like to see full spectrum lighting placed in every room, hall, gathering space in the school.
Considering the documented importance and effect of light on mood, attention, etc. I think this would have significant impact for all. At a minimum, all classrooms and the staff/teacher offices should be supplied with quality, full spectrum lighting.
This would be a number ONE choice, with all the others listed previously moving down 1 level.
There is considerable research on the effects of various kinds of lighting. If you would like more information, please contact me.
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How about purchase enough textbooks so everyone could have one. In my daughter’s math class, there wasn’t enough text for everyone, so no one got a book!
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I placed Driver’s Ed scholarships first because it fits with the Parent Council’s health, wellness and safety priority. Although the question of whether Driver’s Ed is a school issue any longer is up for debate, it is none the less something that can devastate the whole school if there were a tragic accident.
I placed asking the staff next because there is probably a range of needs including more projectors, Smartboards, or extra set of textbooks, but those needs are individual to teachers and their departments. (We routinely purchase used textbooks online for our student’s home use at sometimes extremely reasonable rates.)
I also support the idea to use the extra money to let the current students continue on the AP Science track and phase it out over the next few years. I’d place this as number 2 priority after Driver’s Ed.
Help support and promote the clubs – possibly have grant writer to work with this area for extra curricular activities for students.
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Teachers and/or departments could each be allotted an amount. Seems to me, though, that teachers would have more of a sense of the greatest need(s) and how to best meet them. While all of the above ideas are appealing, I keep thinking that the staff would have a greater sense of which would best support the school and students.
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This school needs increased sensitivity to gays and lesbians. Common casual phrases like "that is so gay" abound with these students. I would like to see sensitivity training or special speaker address this insensitive language and attitudes.
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Resurface the tennis courts #4
Reduce class size #1
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It has been my experience that the academic counseling staff is overwhelmed with the sheer numbers of students that they are responsible for. I would like to see a better counselor to student ratio. Students need competent and caring advice in choosing classes that keep them both on the right track academically, as well as more content to be in school.
I do not have further suggestions at this time. I believe that we can use funds to support a grant writer as a way to maximize the funds by bringing in additional dollars. Secondly, I think it is necessary that teachers feel supported by parents and, thus, asking them for their wish list items is incredibly important. I ranked Numbers three and four in this way to cover the financial needs of the student population. Thank you for your consideration of the parents’ input.
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Pat Tyson, the new director of Track and Field at South, is looking into new uniforms for the track and field team. The fact that track is back, in a big way, in Eugene is refreshing, motivating for students and a definite plus for South Eugene High School. I’m guessing he might like a donation from this money to support his endeavors for the track and field program, be it uniforms or equipment. (South will be the practice track field for the June, 2008 Olympic Trials.)
Since parents on this committee have spent their valuable time working on the above proposals, it would be best if they did the ranking. This is just an idea. Something I heard about this weekend. . . . . .
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The Italian program at the U of O has been working to offer Italian at South Eugene. The Italian government will provide us with some funds, but additional resources will be needed to start the program. Generally, at other schools where this initiative has taken place, parent council funds subsidized the necessary expenses, such as text-books and part of the teacher’s salary.
Will it be possible to do the same at South?
In the past, some South students came to the U of O to attend Italian. However, since we don’t offer courses in the afternoon, it was very difficult for them to do so.
Italian could start as a club activity at South and I am sure it will attract students.
The number of Italian students at the U of O (300 in first year Italian) show considerable interest in the language.
I would list this suggestion first, just because we have been trying for years to have Italian started. This year seems that we will be able to get funds from the Italian government.
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Any additional comments?
I appreciate the opportunity to comment on this issue. Thanks for making the effort to check in with parents!
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I have missed the Parent Council meetings during basketball season as I have been in the stands supporting our student athletes! Thanks for allowing me to be involved virtually in this format.
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Thanks much for creating a forum on it
The technology for classrooms is a good idea—whichever the teachers is feel the way to go.
Hi Helen,
I just read your suggestion list and I want to let you know there is money available for scholarships for driver education. The program is run through the school district in cooperation with Oregon Drivers Training and the state
allocates money to be used for scholarships. There are very few requests and because of the amount allocated, we have not come close to using
our share. I wanted you to have that information as you decide how to best use your Parent Council
funds.
Good luck!
Brenda Down, SEHS Office Manager
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Regarding Funding a Grant Writer: I think the SEHS teachers need to start getting a little bit more aggressive about going out for grants for things they need and could use some support in terms of grant writing. I rank it #1 since it is funding a multiplier effect.
Regarding Purchasing Extra sets of textbooks: This can easily be done – and cheaply - by having someone troll the used textbook shops on amazon.com, half.com, textbooksrus.com and powells.com etc. I personally purchased my son’s trig and bio books this year on the internet and paid $4 for the bio book and $2.50 for the trig book. Leverage the used textbook market that is easily searchable. In addition, give parents who did purchase books the option to sell them back to the school (or donate them) for next year’s group. Do a textbook swap like that which is common in many private and parochial schools.
Thanks for asking. The ‘black hole’ of where money goes is often frustrating and while the uses I think are not only justifiable and great bang for the buck, it is nice to think that perhaps if we are raising it we get some input. Otherwise it is an administration only decision – which may differ from parental priorities. Open debate about priorities and transparency about spending is a good strategy.
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Regarding Creating college scholarship funds: (We’d be better off spending the money to strengthen SEHS alumni networks and their efforts to get donations to alumni scholarship funds, because that’s where the real potential for funding of scholarships lies—not from this one time pot of $ or the annual monies that PTO raises.)
Regarding Fund Time for a grant writer: (in conjunction with “Approach the South teachers for wish list items”) NB A successful grant writing program takes years to get a system going to meet funding cycles, learn funders’ programs, get feedback from funders, etc.
Regarding Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field: (would this include helping SEHS have its own softball field, rather than sharing with the city and all the scheduling problems that entails?)
I support continued funding of the library position only if those additional hours of service have proven to be useful and used by students. If they are not proven significantly useful, I would not favor continuing the position.
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Yes, I think that SEHS could really have a few more fund raisers each year. I believe most parents and family of students are much more willing to buy products (from school fund raiser companies) than to contribute money directly to the school. I know that I feel that way. If any child knocks on my door with a school fund raiser, I feel obligated to buy at least one thing, and before you know it, you have found many things you like. I have never understood why schools don’t have more fund raisers. And there are more than just the cookies, candy and wrapping paper fund raisers out there!
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Thank you for all your hard work!
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Regarding “Approach the South teachers for wish list items”: THIS SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE. AT THIS POINT, EITHER YOU CONTACT THEM AND DO THIS SURVEY OVER, OR HAVE THEM COMMENT ON SURVEY RESULTS
Regarding “Create college scholarships funds for seniors” NOT ENOUGH $ TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Regarding “Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field” DO SEPARATE FUND DRIVE FOCUSED ON FAMILIES OF ATHLETES
NEED MORE INFO – RANK AT TOP IF TEACHERS SUPPORT THIS__6___Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field DO SEPARATE FUND DRIVE FOCUSED ON FAMILIES OF ATHLETES
Regarding “Mount projectors in classrooms” NEED MORE INFO – RANK AT TOP IF TEACHERS SUPPORT THIS ************************************************************
Thank you for allowing parents to help determine where & how parent raised money is used.
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Regarding “Approach the South teachers for wish list items” An open checkbook is not a good idea
Regarding “Create college scholarships funds for seniors”. Not a health, wellness or safety suggestion. Funds should be used for current students at South.
Regarding “Fund Driver’s Education scholarships for students”. Would like to see this changed to fund a class for all students, not scholarships.
Regarding “Fund time for a grant writer to write grants for more funds” Should be a district chore for all schools.
Regarding “Mount projectors in classrooms” Not a health, wellness or safety suggestion.
Regarding “Purchase extra sets of textbooks for classrooms to allow
students to leave textbooks at home” Not a health, wellness or safety suggestion.
Regarding “Purchase “smart” boards that interface with classroom
computers Not a health, wellness or safety suggestion.
Improving that east field is a great idea. That field is not usable pretty much after the first rains in the fall. Providing drainage, etc to it would open the field to year round access. It currently is unsafe as is to our students.
In fact, I would support using these funds to make this field a turf field like the soccer/football field. Then it would be guaranteed 100% access.
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Thank you for considering health and safety, but I feel like having healthier food choices (including palatable vegetarian options) in the cafeteria and decreasing the number of kids who chose off-campus lunch would be the best use of funds in that area. (Except to the extent that kids walk to off-campus lunches, they are getting exercise, so I guess that’s a counter-argument for keeping bad food in the cafeteria!)
I’m not really concerned so much with on-campus safety – I’m much more concerned about safety off campus, but even then, I can’t really think of anywhere in Eugene that I’m really worried about my kids’ safety anyway.
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In my opinion, based on the above suggestions, making
improvements to the east practice field would be the best use of the $25,000! That field is used by many student athletes and is UNSAFE!! Fixing this field would certainly fit the priority of promoting health, safety and wellness!
I would support Driver Ed if classes were made available at little or no
cost to all students.
I do not support any of the above suggestions for creating scholarships with the money. It does not benefit enough of the student population.
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Thanks for your all your efforts.
Improve the leadership training for the students who lead the freshmen in the peer group. My son reported that this was a waste of time. I attended the alcohol and drug parent evening in December and was very impressed by the seniors who attended and the program that they have created only to be completely disappointed to learn that they are reaching such a small segment of the student population. It would be amazing if this senior project could be integrated into the peer leadership training or whatever it is called. I would also like to see podcasts made of their work. ***********************************************************
Most of Parent Council funds currently come from e-scrip and scrip sales, but it's just a drop in the bucket compared to what we could be earning if the majority of South families were involved in scrip. I would suggest exploring the hiring of a marketing firm to develop a marketing program and strategies for South to use year after year to get more families participating in scrip. It might be a large one-time expenditure that could potentially yield great results. A recent conversation with another parent illustrates the potential: Other Parent: "So this e-scrip thing doesn't cost me anything extra?" My response: "No. You spend the same amount whether you're enrolled in e-scrip or not." Other Parent: "Well, why haven't we been doing this for years?" My response: "Don't know. Guess you didn't really realize how e-scrip works." I would rank this #7 and move funds for a grant writer to #8.
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Regarding Approach the South teachers for wish list items:
Absolutely! How can we allocate funds without knowing what our teachers think the needs of the school are?????
Regarding Create college scholarship funds for seniors:
No. While scholarships are a wonderful thing, Parent Council funds should be used to benefit programs at South and students attending South, not students who will no longer be at South. In addition, there are many scholarship opportunities that graduating students can pursue.
Regarding Fund Driver’s Education scholarships for students:
No. There is a scholarship fund through 4J and/or the Oregon Driver Training organization already in existence, and only a fraction of the funds available are currently being utilized. Until all the funds are utilized, Parent Council funds should not be used for this. Perhaps Parent Council can assist in advising South students and families that driver education assistance funds are available.
Regarding Fund time for a grant writer to write grants for more funds:
Since this is an item to help us obtain more funds, it ranks after more tangible items like textbooks, field improvements, etc. for me. Although this has the potential to raise significant funds for grant-specific items and is definitely worth exploring for the longer term. Without knowing what would need to be budgeted, it's really hard to rank this one.
Regarding Improvements to the practice field east of the turf field:
This field is already utilized for many activities, and is currently an accident waiting to happen because of its poor condition. Plans are already under way to develop this field into a softball field and a soccer/lacrosse/general purpose practice field. Depending on the level and/or avenues of funding already available, this would be an excellent use of some of the Parent Council funds, since many students and programs would benefit. Randy should have more specific information on what is currently in the works.
Regarding Mount projectors in classrooms:
I believe this would be a fairly "inexpensive" thing to fund (depending on the number of classrooms) and could really enhance teachers' ability to teach.
Regarding Purchase extra sets of textbooks for classrooms to allow students to leave textbooks at home”
Just last year, my daughter was having trouble in Geometry and I wanted to help her, but since it's been at least 30 years since I took Geometry, I needed a textbook to "refresh" my memory. South had no extra books, so my daughter was going to have to schlep the book home every day so we could go over her homework. Instead, I obtained a used book on-line through Amazon.com that only cost $20 including shipping (opposed to $80 new) and was in better shape than hers. Having the book at home made it simple and easy to review the assignments and homework. As a result we were able to raise her grade and drastically improve her performance. Students don't like carrying books back and forth (who can blame them when they weigh so much??), and if more students were able to leave their books at home for reference, how many might improve their performance also????? If we pursue this option, we should definitely look at obtaining used books through sources like Amazon.com instead of purchasing them new. I think this might be especially beneficial for math and science textbooks.
Regarding Purchase “smart” boards that interface with classroom computers:
This is comparable to mounting projectors in classrooms to me. It could be a great way to enhance teachers' ability to teach.
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Thanks for all of your hard work…some great ideas. I really like the grant writer proposal…would love to see that coupled with some NHS volunteer hours to aid in research and completing documents…could stretch the paid hours and some students could pick up a valuable tool.
Note: All responses will be confidential and responses will be shared in summary form. If you would like a reply from the Parent Council when submitting your responses via e-mail to sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net please indicate this in your e-mail.
posted by Parent Council @ 2:04 PM
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