February 25th Parent Council and PES Minutes
February 25, 2009 Parent Council Minutes
Connie Wonham – Facilitator
There are not a lot of items on the agenda this month. Please let Helen know of any issues that may need to be addressed.
Principal’s Update – Randy Bernstein
A few departments are thinking creatively and planning to offer a few new courses next year. The Science Department is offering IB Physics, Part 2 and Environmental Science; Social Studies Department is planning to offer Economics and a one-semester course in U.S. Government; Classic South English plans to offer Film as Literature, Contemporary Literature and Big Fat Novel (500-600 page classic novels of yester-year and Creative Writing; Journalism plans to offer Immersion of one issue or topic and Personal Narrative. We are looking at how to offer and schedule these. One of the motivations was to offer something more interactive for students that may appeal to a more heterogeneous group. Next year we will offer AP U.S. Government that will alternate the following year with AP Comparative Government.
Staffing is still a question mark. On March 6 we’ll get staff allocations from the district. There is currently a $23M shortfall to keep current service level. We project $8M will come from the stimulus bill. We will still be facing some major cuts. We’ll find out in about a week how bad those will be. Class sizes will be bigger. If we cut one section of, say, psychology, the other sections will get more students. You may say, cut photography, but those students still need to get credit somewhere, so other sections will fill up. We don’t want to cut courses like band that has 50 kids in it because those kids will need to take something to get their credits. Roosevelt has cut French for all but Immersion students. That means we will be getting more Spanish students from Roosevelt, fewer French. That will affect our language department. If a class is under enrolled, we will have to decide whether to keep it. Tenor choir is growing, and we expect more kids to sign up for it next year. Instead of 14 sections of biology, we may have only 11 or 12. We may have to cut an arts class. We already cut one fine arts class last year. Students still need their credits. We have as many kids who need as many credits. Parent question: What are the easiest dollars to cut? Randy: Every school day is $450,000 for the school district. Cutting days is one possibility. We will probably make cuts in athletics, there will be cuts in administration at the district and building levels. We may negotiate with unions to cut days. The district gives the school an FTE number, then the school has to decide how to use them. Potential lay off notices will go to least senior teachers. It is likely we will have to displace some people. The district will look at displaced people and fill vacancies based on seniority. Helen Garrett: The Parent Council has to partner with the school to decide what we want to fund. Parent Council currently funds Music, Library and Volunteer Coordinator hours. Parents will have to decide what their priorities will be for next year. Randy will ask us at the March meeting to fund school priorities. Parents will need to vote on his request at the next meeting. The March meeting will be key for decision making. Randy: Enrollment will not be quite as bad as projected. We expect to have 1,569 students, the previous expected cap was 1,500. The attendance boundary changes favored South by adding more students. It has been mentioned to close a high school in the district.
Good news – The Swim Team took 2nd in the State. Boy’s basketball will be in the playoffs. The Girl’s basketball team ranked 1st in the State, they are undefeated, only have to win one more game to be in the Elite Eight tournament.
Our Award Assembly will be different this year. It will be more intimate and probably be held in the little theater.
Financial Update – Cindy Wright
Our fundraising is on track for the year. We are at 52% of our goal for the year. We want to look at using some of those funds that we have accumulated on what Randy will ask us to fund. Our reserves are $5,000. We have $87K in assets, but $36K will be going to pay bills. We have a cushion of about $25K. If we can get more people to sign up for scrip, there is a great potential to raise money. Only about 1/3 of the families at South are signed up. Even the poorest of families could be contributing by signing up for scrip. About half of the money we get from scrip comes from 40 families. Albertson’s has announced a change in their scrip system, and shoppers will have to reestablish their accounts to benefit.
Helen Garrett: There will be no Parent Education Series with the March meeting.
Parent Education Series – Suicide Prevention
Panelists: Randy Bernstein, Principal SEHS; Marlys Martin, School Nurse; Brandt Stuart, Mental Health Therapist for SEHS and My Health Center; Julie McGlinski, Academic Counselor for SEHS; Ann Hettick, Health Educator.
Randy introduced the panel as South’s Care Team. The Care Team pulls together to plan accordingly to take care of kids, families and the community. This meeting was called in response the loss of Sydney last month. Suicide is not new to our community. We have had students and parents of students who have taken their own lives. We want to be able to respond to this issue and help prevent it. For many of us, this is the first incident we’ve had in several years. What have we been doing well? Every year we do a risk survey. Last year one question on it was, “Have you had any thoughts of killing yourself in the last year?” 10.6% said yes. What can we do to reduce the threat?
Julie: We are reminded that we have a compassionate community. We try to teach curriculum that is relevant. We have teens who have strong, loving connections here. Julie passed out a handout that listed 40 developmental assets, things that keep people resilient and healthy: positive interactions, sense of purpose, boundaries and expectations. The more assets they have, the less likely they will be drawn into a negative outcome. Everybody faces challenges.
Ann: Ann teaches Freshman Health class, a mental health unit that includes suicide prevention, strategies and coping skills, warning signs and prevention skills.
Brandt: Brandt is a therapist who has worked with adolescents for many years. He is a parent of 2 and a survivor of suicide. You never know. When you’re really close to it, it’s hard to see the signs. It is important to reach out. We need to remind ourselves of the signs. There are imminent danger signs: Talking about death or saying they want to die, planning or fantasizing suicide, previous suicide attempts by taking pills, hanging, guns, friends who have attempted. These things increase the risk. Giving away personal (very important) possessions, telling a friend, writing a note. There are general signs: depression, hopelessness, worthlessness, a lot of negative feeling, hating the world. When these feelings are habitual, pervasive sadness, ongoing persistent agitation, irritability, confusion, can’t think straight. There are actions and behavioral signs: risk taking, impulsivity, terrible mistake, withdrawing from friends, activities, families (distinct shift), recklessness, recent loss, loss of relationship. Ask the student, “How devastated are you feeling? (over your loss)” Getting into trouble, alcohol and drug abuse is a big sign. Drawing pictures or writing about violence and death, access to firearms (weapons in the house), change in personality, threats.
Julie: Use this as an opportunity to pre-teach. You could say, “ We’ve never talked about what you would do if you were feeling so overwhelmed that you felt like killing yourself. I want you to know that you can talk to me about that.” If you felt there was an imminent threat, you could ask the question. Say, “I can tell you’re really upset. Are you thinking of killing yourself?” Research shows that this question opens the door to talking, not planting the seed. Think through what you would say if the person responds with “yes”. Say, “I’m grateful that you told me. Can I get you some help?_If you are having a difficult time with your child right now, try to get someone else to talk to him or her. Know that you are not alone.
Marlys: We have community resources for prevention. You can ask any administrator, teacher, or counselor if you are concerned about your student or any other student. If you call academic counselors, leave a message with the student’s name so that we can have that child’s counselor return your call. We want you to have the right person get back to you. My Health Center has on-staff counselors who screen and help families. You can contact your primary care physician or nurse. There are private counselors available through Looking Glass and Ophelia’s Place, etc. Teen Guide to Lane County. If you have an immediate danger, call 911, if there is imminent danger, call Sacred Heart ER. In a suicide attempt, call Sacred Heart ER. They will stabilize the situation and do mental health screening. The Crisis Response Team provides in-home crisis support. They will come to your home to do intervention and respite care. Looking Glass provides crisis care and shelter care for kids in crisis.
Parent questions: Suicide is often joked about. It seems so taboo. Why do we have to sign a note when it is discussed in a health class at school? Panel response: We have parents sign a note to let them know that suicide is being discussed because there may be a kid in the class whose parents are already dealing with the issue. A general overview of suicide prevention may not be appropriate for that child at that time. Parents may want to pull their child out.
Parent question: Members of my family are close to Sydney. I’m worried about cluster events, copycat acts, the contagion effect. Panel response: This is one reason why we are having this meeting. Communicating with your teen is important. This is a good time to check in and ask, “How are you feeling?” Anniversaries are always hard. Yesterday was the one-month anniversary of Sydney’s death. We are organizing a group of kids who are impacted.
Parent question: How long will we have to look at this as an impact on our community? Panel response: The more time that passes, the danger decreases.
Parent question: If I were to contact the school about a student who I believe is in danger, will my contact remain confidential? Panel response: We try to keep it confidential. We often say, “We had an anonymous call.” If someone’s life were in danger, we would break confidentiality if it were necessary. We want to change the climate of not talking about suicide. So many people did not see any signs from Sydney. We would have given anything for one person to have stepped forward. About 20% of suicides do not fit the signs. You don’t always get a chance to intervene.
Connie Wonham – Facilitator
There are not a lot of items on the agenda this month. Please let Helen know of any issues that may need to be addressed.
Principal’s Update – Randy Bernstein
A few departments are thinking creatively and planning to offer a few new courses next year. The Science Department is offering IB Physics, Part 2 and Environmental Science; Social Studies Department is planning to offer Economics and a one-semester course in U.S. Government; Classic South English plans to offer Film as Literature, Contemporary Literature and Big Fat Novel (500-600 page classic novels of yester-year and Creative Writing; Journalism plans to offer Immersion of one issue or topic and Personal Narrative. We are looking at how to offer and schedule these. One of the motivations was to offer something more interactive for students that may appeal to a more heterogeneous group. Next year we will offer AP U.S. Government that will alternate the following year with AP Comparative Government.
Staffing is still a question mark. On March 6 we’ll get staff allocations from the district. There is currently a $23M shortfall to keep current service level. We project $8M will come from the stimulus bill. We will still be facing some major cuts. We’ll find out in about a week how bad those will be. Class sizes will be bigger. If we cut one section of, say, psychology, the other sections will get more students. You may say, cut photography, but those students still need to get credit somewhere, so other sections will fill up. We don’t want to cut courses like band that has 50 kids in it because those kids will need to take something to get their credits. Roosevelt has cut French for all but Immersion students. That means we will be getting more Spanish students from Roosevelt, fewer French. That will affect our language department. If a class is under enrolled, we will have to decide whether to keep it. Tenor choir is growing, and we expect more kids to sign up for it next year. Instead of 14 sections of biology, we may have only 11 or 12. We may have to cut an arts class. We already cut one fine arts class last year. Students still need their credits. We have as many kids who need as many credits. Parent question: What are the easiest dollars to cut? Randy: Every school day is $450,000 for the school district. Cutting days is one possibility. We will probably make cuts in athletics, there will be cuts in administration at the district and building levels. We may negotiate with unions to cut days. The district gives the school an FTE number, then the school has to decide how to use them. Potential lay off notices will go to least senior teachers. It is likely we will have to displace some people. The district will look at displaced people and fill vacancies based on seniority. Helen Garrett: The Parent Council has to partner with the school to decide what we want to fund. Parent Council currently funds Music, Library and Volunteer Coordinator hours. Parents will have to decide what their priorities will be for next year. Randy will ask us at the March meeting to fund school priorities. Parents will need to vote on his request at the next meeting. The March meeting will be key for decision making. Randy: Enrollment will not be quite as bad as projected. We expect to have 1,569 students, the previous expected cap was 1,500. The attendance boundary changes favored South by adding more students. It has been mentioned to close a high school in the district.
Good news – The Swim Team took 2nd in the State. Boy’s basketball will be in the playoffs. The Girl’s basketball team ranked 1st in the State, they are undefeated, only have to win one more game to be in the Elite Eight tournament.
Our Award Assembly will be different this year. It will be more intimate and probably be held in the little theater.
Financial Update – Cindy Wright
Our fundraising is on track for the year. We are at 52% of our goal for the year. We want to look at using some of those funds that we have accumulated on what Randy will ask us to fund. Our reserves are $5,000. We have $87K in assets, but $36K will be going to pay bills. We have a cushion of about $25K. If we can get more people to sign up for scrip, there is a great potential to raise money. Only about 1/3 of the families at South are signed up. Even the poorest of families could be contributing by signing up for scrip. About half of the money we get from scrip comes from 40 families. Albertson’s has announced a change in their scrip system, and shoppers will have to reestablish their accounts to benefit.
Helen Garrett: There will be no Parent Education Series with the March meeting.
Parent Education Series – Suicide Prevention
Panelists: Randy Bernstein, Principal SEHS; Marlys Martin, School Nurse; Brandt Stuart, Mental Health Therapist for SEHS and My Health Center; Julie McGlinski, Academic Counselor for SEHS; Ann Hettick, Health Educator.
Randy introduced the panel as South’s Care Team. The Care Team pulls together to plan accordingly to take care of kids, families and the community. This meeting was called in response the loss of Sydney last month. Suicide is not new to our community. We have had students and parents of students who have taken their own lives. We want to be able to respond to this issue and help prevent it. For many of us, this is the first incident we’ve had in several years. What have we been doing well? Every year we do a risk survey. Last year one question on it was, “Have you had any thoughts of killing yourself in the last year?” 10.6% said yes. What can we do to reduce the threat?
Julie: We are reminded that we have a compassionate community. We try to teach curriculum that is relevant. We have teens who have strong, loving connections here. Julie passed out a handout that listed 40 developmental assets, things that keep people resilient and healthy: positive interactions, sense of purpose, boundaries and expectations. The more assets they have, the less likely they will be drawn into a negative outcome. Everybody faces challenges.
Ann: Ann teaches Freshman Health class, a mental health unit that includes suicide prevention, strategies and coping skills, warning signs and prevention skills.
Brandt: Brandt is a therapist who has worked with adolescents for many years. He is a parent of 2 and a survivor of suicide. You never know. When you’re really close to it, it’s hard to see the signs. It is important to reach out. We need to remind ourselves of the signs. There are imminent danger signs: Talking about death or saying they want to die, planning or fantasizing suicide, previous suicide attempts by taking pills, hanging, guns, friends who have attempted. These things increase the risk. Giving away personal (very important) possessions, telling a friend, writing a note. There are general signs: depression, hopelessness, worthlessness, a lot of negative feeling, hating the world. When these feelings are habitual, pervasive sadness, ongoing persistent agitation, irritability, confusion, can’t think straight. There are actions and behavioral signs: risk taking, impulsivity, terrible mistake, withdrawing from friends, activities, families (distinct shift), recklessness, recent loss, loss of relationship. Ask the student, “How devastated are you feeling? (over your loss)” Getting into trouble, alcohol and drug abuse is a big sign. Drawing pictures or writing about violence and death, access to firearms (weapons in the house), change in personality, threats.
Julie: Use this as an opportunity to pre-teach. You could say, “ We’ve never talked about what you would do if you were feeling so overwhelmed that you felt like killing yourself. I want you to know that you can talk to me about that.” If you felt there was an imminent threat, you could ask the question. Say, “I can tell you’re really upset. Are you thinking of killing yourself?” Research shows that this question opens the door to talking, not planting the seed. Think through what you would say if the person responds with “yes”. Say, “I’m grateful that you told me. Can I get you some help?_If you are having a difficult time with your child right now, try to get someone else to talk to him or her. Know that you are not alone.
Marlys: We have community resources for prevention. You can ask any administrator, teacher, or counselor if you are concerned about your student or any other student. If you call academic counselors, leave a message with the student’s name so that we can have that child’s counselor return your call. We want you to have the right person get back to you. My Health Center has on-staff counselors who screen and help families. You can contact your primary care physician or nurse. There are private counselors available through Looking Glass and Ophelia’s Place, etc. Teen Guide to Lane County. If you have an immediate danger, call 911, if there is imminent danger, call Sacred Heart ER. In a suicide attempt, call Sacred Heart ER. They will stabilize the situation and do mental health screening. The Crisis Response Team provides in-home crisis support. They will come to your home to do intervention and respite care. Looking Glass provides crisis care and shelter care for kids in crisis.
Parent questions: Suicide is often joked about. It seems so taboo. Why do we have to sign a note when it is discussed in a health class at school? Panel response: We have parents sign a note to let them know that suicide is being discussed because there may be a kid in the class whose parents are already dealing with the issue. A general overview of suicide prevention may not be appropriate for that child at that time. Parents may want to pull their child out.
Parent question: Members of my family are close to Sydney. I’m worried about cluster events, copycat acts, the contagion effect. Panel response: This is one reason why we are having this meeting. Communicating with your teen is important. This is a good time to check in and ask, “How are you feeling?” Anniversaries are always hard. Yesterday was the one-month anniversary of Sydney’s death. We are organizing a group of kids who are impacted.
Parent question: How long will we have to look at this as an impact on our community? Panel response: The more time that passes, the danger decreases.
Parent question: If I were to contact the school about a student who I believe is in danger, will my contact remain confidential? Panel response: We try to keep it confidential. We often say, “We had an anonymous call.” If someone’s life were in danger, we would break confidentiality if it were necessary. We want to change the climate of not talking about suicide. So many people did not see any signs from Sydney. We would have given anything for one person to have stepped forward. About 20% of suicides do not fit the signs. You don’t always get a chance to intervene.
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