• Heritage Elementary School

    School Community Council

    Minutes 

    Wednesday, February 8, 2023

     

    In attendance: Lance Robins, Andrea Linton, Kendal Welker, Maria Jones, Sara Anderson, Ali Olsen, Guest: Mindee Larsen

     

    1. Welcome to Heritage Community Council

     

    1. We reviewed last month’s minutes.

     

    III. Approval of last month’s minutes

    1. Motion to approve Ali Olsen 2nd Maria Jones

     

    IV. School LAND Trust Funds spent to date

    1. Budget: $107,417

      1. Amount spent: $97,401

      2. Amount left: $10,015

      3. Percent remaining: 9.32%

      4. We are already under 10%.

     

    V. School business

    1. Heritage Elementary food drive is going well and will go from 2/6 - 2/10. Students are excited about the incentives and Mr. Mallory does a great job organizing this event.

    2. Valentine’s Day parties will be on Monday, 2/14, at the end of the day. Each class will have an individual party. Teachers are already sending out notices.

    3. No school on Friday, 2/17 (teacher prep)

    4. No school on Monday, 2/20 (President’s Day)

    5. No school on Tuesday, 2/21 (teacher professional development)

    6. The 5th-grade maturation program will be on Tuesday, 2/28

    7. Parent-teacher conferences will be on Thursday, 3/2, and Friday, 3/3. There is no school for students on Friday, 3/3.

    8. Beat the Teach contest will start on Monday, 3/6.



    VI. Follow up on proposed funding for 2023-2024

     

    1. Proposed allocation for the 2023 - 2024 school year:

      1. Trust Land Funds have not been allocated yet for the 2023-2024 school year, but we will base our discussion on last year’s budget ($104,723.00).

      2. Reading paraprofessionals for the TIER II reading program (Mindee Larsen)

        1. Purpose: aide support for the reading program

        2. Cost: $42,000

        3. Mindee works with literacy and she is fantastic. We are so grateful to have her. She knows every kid and works with instructors to meet the kids’ needs.  

        4. Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are important grades to get kids to grade level.

        5. We do have another budget to pull money from for literacy (TSSA funds), but we do need the Trust Land Funds for trained paraprofessionals. 

        6. Ms. Larsen says paraprofessionals are much more effective than technology. It has been difficult to find and keep paraprofessionals, but there is a core group of people that have been at Heritage for a long time.

        7. We have 15 reading aides and 6-7 class aides for enrichment and intervention.

        8. The amount of funds that we have isn’t sufficient, but the TSSA fund helps meet our needs. Paraprofessional salaries are of utmost importance to meet literacy needs.

        9. Literacy will have a profound effect on the students’ lives.

        10. Ms. Larsen and her team can drill down to find deficiencies and address them.

        11. It is difficult to address needs when students don’t attend school.

        12. We have incredible TIER II instruction. Our goal is to bring every student to proficiency by 3rd grade. 

        13. Students that move into the school are sometimes underperforming.

        14. Our program is special and we see amazing results.



    1. Three AMITY Aides

      1. Purpose: classroom support for teachers and students

      2. Cost: Approximately $5333.33 x 3 Aides = $16,000

      3. We have an interview scheduled with an aide from Spain for next year.

      4. We start looking for host families now.

      5. The English side gets aides that the Spanish side doesn’t have access to, so these AMITY aides are important.

     

    1. Aide support

      1. Purpose: classroom support

      2. Cost: 168 days x 5 hours/day at a rate of $13.09/hr = $11,000 (for one full-time aide or two part-time aides)

     

    1. Computers on a 4-year rotation

      1. We are on year 1 of a 4-year rotation

      2. Cost: $1,000 per computer X 10 computers = $10,000

      3. These are classroom computers that help teachers run their classes.

     

    1. Chromebooks

      1. Cost: $360 x 60 Chromebooks = $21,600

      2. We will be replacing 60 Chromebooks. Chromebooks have about a 5-year lifespan.

      3. The teachers appreciate it for software like iReady, Benchmark Adelante, and Google Classroom. Chromebooks also teach students computer literacy.

     

    1. Software for Reading Inventory/Reading Counts

      1. Cost: $2,923

      2. They are going to use Reading Counts for one more year. 

     

    1. Matching grant for the library (JMW)

      1. Cost: $1,200

      2. To access this funding, we need to first provide money, and then the grant matches it.

     

    VIII. Other comments

    1. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, 3/8/23, at 4 p.m.

    2. We will vote and sign off on the new plan.

    3. We worry about students crossing 3200 S and the fast speed limit.

    4. We appreciate the new security system and how the locked front doors are keeping our kids safe. 

    5. Our enrollment has dropped from people moving and fewer kindergarteners coming in. We will probably be down two teachers next year, and our funds may be affected in the future. If the funds are different than what we expect, we could buy fewer Chromebooks or computers. Some of our funds from this year could possibly be carried over to next year. Funds are based on enrollment from the year before.

     

    XI. Thanks for attending

    1. Motion to Close Sarah Anderson 2nd Kendal Welker