Meeting Minutes

Executive Board Members Present:,Betsy Bigelow-Teller, (Secretary), Saida Hogan-Nassirrudden (Treasurer), Irma Parker (Parent Resource Center Representative), Mark van Krieken (President), Leslie West (Student Representative), Matt Wong (Communication Subcommittee Representative); Rory Bled (BHS Administrative Liaison); Executive Board Members Absent: Karen Nielsen (Historian)

PTSA President Mark van Krieken welcomed parents, students, and staff. Attendees introduced themselves. Mark van Krieken noted that having 6 small school PTAs presents challenges to cooperation and communication. He encouraged cooperation and communication among schools and asked representatives to share meeting minutes with others who might benefit from the information shared.

Committee Reports:

Sharleen Harty, BSEP Representative: the next BSEP meeting would be on October 9th.
Leslie West, Student Representative: Leslie invited many students to attend the PTSA meeting; students responded that they lacked time and transportation, and were concerned about how the PTSA might judge their opinions. / Concerns raised by students at the meeting include: not enough textbooks in some classes; lack of space to practice sports (cheerleading); quality of teachers/relationships between students and teachers; lack of a formal way for students to address their concerns about teachers; lack of respect from teachers/security toward students; locked gates at lunch resulting in students being late to class and marked absent by teachers; quality of sound system in gym and at field. Students reported that daily announcements are now better and more helpful.
Don Morgan, Safety Committee Representative: Don spoke with the School Site Council and School Governance Council regarding updating the school-wide safety plan. The Safety Committee needs a staff representative and representation from outside agencies. Mary McDonald spoke to Dean of Students Alejandro Ramos, who will call regular meetings of the Safety Committee soon. The committee will set priorities and build relationships with community organizations.
Tony Groce, Safety Committee Attendee, expressed concern that suspension and expulsion procedures don’t adequately address student needs.
Jon Marley, Parent Representative to the School Governance Council (SGC): At its last meeting, the SGC made changes to the by-laws and adopted a schedule to implement advisories for the 2008-2009 school year. Two days a week there will be a block schedule with a 45-minute advisory. The advisory will consist of 20 students and a teacher or counselor, Curriculum is in development. A final decision on advisories depends on upcoming contract negotiations between the Berkeley Federation of Teachers and the School District. PTSA members suggested various alternatives to holding the Parent Forum at BHS, including a Saturday meeting, meeting at Longfellow School, or neighborhood meetings.
Karen Hemphill, BUSD School Board Liaison: The Superintendent search is a top priority for the district this year. The community has been asked for comments on qualities the new Superintendent should have. / The district is also looking at ways to improve academic performance at the middle school level and assessing special education spending. The district is hiring an analyst to study possible improvements to the $9 million program, keeping in mind the District’s commitment to inclusion.
Richelieu Hemphill, Community Partnerships Academy (CPA) Representative: CPA will provide one course as a webcast next semester. / 100% of teachers are posting homework to the website. 60 students were accepted to 4-year colleges last year. / CPA sends out a monthly newsletter by mail. / There is also a parent contact program whereby parents “buddy up” to improve communication between parents and school. Parents who play the role of “buddy” to less connected parents receive a small stipend. Rory Bled noted that next month parents will be able to access their students’ attendance and grades on the web. / CPA offered AP Calculus for the first time this year.
Mary Kay Murlas, Representing Berkeley Athletic Fund (BAF) and Berkeley High School Development Group (BHSDG): Berkeley High has the largest athletic program in California. BAF spends $35,000/year just to cover the basic sports program. BAF will approach alumni for donations. BAF sells wearables and helps BHS sports teams raise money.

BHSDG makes grants throughout Berkeley High. BHSDG’s big initiative this year is an effort to raise $1 million outside of the BHS parent community. All teachers receive $200 classroom grants, and BHSDG hopes to increase that amount to $1,000. BHSDG meets monthly and supports the PTSA newsletter. BHSDG accepts requests for grants from students and teachers. Solicitations occur in November and in the spring.

Rory Bled: in lieu of making a report, Rory Bled took questions. In answer to a student’s suggestion that students be allowed to take a practice exit exam, she clarified that state law allows Berkeley High to give the exit exam only once.
Tawanna Leslie, SSJE Representative: SSJE has freshman, sophomore and junior classes, but no senior class yet./ SSJE students went to Huckleberry Botanical Reserve to get acquainted. / Next week freshmen will visit the transfer station to learn about waste/recycling. /A Leadership Club has been established, the Parent Council is underway, and homework is posted online weekly for parent access. /SSJE will offer AP classes next year (’08-’09).
Wanda Stewart, AHA Representative: AHA is off to a good start. Ms. Brown’s death knocked the school off track, and it is still adjusting.
Irma Parker, Parent Resource Center: Ms. Parker returns October 15 from medical leave. She would like to work with BHS students to help them truly integrate. The PTSA discussed friendships across racial lines, barriers to integration, and possible solutions.
Matt Wong, Communications Subcommittee Representative: The PTSA website has been updated. Important information to be posted on the site can be e-mailed to Matt at: mjwong59@gmail.com.
Janet Delaney, AC Representative: AC is providing networking opportunities for parents. 400 people attended the AC picnic, and 2 potlucks were scheduled for 9th and 10th grade parents. AC is working on mentoring new teachers, and hopes to improve teacher continuity. Two Leadership Council meetings have been held, and a retreat is coming up. AC is working on the curriculum with the aim of keeping AP classes integrated ethnically. They are looking at providing more tutoring to support this goal.
Rory Bled, BIHS: Ms. Bled reported that BIHS has 250 9th graders and 225 10th graders. Students have 3 core classes together. / BIHS has finished the application for the International Baccalaureate diploma. / A BIHS freshman student present expressed a concern about the lack of field trips. Ms. Bled explained that due to the large number of students, field trips must be organized in shifts.
Sharleen Harty, CAS: CAS is looking for a parent to fill a new communication position that involves visiting classrooms and attending evening meetings.

Discussion:

Potential Issues for PTSA to Address this Year: Drug and alcohol abuse; Safety; Race relations; Achievement gap; A coordinated school-wide fundraising approach; A small school/program subcommittee to discuss best practices.
Spanish language access: Mark van Krieken will look at establishing a Bilingual Committee and providing a PTSA meeting in Spanish with English translation
PTSA Newsletter & E-tree: Mark van Krieken expressed concern about staff editing or censoring PTSA information on the e-tree, citing two attempted postings in October: 1) A posting mentioning the problem of accreditation for a number of BHS courses, which included a link to an article in the Daily Cal that wrote about the problem, was not posted. 2) A verbal request was made (and was denied), to post a message regarding “Freshman Fridays”: there have been reports of increased egging of freshmen off-campus on Fridays this year and Mark van Krieken wished to contact parents to ask them to discourage their children from participating in the hazing of freshmen.
Editorial control of the PTSA Newsletter was also discussed. Mark van Krieken explained that there have been differences of opinion between the PTSA leadership and BHS Administration over where editorial control lies. After discussion, it was reaffirmed that the PTSA Executive Board would ultimately be responsible for determining content of both the Newsletter and the e-tree.

Election: Joan Kotun was elected PTSA Vice President by unanimous vote.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:49pm.