Date: September 13, 2016   Location: Room 207
Time: 4:06 pm
Certified Representatives:
Eva Lange
Lisa Mooney
Stephen Long
Michael Halfmann
Student Representatives: Camila Ibarra and Giselle Enriquez

Parent Representatives:
Maria Saavedra (absent)
Christina Hernandez (absent)
Craig Courville
Nelson Brown

Classified Representatives:
Lori Emrich
Community Representative:
Darryl Day

Administration Representatives:
Bobby Estrella
Patricia Hurley
Call to the Audience: No call to audience

Action Items:
1. Approve minutes from August meeting – Mr. Nelson approved, Mr. Estrella seconded approval
(https://shsthepapercut.com/8842/news/site-council-minutes-8162016/ )
2. Vote on Spending Undesignated Tax Credit Money as requested in August meeting – Unanimous Vote to Use Undesignated tax credit money for the following: 20 TI 84 Plus calculators with 144 batteries, One headphone (approved for $2700) (Headphone purchased through Fine Arts. Calculators purchased through Auto/Engineering)

Discussion Items:
1. Faculty Items
a. Update on undesignated tax credit money that was to spent on new water fountains and current balance – water fountains must be compatible with connections already in place. Facilities will be meeting with Mrs. Hurley on 9/14 to go over the specs and initiate the process. Purchase orders are still open, so an accurate balance is unavailable but will be looked into again at the next meeting.
b. Excessive trash on campus – how to change school culture – ideas were offered such as: when we have assemblies, remind students to keep campus clean; StuCo suggested adding basketball hoops to the cans, Mr. Estrella has purchased ten new trashcans for the campus; StuCo will be making a fun video about keeping campus clean to show in all homeroom classes and to be uploaded to The Paper Cut; Service Saturday on 9/17 is strictly clean up – all clubs/sports/individuals welcome from 9-12; initiate an “Adopt-a-Highway” type of program where classes, sports, and clubs can pick up trash; start a campaign and inundate walls with posters (like “Feed the Can” or something along those lines. This must be a school-wide effort to change the culture. Teachers are encouraged to pick one of these and implement it.
c. When will COWS be available for teacher checkout – an email was sent out by Mr. Estrella asking for volunteers to help label the 600+ laptops on campus. Please email Mr. Cephers if interested. Teachers, faculty, student aides, and parents can volunteer in order to speed up the process. There will be no more than 4 COWS per hallway to support the bandwith capabilities. Each hallway has its own system. Currently, the library has 2 COWS and will see if they can handle a 3rd COW without slowing everything down.
d. Marquee – needs to be updated regularly. Agreed and this should be rectified.
e. Pre-assessment through English classes should have already happened – Mr. Estrella sent out an email regarding this. Rather than have a pre-assessment, all students will test on October 19. Freshmen might take Explorer (a 2-hour exam and then have an assembly); sophomores and juniors will take the PSAT; Seniors will take the SAT. This will be regular school day with irregular bell schedule.
f. Linking all individual extracurricular and teacher websites to Sahuaro’s – at this time, TUSD is looking into updating our internet system to a new one – possibly next semester. This will be re-visited once Sahuaro knows TUSD’s plans for certain. We will hold off on this for now, but our Site Council member, Craig Courville has been doing a fabulous job updating our website.
g. Emergency Pass for copies – need a system. The Ex Ed department has been asked to make allowances on a case-by-case basis and will devise a plan and let the staff know. Teachers who were absent and just returning, teachers who need emergency plans due to an absence, new teachers who may not be able to plan so far ahead, etc. are in need of special circumstances. An email will forthcoming from the Transition-to-Work program
h. Butcher paper needs to be available – not delivered. Site Council brainstormed new possible places to keep the paper where it is accessible to everyone, but will not be temptation for anyone to abuse. The best spot seems to be the foyer of the library. This needs to be okayed with Mrs. Dillon.
i. Lunch supervision in 200 building and by Library needed – this has already begun. Security is sweeping the area, moving kids away from the east facing stairwells and area. Teachers who pass by can also encourage students to move on. Keep in mind, when they are pushed away from one prohibited area, they move to the next one. This is on-going. Everyone should help.
j. Ex-ed department needs a printer for sensitive information – and one has been purchased. Actually, 5 printers have been purchased and counseling, special ed, and the library will each receive one. Plus, we have purchased a color printer which will be kept in Mr. Lundstrom’s office and will not be in the system, but used for special projects.
k. Synergy capabilities and confusion – Mrs. Mooney is part of the Teacher Technology Liaison. We agree that the mass amount of emails gets confusing and time-consuming. A request was made for a “cheat-sheet”. She will ask the committee to come up with something.
l. Set SC calendar for 2016-2017 school year. Site Council will meet on the following dates: October 4, November 15, December 13, January 24, (no meeting in February), March 14, April 11, May 9)
2. Principal report
a. New Freshmen sections were opened. Sahuaro usually does not receive the funding until 2nd quarter, but we were able to do this in 1st quarter this year. We have posted a job opening for a full time PE teacher.
b. There will be a SurveyLink for parents on our website which will be used make an improvement plan as part of our Accreditation Plan.
c. On Monday, 9/18 – All seniors will attend a Tri-State college fair during 5th and 6th periods.
d. In November, there will be a benchmark assessment administered through English classes. We are mandated to have two of these this year, down from last year.
3. Parent report – none
4. Student Council report
a. Service Saturday is this Saturday
b. Plans are underway for Spirit Week, Tailgating, and Homecoming
5. Community report
a. Mr. Day questioned the purpose of Student/Teacher Conference. Are parents attending? Are the lines keeping them away? With technology allowing grades to be accessed and email communication growing, it may seem out-dated at the high school level. However, it is TUSD mandated.
Announcements: The next meeting of the Sahuaro Site Council will be October 4, 2016. Meeting was adjourned at 5:18 pm.