DIXON PAC MEETING MINUTES 

Monday January 13, 2025

Present: Jenna Newman, Simi Malhi, Nadine Eade, Charissa Anderson, Lauren, Teg Bains, Susan, Artem, Matthew, Salina, Taylor Sims

Administration: Colleen Orzen, Mike Murrary

Regrets: Colleen Reid

Welcome

Call to Order:

• 6:34 pm called to order 
• Colleen O. gave a Land Acknowledgement to thank the hǝn̓q̓ǝmin̓ǝm̓ speaking peoples on whose land we live (over 16 different groups that travelled along our neighbourhood); this area is important to sturgeon waters and were stewarded by the indigenous people and for this we thank them 
• Review and approval of minutes from last meeting
  • Nadine moves, Jenna seconds
• Approval of agenda
  • Charissa moves and Susan seconds

Treasurer’s Report & Budget

• Jenna mentions that the bank balance looks good
• So far, we have spent half of our gaming budget on dance workshops – ($3400 to date), much of which went to the dance workshops
• Ms. Pedersen will be buying her reader’s choice books, that will be an expected expense
• In the general expense account, we have around $54000 and have spent very little so far ($1700)
• For fundraising we have raised $2240 in craft fair vendor fees, and $4000 for the silent auction, we have also received a Vancity donation/concession stand for a total of $6345 raised all together
• For Hot lunches fall session, there is one more lunch remaining – $15000 revenue with  expenses to date $12300 includes credit card fees, this gives us a total of $2700 profit for first half
• For the Jingle bell run, we were under budget; our budget was $500 budget, and we had only spent $400
• Waiting on Purdys fundraising cheque
• Gaming report has been submitted
• CRA charity return due end of February  
• A big thank you to Jenna for handling the reporting

Chair Report

• Nadine mentions that thinking of how to get more parents involved, did we want to continue with a classroom liaison, there are currently no classroom liaisons assigned

• Susan mentions that she didn’t notice anything about the classroom liaison – maybe a different method to get the message across
• Lauren said at her previous school – PAC would send out a newsletter once a month and inserts into children’s backpack to help get the message across as it was effective for them
• Susan is suggesting that we do a community event such as a bbq years ago as it was a great chance to meet other parents
• Charissa mentions that we didn’t do it last year cause there was a lot going on
• Matthew mentions that in other schools they have a pastry cart and it’s less work than running a BBQ, could be held at the beginning of school to meet with other parents
• Susan mentions that as a working parent, it would be nice to not have it right after school or before school, preferably later in the evening
• Teg askes what if we combine movie night with BBQ and get an outdoor screen
• Jenna mentions that we would have to start very late as it doesn’t get dark enough
• Perhaps we could do a family fun night and bring in food trucks such as a coffee/ice cream truck at the start of the year especially with new parents coming in
• The spirit wear online shop is up and running
  • Majority votes to have spirit wear
• We’ve been collecting gently used spirit wear and last year we sold them at the movie night, maybe we can let people know there’s gently used spirit wear and there’s a place to give in gently used wear

Administrator’s Report

• Mike mentions that grade five students will be having an MDI presentation which is an online survey by UBC; this survey will be optional
  • UBC gathers information on different social-economic topics – ie health, what you do outside school, what’s available to you in the community and it’s all anonymous
  • They take the information and provide it to other gov agencies, it will provide an overview on how many hours of sports kids play, how much sleep they get etc
  • This has to be completed by March; permission slips were sent home in December to all parents and as no parents sent them back, all students will be participating
• Mike is looking for feedback from the PAC regarding all the initiatives that took place from October – December, do parents feel they’re being nickel and dimed by the school with all the donations that took place such as the turkey run/jingle bell run etc
  • Parents mention that if they don’t want to participate, they don’t feel pressured to do so
  • Some parents like the change drive as kids get excited taking it out of their piggy bank especially because they don’t notice the other donations
  • Parents think online donations are helpful as they are kept anonymous
• Mike brings up seismic update and mentions that progress is being made; drywall is being finished and there is a hold up with flooring
  • The students in the portables now will finish up spring break in that space; the movers will be coming over spring break – when students come back in April, they will be in the new space and another set of students will be positioned in the portables; parents will be sent information
  • The undercover area will be fixed to match the height of the building being finished
  • Teg mentions if they can fix the temporary fencing to allow for more walking space such as the sidewalk as well as the music the construction workers are playing in Punjabi aren’t the most friendly
  • Mike mentions that they did speak to them in the fall about it but will give them a gentle reminder
• Mike states that kindergarten registration is going on right now and encouraging others to get their registration in now
• Mike brings up grade 7 students and their transition to Boyd/McMath, if students are going to a different school than Boyd/McMath then parents will need to register these students; Dixon administration goes to the high schools and meets their teams and they come to the school and meet with the students and provide paperwork which goes back to the schools
• Colleen brings up recess and that prior to covid children used to eat recess snack outside, now it’s during instructional time, there are discussions regarding eating recess snacks outside; we are currently testing this out and parents will have to alter how snacks are being sent out
• Colleen mentions notice of intent forms regarding which children will be returning to the school, as they want to ensure there is enough space for all students coming next year
• Colleen says that readers’ choice happens around this time of the year and Ms. Petersen picks a handful of books, kids vote their favourites and there’s prizes and it’s funded by the PAC
  • As the library is the next step for seismic updates, readers’ choice will happen after spring break, wanted to express appreciation to the PAC of this initiative 
• Colleen brings up grade 7 celebrations, a sub-committee of the PAC that assists with creating the yearbook and organizing the celebration  
  • Admin will send all grade 7 parents emails regarding parent volunteers to create a sub-committee
• Colleen mentions that we were fully staffed as of Thursday – Richmond runs an EA program and we have hired one of their graduates and this individual has been in a variety of spaces learning

Fundraising Update

• Charissa mentions that the Purdys cheque will be sent 2-4 weeks after deliveries have been made
• The City of Richmond has a celebration grant that’s due by February 9, does anyone have an idea of an event that will involve a great deal of people and can’t be a fundraiser
  • Some parents suggest asking for funding for the meet/greet event
  • PAC money could be added in addition to the grant
• Movie night will take place on Friday, Wild Robot will be starting at 6:30pm, most students enjoy this event
• Charissa introduces Salina who sells vacuums, she can discount some and give the PAC profit from it, these vacuums can be ordered from the website and sent to the school
  • Salina mentions that they’ve done it with other school and there were distribution issues, they can be sent to people individually but there would be less proceeds then, if the school is able to distribute then 25% will be proceeds
  • Majority votes for it
  • Majority votes for having it shipped to the school

Lunch Days Update

• Taylor mentions that the next hot lunch will take place on January 23^rd, we will need to  change the time for lunch, a notice will be sent out to volunteers to arrive at 11:10 as lunch starts at 11:50am; not sure if this will affect parent volunteer numbers as we are looking for more volunteers
• The next lunch will take place February 6 and continuing every other Thursday until June 19^th  
• Munch-a-lunch will be up and running at the end of this week or next week for the next ordering sessions, this time we will be splitting up vendors instead of combining them because it was difficult to distribute

Questions & Discussions

• Susan mentions Hannah Beach night, will we be sending out notices for parents as it is in February, it’s about kids dealing with anxiety and managing devices and feelings/emotions, there is an online link for parents to register
• Mike asks if we have a RDPA parent
  • Currently, we don’t
• Matthew mentions that at the Vancouver school district PAC that he was involved in,  those resources were valuable especially because there was someone they could draw on in that group as lots of people there had experience
• Teg mentions that perhaps we can send a notice to other parents instead of overloading parents that already have a role
• Mike says that whomever that person is, will be carrying the parental views of the school and not representing themselves
• Jenna says that this is something to look into further and maybe develop a new exec position
• Mike mentions that during his time in Richmond, it’s usually the chair as they’ve been sent the information from RDPA – admin needs to know more about the role the RDPA plays in regards to what our PAC is doing and making sure that the voice of the school is being represented, the RDPA role is going to become more important going forward especially since they get invited to sit in a bunch of different settings
• Matthew mentions that making this role a part of the exec is important, he can step in this year to attend the meetings
• Colleen mentions that the Maple Man will be coming February 10^th, there will be a presentation and kids get a maple syrup stick, the funding will come from the French immersion program

Adjourned 8:06pm