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District

3/4/2022 MIN

Community Council Minutes
March 4, 2022 @ 7am
Hillcrest Zoom Meeting

Members
Dannon Loveland (Chair) Spencer Holmgren (Principal)
Sheli Field (Vice Chair) Cole Thomas(Teacher)
Sara Doutre (Secretary) Heather Fairbank (Teacher)
Candie Miller(excused) Susan MacMurdo
Brent Chamberlain Ryan Frazier
Tessa Burton Debbie Brough
Mellisa LaMalfa Jill Beard (guest)

Minutes

  • Hillcrest Mission
  • Review and Approve February Minutes
    • Heather Fairbanks made motion
    • Debbie Brough 2nd
    • All in favor
  • Budget Update
    • Update on spending, all approved expenditures are now happening
    • Projected to overspend by about $2600, but we will not be paying as much as we had planned to pay for the paraprofessional line item
    • We hope to not carry anything over, if we do get close, Spencer has other funding that can cover those costs
  • DLI Updates
    • Shared enrollment numbers for 1 st grade for Fall – 80 Spanish, nearly 48 Portuguese
    • Working with district on lottery system for Spanish slots, will also offer Portuguese spots to those who listed it as a second option if they don’t get into Spanish
    • With this enrollment, overall Hillcrest enrollment will be the same as this year, without Kindergarten. With K, we will have 80 more than we have last year.
    • Request: Lottery requirements should be posted on the website and be very clear. Also, district should consider proximity given that Hillcrest doesn’t have a neighborhood school.
      • Response – Jed Grunig is working on getting that solidified and posted on the website. Proximity will need to be considered by the Superintendent and School Board. Spencer will follow up to find out where that is at.
    • Request: Updates to families now would be great about the planning and decision process.
      • Response – One item the district has identified is needing to communicate back to parents when their application is received, lots of duplicates because of that oversight.
    •  
    • Also need to consider interaction with full-day Kindergarten. If you start Kindergarten at Hillcrest, you are guaranteed a spot in the DLI program moving forward – doesn’t make sense to have Kindergarten students here otherwise.
  • 2022-2023 School Improvement Plan
    • Estimated 2022-2023 distribution = $73.056
    • Proposed expenditures
      • Math consultant = $27,000
        • 4 visits (days) per month – two giving feedback to teacher and administration, the others providing professional development (with instructional teams or whole school). Considering an experienced consultant with the district.
      • USU Psychology Externs at 20 hours a week = $18,000
        • 2 externs to share hours and work with students
      • Teaching Materials, Books in Spanish, Portuguese = $10,000
        • We need earlier reading materials in Portuguese
      • Math Materials (manipulatives, software, etc.): $10,000
    • Possible expenditures to consider
      • BTSA Dance, math focus: $8,000
        • We only qualify for ½ a year (the other half would cost us $40k, regardless of art form), they use a qualified, certified teacher
        • Could also be a social-emotional focus
      • SPED specific aid time: 1 hour = $2,627.33
        • Resource teacher right now has a full-time aide, our speech language technician works on her own, supervised by a speech language pathologist
  • Public Input
    • Gratitude for how Hillcrest handles the community council, other schools don’t include input and discussion on the school improvement plan, appreciate what a collaborative process it is
    • Has busing for Hillcrest next year been finalized?
      • Boundaries are in place, they will be doing busing, final details coming from district
      • Have heard from different people that you have to get to your assigned school and if you have to get bused to your school you won’t be able to attend
      • Suggestion for a teacher to have bus stops that parents can drop kids off at that aren’t at the schools only
      • Students who live in Hillcrest and will go to Adams will be bused – definitely from above 1600 east, not clear about neighborhood South of Hillcrest (it’s not quite 1.5 miles)
  • Next Steps
    • Spencer will talk to teachers during the half day in March about the expenditures, he will put it back out to the council by email for a vote

Next Meeting: Friday, April 1, 2022 @ 7am