FORS Meeting Wednesday 3/25/09

Those in attendance:
Michelle Scott
Julie Kelly
Rick Hennes
Jonathan Mazer
Roxanne Stiles-Donnelly
Kathy Wright
Susan Whitesell
Gale Bowen
Cheryle Apple
Audrey Keebler
Tom Donnelly
Sarah Donnelly
Robert Hubbell
Bill Mortimore

A.Gale Bowen spoke on behalf of VERVE. VERVE's vision is to encourage people to help in their community. If you're interested in helping in some capacity you can register at www.riovolunteers.com or call (707) 374-5650. VERVE's goal is to see the task at hand from concept to implemenation to follow-up to review. VERVE saw a need for a centralized place for volunteers to be collected- a sort of clearinghouse. Volunteers may be contacted on short notice and be asked to work on an emergency project if available. VERVE feels communication is the key. VERVE's goal is not to take people's jobs, but to add additional resources.

Riverview School will be cleaning up their campus during Spring Break. VERVE views this endeavor as their pilot program. The school will be replacing their planters with blocks. The district office is supplying the tractor and driver. Able-bodied volunteers are still needed. The debris will have to be transported to the dumpster. A prep area will need to be ready for dirt to be delivered. It is thought that perhaps the wood being pulled out will be recycled for another project. The wall next to the panther will be primed and painted. There will be new irrigation, retaining walls put in, and planting areas will be rejuvinated. The dial up mass communication system , Bright Arrow System, was used to notify Riverview School parents of this endeavor. Flyers will be going home with the students also.
The dates for this endeavor looks as follows:
Saturday 4/4/09 Demolition
Monday 4/6/09 New soil and mulch arrive for planters
Thursday 4/9/09 Replacement of new soil,planting, and irrigation installed
Friday 4/10/09 Campus clean up

It was noted at the meeting that the District Office has a fresh mindset. The District Office has been open and supportive to volunteerism.

B. Transportation safety involving sporting events:
Fingerprinting should take place anytime a volunteer interacts with students in enclosed areas.
This includes vehicles that volunteers are driving students in. It is not known exactly how the athletes @ RVHS are being transported. Volunteers are transporting students and there are some questions about adequate seatbelt coverage in the past. Consistency needs to occur to keep our students safe. The Booster Club is working on purchasing a new van which will help with some if not all of these concerns.

C. The key @ RVHS is to prioritize tasks to make goals happen.
Dr. Audrey Keebler is our interim principal @ RVHS. Dr. Keebler has paint and painting supplies in her office. Dr Keebler will contact VERVE to get her painting project underway.

The chain of progress:
(Example) FORS (issues or ideas) to Site Principal to Site Principal contacting VERVE to FORS joins VERVE for project

D. Top Priorities:
-Painting needed @ RVHS entryway,main hallway, principal's office (administration wing)
-There is no relief from the sun on the Isleton Elementary blacktop. This is a safety issue. Mrs. Wright would like to see a slated structure (perhaps perogot) put over the picnic table as a form of relief from the sun. Isleton School does not have an irrigation system, perhaps down the road this can be looked in to further- to make the grounds nicer. A patio is needed for the library. The concrete is buckling and half the patio is fenced off right now. Mrs. Wright reported that there may be funding for the library patio project.

E. Mr. Hennes & RGM did a walk-thru of RVHS on 3/25/09 to work further on the master site plan.

F. Sub-pool issue
The District Office has advertised at great lengths to build our substitute pool, but they were not very successful. One of the issues seems to be the prospective substitutes having to go to Sacramento to take and pass a lifting test.

G. Custodians @ RVHS
Year 2006 24 hours of nighttime cleaning
8 hours of daytime cleaning

Presently 19 hours of nighttime cleaning
4 hours daytime cleaning

The custodians do have a set schedule of what they need to clean or attend to. The level of cleanliness needs to be at a higher level. It was asked if Craig Hamblin has a visitation inspection in place for the school sites. None is officially in place. If you see a custodian issue that needs to be addressed notify the site principal first.

H. PG & E energy saving rebate
Wayne Rebstock will bring in a company over Spring Break to perform an energy audit. It is thought that the District could shave off about 10% from their PG&E bill.

I. WASC
The final edit is done and Julie Griffin is working on the graphics for the final edit. The visiting committee is optimistic about their visit. The WASC plan and Site Council plan are cohesing together. The staff @ RVHS feels they are WASC ready. Mr. Hubbell announced that all the high schools in the district are now aligned.

A great idea was brought up. It is felt that a WASC apprecation celebration is in order. This celebration would be for all the hard work that was put in to this endeavor. Perhaps this celebration could also be for meeting MYP and MPI goals too. This event would likely occur in August 2009.

J. New RVHS principal
Mr. Hennes is aware that "we have to move" on obtaining a new principal @ RVHS for the 2009-2010 school year. During the next two weeks there will be two closed meetings regarding this issue.

K. Technology
The district started with 4 T-lines now the district has 9 per Mr. Hubbell. Mr. Branton had offered donating a T-line. Christi Ricketts is working through the donation process and is in contact with Mr. Branton. The District Office receives a subsidy for T-lines thru the government.

Status of wiring in Building E- RGM has all the specs needed. The wiring will go in the front of the room for better sound quality. Also, there's a soffet there which will make installation easier. The computers arrived @ RVHS last week !!!

Mr. Hubbell presented those that attended tonight with an excerpt from the Summary Points from the District Technology Plan packet.

Per Mr. Hubbell, every school in the district has a computer lab being utilized for education.

The District has a good relationship with Stepford. Stepford can handle a whole variety of computer issues.

The District Office keeps a log of what's being worked on regarding computers on school sites.

Dr. Keebler asked if there was an Internet Cafe or WiFi available to students. Mr. Hubbell said there was not but that he would look in to it.

A new tower (Y-max) is in the works for Radio Rio. Perhaps Radio Rio could rent access to cell phone companies and/or Internet Cafe or WiFi.

L. New Ag/ Natural Resources Building
The grant for this endeavor started at 5.4 million dollars. Funds were matched and now the cost is 2.8 million dollars. There was a meeting on 3/30/09 @ 5p.m. in the RVHS Theater regarding this endeavor. Stakeholders were invited per a mailing. The City of Rio Vista recently received an invitation. It is felt that not enough awareness was known about this meeting. Mr. Hubbell said that he would try to use the mass communication dial system to notify the community about this meeting. The new building/ or area adjacent to it hopes to house pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits, but no cattle.Some of the issues are smell, noise, flies, and waste in the sewer system Mr. Donnelly said he will pull up city records regarding zoning issues within city limits. There is a 35 day application process. All concerns must be mitigated.Some of the things that the new building will house are 2 science departments, an aquahouse, and a greenhouse.

Some Action updates:
The custodian positions being restructured is still being worked on.

The students leaving campus issue was addressed by Mr. Hennes being visible the very next day. The side door of the cafeteria is now kept locked. Ms. Styles now does bus supervision in the morning.

The lights being left on @ the RVHS football field doesn't seem to be as much as an issue now.

The IT coordinator may be a staff member who volunteers on their site and who is good with computers. This person will act as a liason with the District appointed technology person. This will reduce costs.

Next Meeting: April 29, 2009 7:oo P.M.
RVHS Media Center

Respectfully submitted,
Michelle Scott