Meeting commenced at 7:15pm

1. Welcome and Introductions
John Holt welcomed the members and went through the agenda for the day. There were no additions to the agenda.

2. Review of Previous Minutes
The previous general meeting minutes are posted on the web-site. The motion was passed to accept the minutes and was seconded by Brenda Holt.

3. Student Council Report
The student council reported that the turnout on the Halloween day was great. Ken Hignell was pleased by the spirit exhibited by the students on Halloween day. Half of the school kids dressed up for Halloween. The event was awesome.
The school dance will be held on 24th November 2005. Mardi Gras is the theme.
The spirit week will be held for 28th November to 2nd December 2005.

4. The Africa Project
A group of motivated students have taken on this project and provided an over view of their plans. Approximately 1.1 billion children die due to lack of quality drinking water. This student group has embarked on a project to provide communities in Africa with safe drinking water. The project will be supported by the school council group, parent groups and the fund raising groups. The project looks forward to PAC to support them financially for this worthy cause. The money raised will be used to dig wells in Africa. Unicef has agreed to dig the wells for $400.00. The students informed us that students that participate in this project can include this in their graduation portfolio.

The PAC will help this project by marketing and networking within the community to raise its profile. PAC recommended the council to meet and discuss with the Surrey chamber of commerce. Ken Hignell reported that this will be a community building exercise for the school. At present only Johnston Heights is involved in this project. In future other schools will be invited to take part. John remarked that this exercise will be valuable asset for the students who can use this skill in the future if they become PAC members.

5. Principal’s Report
Ken Hignell thanked the community for their support during the teachers job action. He also emphasized that the core values and plans for the school are still in effect. Interim reports will be available soon. These will be in the form of computer reports, phone calls, discussion from teachers. Parent teacher interviews will be after mid term report. The report will be provided on the 25th November 2005. The parents teachers meeting is scheduled on the 29th November 2005. Some students from SFU have been here to help our students at JH. They will be here for the remaining of this term and the whole of next term.

A group of 20 Korean exchange students will be here from 14th November to 09th December 2005. This event will be a valuable cultural exchange program. We are looking for some parent volunteers to provide home stay facilities to these Korean students during their stay here. Parent volunteers will be provided with some financial assistance for their services.

JHSS has decided to have this program entitled "TURN OFF THE TV - READING FOR THE REST OF THE DAY" on 8th November 2005. Ken Hignell hopes that this event will be successful.

Ken informed that the JHSS junior boy’s volley ball team came first in the competition. The custom of taking the kids to work could not be held this year due to teacher’s job action. Ken Hignell hopes that this program will continue in the future as it has always been. The theatre production is working on a comedy sketch to be held on 9th November 2005.

Parents will be able to get more information on the new graduation portfolio on 30th November 2005. There will be some speakers from Justice Institute who will be having a lecture at the JHSS theatre on 30th November 2005.

Ken Hignell gave a brief demo of the new revised web-site of JHSS. There are links to various departments, names of teachers, PAC meetings and weekly events at JHSS. Each department will have their own web page. Ken Hignell hopes that newsletters will be e-mailed to parents in electronic form. Parent will be requested to provide their e-mail address when they come to attend the school functions. Ken also hopes to start an alumina association.

6. Financial Report
Linda informed that there was $50,000 to be dealt with and to find ways to utilize the money carefully. John Holt informed that the General Account and Gaming Account funds have been approved in the budget. The things that need to be clarified were the request from each individual department. Ken Hignell will look into and report at the next meeting with the individual department requests. Mark questioned why the funds of $500 allocated to feed the hungry kids at school were not utilized. Ken Hignell answered that the kids at school were fed but the money was allocated from different sources. The financial report motion was passed. None opposed and seconded by Brenda Holt.

Ken Hignell informed that there was no news about any money that might have been saved due to teacher job action. The grant of $50,000 towards technology upgrade will be available to the school this year. Part of the grant funds will go back into the school funds since the school has advanced some funds towards this project. The new computer setup and environment will be to the CMS standards. The grade 8 students at JHSS have far more access to computers and technology when compared with other schools in the neighborhood.

7. Committee Reports
a. DPAC Committee: Mark Adams informed that they did not have the regular meeting this time due to teacher job action. Instead a debate session with the persons running for school trustee positions was held. The next meeting is scheduled to be held on 23rd November 2005. CUPE members will be attending this session. Mark informed about the upcoming exciting fund raising event to be held on 26th November 2005 at the Wheelhouse Pub in Surrey. Mark has to e-mail Trudy of the exciting fund raising event.

b. Dance Committee: The school dance will be held on the 24th November 2005. The PAC members will help in this bi-annual event. Volunteers will be needed to organize this event and can contact Brenda Holt.

c. Fund Raising Committee: Emma informed that she has been going door to door for fund raising. She was disappointed with the response. She revealed that she has a firm commitment from 21 people in the community. She also requested if she could be reimbursed for her photocopying expenses. Linda promised to take care of her photocopying needs in the future. Diane suggested to hand-out fridge magnets to parents when they come to attend the school functions. The magnets will have information about the school and important phone numbers. A motion was passed to allocate $50.00 towards the expense to provide the fridge magnets and seconded by John Holt. The expenses incurred will be recovered from sale of tickets towards a gift certificate.

d. Progressive Funding update: Updated order form ready for posting. e. School Planning Council: Ken Hignell informed that they now have a teacher representative, Mr. Taylor, in the council. The next meeting is to be held on 30th November 2005. John Holt advised that the draft of the School Plan is on the web-site.

f. Dry Grad Committee formation: Diane informed that she had two dry grad meetings. Nine parent volunteers have agreed to participate in the dry grad program. Diane will be talking to Rotary and Lions clubs to seek their their support. In addition grade 11 students will be invited to participate. She hopes that the dry grad committee will pass on the information to the next year dry grad committee. MADD has promised to donate some funds. BCAA and ICBC will donate for some funds toward dry grad event. Ken Hignell will try to allocate some time in the upcoming parents teachers meeting to allow Diane to inform the parents about the dry grad events. Information regarding the dry grad event will be mailed out to parents of grade 12 students. A motion was passed to allocate $125.00 towards postage charges and was seconded by Murali. Contact the Dry Grad committee at Jhgrad2006@yahoo.com

8. Old Business
Parents Together program report, not available.

9. New Business
No new business to report.

10. Mail
The mail was read and distributed.

Adjourned at 9:15pm.
Next Meeting: 7th. December, 2005

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