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MINUTES
OCTOBER 14, 2009
Attendees:

Barbara L Paul J Adam C

Kitty O Judy B Lisa D S
Carla D Leigh Anne O Maria S
Dina V Barbara G Marina O
Jane F Ray S Beth G
Marc B Martha S Clara R
Theresa G Eileen S Lisa J
Lisa L A Linda N Havana L
Kathleen R Casey F Sue
Courtney M Jon L Joe R
Andi B David B Sarah B
Scott P Amy L Greta P
Desmond W Marcelo P Corinna L
Fiorenzo B Randall P Alison H
Katey L Larry C
MINUTES

Joni B Michael A

ITEM REMARKS COMMENTS

Co- President’s • Casey announced that because of the importance of

Report political advocacy, that we would like to change the by-
laws to nominate Beth Gehry ( ehgehry@aol.com ), our
political action co-ordinator (she organizes parental
involvement in political issues) to be able to attend
Executive Parents Association meetings so that she is kept
abreast of any new issues. It was voted upon and
approved. An example of recent issues has been
protesting mayoral control.
• It was announced that Daniel Squadron, our state
senator, would be attending the PA meeting at about
8:45am, so a brief précis was given by Corinna on his
political background and how we might be prepared to
ask pertinent questions. Corinna is a former ESPA co-
president and is a member of the CEC (Community
Education Council) and is well-informed on all aspects
of educational policies. There is usually at least 1
candidate to represent the school. There are still positions
open to anybody interested in joining. For more
information, contact Corinna Lindeberg at
vinzenzmum@yahoo.com. We have won the battle of
siblings admission and are working on guaranteed entry
into K from Pre-K, but we still need to fight for diversity in
the school. The centralization of the Dept of Education
means that the school has no control over admissions,
and although as a school we are over-subscribed to by
white families, we need to try to get a school population
that is reflective of the community in which we live in
terms of ethnic and socio-economic diversity. Alison
explained that in the past, the 4 progressive schools in
District 1 were able to issue their own admissions forms
that requested identification of ethnicity, and then get
together and pool applications so that the composition
of the schools was a reflection of the neighborhood.
Jocelyn, the parent-teacher coordinator, spends time
doing outreach to local community (childcare centers
! MINUTES
OCTOBER 14, 2009
etc) to explain that we are a public school of choice and
to encourage applications from a wider pool. The Dept
of Education lacks outreach so the onus is on the
schools to inform the greater public.
• Fall Fair is coming up Saturday October 24th 11-4; this is
Events one of the schools biggest events in terms of both fund
Coordinators raising and community building. Lisa and Kathleen
Report (lisa@llac.com and kreynyc@aol.com) have initiated a
couple of new ideas; firstly the idea of sponsorship; they
have made up a form to be given (in hard copy and pdf
e-mail-able form) to potential patrons (local businesses
and friends) who can donate as sponsors of the event and
receive signage and advertising. Secondly, this will be a
mainly ticket-only event to conform to the city’s rules about
handling cash and the only cash exchange will be for
rummage and sustainable crafts. Tickets will be pre-sold in
the school during the week before the fair and there will be
a bulk discount ( 11 for $10, 22 for $20). Tickets are $1
each the day of the event. A farmers market is being
organized by Abbe and the students to sell herbs from the
school garden and produce donated by local suppliers.
• Volunteers are badly needed; sign-up sheets have been
posted on the community board outside the ES office. Help
is needed with distribution of flyers (post around the local
community and Brooklyn and e-mail to friends and family;
posters to be found in the lobby), set up (cars needed to
transport everything from the school starting at 7:30am),
contributions of food and clean, sorted rummage (clothing
and books; leave in the PA room), doing shifts for the
various activities (crafts, ticket sales, maze, photo booth,
nature activities, cupcake decorating etc etc) from 11-1:30
and 1:30-2, or simply turning up as a “floater” to help
people where needed, and to allow everybody who is
working to take bathroom breaks or have time with their
own families. Break down, clean-up and transportation of
things back to the school is also important; people who
have been manning tables for the whole fair need to be
able to go home at a decent hour.
• We also need students and parents to sign up for open
mike; dance, sing, play instruments etc.
State Senator Senator Squadron is familiar with The Earth School as an
Daniel good example of an elementary school that works, and he
Squadron knows several parents.

Pre-K to K admissions: he is working on eliminating this

problem. This past year several parents were told (at the last
minute, so they were facing possibly not getting into any local
school of choice) that their Pre-K children would not find places
in Kindergarten and several parents attended meetings to
discuss this. Pre-K is not considered an official point of entry
into the school, so admissions policies follow different criteria.

Mayoral control: Senator Squadron voted for mayoral control

and justified this by citing structural changes that would address
issues of accountability and the complaints of lack of parental
involvement in important education matters.
! MINUTES
OCTOBER 14, 2009
Testing; he acknowledged the incompetency of school progress
reports and testing and the fact that the test results were skewed
by making tests easier among other things, and that qualitative
reports should be carried out by educators and not by an
outside (foreign) facility.

Budget cuts: funding for education should have increased but it

didn’t, and at a time when budgets are flat, it signifies less
money to schools because of inflation and increased costs, and
this was exacerbated by higher admissions. 67% of principals
surveyed said that they would like to see smaller class sizes as
the most important priority.

Diversity: the centralization of admissions by the Dept of

Education has taken away the efforts of District 1 schools of
choice to be able to have a school population that is reflective
of the diversity of the neighborhood. The current policy was
implemented to prevent school admission methods that took
the “cream of the crop”. He promised that more money would
be spent by the Department of Education on outreach.

Free after-school: Squadron was going to meet with Oasis after

the PA meeting and when Alison asked why PS64, in the same
building, gets free after-school and as a Title 1 school we do
not, he promised to look into this. The school has lost students
over this issue when parents cannot afford to pay for child care
when they work.

Bake Sale Ban. This is a new ruling (supposedly to prevent

child obesity) that would prevent many schools from a popular
form of fund raising for classroom improvements and field trips
etc. Senator Squadron acknowledged that this was a ridiculous
ruling and did not say how it would be enforced.

Parent Resource Guide: his office has published a useful booklet

that lists parent resources in the city from free or low-cost after
school, summer camps, etc. Extra copies can be obtained from
the PA room. He also said that the office would spend more
time and money on outreach to balance the institutional
barriers to admissions.

Fifth Street Farm (green roof garden); Squadron knows

Michael Arad, the ES parent who is spearheading this project,
and has said he would discuss with him about getting
additional funding so that the garden can be opened by the
start of next year as planned.

Accountability: Squadron stated that his office is open to

parental suggestions and input and that he would return to the
school within the year and at that time would be able to revisit
any issues.

School Tours • Kitty Overton is co-ordinating this and needs parent

volunteers to help conduct tours to prospective families.
They are held on Wednesday mornings after drop-off and
the next one is November 4th. For more information, pls
! MINUTES
OCTOBER 14, 2009
contact Kitty at kitty@goodfilms.com
Upcoming
Events • Curriculum Night Thursday October 15th 6-8pm
• Fall Fair October 24th Tompkins Sq Park, 11am-4pm rain
date Sunday October 25th
Next Meeting • Wednesday November 25 8:30am.