PA COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT 6 May 2009

Wednesday, 6 May 2009

Cindy Van Velzen, President, reported on the two web presentations which had taken place earlier that afternoon. Both presentations were good and took into account the different project requirements - information, communication, calendar (interactive, multiple, administrative requirements (membership, canteen, transport, selling t-shirts, etc.), help build a community spirit (forum). The two presentations were quite different, in that one was conceptual and the other was an already prepared visual. The third presentation would take place next week. The PA Committee needs to discuss the three proposals and decide at their next meeting so that work can begin as soon as possible. There was a short discussion on what was important to bear in mind and members decided on the following five points: working relationship; openness of the technology, concept, design and price. However, the question really boiled down to “what kind of company do we want to work with?”

The PA Committee was joined by the Canteen Committee for the first time. Cindy thanked them for coming, was sorry that it had taken so long and hoped that we could now look forward to some real progress. For some members of the PA Committee it was the first time they met their representatives on the Canteen Committee and a short discussion followed on how they were elected, how they exercised their mandate and generally on how the Canteen Committee functioned (4 PA and 3 school representatives and no substitute members) with the Canteen Committee statutes being referred to on several occasions. There was general agreement that this needed to be discussed by the PA Committee before the next General Assembly.

Ramil Nasyrov, President of the Canteen Committee, handed out photocopies of a number of documents including some meeting reports, financial papers, annual figures. He explained that the Canteen Committee was a non-profit association which gave it certain tax free benefits which would be lost if we were to change to an external company. Before being able to take any decisions on the question of contracting a new catering company, the PA needed a better overall picture of the functioning and financing of the Canteen Committee as “equitus” had not been given to finances for the last few years, nor had the necessary papers been sent to the tax authorities and there was insufficient explanation of the annual figures. The Canteen Committee was asked to have its financial situation verified and certified, as soon as possible, by a paid, independent, qualified authority agreed upon by the PA representatives. Several names were put forward and would be approached to see how long they would take and how much they would cost.

Daniela updated the PA on progress regarding efforts since the beginning of the year to improve the current canteen. The Canteen Committee had considered several canteen services and had opted for Scolarest. The necessary City permissions to adapt the canteen premises had been obtained and the costs involved were reasonable. Although there would be an increase in food costs (fresh food) and partial loss of tax benefits (no longer run by a non-profit association) there were also savings to be made (salaries, administration, electronic canteen card, more flexibility, etc.). A concrete proposal with financial and legal implications needed to be finalised and presented before the Canteen Committee could take a decision or sign any contracts.
This joint meeting was very informative and we look forward to the Canteen Committee providing us with all the required information as soon as possible. They agreed to hold their next meeting on Wednesday 13 May.

Cindy had met with Mr. Hoyem earlier to discuss Europe Day - 9th May 2009. There was an impressive programme including a royal visit by the Danish Princess. The school had a stand in the Marketplatz and had asked the PA to help. Information would go out to parents via the noticeboard.

Open Day turned out to be a very successful event indeed for our International Café which was a sell out despite the fact that we had many, many cakes donated by parents. They were also generous with their time helping out and there was a great atmosphere. The canteen proved to be a good meeting point during the day and the good weather and outside tables helped. The PA also sold lots of school T-shirts, etc. with a number of parents expressing interest in other items. Cindy was asked to go ahead and ordering new stock in time for the Summer Fest.

Cindy welcomed a new develoment by teachers who were organising a Roundtable on school issues, 7 May 2009 (see attached) and had invited the PA to attend. The Committee felt that we should certainly attend the with the intention of listening and encouraging them in their ideas. It would also help prepare for the next Education Council and ideas for next year.

Also for next year, is a proposal by Marylese for a new multilingual after school activity which Cindy and Anja had presented to Mr. Hoyem earlier that day. Mr. Hoyem was very enthusiastic and positive about the project and would support this initiative if presented to the Joint Educational Council. This was a great example of parents getting involved with the PA and contributing to our work. It was felt that a 4 week trial should take place at the end of May and the idea would be presented to the Class Reps at the meeting on the 13 May.

Cindy, reminded the PA Committee that we still had to decide on whether or not to pay 650 euros for the next issue of EuroJunior. There were conflicting views as to how appropriate this was with the Committee agreeing that it was better to buy advertising than sponsor and various suggestions as to how PA financial contributions should be decided in the future. Member agreed to pay the full amount of 650 euros but towards paying for a full page of advertisment over four issues (ie. quarter page advertising for this issue and in next year´s issues). There was also a request for the Social Fund. Again, clear criteria and guidelines were needed for next year so as to avoid arbitrary decision making.

Madeleine Koch reported to the committee that she had found out there were anti-bullying courses run by Karlsruhe City which are available for all local schools. It was suggested that ESK take advantage of them and investigate the possibility of running some of the courses here.

It was suggested that ESK should investigate the possibility of advertising in local papers as a means of marketing the school to a wider public. This is already regularly done by other private schools in the area.

Next meeting – Wednesday 27 May 2009