November 10, 2025

Date

Time Started

Time Adjourned 

Attendees 

BHES Staff 

Heather Schreider (Principal)

Ms. Georgia Petinarelis (Vice Principal)

Ms. Mariam Leder (Teacher)

Ms. Mandy Lisagurski (Teacher)

Ms. Lori Wilson (Teacher)

Ms. Jane Sawchuk (Teacher)

Ms. Kerry Meyers (Teacher)

BHES 2024 - 2025 School Council

Pegita Ghasemi (Co-Chair)

Devika Mathur (Co-Chair) 

Anita Li (Treasurer)

Daphne Chen (Secretary)

Raymond Chong

Rick Lew

Atty Mashatan

Karen Li

Zehra Haider

Anabela Costa

Mona Moineddin

Parisa Bahrampour

Guests

Jingie Par

Tasneem Kanchwala

Regrets

Scarlett Choi

1. Welcome and 

Minutes Approval 

Pegita/Devika

• Devika welcomed everybody and asked for votes for last month's Minutes – Passed

3. Treasurer Report

Anita

• Anita sent out the updated report to the updated group.
• Recap – updated number after Ms. Langin gave reports on Lunch and milk programs.
• All the lunch and milk programs – profit approx. $61,000
• Add $39,000 carried from last year.
• Approx. $100,000 to work with.
• Earmarked items – $23,000 (Skate Night $600, Dance A Thon $1200, Year End Carnival $6500, Grad  $5000, Angel $5000)
• After deduction and ear marked items – $77,000 to work with.

3. Admin Report

-School update 

 Heather/Georgia

• Georgia has been working with Council members to get input from the greater community for fundraising, etc.
• She did not send out a communication yet as there are a lot of emails being sent lately.
• Hopefully it will get sent next week.
• We can come back to talk about it once we get feedback from the community.
• Parental engagement grant – $500
• Georgia also spoke about new protocol regarding bringing in guest speakers.
• Applications need to be sent in – i.e.: Lion Dancers, Nowruz Dance, etc., parents need to be notified 14 days prior to the event.
• She will send an email when we want to bring a guest into the school to ensure protocol is followed.
• Georgia spoke about vendors for Playscape.
• She has flyers from 2 different vendors.
• Paul from Henderson said that decks cost more. One of the things schools are going for now are deck free play.
• Children would be able to access the playground from the ground.
• The second vendor as an agility playscape. Same as deck free .
• We brainstormed and spoke about the playscape last year, the reason for replacing it is due to the cost of repair.
• Last year we had to replace the 3 slides, we got a barrier that cost $1000.
• Heather suggested that rather than a request for immediate approval, this is a long term goal.
• From the superintendent, everything is on hold to come up to provincial standards.
• The school board will not consider an application until we have 80% of the funds raised.
• She also spoke about accessibility to the structure. Currently we have a border to contain the wood chips.
• We will need to include a path, the railing is very user friendly for those who have mobility issues.
• Shelley asked what the life term is of a play structure.
• Georgia said max is 15 years. At some point, things will start to be removed from the playscape.
• Devika asked if accessibility would be dealt with by the company installing the structure.
• Heather asked if the Subcommittee will need more people.
• Georgia said we can show possibilities but we may not actually use that proposal in 2-4 years.
• We cannot start paying at this point other than raising money.
• Anabella asked if the school board would help.
• Georgia said they will help prepare the area.
• Heather said playscapes are not a necessity, it’s a need.
• Georgia said from her observations, our kids love the climbing wall. This will likely be something that we would have a new one installed. Other things would be changed.
• Drew was talking about someone who has mobility issues, how are we engaging them outside the play structure? Lots of things to consider.
• Until the AODA procedure is updated, we cannot do anything.
• Mona asked if we can change from woodchips to foam.
• Georgia said they are leaning toward woodchips.
• Heather said the other thing we can look into are grants.
• Anabela asked if we have any philanthropic school parents that would donate. She also said she feels a playscape is an integral part of our school. How much fun the kids have.
• Anabela asked that the admin and staff put together a top 5 for the playscape.
• Ms. Leder said the last time the Playscape was torn down, there was a big thermometer that the kids could see the progress. She suggested having the students and staff more involved.
• Rick asked if we can do a specific fundraising event for the playscape and we didn't meet the goal. He questioned what would happen to the funds.
• Heather said we would have to carry on with the fundraising. It would just take longer.
• Anabela asked if we could ask for business donations.
• Heather said we cannot put a plaque with a name on it thanking a family. But everyone will get a tax receipt.
• Heather said the tradition is to talk to staff, and she wanted to talk about their request. But we need to decide if we will earmark some funds each year for the playscape.
• Shelley suggested we take the decision back to the subcommittee working on the playscape initiative and then do a vote.
• Georgia mentioned it was a priority sent out to the committee.
• Heather said that it will be added to the survey.
• Anabela cautioned that there are some community members who would absolutely say no to a playscape. She will look over the survey prior to it being sent out.
• Devika said that because we are doing some data extraction in the community, we should absolutely ask if a playscape is something the school community actually wants.
• Zehra asked if we can replace over the years, just the red flagged pieces.
• Heather said her gut says no because it is a completely new structure.
• Atty asked if we could get them to lock in their prices.
• Georgia said Christina (caretaking) said the prices are valid until October. In Jan, it will go up 5-7 %.
• Anabela asked if we could set up a go fund me. Alumni would likely contribute. She suggested we make donating easier. We should go aggressive in the first 1-2 years.
• Karen asked that we reach out to our Councillor. He does a community event each summer, they raise funds, they donate.
• As per Anita, BSS got $6000 last year.
• Devika volunteered to talk to Castro Liu.

Devika/Pegita

• We all received a list of requests from the school
• French Junior / Intermediate : Le Chef a L’Ecole - 4 to 8 $2700
• French: Bonhomme Carnival – $2220 for costumes, games, ice sculpture comp, bonhomme castle, curling, and snacks. This is a costume rental vs. having a vendor come in and includes all students.
• Ms. Wilson asked if this is the intermediate putting it on for the younger students.
• Georgia said she will confirm with Mme. Ali
• Ms. Leder said her class was involved in chef a l’ecole and they loved it.
• Grad $5000
• Angel Fund$5000 to $10000 - Heather said that she wants to support as many students as possible, especially the overnight trips.
• Anita said she thinks we can afford it but let’s put it aside for now and by next meeting we should know.
• Spec Ed is asking for $3735 for a sensory touch screen for accessibility.
• $2000 is being requested for materials for MML students – Online and print resources
• Intermediate team wants to replenish microscope – $2300
• FDK requesting sensor bins, light tables, Rhythm sticks, etc. – $3000
• Maker space items (in library) – projects, etc, crochet hooks, etc. – $1000
• Youth Space Initiatives -  Mental Health and Wellness: spirit days, anti bullying campaigns, etc – Button Maker and Cricut – $1500
• Playground – $25000
• Music – 2 different realms – school wide – grades 4-6 – Little Mermaid – 84 auditioned, 45 stage design and tech crew.
• 60+ people in the main ensemble – licensing for Disney Junior production, set design –  3000$
• Ms. Wilson said we have a standing 2000$ for rentals and repairs. This year instead of renting, she was able to buy some.
• Requesting 3200$ for music budget.
• 1000$ requested for Newsly  - MLL student subscription.
• Primary K-2: experience or performance
• 820$ for Track and Field – shuttle bus (410$ each)
• Separate yearbook for grade 8s – 1800$
• Shelley asked if Grade 8 was purchased.
• Yes, this would be subsidized.
• 6800$ for Grad??
• 20000$ for tech – chromebooks, airtame, etc
• Junior Games Club (inside recess time) – 3000$
• Reading Initiative – 3000$
• Without the playground – total is 60275$
• Ms. Sawchuk said normally it is one day. Now it's 2 days.
• 2 buses for each day. 4-6, 7-8. The board budget used to cover it but within 2 days, there is not enough money. And it's too many students to keep.
• Anabela asked if we could donate balls, hoops, ropes, etc. Heather said that it has to be board approved vendors.
• Rick asked about the tax receipt for anything donated.
• Heather said as long as it's 25$.
• Ms. Cooper is looking for 500 piece puzzles.
• Devika asked if we can get a list of games, materials, etc and then we’ll ask the committee for donations.
• Heather will send the list and we will vet the item for school use. The rest will be donated.

5. New Topics/

Misc.

All

• Anita spoke about the Terra-cotta cookies and to date there are no orders.
• Daphne said there likely is an issue because her friends have ordered. Anabela said she’s ordered, Ms. Wilson has ordered.
• Skate night update; March 30th – 6-8, Elvis Stojko
• Rick is still working on skate rentals.
• Pegita passed around a sign-up sheet for sub committees.
• Pegita also spoke about Teacher Appreciation Breakfast – Wednesday Dec 10 – 8AM: YES!!
• Looking at dates for Carnival because things get booked. Looking at June 10^th or June 12^th .
• Heather said that either is fine.
• Pegita will check with our vendors.
• Parisa spoke about special interest providers – Top 5 that parents suggested.
• Sport, Stem and Science.
• Devika and Parisa met with Heather and Georgia regarding next steps and available space, do we need staff to be available, etc.
• Georgia has sent it out to staff with information and a schedule to give teachers an opportunity to help. The programs will start Jan 2026.
• Parisa asked how many programs we could have.
• Georgia said the gym is available 1x a week.
• Ms. Myers and Ms. Sawchuk spoke about the difficulty of getting gym time. Volleyball, Basketball and Badminton are during the early years.
• Ms. Leder suggested something in the library – ie: science or stem, arts and craft.
• Parisa asked if we had the instruments.
• Heather said her understanding is that we are just providing the space and the students.
• Ms. Leder suggested we work with the bigger spaces as it’s a big ask to use a teacher classroom. What would we do on an indoor recess when kids are in a class and the space is needed?
• Heather said what we need to think about is how many we want to run in a day or week. Sounds like the gym will be tricky. Library maybe 2x a week. Gym maybe 1x.
• Devika asked if we can find out what already exists within the school,run by students, so we are not duplicating.
• Georgia said she can get that information to us.
• Zehra mentioned that if parents are paying, it's important to have coordination.
• Shelley asked if angel funds would help with special interest clubs. The answer is yes.
• Heather said that sometimes a provider will give some “freebies”. If you are offering something at your school, it has to be available for all students.
• Shelley said very few offer subsidies this year.
• Atty mentioned that there was a question on the survey about how much parents would pay for special interest programs.
• Parisa said most parents were comfortable with paying up to 45$ per session.
• Shelly asked if after school is more expensive. The answer is yes as the period is longer.
• Zehra asked if we have ever used the angel fund for special interest.
• Pegita said it's extra-curricular, therefore not a  necessity.
• Heather said that they have used angel funds for some lunch programs. She does not want it to be a sticking point and we will do the best we can and not create more work.
• Parisa asked for the programs that we currently have, what's coming up (sports, music).
• Georgia will ask. A lot of the programs are ongoing, catered to the intermediate kids.
• Parisa said one of the parents wanted to bring chess as a volunteer. She confirmed that a  staff member would need to be available.
• The volunteer would have to be screened, and sign a confidentiality agreement.
• If there is something that the Council can help with – chess sets – we will.
• Ms. Wilson said the musical is May 13 and 14^th.

Good Night!!