PAC Meeting Minutes – September 17, 2019

Casey’s Report

• Students all seem to know where they are going and don’t feel lost.
• Every event or new thing that happens – reinventing the wheel with everything such as BTSN.
• Noise – it feels very loud in the building sometimes. Still working through a very long punch list. There are some relatively inexpensive fixes for the noise issues, which will be looked into by APS.
• Building security – still working on an alarm system for overnight and weekends. Right now, there are security guards to provide security at those times. Main entrance will be available on Monday (sidewalk to the entrance will be open).  There will be a security guard for events.  Officer James O’Daniel is our new SRO.  This is his first SRO appointment and he is open to security suggestions and ideas.  He wants to be proactive.  If your student reports issues, please share with admin and/or the SRO.
• Early release is on Thursday.
• Our relationship with the fire station has been very positive and has not presented any big issues.
• It is definitely a construction site on both sides of our building. Will be nice in a year when both buildings being built are closed in.
• We have a number of things we feel we need to buy which were not included in the APS budget such as furniture for the terraces. The No Sweat Fundraiser and the funds from the book about Vacation Lane are helping.
• Two major construction projects that are not complete –
  • Auditorium – aiming to be ready by the first concert scheduled for October
  • East entrance – laying concrete to get sidewalk ready
• No sign to denote that it is a school and interior signage – these are examples of the many things that need to happen that Casey is working on and pushing APS to complete.
• HVAC system – is finicky – it works and then it doesn’t. There are contractors in the building often working on it.  Hoping issues will be resolved soon.  The east side of the building is the worst with HVAC issues.
• At Town Meeting last week – students came to the meeting with signs that said, “Students for Swings.” There is now a Terrace Infrastructure Committee to address what we are going to do with the terraces and furniture.  There is a group of 5 or 6 students working on this and Casey is guiding them.
• Mural placement – discussion about murals and that there is no need to cover all the walls right away.
• Fire & lock down drills – we have done two fire drills. Good feedback from the students about the first fire drill and the second one was much better. Biggest concern is that students in some classrooms need to cross Wilson during a fire drill.  The police officer stops traffic on Wilson during the fire drill.  Most classrooms exit toward the front yard, not Wilson Blvd.  They have not had a lock down drill yet because the classroom doors don’t lock.  There is only one locksmith in APS.  Hoping to do the first lockdown drill next week.
• The business community is very happy to have HB in the community. 7-Eleven said the candy aisle and Slurpee machine have been big hits.  Encouraging the kids to behave well and use their manners and sidewalks when in the neighborhood.
• Rosslyn Business Improvement District – looking at how to build partnerships between the community and HB. Ben’s Chili Bowl would like a 25-foot mural made by the students and ACE Hardware will donate the paint. Internships for the students – we are in the beginning stages of exploring this within the rules of APS.  Another good opportunity is partnering with the county, which is four blocks away.
• There are no additional spaces for different courses in the new building compared to the old building. We have added in middle school electives where middle school students partner with Shriver classes.  There is a co-taught P.E. class and students are pushing into some Shriver classes.
• Transportation tweaks and suggestions – perhaps email Casey directly so she can share them with the Transportation Office.
• Traffic control, school zone signs, etc. Casey meets with the county every other Monday and this is an agenda item each time.
• Possibly do after school walking tours of Rosslyn with county officials – this might be offered soon.
• Is there a plan for the floors? I hear they are very porous and observe any liquid that is spilled on them.  They have tried many solvents to remove the stains, but now they need to be ground down.  They intend on addressing this in the summertime.  Two things didn’t happen in the final construction stages due to budgetary issues – sealing the concrete floors and finishing the elevator column (there are construction workers’ math problems outside the elevators).
• ART bus pilot – about 80 students experimenting with it.
• Parking for teachers has been just fine. Parking for events will be at the 1776 Wilson Blvd.  Parking during the day, parents should park in the garage at 1530 Wilson Blvd.  Bring your ticket to get it validated.
• Teachers and students can put in requests for extra things for their classrooms until next Friday. Then we will see how much all the requests will cost and will look into funding sources.
• Netflix has a documentary series called Abstract and episode #4 is about the architect who designed the new building.
• October 26th – open house for the community.
• The temporary fire station should move to its final location in 2.5 years. Then they will need to do construction to prepare the field.  Probably a total of 3 years before that space is usable.  We will then get 100 spots in the Penzance building for staff.
• Parks and Rec are realizing you can’t use the gym and theater for Saturday and evening activities if there is no parking. Parks and Rec may work around it by saying it can only be used for adult leagues – a lot of data collection will be done this year to see what the costs will be for parking (validation at garages).
• 7-Eleven – how was the decision made to consider the 7-Eleven be on campus. It is 6 feet away from the building.  We decided to allow 6th and 7th graders to go there.   Control their funds and you control their trips to 7-Eleven.  Right now, the line is 85% middle school boys and Graham and Casey are there or on Wilson everyday during lunch to monitor students.  First day of school, we had all the 6th graders in one room and explained the expectations and where their world ends.  Talked about the logistics and money.  We have met with the 7-Eleven workers and asked them to ID everyone who wants to buy cigarettes and vaping products.  Also, the 7-Eleven staff is considering moving the wine away from the front of the store.