Minutes of Meeting on Nov. 20th

The second “Friends of Pitisuksa” meeting was held on November 20 at 3 pm. Board members and teachers were invited to attend the meeting. The meeting was attended by: Jeffrey Clair, Kn. Chayawat (Big), Jan and Ellen Smit, Ester and Chris Hoagland, Noi Wiriyasorot, Charles Gardener, Pongrat Chatchawarat, Jenli Phisitkul, Asucena Cohen, Harry Kievits, Willem van Benthum, Piyanoot Chairat, Mark de Beer, Anthony Lippmann, Richard Chase, Molly McKeithen, Parichat Boonjesne, Ron Barnett, Todd Berry, Anna Timmer, Yuliya Naumkina, Joh Giteja, Kanotwan Chaiwanichkul, Matthis Favoli, Jullapong Achalapong, Hans Verschuur, Kessuda Chatayanondh (Kade) (I apologize in advance for any misspellings or omissions. jc)

The meeting started with a brief introduction of Board Members who were present including Big, Esther, Champoo, Kade, Harry and Oy.

The first question asked was how a board could best help the school and teachers. Kroo Anna and Kroo Harry mentioned that it would help with dialog between the school and parents and seemed enthusiastic about the idea. There was much discussion about the idea.

Chris Hoagland mentioned that Board Members were wearing many hats that could potentially cause problems. For example it would be difficult for a board rep to parent rep and a foundation rep.

Kn. Oy briefly talked about the difference between the school board and the foundation. For the foundation there are five board members, Kn. Anan, Kn. Pattana, Kn. Chatayanondh, Kn. Susuma and Kn Som. Of the five, four are currently board members as well (except for Kn. Susuma.)

In order to create a flow of information from the parent group to the administration, two different ideas were discussed. The first was “what if most parents did not want ice cream sold on school grounds?” and the second was “what if parents wanted Chinese to be taught daily in the classroom?” These questions were posed to the board in order to understand the decision making process. Regarding ice cream it was determined that Kn. Oy would be responsible for a small issue like that. Regarding teaching Chinese in class it would require the board to discuss the issue after reviewing Thai laws, the financial requirements and the curriculum. Although technically speaking a majority vote would be enough pass an item Kn. Champoo volunteered that a simple majority typically was not enough as board members tried to reach a consensus before passing an item.

There was also consensus that more common or smaller problems/issues that only concern one child or its parents should be solved in a more direct way with teacher or school administration. But for more general issues that concern more parents a parent association will be a very helpful body to address parent’s wishes or concerns to the school administration and school board.

It also enables to survey whether a majority of the parents share the same opinion about an issue and it offers a structured way of communications between parents, teachers and school administration/board in both ways.

In the meeting it was generally agreed upon that the parent group needed to define itself. A steering committee to created for this purpose. The following volunteered to join the steering committee: Dr. Jullapong, Marc de Beer, Molly McKeithen, Nae, Charles Gardener, Richard Chase, Jeffrey Clair, Jenli Phisitkul and Willem van Benthum. The steering committee is working on the bylaws and will meet next Wed. to discuss ideas.

Regarding the pitisuksa.blogspot.com weblog, it was agreed upon that the blog should be private (i.e. only members have access to it) and whoever makes comments has to use their real name.

2nd Meeting, Tuesday Nov. 20th at 3:00 pm

The second meeting of the Friends of Pitisuksa will take place on Nov. 20th at 3 pm in the school library. Parents, teachers and board members will be invited to the meeting.

The agenda will be as follows:

1. Self introduction of attending board members, including parent representatives - 10 minutes
2. Attendees form groups of 5 or 6 people (parents, teachers and board members working together) and brainstorm to create a list of 5 or 6 concrete ideas how the school could be improved. - 20 minutes.
3. One representative from each group will read the top 5 ideas that the group has compiled. These will be recorded on a white-board. - 15 minutes
4. Committees will give reports on their activities. - 15 minutes
5. After the suggestions are complete they will be compiled into a survey (approximately 3 days after the meeting.) An example is below. Each family will get one survey and have a few days to fill it out. The survey results will then be compiled and posted here. The board will be asked to consider the top 10 most important items and respond to parent requests. The following month the parents will have a meeting with board members and hear if items are approved or if not approved what the rational is.

The goal is to have parents, teachers and administrators working together to create the best possibly school for our children.

Sample Survey (Suggestions need to have a time frame.)

1. Ice cream should stop being sold on school grounds immediately.
Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

2. Chinese should be taught in the school daily starting next term.
Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

3. The school budget should be available in Kn. Oi’s office for any parent to see at any time.
Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

4. Minutes from board meetings should be posted within 72 hours of the meeting.
Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

5. The school should hire a replacement PE teacher by Januaury 2008.
Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

Minutes of Nov. 1 Meeting

Piti Suksa Parent Group Meeting Minutes

November 8, 2007

These minutes consolidate information from the 3:15 and 6:30 PM meetings.

Attendees

Adisak Wittangkul, Todd Berry, Jenli Pisitkul, Jeffrey Clair, Worranart Imkiat, Kanokwan Chaiwanitkul, Suphakamol Phongphaiboon, Kate Heather, Wancharee Rattanboonchot, Anthony L., Mark de Beer, Hans Verschuur, Willem van Benthum, Detlef Beyer, Esther Hoagland, Kessuda Chatayanond, Penchan Kullasith, Charles Gardner, Jan Smit, Richard Chase, Kasemsri Wongtheptien, Saranya Suwansingh, Piyanoot Chatchawarat, Jullapong Achalapong, kroo Anne Timmer, kroo Oi, kroo Sue, kroo Matthew, Wanida Jamieson, Rinny Onsri, Steve Myers, Molly McKiethen, and 5 people whose names are illegible on the attendance sheet.

Opening

Charles Gardner opened the meeting and offered to act as secretary.

Introduction

Jeff Clair gave a brief motivation for this parent group. He described that several parents had initiated this group to give parents a way to contribute to the school and to aid communication between parents and the school.

Steve Myers described typical parent-teacher organizations found in the United States.

Open Forum

At the 3:15 meeting, several parents voiced their opinion that to facilitate communication during this first meeting school staff should not be present.

The following areas of concern and ideas for improving the school were discussed:

1. Parents don’t currently have a way to donate money to the school.
2. The school should improve its communication of needs to the parents. Currently parents don’t know what the school needs or how they can help.
3. Parents should be involved in electing members of the board of trustees.
4. Parents should have some input into the school curriculum.
5. Parents should have access to school financial records. The school should have more transparency in its financial operations.
6. The teacher turnover is high.
7. The school does not seem to put much effort into recruiting teachers. Parents could help recruit teachers through their contacts in their home countries.
8. Parents could act as sponsors for arriving teachers to welcome them and help them get settled in Chiang Rai.
9. Some parents don’t like commercial vendors operating in the school parking lot.
10. The parent organization should establish credibility and trust by undertaking projects that support the school before confronting the administration or board on other issues.
11. The school should consider teaching Chinese.
12. Parents should pursue some projects to support and show appreciation for the teachers.
13. Research the reasons families have left the school to help identify areas in which the school needs improvement.
14. Parents question whether the school is assessing students’ progress adequately.

Todd Berry and Jeff Clair volunteered to help on a fund-raising committee.

Upcoming Administrative Tasks

Charles Gardner introduced the upcoming task of drafting bylaws. Richard Chase suggested a steering committee be formed for this task. Charles Gardner, Richard Chase, and Kn. Kessuda volunteered for the steering committee. Kn. Kessuda later excused herself from the committee to avoid a conflict of interest, as she is a member of the board of trustees. Several parents said they thought the committee should include a Thai parent.

Review of Action Items

The following action items were reviewed:

1. Obtain copies of the school bylaws and the school budget – Jeff Clair
2. Translate the school bylaws into English and have copies available for review at the next meeting – Richard Chase
3. Translate the school budget into English and have copies available for review at the next meeting – Anthony L.

Plan for Next Meeting

Convenient meeting times were discussed, with several parents suggesting Sunday afternoon and several other parents preferring a weekday just after school. The next meeting was set for Tuesday, November 20, starting sometime between 3:00 and 3:30. At the 6:30 meeting, several parents agreed that a moderator should be selected for the next meeting. Items identified for the agenda of the next meeting were:

1. Progress report on drafting the bylaws
2. Progress report from the fund-raising group

First Meeting

Our first meeting will be held at the school on Thursday Nov. 8th. Because we want to encourage as many parents as possible to attend, we will have the same meeting at two different times, the first at 3:15 pm and the second at 6:30 pm. We hope to limit the meeting to one hour but are aware it might go longer. The meeting will be an open forum except for a two minute introduction by Jeffrey Clair on the background and motivation for a parent teacher organization and a five minute talk on the concept of a PTA by Steve Myers. From parent comments we can set an agenda for the second meeting. The structure of the organization will also need to be discussed including mission statement, policies, administrative structure, etc. If you are unable to attend either of the meetings but would like to have something put on the agenda for the next meeting, please post your thoughts on this blog.

Notes from School Meeting, Nov. 1

Based upon the very positive results from the meeting on Nov. 1, the initial posts on this website have been taken down. There was a feeling that the school is very willing to work with parents to create the best possible environment for the children.

Steve Myers and Jeffrey Clair volunteered to create an email and pamphlet to send to all parents and teachers inviting them for a meeting next week. (Time to be set later.) In order to best utilize everyone's limited time, we need to set an agenda. Most likely it will be about the structure of the PTA. For example, what is the main purpose of the PTA? How will it interface with the school? Will the PTA need hierarchical positions- President, VP, Treasurer, etc? How often will it meet? etc.