BLACK WALNUT PUBLIC SCHOOL – School Council Minutes
March 2, 2026
Meeting Format: In-Person
Attendees
In Attendance: Parents: Stephanie Whittamore, Jennifer Reitsma, Amy Chan, Connie Hui, Lang Vu, Rega Paramsothy, Jennifer Wu
Administration: Vivienne Baines (Principal), Meaghan Harley (Vice Principal)
Regrets: Nasia Isaac
Agenda
Welcome
Land Acknowledgment:
• Connie Hui read the YRDSB Land Acknowledgement
Approval of agenda:
• Moved by Jennifer Reitsma and seconded by Connie Hui
Approval of minutes of January 12, 2026 meeting:
• Moved by Connie Hui and seconded by Jennifer Reitsma
School Report – Vivienne Baines & Meaghan Harley
• Robotics Area Tournament – we won the School Spirit award
• Junior Girls Volleyball placed 2nd at Regionals (183 schools in our region); staff commented that they were an incredibly positive team and wonderful ambassadors of our school
• Lunar New Year lion dance was held and the lion threw lettuce at the students for luck
• Active School Travel assembly kick off occurred – YRP, by-law, school board members, Markham Cycle all attended; help kids think about ways to come to school actively
• Winter Walk to School Day had very high participation despite the cold
• For the City to fulfill their grant for our Active School Travel program, they were given certain criteria needs to be met including a lane/road closure around the school. They will conduct this pilot from May 11 – June 4, which will consist of a one-way lane closure for 2 weeks and a full road closure for the other 2 weeks. Lots of information will be sent home with families and community members will also be informed via mail/door-to-door knocking to ensure that everyone is aware of the closures. A table will also be set up at Council’s April 30th event where Board representatives can talk about the closure to families and answer any questions. Only 2% of the school population lives over 15 minute walk from school, the balance live within a 15 minute walk to the school.
• Caring and Safe Schools mid-year presentation occurred – focused on snow safety as well
• Ramadan resting space during lunch hour in the Multipurpose room for the students who are fasting
• Area Intermediate Basketball Tournament – the girls placed 3rd in areas, boys placed 4th in areas
• Trivia Team – placed 4th in York Region
• Chess Team has been invited to a tournament and details are being finalized
Council Chair / Treasurer Report – Stephanie Whittamore
• Last session of pizza/subs/bubble tea orders will begin this week
• Cost sharing amount we approved has been paid out and tech has been purchased
• Jerseys and equity team approved funding is in process but still to come out of our account
• The cart we approved for the Healthy Snacks program last meeting cost too much when having to use a Board-approved vendor so they will make do with tables for now are will not make a cart purchase. The caretaking staff is keeping an eye out for one that can be used instead.
• $20,126.59 is current School Council account balance but after remaining lunch and other approved expenses withdrawn the expected remaining balance is approximately $7,600.
• When considering expected final-term lunch profits, Terra Cotta fundraising profits, and Olympics event profits, should be well over $10,000 by end of year.
PRO Grant – discussion
• Scott Ste Marie seems to be cost-prohibitive at the $2,000 +HST he is requesting.
• Brett Ullman will be speaking at Cornell Village PS on April 16th and their Council is considering inviting us depending on their own expected attendees. We can also consider having our own date to have him to BWPS if no other suggested speakers.
• Proposal to reach out the social worker in the school to see if they have some insight into anyone who could speak on a topic relevant to our parent population.
• Amy will do some research on potential other speakers that we can look into.
• Stephanie proposed that we talk to Cornell Village about partnering for next school year’s PRO Grant to do a joint application for Scott Ste Marie. Members agreed this would be a great idea.
Engagement & Fundraising Committee
• Fun Fair/Olympic Family Event planning going well. Some extra student volunteers would be helpful. We will aim to try to raise some money for this event.
• Terra Cotta sales will start on March 9th. Delivery on April 14th.
Funding Requests
• Trivia Team: buzzer set kit for 8 players – cost of $535 +HST
• Music: buckets for drumming – cost of $100 + HST
• K-3: various supplies (shelving for bunker, literacy games, etc.) – total cost of $2,000 + HST
• Junior-Intermediate: various supplies (electric pencil sharpeners, privacy board, staplers, standing desks, etc.) – total cost of $2,000 + HST
• Multipurpose Room: shelf for storage – total cost of $2,800 + HST (materials and installation)
• Total fund requests are $7,435 + HST ($8,401.55 total) o Motioned by Amy Chan, seconded by Rega Paramsothy, motion passed unanimously
• Donation request from parents for games/puzzles will also go out in Weekly
Next Meeting – May 4, 2026