Dunwoody High School Minutes for School Council Mee7ng
September 14, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. (DHS Media Center)

School Council Mission Statement: The purpose of the council is to bring schools and communi5es closer together to solve educa5on problems, improve academics, provide support for teachers and administrators, and bring parents into the decision making process.

A;endees - Dave Levy, Ka5e Scharf, Principal Bass, Allegra Johnson, Bob Fiscella, Fran Hughes, Kevin Travis, Michael Smith (City of Dunwoody - Public Works Director)

1. Welcome & Mee7ng called to order by Dave Levy at 4:05pm

·	Approval of Minutes from last mee<ng - mo<on to approve called by Allegra Johnson & seconded by Fran Hughes

·	Approval of amendment to Agenda - mo<on to approve called by Fran Hughes & seconded by Bob Fiscella

2. Sidewalk Project of City of Dunwoody (special guest Michael Smith, Public Works Director for City of Dunwoody)

·	There are several issues with the current sidewalk along Vermack Rd, there is limited disability access with exis<ng poles in the middle of the sidewalk and they are too narrow. The city is moving towards a larger more useable sidewalk along this sec<on of Vermack Rd (from Vanderlyn to Womack). New sidewalks will be 12 S wide with a 5 S buﬀer to the curb. DHS will not lose any parking or property. Small retaining walls will be needed in areas and power poles will not be moved. The sec<on of sidewalk along Womack Rd are more complicated due to the deten<on pond and limited space for expanding the sidewalks. This is s<ll in the conceptual design stage with no drawing yet.

·	Currently the city has an encroachment agreement with the school. Micheal assured the commiWee that there is minimal to no property loss (all of it will be property already on the outside of the exis<ng fence).

·	Public input is now, vo<ng by the city council will be next and a survey to follow. The earliest the project could begin is the summer of 2022.

·	Michael plans to return to the PAC mtg in January of 2022 aSer the city council votes on the project and drawings/plans have been made. He will connect with Allegra Johnson on the future plans.

Dunwoody High School 5035 Vermack Road Dunwoody, Georgia 30338
hWp://www.dunwoodyhs.dekalb.k12.ga.us/ Main Oﬃce: (678) 874-8502 Thomas Bass, Principal

·	Ques<ons from PAC members -

✴	There are concerns over the ability to ﬁt the expanded sidewalk, buﬀer, etc in certain areas of Vermack (where the ramp of a trailer is located, also near the large power grid for the upper trailers). Mr. Smith said he believes the city has an agreement with DCSD regarding loca<on of trailers and will address the ramp concern if needed.

✴	Can the sidewalk be expanded oﬀ Womack Rd? Or can the safety of the exit/entrance be improved for pedestrians? Mr. Smith said they city council will look into this op<on.

✴	Will this project be during school months or over summer? How long will it take? Mr. Smith assured the PAC commiWee that the council does not want this project to be done during school months and would most likely complete it during the summer months or in phases.

✴	Can we add more parking on the street by changing the parking to angled instead of parallel? (This ques<on was asked aSer Michael leS the mee<ng and we are wai<ng for a response via email)

3. Teachers’ Report - Kevin Travis

·	School year is in full swing with normal school days and fewer interrup<ons. There are no new concerns or complaints from the teachers.

·	There is a concern over subs<tute teachers (speciﬁcally in social studies). They understand that this is a county issue and not a school issue, but teachers are losing their planning periods in order to cover last minute absences.

·	The teachers running for PAC are very excited to par<cipate.

4. Principal’s Report - Principal Bass

·	Enrollment – in person = 2120 (includes virtual = 30), this leave DHS -120 under the projected number of 2255. We feel assured that we will not lose any teachers because of the current openings.

·	School Safety, Security and Covid -

Dunwoody High School 5035 Vermack Road Dunwoody, Georgia 30338
hWp://www.dunwoodyhs.dekalb.k12.ga.us/ Main Oﬃce: (678) 874-8502 Thomas Bass, Principal

✴	“Bus Driver Issue” - last Friday (9/10), 5 of 23 buses arrived at the school. Students were required to ﬁnd alternate means of transporta<on to/ from school. All students made it home safely. All buses seem to be back on schedule as of Wednesday (9/15). The superintendent is addressing the county wide issue with improved mask requirements on buses, cleaning, & improved wages.

✴	Social Media Challenges - there has been an increase in property damage as a part of a social media challenge the students are par<cipa<ng in. Bathrooms have been vandalized with walls broken, doors removes, sinks knocked oﬀ walls and urinals broken. Some students have been caught, but this is an ongoing problem at DHS and other region schools.

·	Staﬃng - recently ﬁlled night custodian posi<on, several special educa<on posi<ons, several admin posi<ons have been promoted and ﬁlled. The current open posi<ons in math, science, social studies and para/student support won’t be ﬁlled. DHS lost staﬀ who working on student 504’s and recently ﬁlled the posi<on with Ms. Leabeater from our English department.

·	Subs<tute teacher availability - Coach bass understands the sub issues and empathizes with the staﬀ. He also knows that the amount of subs currently being needed needs to be reduced. He needs the staﬀ to understand the impact of their absence on the rest of the department. Currently staﬀ start the sub request online through the system, then it goes to Ms King on the morning of the absence and ﬁnally goes to the department to cover the classes. DHS is currently using about 20 subs/day.

·	Schedules/Instruc<onal Needs - Progress reports were issues on Friday 9/10/21. Admin will go through the failures and reevaluate students growth and teacher assessments. Admin may speak with teachers if their failure numbers are too high. Coach Bass is passionate about suppor<ng student growth and asking teachers to possibly change the way they teach in order to help support students. 32% of 9th graders failed 1 class or more in the 2020/21 school year.

·	Teachers and Staﬀ Issues/Needs

·	Facility Issues and Repairs - Coach Bass, Mr Blake and Dr. Johnson (from central oﬃce) will walk the grounds on Wednesday 9/15/21. They know there are several leaks, structural concerns, ants/wasps at outdoor tables, and ongoing HVAC issues. The turf ﬁeld is OPEN! The track work will begin this week (Tuesday-Friday). NO ONE can walk on the tack once it is stalled for 2 days. There is a concern over people not obeying the signage. Dunwoody Dads has create a groups to patrol the track and prevent people from walking on it aSer
Dunwoody High School 5035 Vermack Road Dunwoody, Georgia 30338
hWp://www.dunwoodyhs.dekalb.k12.ga.us/ Main Oﬃce: (678) 874-8502 Thomas Bass, Principal

installa<on. Once the track is done the school can move towards the next projects - bathrooms/concessions, new stands and press box, ﬁxing up the outdoor building athle<cs with paint and logos. (It was men<oned to use social media blasts to reemphasize staying oﬀ the track).

·	Other Current Issues -

✴	“Breakfast with Bass” has been a great event! He invites a small group of seniors to breakfast with him. They discuss the school, ask ques<ons and get sugges<ons for making DHS amazing. He men<oned that every <me he discusses the students favorite teacher, Mr Travis is always men<oned for how well he supports his students.

✴	Dunwoody "Focus 40” ini<a<ve may be delayed un<l 2022-23 school year due to the complexity of changing lunch<mes, rearranging the media center and having the ﬁre Marshall approve spaces.

✴	Senior class is preparing to donate, as a class giS, picnic tables & sail shades above the tables (where the old trailers used to be in the back of the school). This will create a sisng area for seniors during lunches as well as a shaded area for people to watch games.

✴	Homecoming will happen this year, but no school Homecoming Dance. During the week there will dress up days, on Thursday there will be the annual parade, Homecoming Court will be announced by grade level in the gym, the football game will happen on Friday evening. Coach Bass is trying to create a “Fes<val” with music, food trucks and a possible kickball game. This event is not conﬁrmed yet.

✴	On Tuesday, September 21st all of the Na<onal Honor Socie<es will have their Induc<ons during the lunches/3rd period. This event will be taped for families since no guests will be allowed.

5. New Business/Unﬁnished Business

·	Deten<on pond - there has been no communica<on from the county to Coach Bass on the status or outcome of the project currently going on.

Dunwoody High School 5035 Vermack Road Dunwoody, Georgia 30338
hWp://www.dunwoodyhs.dekalb.k12.ga.us/ Main Oﬃce: (678) 874-8502 Thomas Bass, Principal

·	Parking - Council expressed concern over the lack of parking for students and the fact that most of them are not successful at parallel parking. Coach Bass suggested a poten<al idea for next year allowing Seniors to poten<ally paint/ decorate their parking spots for the school year.

·	Dunwoody turns 50 Celebra<on - following the comple<on of the track and ﬁeld project, 5-7 staﬀ & alumni along with Coach Bass plan to begin the planning for the event. It will be a big fundraiser for the outdoor stadium projects.

·	CMP - council has not heard any updates on projects or updated reports.

·	Wildcat fund update and concession stand and bathroom project progress

·	Other business - council asked the possibility of moving back to 6A from 7A. We are at the boWom of student count for 7A status. This is evaluated every two years and we will address it when it is <me.

6. Public Comments - no public comment

7. Recap/Adjournment - the council thanked Dave Levy for serving as chairperson for the PAC and thanked him for all of his work. Dave expressed his gra<tude and bid a fond farewell to the council.

8. Mee7ng adjourned unanimously - mo7on called by Ka7e Scharf and seconded by Allegra Johnson at 5:35pm

9. Next mee7ng is not scheduled yet, the PAC Council elec7ons will be held later in September.

Dunwoody High School 5035 Vermack Road Dunwoody, Georgia 30338
hWp://www.dunwoodyhs.dekalb.k12.ga.us/ Main Oﬃce: (678) 874-8502 Thomas Bass, Principal