Meet your 2025/2026 School Council: 

We are excited to have such a great team of parents volunteering this year: 

• Chair: Candice Gunovan

• Co-Chair: Sanjay Seegobin

• Treasurers: Rashed Chowdhury

• Secretary: Shereen Elgohary

• Voting Members: Meetu Mehra, Nikita Zhang, Aaron Wu, Olufunmi Oseji, Baljinder, Nagra, Natalie Corrigan, Lori Chen, John Ye, Ana Reyes, Liat Lamberti, Tanja Djurdjevic, Arpit Mittal, Rashed Chowdhury, Sapna Gaba, Sukhminder Gill, Pouneh Salehi, Mihaela Vidican, Karen Padda

Meeting Minutes: 

FOREST TRAIL School Council Minutes 2025-2026

Oct 6, 2025

Agenda:

Welcome                

Land Acknowledgement  

Principal Report                        

Technology                                                 

Treasurer Report                   

Roles & Committees                                              

Future Meeting Dates                                           

Voting Members Present: Judi ,Christine, Candice, Shereen, Tanja ,Ana, Natalie,  Liat, John,Meetu, Sukhminder, Rashed, Arpit, Lori, Mikayla, Pouneh, Aaron

Regrets:

Sanjay

6:02 Called to order by Candice and round the table introductions

6:04 Land Acknowledgment by Judi

2025-2026 Council explanation and roles 6:07 (Candice Gunoven):

• Preferred that if you are going to be on council, you attend most if not all meetings so that we can have quorum for voting

• Council mandate is to work with school administrators to enhance the school experience. A big part of our role is fundraising.

• Open spots this year: Pic rep, Volunteer coordinator, Fundraising committee, Coyote news communication advisor

• PIC rep- link between the council and regional pic committee. This person helps with pro grant committee and attends pic meetings- ARPIT volunteers to be pic rep

• Volunteer Coordinator- helps to source and organize volunteers for the school- LORI volunteers.

• Fundraising Committee- Mikayla to join, Meetu, Ana and Natalie

• Coyote News communication advisor- provides a weekly blurb or event specific info to the coyote news by Thursday at 5:00pm, so it can be distributed to the school on Fridays. LIAT volunteers.

Principal Report 6:21pm (Judi Laman):

• Aubrey Noronha spoke with students and staff two weeks ago. Well received by all

• Apples for Terry Fox were a hit with students and staff

• Meet the Teacher and explore the classroom October 9th 530-630pm

• Intermediate grades to do 2 different sessions in the gym so all students are getting the same message

• No book fair until the week of November 24th. Will be held the same week as student led conferences. Volunteers would be helpful

• P.A. Day content- first piece will be around bullying prevention and creating intervention plans. Once these are created, they will be shared. Continuing anti racism learning and work, incorporating a literacy and numeracy component in these learnings. Reflecting on student identities in learning materials. Leadership team of teachers to create this year’s SIPSA(school improvement plan)

• December 4th- Art Night. Drop in to see kids' art. Will be a talent show style with the potential for kids to be playing musical instruments. Still working through the details for this event. Will not be a fundraiser, but in the spirit of community building, council may provide cider or hot chocolate, with the agreement from teachers who are running the event.

• February 12th- Paul Davis to host a parent session

• Judi explains the Code of Conduct- Maintain a consistent standard of behaviour. Provide clear communication to all stakeholders about school and system culture. Ensure a safe, caring and inclusive environment for the entire school community.

• The community is changing, there is and will be a greater need for fundraising. Potentially adding more to the Coyotes Den, if need be.

Fundraising 6:44pm (Natalie and Meetu)

• Will likely run Chromebooks for Coyotes again. Link in the Coyote News so parents can donate

• Movie Night was a huge success last year with almost 400 tickets sold. As a result,  we have decided to run one in November. Movies being screened are Wicked 2 and Zootopia 2

• Last year’s profit was $1/ticket. Will consider raising the ticket price by a little bit for a higher profit margin this year. Combos still to be sold. 

• Film.ca will still confirm the date with the fundraising committee. Volunteers will be needed for this event.

• Teacher Appreciation: Terra Cotta cookies sells heart shaped cookies (“we love teachers/anti bullying “ as a potential theme). The profit from these sales, can be used towards teacher appreciation

• Spring- Dave and Busters night! (March 12th or April 23rd) School will pre-sell $20 power play cards, of which the school will retain 50% of the cost of all cards sold. On the day of the school event at Dave and Busters, all food and drink (non alcohol) and power cards sold that day, school will retain 20% of the total amount. 

• Dance-a-thon is a maybe as a fundraising event. If we do proceed, Judi suggests that we save on the cost of a DJ. Admin can take on the music, so the profit can remain with the school.

• 3 asks from the fundraising committee: stuffies, sponsorship and tickets for the fun fair. To be discussed as the year progresses.

Finance Report 7:05- next time

Treasurer Report 7:05 (Rashed)

• $7200 for Term 1 food ordering

• Woodward Meats- $348

• Council used $400 for apples and $5274.84 for school pinnies

• Coyotes Den- running balance of $2000, council will top it up on a need be basis

• Bank Balance $18,629

• Net Proceeds from fundraisers is $9,172. Council contributions is $5675

Parking Lot 7:11pm

• Storage concerns in the portables

• Idea for “classroom fund”. Discretionary “allowance” for teachers to use for their classrooms

Meeting Adjourned 7:18pm

Election Information 7:07pm

• Executive positions would all like to stay in their roles so election will be unlikely. Form is out for sign ups. 14 voting positions are available on top of the executive positions. 

NEXT MEETING: 2025-2026 school year

Monday, October 6th 

Meeting Adjourned at 7:17pm

Amended October 6th, 2025

June 12th, 2025- online motion

Sanjay moves to purchase 27 Chromebooks at an approximate cost of $10,000 . Meetu seconds the motion. Unanimously passes

June 16th, 2025- online motion

Sanjay moves to purchase an additional 15 Chromebooks at $5600. Shereen seconds the motion. Unanimously passed.

September 16th, 2025 online motion.

Candice moves to purchase apples for Terry Fox Run $450

Rashed 2nds the motion

Unanimously passed

September 19th, 2025 online motion 

Candice moves to purchase 200 pinnies - $5274.84

Liat 2nds the motion

Unanimously passed

FOREST TRAIL School Council Minutes 2025-2026

Sept 18, 2025

Agenda:

Welcome                

Land Acknowledgement  

Principal Report                        

Technology                                                 

Treasurer Report                   

Roles & Committees                                              

Future Meeting Dates                                           

Voting Members Present: Judi Laman, Christine Naresh, Candice Gunoven, Sanjay Seegobin, Shereen Elgohary, Tanja Djurdjevic,Ana Reyes, Dima Saghir,  Natalie Corrigan, Amy Reid,  Liat Lamberti, John Ye, Meetu Mehra, Sukhminder Gill, Rashed Chowdhury

Regrets: 

6:02 Called to order by Candice

6:05 Land Acknowledgment by Judi

Principal Report 6:07pm (Judi Laman):

• This year’s council will likely not have a teacher representative. Judi has asked the school board if we can still have a council without a teacher representative. Response was that this is not favourable however we can still proceed. 

• Outside parent and student chat groups- Discussion of how we can apply the code of conflict and school council handbook to positively influence how these chats proceed and to stop the spread of misinformation.

• This year the school has a robust enrollment with 9 grade 2 classes, each one with 20+ students.

• There is the possibility of a classroom re-organization based on numbers and other factors.

• Meet the Teacher Night moves to October 9th (5:30pm-6:30pm). This is not a community event. The intention is for children to show parents their classrooms and meet the teacher. Intermediate grades will have 2 different sessions for information.

• Book Fair will move to the week of November 24th (parent teacher interview week). Book Fair will be open in the morning and evening

• There will be an art night, put on by the new teachers in Music and Art to showcase art, music and drama from the students. Tentative date is December 4th.

Fundraising 6:22pm (Natalie and Meetu)

Fun Fair

• Pre sold ticket packages of 375+114 packages were sold on the day of the event

• Total revenue (including sponsorships and tickets sold) was $11,964.50. Different on the Treasurer report  because it included food that was sold. 

• $1016.23 in refunds for people who did not attend (purchased in error, not incoming students, etc)

• Total profit of $6406.08

• 383 food orders+ staff meals= $3312.30

•  We had a surplus of $727.70 for staff appreciation 

• 29 teacher volunteers, 7 non council members and 30 high school volunteers.

• Food could be organized differently next year (long line ups and cold food were some feedback) 

• Learnings for next year: Clear signage, more cotton candy and freezies, more garbage cans. Consider selling drinks. Possible pos for live purchases, extra inflatable, no balloon twister, more prizes, more free games, additional face painter or basic options so the line isn’t as long. Increase sponsorship value. Start table set up earlier, potentially extend the length of the event

• June 4th is the date for this year’s Fun Fair.

WHITE BOARD 6:45pm (Sanjay)

• Survey results- 31 responses with 16 received by end of June

• Types of fundraising- overall good

• Amount of fundraising- overall perfect

• Nothing Bundt Cake- do not repeat

• Terra Cotta Cookies- repeat

• Fun Fair- repeat

• Movie Night- repeat *consider two this year

• Money spent on tech, class

Treasurer Report 6:53pm (Rashed)

• 68% of what was raised this year was spent. 

• $37816  from fundraisers

• Council contributions: Coyotes Den, Chromebooks, Grade 7 and 8 trips, Ozobots, apples for Terry Fox Run, Pinnies- total $25, 967

• Ending balance of $18,829 

• Student population of 796 this year

• Food Ordering costs have gone up, all options will be slightly more expensive this year

Election Information 7:07pm

• Executive positions would all like to stay in their roles so election will be unlikely. Form is out for sign ups. 14 voting positions are available on top of the executive positions. 

NEXT MEETING: 2025-2026 school year

Monday, October 6th 

Meeting adjourned at 7:17pm

Amended June 26th, 2025

June 12th, 2025- online motion

Sanjay moves to purchase 27 Chromebooks at an approximate cost of $10,000 . Meetu seconds the motion. Unanimously passes

June 16th, 2025- online motion

Sanjay moves to purchase an additional 15 Chromebooks at $5600. Shereen seconds the motion. Unanimously passed.

Fundraising Opportunities: 

At Forest Trail, we have a number of ongoing fundraisers. All funds raised by school council are invested back in the school in the form of new technology, field trip assistance and other initiatives. We appreciate your support!

Woodward Meats

• 6% of your order amount gets donated back to the school when purchases are made through this link

Cob’s Bread (Third Line)

• 10% of your order amount gets donated back to the school.  Simply let the cashier know that you are from Forest Trail P.S!

Mabel’s Labels

• 20% of your order amount gets donated back to Forest Trail.  Just click on ‘support a fundraiser’ and search for Forest Trail Public School. 

Flipgive

• A percentage of your purchase gets donated back to the school.  Click here to get started.  

Get Involved: 

We are always looking for parent volunteers to help with our hot lunches and other fun community events throughout the year. If you are interested, please fill in our volunteer form here and our Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch shortly.