Medill PTO Meeting Minutes

Transcription

1 Medill PTO Meeting Minutes Tuesday, April 16, 7:00 pm Medill Elementary Present: Jean Comer Erin Riggs Renee Reilly Amy Schleich Susan Roth Marty Locke Missy Ballenger Jennifer Matson Jessica Boster Molly Saheli Wendy Travis Michael Travis Anne Brenamen Julie Parrett Neil Riggs Call to Order Welcome Principal s Update (Dr. Svoboda is at a Testing Meeting this evening) State of Ohio Testing Begins Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 Students in third, fourth, and fifth grade will be taking the State Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAA s) beginning April 23rd-25th following the schedule below: April 23rd, Tuesday...Grades 3, 4, 5, State Reading Achievement Assessment April 24th, Wednesday Grades 3, 4, 5 State Math Achievement Assessment April 25th, Thursday...Grade 5 State Science Achievement Assessment Make-up testing begins immediately, as students cannot be excused from the testing. It is MUCH better for your child to take the test with their peers on the assigned day! (Note - 2nd Grade students will be taking required group IQ/Ability tests this same week) Teacher s Report Request of Funds presented by Ms. Saheli Funds needed for ROE. Ms. Saheli has received the honor of being named the AAA School Safety Patrol Adviser of the Year by the State of Ohio. She is to be recognized at the Columbus Clippers game on Saturday, May 18 th. There is a slide that was passed around the room which will be on the LSN channel. She was made aware that they are allowing 17 students & a guest to attend. Guest may require Mom or Dad. The 5 th graders are not allowed to attend the ceremony, but she is attempting to get as many 5 th graders to the game as possible, by carpooling to limit adults and have students take students as guests. Safety Patrol will get to be in a parade around the stadium, a free camo hat, as well as a meal and there is a band before the game. Max of the money to be taken to supplement was $ This is ROE

2 money and that account was reviewed as having $4, as of 12/31/12 and the updated balance was listed as $4, as of 3/31/13, so funds were available. Update on ipad cart & covers - covers are being sought. Hoping to get orange so that each set would be a different color and that color was not in stock, so now looking at obtaining red or black covers. The quote was requested today. A delay occurred due to adjustment being needed since the new ipads have lightning jack and need the correct port in the cart. Teachers will have 3 teams bowling for Big Brothers / Big Sisters. Information shared was that for 1 mentor for 1 child for a year is $ Bowling event occurs this Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 2:00 at Tiki Lanes. This information was already shared on the Medill Elementary facebook page and the Medill PTO page was also updated with this same information. President s Report Officer Nominations Current Officers are willing to continue. New names for officers were requested. Co-treasurer Regina King / Tracy Carrico Co-secretary Julie Parrett / Susan Roth Co VP Jennifer Walters / Terre Vandervoort. By-laws reference that the Vice President shall be asked to become a president at the next election of officers. Jennifer Walters will need to be asked. Updated ballot listed below. Pres Jean Comer / Erin Riggs / Jennifer Walters? VP Erin Riggs / Jennifer Walters / Terre Vandervoort Sec Julie Parrett / Susan Roth / Amy Schleich Treasury Renee Reilly / Regina King / Tracy Carrico Volunteer Coordinator Trudy Deitz / Marty Locke Next PTO Meeting The next meeting is scheduled for Tue May 21 st / week before Memorial Day. Motion to change this meeting to 7:00 p,m. by Terre Vandervoort. 2 nd by Wendy Travis. Questions or discussion. Discussion occurred. Officer can not attend vote even as a nominee at previously stated time. Will not have staff available if it is not at 3:45 p.m. Rotation of staff as a possibility Staff will need to leave to tend to things at the home and then return and live at a distance for such a late meeting.

3 Discussion occurred as to building parent base as well as staff base. Concerns as to parents requesting time off work etc. Single parents having difficulty in attending 7:00 would allow for parents that have children that can serve as babysitters to be present for children. Vote to move the May 21 st meeting from 3:45 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. In favor 7 Oppose 6 The next meeting will be held on May 21 st at 7:00 p.m. Enrichment committee budget The 2013/2014 Enrichment Committee Schedule was shared with the group. The proposed budget for approval was $8, Information featured on the schedule included the following: $ Columbus Children s Theatre $500-$630 Jim Basketball Jones teachers shared that the website for this individual was worth watching so it has been shared here in these minutes. The Jim Basketball Jones assembly runs minutes in length. It has been scheduled for April 4, The cost will be $500. $250 Donation to Fairfield County Strings and Things. - There is no charge for this function but requested this as a donation to scholarships. $150 per grade Alley Park $?? Art Intern working with Mandy Custer on this as an option. $0 Percussion Ensemble $4,000 Art & Clay The full report that reviews each program in detail and the benefits was provided at the meeting and has been scanned for inclusion (for reference) in the minutes. It was decided to table the conversation and vote will be held next month to give time to obtain clarification on the cost of Art and Clay and length of time on Jim Basketball Jones assembly. Trudy had a conflict and was not available to answer the questions during this meeting. Vice President s Report No new update Treasurer s Report: Treasurer Report was distributed. Budget was distributed.

4 Forecast of budget that was completed at the beginning of the year was shared for informational purposes. Cash reserve was reviewed as it is a good option given that when working with different fundraisers it is encouraged to sell product and then collect to increase sales. This is haw we have operated with other vendors in the past. It is not how the current fundraisers have been completed, as it is timelier to complete / finish a fundraiser if funds are collected and turned in with the orders. Further, collecting the funds in advance will guard against loss of funds should individuals not pay. Cash reserve allows fundraiser coordinators and the treasurer to pay the invoice when items are delivered but funds have not yet collected or deposited. It was asked if the Treasurer Report and the Budget was included for approval. The Treasurer Report was being asked to be approved. The budget was shared for informational purposes. Motion to approve the Treasurer Report by Susan Roth / 2 nd All approved. by Missy Ballenger. Secretary s Report: Approval of Minutes from 3/19/13 Meeting Motion to approve the minutes by Terre Vandervoort / 2 nd Jessica Boster. All approved. Volunteer Coordinator s Report: Test Week Snacks Have been purchased. More bottled water will be needed but there is a $10 Kroger gift card and Walmart gift card of $50. Conn s has provided a donation of chips (portion of chips purchased and portion donated). Teachers shared that with testing it may be a problematic snack given grease residue and needing to take a break to wash hands to ensure test papers are scanned without complication. Discussion requested to see if Conn s would provide pretzels instead of chips, once the chips were returned. Motion to purchase pretzels for testing day by Terre Vandervoort / 2 nd by Michael Travis. Attempt will be made to return chips and if not able to return we will purchase pretzels. All approved. Update via on 4/17/13 With regards to the chips that were donated and purchased from Conns, Conns does not make their own pretzels. They would have cost more and Conns would not have been able to donate any pretzels. Therefore, that is one of the reasons I purchased chips. I realize they are not as healthy as pretzels, but thought the kids would enjoy them. I have a call in to Conns to see if I can still return the boxes and we would need to purchase all the pretzels needed. Teacher Appreciation Week Stacey Mitchell, Anne Brenamen, and Jaime Delong will meet on Friday morning (4/19/13) to discuss ideas. There is a budget of $500

5 for this. Debbie Bates culinary arts instructor at LHS can prepare lunches. Wrap / pasta salad / fruit salad / at $6.50 each. More work to continue and be completed by the volunteers listed above. Lancaster Greenhouse fundraiser - is occurring on Mother s Day weekend. May 10 th and 11 th. Percentage of the sales serve as a fundraiser for the PTO. A list with the names of 20 people is available with individuals that will need to be re-finger printed due to expiration of current report. Finger printing that occurs by employers will be accepted, but documentation must be provided that such has occurred. Ms. Smith has a folder in her office regarding individuals that have been finger printed. Call central office anytime to schedule if needed. Old Business: Art Show/Auction No new updates. Magazines Order Mrs. Clark Cupp is definitely interested in the Ohio News Weekly Entire year for the entire 4 th grade is $ for 56 copies. Motion to approve the cost stated above by Terre Vandervoort / 2 nd by Renee Reilly. Discussion occurred. All approved. Ohio News also does a science curriculum and a social studies curriculum for all grades should other teachers be interested. Study Island replacement Is National Geographic magazine a possible replacement for this? Discussion occurred and it was not mentioned as an alternative, just an option. The magazine that was discussed at the last meeting is to supplement science from book fair proceeds. Motion made by Terre Vandervoort to renew Study Island until an appropriate alternative is found. Cost was reviewed as $800 for a grade band, thus if it is needed to review 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th grade levels, then all of those levels for the designated number of students would be required. Review of the amount committed on the budget to the education line was stated be approximately $ Susan Roth shared that the prior coverage on Study Island included more than simply science and therefore the cost may be reduced even further. There is need to obtain a quote for science only. Motion by Terre for purchase of Study Island for next year for science allowing a budget of $1500 / 2 nd by Marty Locke. All approved.

6 Walk-A-Thon/Health Fair Jean is trying to get with Mandy Custer. Earliest date is May 14 th to discuss options. It has been discussed to complete part of the event during the day and part during the evening. No final plans or date have been confirmed but Volunteers who are willing to assist are being asked to connect with Jean Comer. New Business: Riso Machine-use & repair discussion Service report for the machine was received. Costs for service continue to be the responsibility of the PTO and discussion occurred as to the benefits of the Riso machine versus a regular copier. Erin Riggs shared that the Riso machine will copy a template onto construction paper, which is an immense time saver to the teachers. Molly Saheli mentioned tag board can also be used in the machine. Machine is so very valuable and is of use when the Xerox copier goes down it is still available to make copies. Questions arose as to whether other schools have similar equipment and service commitments. Updating the other copier machines is dependant upon the district as the district is in contract with Xerox. Also given the new schools and merger of schools, it is not anticipated that funds will be put into updating copier machines. Riso machine is not covered under this service contract. It is not clear if the original purchase of the Riso machine was completed by the PTO or if the PTO has always maintained the service costs, but maintaining this machine was shared to be invaluable. By-laws review Amy Schleich reviewed PTO Roundtable suggestions to review the bylaws every 2 years. Currently our by-laws read that they are to be reviewed every 5 years. There are 2 areas within the by-laws to be adjusted pursuant to this motion. Motion to amend the by-laws to read that they are to be reviewed every 2 years instead of every 5 years by Amy Schleich / 2 nd Julie Parrett. All approved. Amend the by-laws. Amy Schleich presented a PTO request of funds form to the group in order to provide better documentation / safeguarding on major purchases as to how much of the funds are from PTO, warranty and liability issues, as well as what our ongoing expenses will be. This helps provide documentation for both the Secretary and the Treasurer, but also for future leaders within the PTO to reference and be aware of ongoing obligations. Form was shared at the meeting but no copies were available as the copier was broken. Faculty request form exists and Susan Roth printed a copy for review at the meeting as well as ed an electronic version to the officers. Draft request form will be reviewed when copies can be given to all and can be reviewed to be one request form for all (parent / faculty) instead of 2 separate

7 forms. In the case of emergent issues it was referenced, similar to the Ipads District budget was changed and immediate action was needed or the district money would have been gone by the next meeting. Do we want there to be a time limit, or do we want to remain flexible? The Faculty Request form is in the faculty folder for funds as this is if a faculty member makes a fund request. It is only a faculty folder. Move to table this issue to the next meeting as copies for all to review were not readily available. Motion by Neil Riggs / 2 nd Ms. Boster. Question from Michael Travis if there is an offer from the district tomorrow with funds for a great deal what is the current procedure? In the past special sessions / meetings have been called to take a vote. Neil Riggs questioned the prior vote as the current by-laws (Article 5, Section 4) stipulates P.T.O meetings shall be held as scheduled by the members. The time is to be fixed at the first meeting of the executive committee. A quorum shall consist of the number of those present at any regular meeting. Special meetings of the executive committee may be called by the President or by a majority of the members of the committee. (Full version of the by-laws are available online at pdf). Discussion occurred as meetings have been adjusted previously pursuant to a vote of the PTO. It was noted by Neil Riggs that this was in violation of this section of the by-laws. Motion was made to amend the bylaws to allow the option to adjust meeting dates and times as needed by vote of PTO, per a prior meeting. Motion by Amy Schleich / 2 nd by Julie Parrett. Discussion. Vote In favor - 7 Opposed 4 Abstein 3. Majority pass occurred. Motion to adjourn Terre Vandervoort / 2 nd Michael Travis. All approved.