Minutes of PTSA meeting of Oct 3rd 2007
Location: Pawling Middle School cafeteria
Present: Please see the attached sign in sheet that was passed around at the start of the meeting.
1.
Introductions:
Bart Louwagie, President, started the
introductions by giving his overview and thoughts on the focus and direction
the Pawling PTSA will be taking. He then introduced each board
member. Each member gave a quick speech on who they are, the child they
have in the school, the position they are in and a brief note about
themselves.
2.
Request for Secretary:
Bart asked if anyone present at the meeting
would be interested in taking on the role as Secretary of the Pawling
PTSA. For the meeting, Claudia Jiskra volunteered to take notes.
3.
Meeting Organization:
Bart gave an overview of what the meeting
would cover, how long the meeting would run and gave everyone an agenda.
4. Budget Presentation:
Danielle Gentile, Treasurer, gave the
budget presentation. She provided a two page handout on the Reserve
Fund for the 2007/2008 school year. She started the presentation
with the carry forward balance, which is the cash on hand of $4,766.92.
She discussed in detail, the revenue, budget vs. actual and the expenses,
budget vs. actual. Expenses were broken down in the following
categories: Operating expenses, Fund Raising expenses, Arts in
Education expenses, the Principal Fund and Student Grant Initiative
and the Middle School and High School Expenses. At this point,
the total expenditures are $12,612.50. The total revenue is $12,265.00.
With these numbers, the Pawling PTSA will be operating at a deficit.
Some of the suggestions and items discussed were as follows:
- The group is operating $10,000
less than last year.
- Under Revenue, it was suggested
that Tigerwear be reduced from $1,750.00 to $1,000.00. It was
voted on and passed.
- The $99.50 item was the new
Pawling PTSA Banner which will be used at all of the events.
- Under Arts in Education, Jackie
Sweeney cost $2,000 last year.
- Mr. Lipsky gave a quick overview on what the Principals Fund would be used for. This is sort of an “emergency” fund. A teacher can come to him and let him know if a student is in need of an item, for example, glasses, winter coat, school supplies. This would be split into two funds, $250 for the Middle School and $250 for the High School.
- The Student Grant Initiative was discussed. This would be for a student that comes up with an idea but needs the materials to make it happen.
- Since the PTSA is not operating with the same amount of money as last year, they may not be able to give money to the Middle School and High School English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Special Education Departments. Under the Budget column, all of these were left blank.
- Under Scholarship in the High
School, this will be two $500.00 scholarships. Not one for $1,000.00
scholarship.
Action Items:
- A parent asked if the Principal Fund falls within the guidelines of the PTSA. Trish volunteered to look into this and get back to all at the next meeting.
- The Student Grant Initiative needs to be further developed. A starting point would be an application form to be created and some basic guidelines established.
5. Events for the Pawling PTSA:
Trish Arnold, Vice President, provided
a two page handout and gave an overview on the events the Pawling PTSA
will be holding. The handout was a monthly breakdown of meetings,
events and fundraisers and their Chairperson. Some of the events
do not have a Chairperson assigned.
Some of the suggestions and items discussed were as follows:
- For the Magazine Drive, it was suggested that a note could be attached to the package letting parents know that magazines could be ordered and donated to the school library.
- Not too many people know that subscription renewals also count!
- For the fundraisers, many people just order because they want to help contribute to the school. If there are items that they are ordering, just to order, they can just write a check to the Pawling PTSA. This would mean 100% goes to the Pawling PTSA, vs. 40% of what you would be buying.
- For Red Ribbon Week, each day could be a different theme day. The example given was “hat day”.
- For the top selling homeroom, the class could be rewarded with a pizza party at the end of the year.
Action Items:
- There are events that still need a Chairperson.
- Morgan volunteered to be the Chairperson of the Middle School Bake Sale.
- The Middle School should participate next year in Spirit Week/Homecoming. This should be added to next year’s Events List.
- Morgan volunteered to be the
Chairperson for the PTSA Bake Sale in May.
6. Membership Drive:
Laurel Whitworth, Membership Chairperson,
discussed the status and goals of the Membership Drive. There
has been a fair amount of membership to date. 130 Members have signed
up vs. 180 last year. She recommended that flyers go to the teachers
to be given to the students for take home to help beef up membership.
Trish mentioned that she spoke to the faculty about the PTSA.
They also discussed that the PTSA should be included in one of the newsletters.
Laurel is welcoming any ideas and/or suggestions. It was noted
that students too can join! Not just parents.
7. Reflections Program:
Vanessa Muro and Mary Smoot-Souter discussed
the program. Two handouts were distributed: the Creative
Reflections Art Program and Celebrate Their Talents entry forms!
The subject for this years event is, “I can make a difference by”.
The theme choices for this year is “dramatic color and sound” and
“patterns of nature”. All of the children’s entries will
be exhibited at a reception at one of the schools. Local artists
and those who are in the appropriate profession will act as judges for
the corresponding categories. The children will be evaluated on
how well the theme is conveyed. The judging will be done “blindly”.
Last year the deadline was December 15th and the reception
was January 5th. They made the suggestion to move the
deadlines to after the winter break and before the spring break.
This is not on a national level.
Action Item:
- It was suggested that maybe
the teachers can include this into their curriculum.
8. Magazine Fund Drive:
(Discussed in item #5).
9. Student Officers:
Bart made the suggestion to change the
PTSA by-laws to include a student to pair up with each PTSA Officer.
This will accomplish two things: the officers will learn what
the students want and the students will better understand the function
of the PTSA as well as each officers role. Bart mentioned that
the student officers would be limited in function, for example check
writing. Bart proposed that a committee should look further into
this idea. It was voted for and the motion was carried.
10. New Business:
1. Laurel Whitworth discussed box tops.
This is done more at an elementary level and could be done at a middle
school level as well.
Action items:
- Heide Owens was the Chairperson last year. They are not sure who is the Chairperson for this year. Trish said she will call Heide to discuss.
- Bart asked if anyone would
like to be the Chairperson for this program.
- Some of the suggestions and items
discussed were as follows:
Display a jar of jellybeans. Each student gets one guess for each box top they bring in. - The Building Level Team needs 2 additional parent members. Pamela Cess is the first parent to volunteer. Danielle Gentile also volunteered. This team meets once a month for an hour each time.
- Bart let everyone know that they can email board@pawlingptsa.com. He mentioned that the Student PTSA has a website. He suggested that artwork be displayed on the website.
- The line item “Assemblies” in
the budget was discussed. Several people said that we have unused
resources in the town, such as someone who works for DC Comics.
There are people who would come in for free and we should tap into the
resources the community has. It was stated that if anyone has
a suggestion for an assembly, the PTSA should contact the principal.
There are things to consider: building use forms, whether or not insurance
must be carried, etc. Another suggestion was to tap into LEAF
to partner with, as well as talking to Al Benson. The PTSA should
also contact the Taconic PTA for a list of assemblies.
The next Pawling PTSA Meeting will be held on November 7th at the Middle Schoool.
Respectfully submitted,
Claudia Jiskra
Volunteer Secretary for the night of 10/3