Montgomery Blair High School PTSA
Minutes of PTSA Meeting --- September 20, 2005
THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE October 18, 2005 AT 7:30
People in attendance: Beth Martin Cindy Allen Sonni Malinoff Barbara Tobias Marie Dipple-Manel Jo Peng Maureen Feely-Kohl Rosa Sanchez Carolyn Lichtenstein Margaret Khan Anne Kaiser Deborah Stoll Elissa Lichtenstein Susan Varrone Carole Taylor Ron McClain Carmen Dupree Isiah Dupree Tim Brieland-Betts Ray Scannell Judith Oroxom George Slenkovich Peggy Ottalini Chris Simpson Annette Volk Maraji Guynallen Linda Wanner Fran Rothstein Phil Gainous Betsy Scroggs Sandra Cobb-Foster Arlene Goldberg-Gist Karen Powers Julia Doherty (Andrews) Sally Taber Manuela D. Silva Nancy Newton Diana Vidivus Rory Saunders Linda Matthews Eileen Foote Sara Rosen The meeting was called to order at 7:30.
Fran started by urging people to join the listserv as a way to stay informed about issues and to contribute information and opinions.
Introductions were made and Ray Scanell moved to accept the August minutes and Peggy Ottalini seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Sonni Mallinoff, Treasurer's report.
1. Sonni submitted copies of the new budget. Line items can be increased for things that come up. Some things could become line items as it becomes apparent that they get funded year after year.
2. Ray Scanell moved that the budget as submitted by Sonni Malinoff be approved. Maureen Feely-Kohn seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Kudos to Sonni for sorting this out and bringing us into compliance!Individual action: Bonnie Malkin will be studying members and allocation of funds throughout the county's high schools. George Slenkovich will help her in this endeavor.
Mr. Gainous's Principal' Report
1. 9th grade academy has been implemented. Students who need support or are pushing towards more rigorous classes have a Saturday enrichment program that is tied to the George B. Thomas Saturday Enrichment Program.
2. Principal's teas are available for conversation with Mr. Gainous about school issues. They are Thursday September 29th at 7:00 a.m. and Thursday November 10th at 7:00 a.m. in the conference room
3. Enrollment At this time there are 100 fewer students than last year. Students are still trickling in. 50 are being withdrawn as no shows. We are at approximately 3150 students. Blair has received on more staff position which is being used to relieve crowding. Most classes are at or below recommended county levels. We have 2 Katrina students.
4. Bathroom use: The policy is that bathrooms should not be locked and this has been conveyed. Mr. Gainous is now trying to identify those workers who continue to lock the bathrooms after they are cleaned. Individual action: Students should go to their grade administrators if they find bathrooms locked or they have been denied the use of the bathroom during class.
5 Stringent Alcohol/Drug use in sports The question came up about why this rule is not put into place for all school activities.
Individual Action--Tracy Jaffe along with Ed? is looking at school culture issues and the need for students to buy into what the school culture and values are.
6. Blair is collaborating with county personnel in regard to gangs. The state's Attorney office and superintendent office are spearheading a task force. They are working to identify gang members and gang wannabees as well as finding ways to educate parents. Skipping parties may be recruitment parties for gangs. The police are the ones to be contacted about these skipping parties. Our MCPD officer, officer Penn, is placed in Blair to work with the security staff, teachers and the administrative staff to keep Blair safe.Ray Scanell, Cluster Rep
1. Ray explained the cluster hierarchy. A cluster is a high school and all the middle and elementary schools that feed into it. Our cluster coordinators are Pete Lafin and Chris Barkley.
2. The coordinators have asked the cluster reps to identify 3 top priorities for their 10/20 meeting. Examples of concerns are reduction in enrollment, gang activity and school bus crowding. Individual action: Please send Ray Scanell your top priorities of concern for our school to him at RSCannell@bctgm.orgCommittee Reports
1. Carol Lichtenstein--Membership So far our PTSA has 240 members with a goal of 470. The committee will be encouraging teachers to join and try to be at as many events that attract parents as possible. October 10 is the open house at Blair so look for a table there.The old forms are on the website so look for the new form soon. Individual Action Carol will talk to Linda Wanner about how to get the teachers to join and to Barry Johnson about getting the new forms on the PTSA website.
2. Beth Martin, volunteer coordinator There has been a great response for requests for volunteers. The numbers are up from August.
3. Barbara Tobias, Newsletter Editor announced that the next deadline is the 2nd week in October.
4. Cindy Allen, Mini grants--The grant applications will be up on the listserv soon. The grants are up to $500. 5. Back to School Night ran smoothly. The new ideas offered by the PTSA last year were implemented. 974 parents came.
6. Chris Simpson, Citrus sale. Chris had forms available. Shepherd's Table will be the designated charity for those who want to support the program but don't want to buy an for themselves. This worked very well last year.
7. Kate Kelly, graduation site She is looking into the legal issues in regard to sites. Individual Action If anyone is interested in working on the Graduation Site Committee, please contact Fran at Fran.Rothstein@verizon.net 8. Sara Rosen and Betsy Scroggs, Silent Auction wanted to know when and who is in charge of Blair Fair which is when the Silent Auction takes place. The date is April 7 and Jimmy Short will be the administrator in charge.
9. Margaret Khan, SGA representative. The SGA has raised $1645 for Hurricane Katrina. There will be a basketball game at the end of September. Freshman elections went well. There will be an Activity Fair to expose students to the different activities open to them. Chaperones are needed for the Homecoming Dance on October 29.
Individual Action: Chaperones are needed for the October 29th Homecoming Dance.Announcements:
September 27th--meeting for parents of seniors regarding the college process in the SAC at 7:00 p.m. October 6--9th Grade Parent Night ProgramCounseling Office
1. The counseling web site has been updated. There are links at the schools website that connect you to who the staff is, student assignments and e-mail addresses.
2. Blair has 43 National Merit Semifinalists identified by the PSAT tests. There are 3 National Achievement Finalists that identify outstanding African American students.
3. Each grade's counselors are speaking to each grade about issues concerning that grade.
4. Parents can use the career center. Just give them a call and let them know you are coming.
5. October 18 is the College Fair in Germantown. There are registration forms in the counseling office.
6. Counselors are available to each student. If a student is too shy to contact the counselor about an issue, a parent can. E-mail is a good way to communicate. Counselors are available for alcohol, drug abuse and gang involvement issues. Counselors will help students and families get referred to services in the county.
7. PSAT scores are an opportunity to evaluate the test taking process and identify strengths and weaknesses for the SAT test.
8. Changes in Schedules The key is to make the right choices in the first place. The following are the only reasons for changes:1. course already passed
2. Health reasons
3. need a course for graduation
4. haven't taken the prerequisite
5. a class is missing from the scheduleNew Business
1. If you don't have a computer, Blair will do its best to get you one.
2. Will Ramsey, After Prom The After Prom party is an after the prom celebration to keep kids off the road and away from drinking and drugs. It's a way to help kids stay on a good track during this celebratory time. Individual Action: Please volunteer for this worthy endeavor. It takes literally 100s of parents and months to plan ! Please contact Will Ramsey at William_Ramsey@fc.mcps.k12.md.us
3. Programming for the next few months. Individual Action: Diana Vidivus will assist Fran Rothstein in planning program for the upcoming PTSA meetings.
4. Betsy Scroggs reported that yahoo turned in a journalist to the Chinese authorities and suggested that we look at this and consider changing listserv providers.Fran adjourned the meeting with a hardy, Please come back! to the attendees.
The meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m