Present:  Dave Ottalini, Debbie Reed-Gillette, Bob Gillette, Deborah Stoll, Andrew Partan, Linda Simon, Carol Smalls, Bonnie Malkin, Melissa Yorks, George Slenkovich, Ray Scannell, Miriam Szapiro, Nancy Newton, Sharon Bocar

Facilitator: Deborah Stoll
Time Keeper: Dave Ottalini
Recorder: Debra Reed-Gillette

Deborah called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm .

All members are reminded to CLEARLY print their name on the sign-in sheet for each meeting.

The minutes for the March BoD meeting were approved as posted.

The May 15 Membership meeting will have a very full schedule.  In addition to voting on the slate of officers, we will also have Chris Barclay from the Board of Education there to introduce himself and answer questions.  Prior to Mr. Barclay, we will have Blair's 2 full-time literacy coaches do a presentation on their role at Blair and in the Blair Cluster of schools.  Blair is the only high school to have a reading department to improve literacy within the school.  The literacy coaches and the reading department go hand-in-hand to improve student literacy.

We are just now beginning to get a timeline on Mr. Gainous' replacement.  A draft of a letter from Community Superintendent Heath Morrison was circulated.  A final version of this letter will be sent to all households with a student.  This letter will explain the process and announce the meeting date(s).  In addition, RoboDial will be used to announce the meetings for parents.  Please send any and all questions about this to Deborah or Dave.

Treasurer's Report:  Nancy announced that we did not meet our goal of $12,000 for the Silent Auction.  We did bring in $9000.  In order to meet the expenses voted upon by the membership we will have to spend down some of our savings.  Next year we will not have as large an estimate for the Silent Auction revenue. 

Blair Fair did not appear to have very good attendance, despite the carnival attractions.  It was suggested that we move the Silent Auction to the fall beginning in the fall of 2008.

The picnic for incoming 9^th graders and their parents is scheduled for June 7^th.  Carol Smalls will make a flyer for Painless Fundraising.  We will also bring membership forms for parents to fill out for the 2007-2008 year.

Athletic Boosters:  Patsy Hedrick was voted in as President.  This will be a big year for the Boosters because of oversight of the MOU for artificial turf regarding Blair team practice times, etc.

Pedestrian Safety:  The new drop off location on the University Blvd side is working very well.  They anticipate that a few of the 7 spaces taken for the drop off will be able to return to student parking.

NAACP Parent Council:  Meetings have been held on March 27, April 24, and May 22.  Sharon is preparing a notebook/package for the next NAACP Parent Council Representative.  This very worthwhile organization meets monthly at Mt Calvary Baptist Church in Rockville .  Topics for the meetings have included:  Financial planning for college, voter registration for ex-offenders, increase in the minimum wage, the rate of crime in Montgomery County and strategies to reduce the crime.  The meetings also have a focus on education:  Academic success, youth leadership, parent involvement, Athletic/Academic balance, and strategic partnerships.  Nancy Navarro attended one of the meetings and a discussion about how the budget cuts would unfairly affect predominantly the minority and underperforming students in the county.  The NAACP Parent council with the Kennedy Cluster is currently doing a study on why African American students are not achieving.  The NAACP Youth Summit was very successful.  Greencastle and Paint Branch are reporting that there is a lot of racial tension in their schools.

Cluster News:  The next cluster meeting will be held the week of May 16.  Dr. Weast was willing to take the $6 million budget cut.  Navarro and Ervin were not part of the negotiations, and neither was the Board of Education.  All negotiations concerning the budget appeared to not follow protocol. 

MCCPTA:  The Grading and Reporting Resolution regarding the change in final grade calculations has been tabled.

Counseling/Advisory :  This committee feels it has not been very effective due to the lack of communication from the counseling/advisory office.  Phone calls and emails are not returned.  The committee suggests that ways to be effective are found despite the counseling office.

Academies:  There still appears to be problems with communications for "off-Connections" non-Magnet/non- CAP 9^th graders.  The Connections course is strongly encouraged by the administration, and they may simply not have the capacity, or inclination, to deal with kids not in the mainstream of the communications loop.

College and Careers Center:  The Meany Center has many programs for connecting kids with mentors, internships, and careers.  All families are encouraged to sign up for the College and Career Account to get access to all of this information.

Nominating Committee:  The nominating committee feels it now has a slate of officers to present to the membership on the 15^th, including 1^st Vice President (Co-President) .

Blair Education Foundation:  Mr. Gainous will be encouraged to spend down the $16,000 in the account for the betterment of Blair prior to his departure.  He is signatory on the card.

Scholarship:  The PTSA has been asked to provide funds toward a scholarship being created in Mr. Gainous' name.  It will be presented at awards night on the 21^st.

Climate Committee:  Chris Simpson has agreed to serve on the Climate Committee.  This committee is taking a hard look at both the ID and Tardy policies and hopes to have a resolution prior to the printing of next year's school Parent/Student Handbook.

Announcements:  Information about Blair Blast, Summer BSA is not yet available from the administration.  The last Blazer deadline of the year is NOW.  This Blazer will be mailed to the families of incoming freshman and not to families of graduating seniors.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm .

Dates to remember:

May 15, 7:30 pm PTSA Membership meeting

May 21, Awards Ceremony

May 22, Meeting about Principal Selection Process

June 4, Graduation – school closed

June 6, 7:30 pm PTSA Membership meeting – celebration of Mr. Gainous

June 7, 6:30 pm picnic for incoming 9^th grade families

June 12, Official Program for Recognition of Mr. Gainous

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