Montgomery Blair High School PTSA

Present: Rosanne Hurwitz, Andrew Partan, Jeanne Philbin, Carol Smalls, Beth Martin, Debra Reed-Gillette, Bob Gillette, Dave Ottalini, Nina Corin, Nancy Newton, Carol Muskin

Facilitator: Dave Ottalini
Time Keeper: Bob Gillette
Recorder: Debra Reed-Gillette

Dave called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.

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

The minutes for the October BoD meeting were approved as corrected.

Membership Report: Dave indicated that next year we will probably NOT be giving out Athletic or Cultural Passes as those Booster clubs now provide them for sale. We will have to determine a new, clearer fee structure for the form. Also, we should encourage student members, with perhaps a $5 fee that would just cover our costs. Also, we should consider reduced fees for staff. We should also have our mini-grants forms indicate whether or not the staff member/sponsor is a PTSA member. We will also need to have an opt out information box for address/phone/ email data for the national database. We will also report to National that they cannot require addresses, etc to enter the member names into the database.

Treasurer’s Report: Nancy reported that thru the month of September we had a total of $14,756 in income and a total of $13,000 in expenses, including the mini-grants. November Financial Summary

President’s Report: A group of 6-8 parents has agreed to serve on a grant writing team. Training/mentoring is being provided. They will soon begin writing grants for the school and for the PTSA. We need to have a goal to achieve for these targeted grants.

Communications: The original Blair sign has been installed. We need to find the key and get a new/updated set of numbers and letters to post a message on the board. The two answering machines have been installed. InfoFlow in English and Spanish will be recorded daily. Also, important messages in both English and Spanish will be recorded on an add needed basis. The school has paid for the lines and Dave donated the answering machines. The new PTSA bulletin board has been installed. Any group/committee can take over ½ the board for announcements, etc.

Volunteers: 2500 volunteer hours have been reported to the county. We have a volunteer to do the directory next year.

Painless FundRaising: Carol reported that we have 268 Giant donators and 366 eScrip donators. Giant has contributed $868 directly to Blair. eScrip has donated over $1000 to the PTSA. Target has contributed $521 directly to the school. Blair has been selected as a recipient of a Gilbert Arenas donation for the March 26 game with Seattle . It is an away game. Sniders receipts are due now – they are collected on a calendar year basis and must be tallied and grouped.

Citrus Sale : Orders are coming in. The deadline was extended for order receipts.

MiniGrants: The money has been distributed to the school and all recipients have been informed to pick up their donations.

AfterProm: We will have a Barnes & Noble Fundraiser on December 15 from 9am – 11pm at the Barnes & Noble in Bethesda .

Testimony: Jeanne Philbin will present CIP testimony. The CIP request was submitted in May and included small scale items such as a small auditorium/lab for debate/forensics and the presentation of capstone projects, upgrades to labs, traffic control and fencing. Please provide any operating budget issues to Jeanne. This includes people & staff, also perhaps the discussion of making the CAP a magnet to utilize and take advantage of MCPS funding. Currently CAP acts like a magnet but is not funded like a magnet for facilities and equipment.

El Golfo: El Golfo appreciation nights will be the Mon – Wed after Thanksgiving. Please come out and support this restaurant that has supported us so generously in the past.

Krystal Kuykendall Event: We will invite the entire cluster. Mr. Williams is willing to help fund the event. Blair will pay $1000 and the PTSA will pay $500. We will focus on getting her during the month of February as a Black History Month Speaker. Dave will do publicity.

MRSA: A speaker from the CDC as well as the school nurses will attend the November Membership meeting to discuss MRSA.

Principal’s Breakfast: The breakfast is tentatively scheduled for November 15 from 7-8 am. This needs to be confirmed.

Blair Vets Memorial Plaque: It currently is in many pieces. This War Memorial/Veterans Plaque used to hang in the Media Center of the Old Blair. We need it to be updated and reassembled and hung in the school. We are asking for volunteers such as Eagle Scouts, Gold Awards, CAP Change Projects, etc. Mark Levin can help with an Alumni call for updates to the Veterans/Memorial Plaque.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.