January 7, 2008
PTSA BoD Meeting
Present: Dave Ottalini, Bob Gillette, Debra Reed-Gillette, Beth Martin, Nancy Newton, Carol Smalls, Andrew Partan, Jeanne Philbin, Angela Botzer, Ellisa Lichtenstein.
Facilitator: Dave Ottalini
Time Keeper: Bob Gillette
Recorder: Debra Reed-GilletteDave called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
All members are reminded to CLEARLY print their name on the sign-in sheet for each meeting.
The minutes for the December BoD meeting were approved as corrected.
After Prom: B&N Update -- 32 books were donated to the Media Center through the Barnes & Noble fundraiser. We will receive over $2000 for After Prom. After discussion the board directed Dave to acquire 2 dates with the possibility of one date going to the SGA or another student run club if After Prom cannot staff for two days. It was determined that December was better than November as more people would be shopping for the holidays. Dave was to look into what days were available and sign up for them at B & N.
Treasurer’s Report: Nancy announced that to date there is a total of $24, 641.21 in all accounts. Disbursements are continuing for clubs and organizations as sponsors are located. (See the full treasurers report on the website).
Painless FundRaising: Carol reported that we have 390 Giant donators and 378 eScrip donators. Snider’s receipts for 2007 are due now – they are collected on a calendar year basis and must be tallied and grouped. She has found a parent volunteer to do the tallying for her this year. Giant paid out $1771 to Blair for the Oct/Nov time frame. Carol asked how the money is being spent by the school? This money is paid directly to the school, not to the PTSA.
Directory: The student directory data should be received at the school by the end of the week. Jo Peng is still attempting to see if the Gazette will do the printing for free. It is doubtful at this stage if that is possible. Alternatives were brainstormed and the information would be passed on to Jo.
Blazer: The Blazer deadline is January 11. Please send submissions to Barbara Tobias.
Reflections: Angela reported that she submitted 6 entries to the county. All student entries would receive a Gift Card and a certificate for entering. By the February PTSA meeting the winners at the county level will have been announced.
Guidance/Advisory: Sallie Holmes reported in absentia that the Guidance Advisory Committee parent volunteers have been meeting monthly with Ms Marcia Johnson, Ms Miriam Rogers, and the Guidance Counselors. The Committee has addressed a number of concerns over the past few months, including the following:
1. Guidance Office reception and response: Ms Johnson and Ms Rogers responded to parent concerns regarding interactions with staff by offering a workshop and increased supervision. They have also reconfigured the reception area in a way that makes it more inviting and professional.
2. Increased Communication: Guidance staff responded to parent concerns over lack of or inadequate information by increasing communication through emails, flyers, letters, etc. We continue to explore other avenues of reaching parents and students to improve understanding and decrease confusion. This has been particularly of concern in regard to schedule changes.
3. Monthly Calendar: At each meeting we review the Guidance department calendar of events to insure that events are being well-communicated and advertised to students and families.
The committee will continue to meet monthly through May 2008.New Business
Testimony: Jeanne Philbin announced that Pete Lafen would present the testimony. It appears that many cuts will be at the central office, but some cuts are of concern to Blair. The testimony highlights the need for Parent Community Coordinators to reach out to our ESOL families. It also highlights the need for increased ESOL Student Support. Support for HSAs is also highlighted with a particular focus on our juniors who are the first class required to pass the HSAs. Currently the CAP administrator teaches a full load and is CAP administrator as well. It was requested that the CAP coordinator be funded part-time as this program that has been replicated elsewhere in the county as a Magnet continues to operate as an independent program without additional funding for its staff or administrators. Content in the testimony about the activity buses was corrected. Content concerning the Magnet was added concerning the possibility of decreased staffing. Full copies of the final testimony are provided on the list serve.
Sunshine Fund: Dave raised the issue as communicated by Rosanne, in her absence, as to whether or not the PTSA had a “Sunshine Fund”. Nancy said that no fund is in the budget, but that the PTSA sends condolence cards, thank-you cards, etc as requested. It was brought up for discussion as to whether or not the PTSA should have such a fund for teachers and staff. It was determined that it would be difficult to be equitable with an official fund and that providing cards, etc could be done as provided for now under Staff Appreciation and/or correspondence. Requests for financial assistance were outside of the by-laws and budget, unless voted on by the membership. If the PTSA were asked to provide financial assistance – say for a house fire – the membership would need to vote and approve the expenditure, within the limits of the budget.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm.