March 2011 Meeting Minutes - Draft

MARCH PTO MINUTES 2011

Present: Sally Sproat, Jason Gutting, Amy Petersburg, Jennifer Keith, Laurie Harkema, Ann Rush, Tara Fry, June Hicks, Ron Lacasse, Jennifer Nevins-Lacasse, Kris Lee, Cindy Roark, Stacey Tanay, Wendy Johnson, Stacey Goodman, Eric Baldwin, Jamie Baldwin, Kim Burzych

I. Call to Order (7:05) – President Sally Sproat

II. Welcome and Introductions - President Sally Sproat

III. Approval of Minutes
     a. Corrections to the minutes: 1) Tara Fry pointed out that the ACTION Team is making items for the homeless shelter and is not taking donations of items. 2) Ron Lacasse pointed out that the motion to approve the purchase of liability insurance from AIM in the amount of $240 also included that the PTO should cover the deductible should the PTO Board ever be sued.
     b. Motion by Ron Lacasse to approve the minutes as amended. The motion was supported by June Hicks. The motion was approved.

IV. Additions to Agenda - None

V. Principal’s Report – Tara Fry
     a. Parent Survey – Tara reported on the comments section of the survey which she thought were relevant to the PTO.
          • 11% of the students are new to the district and 19% of the students are new to Cornell.
          • More summer play dates per grade level would have been nice for those families that could not make their scheduled day.
          • The PTO should investigate incorporating more traditional Wardcliff and Central activities into the calendar.
     b. March is reading month. If the students read 300,000 minutes, Mr. Mowry will dye his hair blonde and Mrs. Fry will spend a day on the Cornell roof reading.
          • All of the teacher’s doors were decorated for reading month based on a Wardcliff tradition.
     c. There will be two assemblies for March.
          • The music duo Gemini will be performing on March 9th. Tara thanked the PTO for funding half of the cost of this performance.
          • Basketball Jones will be performing at the end of March. He is noted for promoting respect, responsibility, and citizenship.
     d. Parent/Teacher Conferences
          • Conferences are coming up on March 21st, 23rd , and 29th.
          • Tara is challenging Cornell parents to beat last falls attendance and is shooting for 100% parent participation.
     e. Visiting Author – Shelley Gill, an Alaskan native, is coming in March. For more information please visit her web site at www.shelleygill.com
     f. The School Board has begun the budget process for the 2011-2012 school year. Tara mentioned that due to the magnitude of the financial shortfall, many hard decisions lay ahead. Tara asked that all parents be patient and understanding through this process and she hoped that the budget discussions would not divide the district as various items were discussed for funding reductions.

VI. President’s Report – Sally Sproat
     a. Sally passed out thank you’s from Mrs. Eddy and Mrs. Pulter’s class.
     b. Edru Skating night was rescheduled for Tuesday, March 8th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM
     c. Sally Sproat, Wendy Johnson, Jennifer Keith, and Laurie Harkema all commented on the transition this year and how it relates to school closure transitions of the past.

VII. Treasurer’s Report – Jason Gutting
     a. Passed out overall PTO budget and spending to date and passed out a separate sheet showing historical PTO fund raising totals by event as generated from Quicken.
     b. Jason discussed all of the income and expenditures that have occurred since the last PTO meeting. See the attached spreadsheet for income and expense detail.

VIII. New Business
     a. Budget Committee Recommendation – See the attached Budget Committee Recommendation Sheet.
          • Budget Committee members included Ron Lacasse, Jennifer Nevins-Lacasse, Sally Sproat, Tammy Deppong, Jason Gutting, Amy Petersburg, and Kim Burzych.
          • Ron Lacasse, Amy Petersburg, and Tara Fry described in detail all of the items on the recommendation list.
          • Tara Fry mentioned that the MiBLSi banners were still being priced and more detail would likely be given at the next meeting.
          • Sally Sproat thought that we should approve items one through seven as recommended by the Budget Committee pending income from Family Fun Night.
          • Ron Lacasse expressed a desire to fund at least some of the items now so that the existing students would still get some benefit.
          • Based on the existing PTO balance without Family Fun Night income, Kim Burzych thought that we could move on with items one through four immediately and approve items five through seven pending Family Fun Night income.
          • Ron Lacasse motioned that items 1 through 4 on the Budget Committee recommendation list be approved for immediate funding and that items five through seven be approved for funding pending Family Fun Night income. The Motion was supported by Kim Burzych. The motion was approved.
     b. PTO Officer Vacancies for Next Year
         • Sally Sproat stated that the PTO is still looking for Cornell parents to step forward for Board positions for the 2012 school year. So far, only Jason Gutting has agreed to stay on as Treasurer and all other Board positions are vacant.

IX. Committee Reports
     a. Family Fun Night – April 15, 2011 – Beach Theme
          • Tara Bogle, the Family Fun Night Chair, was unable to attend the PTO meeting. Jamie Baldwin, committee member gave a brief update.
          • There will be ten games, two inflatables, and that they were still soliciting donations.
          • The deadline for donations is March 24, 2011.
          • The Program will be distributed on Monday, April 11, 2011.
     b. Mileage Club
          • All children must be registered in order to participate this year. The on-line registration deadline is Friday, March 11, 2011. The post card registration can still be mailed in after the on-line deadline.
          • Amy Petersburg stated that the classroom teachers were not aware of the new registration requirement and they would try to help get the word out the students and parents.
          • There are 119 students registered for Mileage Club so far.

X. Parent Council Report – Cindy Roark
     a. There has been a loss of 12 students District wide.
     b. A Bennett Woods parent is attempting to organize a grass-roots committee to bring District and County parents together to work on the budget.
     c. The Okemos School Board was reviewing the public comment section of the meetings to place a time limit on individual speakers.

XI. Grade Rep Reports – No Report

XII. Old Business
     a. PTO Fundraising Survey – Sally Sproat
          • Sally asked the attendees for feedback on the survey.
          • Ron Lacasse suggested that question number four be           re-written to make the intent of the question more clear.
          • Ann Rush stated that she liked question number six because she feels that many parents are too busy to participate in fundraising activities and would rather give a direct donation.
     b. Fundraising Discussion
          • Wendy Johnson brought up the idea of looking into the Christians Greenhouse fundraiser. This might be good around the holidays and Spring.
          • June Hicks brought up the “Don’t Bug Me” fundraising option. If parents choose to donate a certain monetary amount, then the PTO would not send any fundraising items home with their kids for the year.
          • June Hicks brought up re-implementing the Scrip fundraising program.
          • June Hicks brought up that Kohl’s would donate $500.00 cash and five volunteers to a qualifying event.

XIII. Adjournment (8:25 pm)
     a. Motion by June Hicks to adjourn the meeting. The motion was supported by Kris Lee. The motion was approved.