Sacandaga PTA Meeting

November 15, 2005

Minutes of Meeting

Attendees

Karen Normington Cathy Conroy

Linda Plemenik Lisa Dangerfield

Beth Fritzeen Elise Rosenberry

Christine Polsinelli MaryPat Burke

Cathie Sweeney Michele Calderon

Maureen Ciotoli

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:06 pm.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the October 18, 2005 minutes were accepted as posted.

President’s Report—Cathie Sweeney

• There is an error on the back of the PTA cards—there is a 5% discount on purchases made through barnesandnoble.com, but not at the store.
• The February PTA meeting has been changed to 2/14.
• Committees need to be formed for the 5th Grade Luncheon and the PTA Lifetime Membership Award dinner. Maureen Ciotoli volunteered to chair the Lifetime Membership dinner.
• Flyers will be passed out in January to solicit nominations for Lifetime Membership awards.
• Dad’s Ziti Dinner has moved from January to March, but there is no date set yet.
• PTA has been approached by organizations for donations. It is stated in the PTA Resource Guide that funds may not be donated or raised for another group, so we will not be making any donations.

Treasurer’s Report—Christine Polsinelli

• A copy of the report was passed out for all in attendance to review.
• There is currently $13,653.35 in the checking account and $4,900.34 in the savings account leaving the General Fund with a balance of $18,553.69.
• Revenue from membership dues is $256.
• The Fall Fundraiser had a revenue of $9,935.30. A bounced check for $341.70 has been recouped. School pictures had a revenue of $1,217.72.
• Expenses totaled $274.05 and included $113.80 for Box Tops, $136.57 for landscaping around the school sign, and $23.68 for Hospitality.

Standing Committee Reports

• Ways and Means (Karen Normington) The C and H fundraiser items are in. They will be delivered Friday, November18th at 1 pm. Volunteers are needed to help with distribution, which will be from 3—5 pm in the school cafeteria. Notes will be sent home to parents this week. The dates for next year’s school pictures are set for October 4, 2006 with a retake date of November 15. The retake date will be confirmed over the summer to make sure it does not fall on a half day. PTA will be selling Krispy Kreme donuts again at this year’s Dinner with Santa. 75 dozen donuts will be ordered. Spring fundraising possibilities include Niagara chocolates or possibly a school recipe book.
• PTA Council (Maureen Ciotoli) There is a PTA Council meeting tomorrow night at Lincoln. There was some discussion as to the resolution of the field trip policy—they were told that field trips are not a problem as long as they are program driven, although it seems that this rule is at times circumvented. It was decided that Sacandaga will just keep the current policy of no outside field trips. It is not known yet how many children are participating in the Reflections program.
• Dinner With Santa (Cathie Sweeney) This event will be co-chaired by MaryPat Burke, Cathy Conroy and Lorraine Bailey. Lorraine has gotten donations from Price Chopper, Stewarts, and Hannaford. She will be contacting Adirondack Beverages. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be played by Mr. and Mrs. Esperti.
• Homeroom Parents (Lisa Dangerfield) Everyone has gotten their emergency contact lists. There were fewer volunteers this year resulting in some people getting 2 classrooms to do. The Holiday Bazaar will be Thursday and Friday, December 8th and 9th. $1,118.30 has been spent on items. Some items need assembly and some are ready made items. Lisa’s goal is to break even as this event is not done as a fundraiser but rather as an opportunity for the students to pick out their own gift items. She will be sending home a note to parents with general information about the Bazaar including the price range of items for sale.
• Programs (Cathie Conroy) We will not be doing the bullying program; rather, Steve Charney will be doing a Conflict Resolution program on March 17th.
• Fabulous Fridays (Linda Plemenik) The program is currently in OK shape. She will hire some people to fill in the blank spots. The next step is to choose a sign-up night and get volunteers to help. She will offer first choices on classes to children of the volunteers as an incentive. There was some discussion concerning when and how to do the sign-ups. It was determined that they would be held from 5—7 pm in the gym during Dinner with Santa on a first come first serve basis. There will be a fee of $2 per session or $5 for all 3 sessions. Linda will make up a packet of information to go home on Monday December 5th with information on the classes, permission slips, etc.
• Banking (Cathie Sweeney for Anne Cardany) They have a computer to get school banking back on but need a donation of a computer cart.

New Business – Open Floor

• Cathie Sweeney read a letter from Hannah Carroll, a Cadet Girl Scout who is working on completing her Silver Award along with her friend Nicole Walker. They are interested in organizing groups of younger children to participate in making fleece tie blankets for nursing home residents. They would like to involve one or two Sacandaga classes and are requesting that PTA sponsor the cost of the blankets (approximately $40 per 12 blankets made). There was some discussion as to whether this constitutes a donation as per the PTA Resourse Guide. Elise Rosenberry suggested that this project could tie in with the character trait for December, Compassion. It was decided that PTA could provide the donations of materials if it could become a project to complete during Dinner With Santa.
• MaryPat Burke is seeking suggestions of programs that could be tied in with the Dad’s Ziti Dinner. Possibilities include Radio Disney or the Zucchini Brothers.
• There was some discussion about participating in National TV Turnoff Week this year. Michele Calderon spoke with Mr. Tobiassen about this last year and has some materials from the organization’s website. It may be possible to tie this in with some programs at the school such as a family game night. An organizer’s kit costs $10 and includes posters, student pledge cards, tv-free activity suggestions for parents, etc.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Michele Calderon

PTA Secretary

Attachments (for file copy only)

Meeting Agenda

Treasurer’s Report—November 15, 2005