Sacandaga PTA Meeting
September 14,2004
Minutes of Meeting
Cathie Sweeney Michelle Budka
MaryPat Burke Suzanne Tonsberg
Cathy Conroy Lisa Dangerfield
Eileen Casey
Beth Fritzeen
Christine Polsinelli
Anne Cardany
Colleen Benedetto Karen Normington
Lisa Mau Maureen Ciotoli
Jeanne Derwin Butler Jen King
John Tobiassen Brenda Rice
Margaret McNamara
Approval of Minutes as Posted
á Suzanne
Tonsberg made a motion to accept the minutes as posted. Cathy Conroy seconded the motion. The minutes were accepted as posted.
á
Cathie and MaryPat attended a summer PTA meeting and
they informed us that the National PTA goals for this year are to address
obesity and bullying. They are
also aiming to increase PTA membership numbers in the lower grade levels.
á
The 2004-2005 PTA plan was passed out for all in
attendance to review.
á The overview is as follows:
September: Fall Fundraiser starting 9-13
Back to School Picnic on 9-24
School T-shirt sales
Meet the Teacher nights on 9-21 and 9-29
October: School Pictures with Lifetouch on 10-6
Reflections-which is a national art program sponsored by the PTA-Someone is needed to head up this program.
Form the Dinner with Santa Committee
Nutrition and Obesity program
November: School Picture retakes 10-10
Form the 5th grade Luncheon Committee
Family Fun Night-need someone to head up this program.
Lifetime Membership Nominations
December: Holiday Bazaar 12-8 through 12-10
Dinner with Santa 12-10
January: Form Lifetime Membership Committee
Family Fun Night 1-7
February: FounderŐs Day Dinner 2-1
PARP ĐLaura Carroll is heading this up
FatherŐs Ziti Dinner-someone is needed to head up this event
March: National Circus Project 3-7 through 3-11
Spring Fundraiser
Form Nomination Committee for 2005-2006 PTA positions
April: Family Fun Night 4-29
May: Kay Sturdy Scholarship Committee formation
PTA elections
June: Staff Recognition week 6-6 through 6-10- the PTA will take care of
things for the staff every day except Friday. Friday will be the day for
the students to recognize their teachers.
5th grade luncheon
á The auditorŐs report from last year was submitted along with recommendations from the auditor. All in attendance received a copy for review.
á Christine stated that in the future the TreasurerŐs report will show the gross income and then the expenses will be taken out in a different part of the report.
á Christine reminded us that the rules state that a committee of three should do the audit or an independent CPA. This has not been done in previous years and should probably be changed so that we are adhering to the rules. The executive committee is also supposed to sign the audit.
á A financial statement from last year and the proposed budget for this year were passed out for all in attendance to review. The actual balance on hand is $8,378.17.
á All in attendance discussed and reviewed the proposed budget. Changes to be made are as follows: The BOCES fund from Programs will be eliminated and put into the regular school Programs fund. $1000 will be used to bring in a visiting author for the PARP program this year.
á At the end of last school year the PTA had $15,189.30.
á Christine proposed that there be a carry over of $11,000 towards next year's budget.
á Christine made a motion to adopt the 2004-2005 budget as proposed. All attendees that were able to vote, voted and the budget was passed.
á Enrollment numbers are slightly lower this year. There are 375 students this year.
á The Terra Nova test for grades 3 and 5 is the week of September 20th.
á The grade 4 math results are in and over all the numbers were good. 78% were at level 3 and 4. 22% were at level 2 and there were not any at level 1.
á Meet the teacher nights are September 21st for grades3-5 and September 29th for grades K-2.
á A list of the District Board goals was passed out for all in attendance to review. Some of the highlights of these goals are as follows: There is a new teacher-mentoring program that helps out new teachers. There is some new technology (504 plan and AIS tracking) to help with the K-8 special Ed. and at risk students. There is a new Academic Enrichment Program starting at the school for students that scored in the top 2% during testing. There is a new grade 5 program for Gifted and Talented students that will take the Academic Enrichment and Gifted and Talented programs to the next level.
á A Facility advisory committee is set up to review and oversee the needs of the school as far as repairs and health and safety issues. The Board will be making recommendations on these projects soon. The District website has information on this and other topics.
á On October 5th a bullying program will be brought to the school. We will be sharing this program with Lincoln again.
á The school has a new food service this year called Aramark. The company would like to have an advisory board with parents to get input and ideas for the program. The first meeting will be September 22nd at 3:45. Margaret McNamara volunteered to be a parent representative.
á Back to School Picnic (MaryPat Burke) All tickets will be picked up at the door, even if they are prepaid. The DJ will provide music and entertainment that is appropriate for all ages. Stewarts is donating free ice cream and toppings etc for 200 people. The PTA will be purchasing enough for another 200. The event will not be advertised, but it will go into the PTA newsletter. Dinners will be able to be taken out or you will be able to eat in the cafeteria.
á Homeroom
Parents (Brenda Rice) Almost all of the HR
parent positions are filled. There
will be a note in the Goldenrod listing the positions that still need to be
filled. Cathy Conroy mentioned
that a note should also be put in the Goldenrod to remind parents to bring
money to Meet the Teacher night for PTA membership and class party money.
á Ways
and Means (Lisa Dangerfield) The Fall
Fundraiser materials are out and it will be a 2 week sale. The delivery will be about 2 weeks
later. It was done earlier this
year so that there would not be a conflict with the 5th grade
Fundraiser. School pictures are on
October 6th with Lifetouch, the make-up day is November 10th. The Spring Fundraiser will be in
January or February and will be with the same company. Cathy Conroy suggested that we tie in
this fundraiser with Easter by doing chocolates. Margaret McNamara suggested a fresh fruit fundraiser. Anne Cardany is also helping with Ways
and Means and the Holiday Bazaar this year. $1077.80 has been spent on supplies for the Bazaar so far.
á Programs
(Cathy Conroy) The Circus program is set
for March. Jeff Blatnik, a sports oriented motivational
speaker, will give a presentation on goal achievement in October. Mrs. Wurz will try to tie this event in
with the PE classes. Cathy will be
putting a flyer out to the staff and faculty to get their input on what types
of things they want to see or not see for Programs. She will wait for their input before she moves on with any
more Program plans.
á Membership
(Suzanne Tonsberg) There will be a drawing
for a free give away for all PTA memberships turned in before October 1st. There will be a membership flyer that
will be sent home with the students. Jeanne Derwin Butler
suggested that a class party go to the class that gets the most PTA memberships
in it.
á Box
Tops (Suzanne Tonsberg) Geography will be
incorporated into the program this year.
There will be a map for students to fill in with 25 Box Tops. Once the map is filled the students
will turn it in to be entered in a drawing. They will also be able to write their names on the back of
the labels, like last year, which will then be entered in a drawing. There is $175 from collection over the
summer. Information on the program
will go home soon. The funds
raised this year will go towards purchasing new audio-visual equipment. Cathie Sweeney mentioned that Kim
Lavery is our teacher Liaison. So
if there are any questions or requests we can go through her.
á Soup
Labels No Report
á Cub
Scouts (Jen King) Jen told us that if
there are any projects or events that the scouts could help with to let her
know. Mr. Tobiassen reminded us
that the charter needs to be renewed in December.
Communications None
á Maureen Ciotoli asked if there is a way to bring back the Dragon Press program. This is a program where students make and illustrate books. Mr. Tobiassen suggested that she check with Mrs. Lavery to see if there is any teacher interest before she continues any further.
á Suzanne Tonsberg said that she was on the KinkoŐs website and saw that we could get a discount card through the PTA to make copies, banners, signs etc. there.
á Suzanne also mentioned that there is a website called myschool.com where you can create your own school website to post school events and information. There may be some cost involved with setting this up.
á Margaret McNamara suggested a Fundraiser with a company called Silver Graphics that turns children's artwork into mugs, plates, postcards etc.
á Anne Cardany asked if we are still doing the school banking program. She needs Cathie's signature on the paperwork in order to set up the contract and volunteers. Cathie said she would go over the contract.
á Cathy Conroy informed us that the new school sign will be up and running in 2 weeks. Her Girl Scout troop will plant some flowers with the money that was budgeted for landscaping. Cathy also stated that there need to be some rules on who can use the sign and what can be posted. Basically it will only be nonprofit groups and information.
á Michelle Budka asked when the new school apparel would be available. It will be available to purchase at both Meet the Teacher nights, the Back to School Picnic and Dinner with Santa
á Lisa Dangerfield asked if the PTA could buy their own copier. After discussion it was decided that it would be easier to put a separate PTA code in the existing copier and fund the paper supply that way. Suzanne suggested getting an account at MailBoxes Etc as another option.
á Cathie Sweeney mentioned that the PTA can use the purple paper in the copy room when it is there. It is not there yet.
Respectfully submitted,
Beth Fritzeen
PTA Secretary
Attachments: (for file copy only)
Meeting Agenda
Sacandaga PTA 2004-2005 Plan
Auditor's Recommendations
Sacandaga PTA Proposed Budget 2004-2005
2004-2005 District Goals Chart