PTA Meeting Agenda

PTA: North Side Elementary Date: December 1, 2015 Time: 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.

5 PTA members and 4 Board members were in attendance: Sarah Box, Sandy McClain, Rebecca Robinson, Sam Vishnesky, Sunder Paidipel, Nicole Elbertson, Meredith Bomgardner, Sarah Di Santo, and Andrea Cavoli.

I. President’s Welcome

 Please sign in – Andrea welcomed everyone to the last meeting of the 2015 calendar year, introduced Board members who were in attendance and asked that attendees sign in.

 Volunteer Badging – Andrea Cavoli reiterated the importance of getting volunteer badges.

 Board Positions open for 2016-2018 – The Secretary, Vice President of Activities, Vice President of Membership and Volunteers and Vice President of Communications will be up for reelection in June 2016. Interested members, please contact Andrea Cavoli or current Board members for information.

 There were no questions or concerns regarding last meeting’s minutes. Kristen Hanford approved meeting minutes, Meredith Bomgardner seconded.

II. Principal’s Comments / Teachers Remarks

 Mrs. Box said there will be more news to come on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind. The House of Representatives is suspected to vote on it December 3rd and Senate the following week.

 For more information please visit www.ed.gov/esea

III. Membership Report

 Meredith Bomgardner announced that there are currently 128 members and reminded everyone that we are always accepting new memberships. This number is lower than in year’s past. Reasons for low number may have to do with confusion about getting a volunteer badge and being a PTA member. Plans to increase membership include better communication via website and adding a link to teacher’s homepages.

 Meredith suggested we look at becoming a PTO. A PTO will help us accrue more volunteers because there is no fee for membership. Andrea Cavoli brought up the fact that being a PTA has many benefits including help with taxes and legalities. We need to make a decision by June so we are tabling this topic for a future meeting. Andrea will look into the cost of becoming a PTO.

IV. 2015-2016 Budget

 Kristen Handford discussed the following figures:

• $25,175 in deposits for Race for Education

• $5,000 worth of sub sales which netted North Side $2,000 – this is comparable to last year.

• We have $11,500 in Scholastic Dollars as a result of the book fair, and left over from previous book fairs.

• PTA paid for activities such as the assembly and Hershey Bears tickets for 5th grade.

• Sandy McClain made a motion to approve the budget and Meredith Bomgardner seconded it.

V. Past Events and/or Programs

 Directory – Sandy McLain reported this year 67 families still wanted a paper copy, which is less than last year. Next year we are going to remove the checkbox for “Do you have access to a printer” as we feel this will help decrease the number of prints needed.

 Super Male Readers – Andrea Cavoli shared the results as North Side was able to fill 80-90% of the classrooms with volunteer male readers. A few teachers filled in spots that were empty.

 Book Fair – Meredith Bomgardner reported that we had a very successful book fair and we currently have $11,500 Scholastic Dollars ($500 of those are going to expire in March). Mrs. Box will purchase Elmo’s for kindergarten. We also discussed continuing Scholastic order forms for third through fifth grade and possibly adding kindergarten through second grades. We are looking into using our Scholastic Dollars at the Scholastic Fair, which is where Miss Robinson purchases books for the library.

 Parent Advisory Meeting Information – The PAC meeting was cancelled – no information to share.

 Spirit Wear Sale – Our Spirit Wear sale began in September and ended in October, however families are still able to order online if interested. Kristen Hanford will provide more financial details once she has the information.  Spirit Night Events (Panera, Color Me Mine, Hershey Bears) – We received the following totals from the Spirit Nights:

• 392.20 – Get Air – 130 jumpers

• 218.92 – Panera – 49 fliers

• 152.10 – Color Me Mine – no number submitted yet

• Bear’s - $197

A father in attendance said he would give a percentage of his sales for his store in the Colonial Park Mall. We plan to discuss after the meeting. January is the Frosty celebration.  Race for Education – We raised over $25,000 (gross) for this year’s Race for Education. This was not as much as previous years, however this was still a very successful event. We are still collecting money so our total continues to rise. The race day was fantastic as we had great weather and ABC 27 Daybreak was here to report on the event. We still need to “duct tape and throw pies” at administration.

 Brain Show – The PTA paid for an assembly during the day and an event for families that same evening. This event was a very enjoyable evening for all.

VI. Ongoing Programs

 Consumer Rewards – Giant A+ - First month of the program (October) we earned $1,487.79. This increased compared to last year’s total of $1,100.

 Yearbook – Rachel Fraser is collecting pictures from any volunteer that is here during the day. Yearbook sales will be during the month of February and the cost will start at $15 and increase depending on what you purchase.

VII. Upcoming Events

 Winter Holiday Celebration with Frosty – This event will be held on Jan 23rd at 9:00am. Jen Anson will be on vacation so Sandy McClain is looking for another volunteer to help coordinate this event. Sandy is checking with the Nutrition Group to reserve the cafeteria. Sandy is thinking about having a raffle and getting Hershey Bears tickets and other items donated from local and large businesses. Feedback was provided on the success and failures of past Winter Holiday raffles. Committee Chairs will further discuss offline and make a final decision about whether or not there will be a raffle. Details such as cost and how to feature Frosty at the breakfast are still being discussed.  Book Fair – The theme will be Peace, Love & Happiness. We will hold it in March this year compared to February as in previous years. We hope to miss the bad weather during February.

 Bingo – Bingo will be held Friday, March 18th in the multi-purpose room. Committee Chairs Amy Damdin and Tina Patel are currently working on organizing this event.

VIII. New Business for Future Meetings

 The next PTA meeting will be held Tuesday February 2nd at 7:00pm in the Library.

Meeting adjourned at 8:25pm.