St. Brendan’s PTO Board Meeting
Attendees: Denise Fong, Julia Walters-Burns, Karen Bolibol, Jan
Replogle, Joan McIntosh,
Connie
Henderson, Sue Proulx, Teri Clark
Teacher
Representatives: Miss Constantino, Mrs.
Partington
Guests: Mrs. Sullivan, Julie Bodmer
The Board, Committee Chairs, School Function,
Enrichment Coordinators, and Teacher Representatives met in the teacher’s
lounge. Julia & Denise called the
meeting to order at 7:10 pm. Connie
Henderson led all those present in a prayer.
Meeting Minutes
Approval -- Minutes of the
November 7, 2002 meeting were approved.
Add to the minutes for clarification: Page 3, “Process for Bylaws
Review:” Step 5 …”PTO members in good standing” are those members who have
paid their annual PTO dues.
Vice President Report (K Bolibol) – School Commission meeting report by Karen Bolibol.
1)
5-Year Plan – most of the items have been achieved; need to
develop a new five (5) year plan.
2)
The School Commission Handbook was reviewed. The Archdiocese had developed and published
Guidelines for the School Commission.
The Handbook was compared to these guidelines.
3) Parish
Finance Council is being asked to address the parish’s school tuition subsidy
issues.
Mr.
Partington of the Finance Council met with the School Commission. The School Commission is requesting a set
percentage of support from the Parish for the budget in the 5-year plan, rather
than a dollar figure. Most schools in
the Archdiocese receive 14%. At the
present time, St. Brendan receives 15%
- 16%. The Finance Council does
not want to address the percentage commitment at this time. The Finance Council has prioritized
repayment of the “On Course for Life” funding.
When this is complete, then they will consider the percentage.
The Parish
is reviewing Tuition and Stewardship.
Families are expected to honor their Stewardship commitments or pay
Out-of-Parish Tuition rates.
Treasurer Report (J Replogle):
Highlights: The following is submitted:
1) Craft Fair
Fund Raiser total = $15,396.30. The
Transaction Detail By Account was briefly reviewed.
2) Sally
Foster Gift Wrap Fund Raiser total = $15,111.04. The Transaction Detail By Account was briefly reviewed. This total is the highest to date (based on
memory).
- No
activity in the following accounts: Money Market Account, Archdiocesan
Revolving Funds “Committed Funds”,
and Archdiocesan Revolving Funds.
- The Checking Account balances normally.
- Other Issues/Activity:
1) Recommendations
for PTO Treasury Check Writing Validation:
Jan presented graphics depicting Annual Check Writing by Monthly Volume
and Annual Check Writing by Value.
Based on this data, the PTO Bylaws revision incorporates this
information. The minimum check request
value requiring a President or Co-President co-signature would be increased
from $100.00 to $150.00.
2) Auction
Fund - An - Item: This is an FYI from
our last meeting. Previous years and
dollar amounts are ’98 = $8,800; ’99 = $8425; ’00 = not available; ’01 =
$6,200; ’02 = $5,800.
3) Remaining
Wish List Items = $3002.74. No Wishlist
activity occurred last month.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Speech (D.
Clark) – Reported by Mrs. Sullivan and Teri Clark. The speech
tournament is at Blanchet on 12/7/02.
Approx 15 St. Brendan students are expected to participate in this
tournament. The next tournament is the
Seattle Prep tournament in January ’03.
Calendar/ Memory Book (D. Clark & T. Clark) –
Volunteers are stepping forward to help create the Memory Book. Suggestion to meet to explore options and clarify
the process.
Action: Julia & Teri will convene a meeting for
interested volunteers.
Room
Parents (S Proulx, H Clancy) – Reported by Sue Proulx. The Room Parents are ready for the PTO
General Meeting on 1/9/03.
Clarification for Room
Parents and Classroom Party Funds from PTO:
All classes have a Valentine’s Party.
A check in the amount of $75 will be routed to the class head room
parent by 2/1/03 from Jan Replogle.
Reimbursement for the other class party is to be submitted via the usual
Check Request Procedure, up to $75 for each classroom.
Sally
Foster (J Gotz, J Hobgood, C Henderson) – Reported by Connie Henderson. This year’s Sally Foster fundraiser was the
most successful in recent memory.
Internet sales continue to benefit St. Brendan Parish School through the
end of the school year.
Accreditation Survey
“Parent/Community Involvement” PTO committee chairperson responses to this survey were
compiled by the Co-Presidents. These
responses were reviewed and finalized at this meeting. The survey will be routed to Mrs. Carlson of
the Student Growth Committee for school Accreditation.
By-laws Changes (Vote in January 2003):
Continued discussion of the suggested changes and minor
grammatical changes.
1) Suggested Changes: Suggested changes were reviewed. These suggestions were based on a review of
our Bylaws and comparison with other school parent-teacher organization bylaws.
A1. Financial
Decisions Clarify how financial decisions are made: Budget with Principal at the end of the
school year with the current and incoming PTO Board.
A2. Financial Decisions: Clarify the method to approve budget item expenditures in the
course of the school year. Tighten
Check Signature Authority above $150.00, see Treasurer’s Report above.
B. PTO Officer Terms: Co-Presidents with staggered two-year terms,
addition of the Past-President, and Deletion of the Vice President with the
Past-President taking over the Vice-President duties (School Commission
liaison).
C. Bylaws Amendments: The present PTO bylaws amendment procedures
place constraints unlike the amendment procedures of many others. Recommendation is for amendments as needed
with proper paper vote of eligible members.
D, Definition of Board membership and responsibilities, e.g.
Executive Committee vs. Executive Board.
2) Process for Bylaws Review: We have completed Step 1, Step 2
and Step 3 of this process. Step 3.5
will be added. The Archdiocese has
recently published Policy and Guidelines for Parent Organizations. The Co-Presidents will meet with Mrs.
Sullivan and Father Lawrence on December 10th, to review the
proposed Bylaws. At this meeting they
will review conformance to and identify any conflict with Archdiocese Policy or
Guidelines. If major changes are
necessary, we will delay the Bylaws proposals.
Mrs. Sullivan does not anticipate a delay.
Step 1. Review the Bylaws item by item this evening.
Step 2. Copy the Bylaws with suggested changes, via
e:mail, to each PTO Committee/Function Chairperson for feedback prior to the
December PTO meeting.
Step 3. Final review and comment at the December PTO
meeting.
Step 3.5 Review the Bylaws with Father Lawrence and
Mrs. Sullivan. Review conformance of,
and identify any conflict with, Archdiocese Policy and Guidelines for Parent
Organizations.
Step 4. After the December PTO meeting, the proposal
is to be routed to each family via the
Wednesday communication
envelope. Include a sample ballot with
the Bylaws proposal.
Step 5. Route the ballot prior to the January
General Meeting to members in good standing (those who have paid their annual
PTO dues). Attendance at the January
General Meeting is not required to vote.
Vote at the January General Meeting.
Absentee ballots may be cast after the January General Meeting.
Note: The ballot will essentially consist of two provisions:
1) Waive the provision requiring amendments to
the Bylaws in April only; and
2)
Vote on the remaining provisions (see general description of
the general changes noted above).
This is an all or nothing
situation; one must vote yes to waive the provision requiring amendments in
April in order to cast a vote for the remaining provisions. If the provision to change amendments is not
passed, the remaining provisions are null and void.
PTO Fund-An-Item: As noted previously, Playground Equipment and Improvements
will be this year’s PTO Fund-An-Item.
Since the costs associated with this endeavor are considerable, it was
suggested last month that a plan is developed with specific targets for
subsequent auctions. Denise
followed up with John Meyer and the Parish Facilities Commission. The Facilities Commission has asked the
Landscape Architect to present an RFP (Request for Proposal) to price out
various components of the playground with embellishment for fund raising
purposes. When this RFP is available,
the PTO will be asked to consider the monies to cover this expense.
Another point verified for PTO from questions last
month: the Parish Facilities Commission
does have a playground subcommittee.
PTO Volunteer Hours Drawing: The drawing for a Scrip certificate from
those with prompt return of their volunteer calendars will be held during the
week rather than at the PTO meeting due to timing of the PTO meetings. The winner will be announced in the PTO
news.
Notification of Parents of Cancellation of Family Night
Dance: As noted at the
November meeting, unless an interested person comes forward to chair this
function, the event will be cancelled.
Family Night Committee members and persons involved in the Bite of St.
Brendan have been notified also.
Action: Announcement again in the PTO News for the Wednesday bulletin.
Counter for PTO Minutes: Request to Technology Committee to place a
counter on the PTO minutes to determine how many times the PTO minutes are
accessed on the St. Brendan School website.
Action: Miss Constantino will follow-up with the Technology Committee.
NEW BUSINESS
Accreditation
1)
General Update:
Presented by Miss Constantino.
a.
The designated
committees are meeting. These groups
are on track and on schedule according to the plan set forth in August
2002.
b.
The Stakeholder Meeting Report binder has been completed.
c.
The School Commission approved the SLEs at the November
meeting. Accreditation activities flow
from the SLEs.
d.
The Student Learning Expectations (SLE) binder has been
finalized.
e.
The Profile data is almost complete.
2)
“Organization for Student Learning” Update: Presented by
Mrs. Partington.
a.
This consists of seven (7) sections.
b.
Statements and reports have been drafted for four (4) of the
sections.
Julia asked if there was anything needed from PTO at this
time. Nothing at this time.
January General Meeting: Guest
speakers are Karen & Jamie Moyer.
The topics include balancing family, professional and community demands;
support of Catholic education; the Moyer Foundation, and activities they are
involved with. Both parents are
encouraged to attend this meeting. Two
(2) tickets will be available for each family and babysitting is offered. An RSVP is required for the tickets and
babysitting. More information is coming
via the Wednesday envelope.
PENDING ISSUES
This is a new section on the agenda. These items may not be addressed at each
meeting, but we do want to keep these items in front of PTO.
- Candidates for next year – Treasurer, Script Chairs,
Auction Chair, Junior High Play
- Coordination of the Bite of St. Brendan Scheduling with
Parish Office Events
- Plan for “vendor’ chair to manage/organize community
solicitation efforts across all events
Suggestion to consider
coordination of solicitation of vendors.
Community resources are being solicited multiple times for a donation
for some event at “St. Brendan.” The
requests for donation are from all areas related to parish life, e.g. school,
church, service organizations (Brownies & Scouts), SOS, auction, etc. Some vendors are overwhelmed by
requests. Suggestion to initiate
discussion and/or how to organize this type of function for PTO committees if
not the entire Parish.
Fundraising,
Committee, Function and Enrichment with “No activity report at this meeting.”
FUNDRAISING:
Scrip (L Blakeley, D Jennings) – No activity report at this meeting.
Box Tops (C Seib) – No
activity report at this meeting.
Auction
(J. and R. Carroll) - No activity report at this meeting.
Holiday
Craft Fair (M. Cannon, L. Wygant) - See Treasurer’s Report above for more
information.
COMMITTIES:
Health Screening (D Heye, J Smith) – No
activity report at this meeting.
Library
(J. McCoy) -- No
activity report at this meeting.
Membership (T Morrow, S Sonnen) – No activity report at this meeting.
Outreach (L Ungvarsky) -- No activity report at this
meeting.
Playground (C Jacoby) – No activity report at this
meeting.
Volunteer
Coordinator (G Beauchamp) – No activity report at this meeting.
Technology (M Sonnen) -- No
activity report at this meeting.
School Functions:
Calendar (D & T
Clark) – No activity report at this meeting.
Emergency Readiness (MK
Livingston, W Slater Hospitality (T Lambert, D Loutsis) – No activity report at this meeting.
Milk (J Towey) – No
activity report at this meeting.
Parish Publicity (M Perez-Torkildson) – No
activity report at this meeting.
School Photography (J Jacoby) – No
activity report at this meeting.
Uniform Exchange & Lost and
Found (J Peterson) – No
activity report at this meeting.
Enrichment:
Art Docent (T Corbin) – No
activity report at this meeting.
Jr. High Play (N Santiago) – No activity report at this
meeting.
Young Authors (E Morris, L Scheuer) – No
activity report at this meeting.
Julia and
Denise adjourned the meeting at 9:39 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Joan McIntosh
PTO Secretary