St. Brendan’s PTO Board Meeting
December 2003 minutes
Attendees: Julia Walters-Burns, Margie Schmutz, Mary Jane Fatigati, Denise Fong, Carolyn Casey, Lynn Wygant, Lisa McCole, Sue Iverson, Kate O’Brien-Rourke
Teacher Representatives: Mrs. Sullivan
Julia called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm, Margie led with a prayer.
Meeting Minutes Approval- Betsy Maxwell was unable to attend so the minutes of the November, 2003 meeting were unavailable. The board will plan on approving them at the next regularly scheduled Board Meeting.
Principles Report (A Sullivan):
· There was an onsite injury today at the school to one of the teacher Assistants. She was taken for medical aid and is doing well.
· The school Christmas concert will be held on 12/18.
· Starting this week, all students will participate in a morning Advent Service at 8:35 on Mondays.
· We have 10 students going to the Blanchet Speech Tournament this weekend.
· Mrs. Sullivan thanked the PTO for the plant that was given to her on Principals day in November and the donation to CCS that was given at the Thanksgiving celebration last month.
· The accreditation team is coming in January for an overview and for the formal site visit in February (2/11-2/13). In January, (1/13) our Hospitality team will host the team for lunch at Brendan House and meet with the teachers after school. In February, the team will provide them with 3 meals and several snacks etc!
President Report (J Walters-Burns) – See New/Old Business.
Past President Report (Denise Fong) – There is currently not a consistent policy for Ethics training between .the parish and the school. The parish requires it, the school does not. The archdioceses is asking everyone who volunteers or has contact with the kids at school to go thru Mandatory Ethics training... There will be several training opportunities set up, 3 dates are currently planned – 2 at night and one after carpool. Ethics training will become registration requirements for enrolling children in the school next year.
Treasurer Report (M Fatigati):
MaryJane distributed the Financial Report thru the end of November. She noted that the Young Authors account had spent 500 of their budget. She also noted that we have several wish list items left to purchase. Several other financial items can be noted in the Emergency Preparedness, Bite of St Brendan, Sally Foster, Craft Fair sections of the meeting minutes.
REPORTS
Fund Raisers:
Auction (S Flanigan) - The 2004 Auction is on track and going strong - collecting items, getting them catalogued and making plans for an unforgettable night of food, fun, and needs them earlier (approx 1/17) to get them into the catalog as they will be using a different printer. Most committees are going very well; they are still looking for someone to head up the runner/spotter committee.
Sally Foster (C Henderson & J Hobgood) – Total Revenues for the school to date are approximately 14,000. This is down about 17% from last year, but higher than the normal yearly totals in the past. Last year’s was the first internet opportunity and some family members may have waited until after the contest period to purchase. A discussion followed about the fact that Sally Foster can be purchased year round. Scrip will include it in the Scrip Newsletter. Note: Families that did not fulfill their commitment received a friendly reminder from Mrs. Sullivan.
Holiday Craft Fair (Lynn Wygant) – Complete for the year. The craft fair was a huge success, earning approximately 15,000 for a net of 13, 500. Revenues were down about 11% but we also had approx 10% fewer vendors so the reduction was expected.
Lynn Wygant has decided not to co-chair next year so we will need a new co-chair to work with Marianna Cannon.
Scrip (S Sonnen & L McCole) - Overall sales continue to grow each month. The school web site now contains all of the ordering forms, schedules, etc, and looks great. There is an issue with using the church every week to sell after Mass, Sally and Lisa will meet with John Meyer to determine how it is resolved and report back at the next meeting. Sally reminded the meeting that all proceeds over the yearly goal of 10,000 will go directly to the playground fund.
Committees:
Clinic (J Walters-Burns reported) – Complete for the year, Letters have gone out to those families where the children needed additional follow-up to the hearing, sight, and scoliosis testing.
Hot Lunch (Lynn Wygant/Sue Iverson) - The new lunch program is having a severe problem finding and retaining volunteers this year. Volunteers who are signed up for shifts are either coming late or not at all. Due to this, the Hot Lunch team has decided to cut back to 1/day per week for the month of January and assess the program, the costs, and to determine if they can more volunteers. If they can get more volunteers, the program will go back to 1/mo in February. Other ideas discussed included doing a volunteer survey and streamlining the food, service, and overall program to reduce the requirement for volunteers and put some stability in the program.
Emergency Preparedness (J Walters-Burns reported) – The team has currently spent $300 of their overall budget. They feel that they will have to spend approximately $1100 to replenish supplies and food which is slightly over their total budget by 100. This overrun was reviewed and approved.
Outreach (J Walters-Burns reported) - Everything is going just fine, Lisa appreciates everyone's hard work to respond to the immediate issues.
Class Liturgies (H Clancy) – Next class liturgy will be on 12/8.
Playground Update (O-Brien Rourke) – The Barnes & Noble night was a huge success, extremely well-attended, and earned the school $900 for the playground. The team currently
Room Parents (P Harnden) – Going fine, no additional report.
Volunteer Coordinator (J Walters-Burns reported) - Please make sure all volunteer hours are turned in. In January, letters will be going out to parents indicating what their commitments satisfied to date are.
Technology (M Sonnen): The Auction and Publisher software has been found!! Technology has a few systems issues but is otherwise going fine, no additional report.
School Functions:
Family Nights (K Bolibol) - Revenues for the Bite of St. Brendan were up by 10% to $935 this year. The next Family Night activity will be the Family Night Auction scheduled for February.
Parish Publicity (M Perez-Torkildson) – Going fine, no additional report
Memory Book (J Walters-Burns reported) - Lynda and Raelyn received quote from KIDS Photography to see if they could do the book. After some consideration, it was determined that we should stay with the original vendor, the “Memory Book” Company. All pictures and documents need to be submitted to the vendor by 3/31. The book will include 8 additional pages of pictures this year!
OLD BUSINESS
· Safe and Copier Purchases are complete. The copier has been installed in the Teachers Lounge; the Safe should be here sometime in January. The old safe will be re-keyed to be retained for future use.
· Playground Upgrade Proposal – 3 Quotes have been received for the playground equipment. For approx 30K, the old equipment will be removed and the new equipment installed. The total cost including Landscaping is approx 35K. This assumes that we will use volunteer labor with a paid foreman/project manager.
· Phone Tree – Joan McIntosh is working on it and expects to have it done sometime after January.
· Babysitter List – will be released this week to the office (thanks Margie!!)
NEW BUSINESS
· Facilities – ADA compliance – All groups was reminded to make sure that we use the facilities in a manner that complies with all laws, including ADA. It was noted at the craft fair that the elevator access was blocked, which made the stairs inaccessible.
· General Meeting Subject – The 2003/2004 General Meeting will be held on 1/22/04, with a topic of “Love and Logic” given by Cindy Horst. We will be putting inserts into the Wednesday Envelope to familiarize them with the topic. Babysitting will be provided by the Jar High Students. Note: There will be NO meeting for January due to the General Meeting.
· PTO Accreditation Binder Update – The binder is due on 2/6 to the office to support the Accreditation site visit. Julia is working on it and soliciting input from all board chairs as it is finalized.
· Heart Association Inquiry
· Fulcrum Dinner – 3/11/04 to support the Seattle Arch Scholarship Funds – Cost is $150.00 per person. All board members and chairs were solicited as to their interest.
· Arch Volunteer Seminar - 3/6/04 – It was noted that this was the same day of the auction, however 2 items on the agenda are Auction and Grant writing so we will try to locate a representative to attend.
· Christmas Concert Videotaping – Due to timing issues, we were unable to locate a source to professionally tape the Christmas concert. This was suggested by Christine Hayes. We will continue to look for someone to tape the Spring Concert and agree it is a great idea!
· 2005 Play Venue / Registration – There is a potential conflict with the preferred dates for the Jar High Play at the Everett PUD (4/4-4/9/05). The PUD has requested that we attend a meeting in February to participate in either a lottery for the dates or to negotiate with the other interested parties. Julia will plan to attend the meeting on our behalf.
Julia and Margie adjourned the meeting at 8:45 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Julia Walters-Burns (Co-Pres) for
Betsy Maxwell, PTO Secretary