LAWNTON ELEMENTARY PTO
MEETING NOTES
December 12, 2011
Attendees:
LisaroseKreiss / RaeganCamuso / Angela Curtis / Jill KoschakLori Butler / Kat Dixon / Julie Bryant / Carolyn Dorazio
Theresa Gibney / Pam Hendrickson / Jennifer Krause / Kim Shonk
Allison States / Jackie Price / Sarah Ordille / Craig Powers
Opening
The regular meeting of the Lawnton Elementary PTO was called to order at 6:30 p.m. On Monday, December 12, 2011, atLawnton Elementary Library by LisaroseKreiss, President. Theresa Gibney recorded the proceedings.
Principal's Report-Mrs. Bruno
Due to illness, Mrs. Bruno was unable to attend tonight's meeting. Mrs. Bruno sent word with Mrs. Kreiss and the two teachers in attendance that she had nothing to report on at this time.
President's Report-LisaroseKreiss
Approval of the Minutes
The minutes of the November meeting were motioned for approval by Sarah Ordille and seconded by Jennifer Krause.
Teacher's Appreciation for December 2011- The 22 staff members being recognized in December are: Mrs. S. Bruno, Ms. Waller, Dr. Reese, Mrs. Burg, Mrs. Hall, Ms. Logan, Mr. Mashas, Mrs. Nye, Mr. Wolfe, Mrs. Benton, Mrs. Jones, Miss Markle, Mrs. Vogle, Miss Vandine, 1 Mr. Brhman, Mrs. Brandt, Mrs. Lytle, Ms. Van Eeden, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Morgan, Mrs. P. Bruno, Mrs. Radic, and Mrs. McAnulty.
Wish Lists: The holiday gifts for the teachers were due today. Several of the gifts were brought in tonight, however many gifts still need to be delivered. All gifts need to be delivered by Wednesday December 21st at 1pm. at the latest to Lisarose.
Inventory of PTO Belongings: At this point, with the holidays and everyone's schedules a date will be picked out to do the inventory sometime in January. Those who signed up last time will be notified as to when this will occur.
Bylaws:
The proposals for change to bylaws to be voted on this evening are:
Issue 1 Currently stated in bylaws:
"#Article IV: Officers and Elections."
"Section3 Eligibility. Members are eligible for office if they are members in good standing at least 14 calendar days before the nominating committee presents its slate."
Proposed change A:
#Article IV: Officers and elections
"Section 3 Eligibility. Members are eligible for office if they have chaired a committee within the last school year and are in good standing at least 14 calendar days before the nominating committee presents its slate.
Proposed Change B:
"#Article IV: Officers and Elections."
"Section 3 Eligibility. Members are eligible for office if they have chaired a committee and are in good standing at least 14 calendar days before the nominating committee presents its slate."
Note: As defined under "Article lll Members
Section 2: "Dues, if any will be established by the executive board. If dues are charged, a member must have paid his or her dues at least 14 calendar days before the meeting to be considered a member in good standing with voting rights."
Kim Shonk made a motion for Proposed Change B and this was seconded byRaeganCamuso.. After the motions were made and seconded, they were voted on as a whole and the Yays had it, Nays=0.
Issue 2 Currently stated in bylaws:
"#Article VIII: Finances"
"Section 4. Two authorized signatures shall be required on each check. Authorized signers shall be the president and the treasurer."
Proposed Change:
Section 4. Two authorized signatures shall be required on each check. Authorized signers shall be the treasurer and another executive officer that is currently authorized on the paperwork at the banking institution for the current school year. When at all possible, every attempt should be made so that executive officers are not to sign checks where they are the payee. Example: If the president or treasurer are to be reimbursed for something their signatures are not to be one of the two required on the check when at all possible."
Sarah Ordille made a motion to change Aricle VIII Section 4 to the proposed change. Allison States seconded the motion. After the motions were made and seconded, they were voted on as a whole and the Yays had it, Nays=0.
The following items will be voted on for Bylaw Changes for January 2012:
Current:
"Article VII: Committees
Section 1. Membership. Committees may consist of members and board members, with the president acting as an ex-officio member of all committees.
Section 2. Standing committees. The following committees shall be held by the organization: Fundraising, Hospitality, Communications, Art & Enrichment, Family Events, and Auditing.
Section 3. The board may appoint additional committees as needed."
Proposed:
1) Notations about: must be a member in "good standing" in order to be a chairperson of a committee. i.e. be current on membership dues for that school year.
2) Must be a member in "good standing" in order to be a home room parent representative:-Necessary in order for goings on to be covered under the PTO Insurance.
Treasurer's Report- Lori Butler
The total Income for November was $2,944.18. The total expenses were $3,348.91. Closing balance for November is $16,918.14. A motion to approve the treasurer's report was made by Theresa Gibney, and seconded by Jen Krause.
Committee Reports:
Membership/Directory :( LisaroseKreiss): Membership Directories went out last week. There are unusually low numbers of the students in this year's edition. Many attempts were made for the parents to fill out the forms. It just must be one of those years. Several classes have less than half of the students in the directories.
Chuck E. Cheese Night:(Kat Dixon):It was held on Tuesday November 15th. There was a good turn-out. The fundraiser raised $168, and Chuck E. Cheese was generous to give the PTO some items for the Mayfair in the Spring.
5th grade field trip: (Kim Shonk)
- Turkey Bingo: It was held at Chambers Hill Fire Co. The event raised $400 for the 5th grade Field Trip. The participation for this event wasn't as high as expected and the amount of monies raised was less than last year.
- Sheetz Coupon books: The Sheetz couponbooks have raised $344 in sales. The books will continue to be made available at PTO events. They make great stocking stuffers. A discussion was held as to only a certain amount of students are selling these items.
- Holiday Shoppe: (Kim Shonk and Carolyn Dorazio) :Kim Shonk reported: "It actually went pretty smoothly." There is a lot of work involved with counting out the inventory during set up, and tear down. Although this is not a fund raiser, and does not make any money for the PTO, the students really enjoy coming in and buying things for their families. There were a lot of $2 gifts and under which the children really liked. They especially loved the * Santa Dollar they received. The Kindergarten class is the hardest. The older students liked helping them. Next year, perhaps the older students could also help with the 1st graders too. The evenings that the Holiday Shoppe was opened were very slow.
*Each child is given a "Santa dollar" which is the equivalent of a $1.00 from the PTO to shop as they wish.
Bingo Night:(Theresa Gibney/Jen Krause): Bingo Night will be held on Friday January 20th. Currently we are in the idea stage, and items are on paper. A sign-up sheet was sent around for the Bingo Night. We need your help. We have a lot of questions as running an even is all new to us. We need to rely on the other PTO members to give us direction. Several questions were answered by the PTO members who were in attendance as to areas where we need to focus on.
Labels for Education: (Theresa Gibney): A customer service representative was contacted and information regarding the program was received. A flyer and pages of collection sheets is in the works and can be sent in the future. A collection box for the Labels is ready to go as well Again, it's all new to Theresa, and she has questions about the process. There is a need for Mrs. Bruno to view the catalog online to find items for a "Wish List." A goal of 5000 Points has been set up. We currently have only 400 points in our account. Through community projects of Caring and Sharing, more points can be earned. The Penny Wars is an event that can be used in this manner. A form will need to be filled out and signed by Mrs. Bruno to earn 500 bonus points. Since Mrs. Bruno was not in attendance, this will be discussed with her in further detail. Collection of labels must be mailed by June 1st. It was agreed to table this until next year, since we have time to collect.
Box Tops:( Michelle Fludovich): No report was made at this time.
Recipe Book: (Leanne Conaway): No report was made at this time.
PAC: (Jackie Price): There was no meeting in October. In November items discussed were gym uniforms and nutrition. Jackie stated that the schools will be introducing a gym uniform as the students are again "pushing the limits" with the dress code. The gym uniforms will be a shirt and pair of shorts and will cost $12. It has been proposed that the parents may be deciding the colors of the uniform. There was a lot of discussion at the PAC meeting as to whether each school should have their school colors, or whether each school in the district should have the same color uniform. Our PTO thought that they should have the same color uniform whether they attend CD or CD East. The colors would be Gray and Maroon for all students. This will go into effect the next school year.
A parent asked that Jackie bring up at the next PAC meeting whether or not the Enrollment Study is going to be made public. Jackie stated, that it "is always made public" according to PAC. At the last meeting it was said that it is still being evaluated.
A+ Rewards(Craig Powers): We have received a total of $325.23 from A+ Rewards. This year we only have 55 people signed up and we had almost 100 last year. He is unsure as to why there has been a decline, but it changes from year to year. Craig also gave us the totals from several other schools, and Lawnton is in the ballpark with monies collected. A+ collection period is still October- March. Everyone needs to check to make sure that your A+ Rewards points have been going to Lawnton. Sign-up needs to be done every year. There is talk that Giant might do away with this program.
New Business:
School Board Meeting: (Allison States and RaeganCamuso): Allison and Raegan attended the last board meeting and they are currently working on the 2012 budget. The next meeting will be on January 3rd and the School Board has to have the budget passed by January 5th.
Some items that were discussed at the last board meeting regarding budget cuts:
1) Doing away with Specials for the Kindergarten
2) Stopping foreign language in the Middle School
3) Eliminating Consumer Science
4) It is projected that there would be 51 furloughs
5) A 1.4% tax increase has already been built into the budget
6) More discussion on redistricting
The minutes of these meetings can be seen on the School District Website.
Year Book Pictures: (Carolyn Dorazio): Please take pictures at all of the upcoming events during the holidays and please forward them to her for the year book. Carolyn would like to have all the pictures to review by February.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 7:20p.m. It was motioned by Allison Statesand seconded by Kim Shonk. The next meeting of the Lawnton PTO is scheduled for Monday January 2, 2012 @6:30 pm.
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