LAWNTON ELEMENTARY

PTO MEETING NOTES, June 5, 2017

Attendees:

Jennifer Krause Donna Spayd Jonathan Hann LeAnne Conaway Stephanie Bruno

Theresa Gibney Erin Brown Laurie Henry Julie Davis Bartol Victoria Foura

Danielle Markle Gretchen Vogle

Opening

The regular meeting of the Lawnton Elementary PTO was called to order at 6:35 p.m. on Monday, June 5, 2017; at Lawnton Elementary Library by Jennifer Krause, President. Theresa Gibney recorded the proceedings.

Approval of the Minutes

The minutes of the May Meeting were motioned for approval by: Jonathan Hann and seconded

by: Laurie Henry

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Principal's Report-Mrs. Bruno

Last week of School!

4th Marking Period Celebration: The assembly will be tomorrow. The teachers have several stations planned for the kids to have fun. Overall, it's been a good year.

Thursday: Last day of school, it will be a half day.

President's Report (Jennifer Krause)

May Fair : The day went really well, and the individuals in attendance had a very good time.

End of year Parties: Will be on Wednesday, at 2:45pm

Budget Meeting: The board will have a budget meeting in August to determine the expenses and amounts of $$$ needed to fundraise for next year.

Save-Around: They have already contacted Jen, and this fundraiser will be going out during the first week of school. She has determined that there will be no prizes this year.

Treasurer's Report/Budget- Donna Spayd

Treasurer's Report:

Current Balance as of June 5, 2017: $4,982.37

A+ Rewards check for $957 was received, and Mayfair deposit of $1,879.80 was made Expenses for May Fair were $2,116, and field trips were $1,415.00 from May-June.

We had a family that bounced a check. We need to contact that family and pass on the bank service charge to them.

The treasurer's report was approved by LeAnne Conaway and seconded by Theresa Gibney.

Bank Switch: Due to all of the issues we have had with First National Bank, it was determined that the PTO will be switching banks in the future. There are several banks that we could utilize. Mid Penn, Members First, Commerce Bank. Donna Spayd will be looking into these options. As stated in the PTO bylaws, a second signature is needed on the checks that are written. All board members, excluding the PTO president are able to be the second signature on check disbursements. These individuals include: Vice President: Erin Brown, Recording Secretary: Laurie Henry

Parliamentarian: :LeAnne Conaway, Corresponding Secretary: Theresa Gibney.

Once bank is determined, all of these individuals will have to sign the bank application papers again.

Committee Reports

Large Donation Project: (Julie Davis Bartol): Our playground equipment is in dire need of being replaced. The metal areas are cracked, rusted out, and children could really get hurt on it. The cost of equipment is really expensive. Approximately $24,000. So instead of looking at it as this huge amount, we could try to break it down over a 2-3 year period.

We could have 4 ways to fund it:

a) donations from local businesses

b) A Go Fund me Page for friends and family (there are several sites available that could be utilized)

c) PTO can raise the funds/ have a silent auction

d) Find a way to get a grant

She is willing to go to all the businesses in the area to ask for donations. Also she could have RAP come and the costs of admissions could be uses for the playground. The township just put in the new playground equipment at Vanatta. How did they raise the funds? Look into a contact person at the township for information.

Ideas flowed:

Have the Laps for Lawnton funds be utilized for the playground project.

Perhaps the Community Yard sale fund could be used to help too.

Utilized the student activity fund

Sponsors could buy a brick or have a plaque to recognize the donators.

Mrs. Bruno will have to check with the district to find out if we are able to pursue this.

Box Tops (Erin Brown): The winners of the classes that turned in the most Box Tops this year are:

1st place: Mrs. Foura's class with 5, 472 box tops, 2nd Place Ms. Markle's Am class, and 3rd place Autistic support. We received a check for $199.60 from last Box top collection, and the total brought in for Box Tops for the year is $481.

Erin brought in this cute Feed Me Trash Can. She thought it would be great to do these for each classroom. She went over the costs involved. She has a friend who would do it for a price- Mrs. Vogle will check with her husband to see if he could possibly do the vinyl cut outs of the eyes and mouth for us. We will have to purchase the cans.

Membership Forms( Erin Brown): We will keep the membership dues at $5. There will be changes to the forms to include email address and phone numbers for members. She will have them ready to go for back to school night.

A+ Rewards (Theresa Gibney): We received the check for $ $957.39 for this school year! This is the most we have earned since $2013.

Scholarship: (Theresa Gibney): The winner of the PTO scholarship was Makenna Hissick. She will be attending PSU where she plans to study animal science. Her award was given to her during the senior awards assembly held at the end of May.

Infinito's (Julie Bartol): We brought in $61 from our fundraiser at Infinito's that was held on May 21st.

Year Book Issues: (Melissa Colon/Donna Spayd) : The yearbook this year has so many errors in it. Melissa wanted to know that this was not her fault. Supposedly, the names were to be proof read by Miss Waller. Many students names were spelled wrong, or not even with the correct student. The white ticket cards are not working they way they should. There was a kindergarten student who was listed in the 3rd grade. There were 5 books that the gold imprint didn't come through on. Parents are upset because their child's name is spelled incorrectly There were several conversations with Life Touch. There needs to be a better way to review the student lists. Each classroom teacher should review the white ticket cards. There were so many issues with Life Touch, it was absolutely ridiculous. Other schools have had similar issues. The district needs to be notified of all of the issues with Life Touch and the teachers need to be more involved. Mrs. Vogle stated that she is willing to help with the email list/buckets. After a lot of discussion, it was determined that, the district needed to be notified of all of the issues with Life Touch and that the teachers would be taking over the yearbook next year.

PTO Binder: Due to the many changes within the PTO board over the past few years, documents are lost, and unable to be found. Theresa Gibney created A new PTO binder. In it, there are committee folders/ guidelines for each committee. Original documents will be kept here, and Committee chairs will be given copies of the items. We are trying to get more organized moving forward. Many times, the committee chairs did not even know who was on their committees. Better Organization is a goal for next year. Hopefully, this is the start.

New Business

Lawnton Construction: The building will be worked on for the majority of the summer. Air conditioning units and new windows will be installed. Mrs. Bruno will be at Rutherford.

Kindergarten Orientation: This will be held on August 22nd at 10 am

Back to School Night will be on September 12th.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 6:30pm. It was motioned by LeAnne Conaway and seconded by Jonathan Hann.

The next meeting of the Lawnton PTO will be on Tuesday, September 5, 2017 @ 6:30 pm.