MPTS PTA General Meeting Minutes, January 7, 2015

MPTS PTA General Meeting Minutes, January 7, 2015

1. General Announcements:

The Open house scheduled for January 8 at 9:30 am will be cancelled if school is delayed for weather. Bill Gary will post this information to the website and Ashley Brietz will post to Facebook, noting that tours will be made available upon request if prospective parents call the school. There is one remaining Open House scheduled for February 3.

Class Pictures are Tuesday, January 13. Classic Photography did not note the date of pictures on its mailer that was sent home. The PTA will communicate this through the Traditional Times next Monday.

1. Budget Discussion

Income

Taryn Mecia discussed income categories. The handout summarizing the budget today shows shortfalls in categories already collected (Beginning of Year Fees, Million Minutes pledges and Traditional Giving). Income categories yet to be collected this year were then discussed. For Spring Carnival, the PTA is looking into ways to raise additional revenue. Corporate Donations/Spirit Nights are on track to meet projections. Directory Ads is reduced to zero since the PTA is not publishing a paper directory.

**Following mention of the directory a discussion was had regarding attempting to create a directory through information collected from the room parents. Bill Gary agreed to reach out to Vicki Walker about the logistics of collecting the information. The difficulty of making the information available online in useable and a secure fashion was discussed but not resolved. Bill will give an update on this effort at the Executive Board meeting on 1/20.

The PTA membership income category will be adjusted in future budgets to reflect the reality of the amount of participation MPTS has had in the past several years.

Expenses

The first expense cuts discussedwere those to be made to line items for committees that had already completed spending for the year and were under budget.

The next cut discussed, to the Balanced Literacy line item, was made because the PTA’s initial estimate for this line item was made with the uncertainty of what would be needed for the first year of full Balanced Literacy implementation. A significant investment in Balanced Literacy has already been made by the PTA this year.

Other cuts discussed: Spring Carnival expenses were cut from $8,000 to $5,000. Cultural Arts was cut by $500, and the chairs of this committee have already confirmed that they are able to put on their events at this reduced spending level. Hospitality was reduced to bring its budget in line with what was spent in this category last year. Reading Incentive expense, a line item formerly spent on AR, was allocated to the payment that MPTS will need to make for the Leader in Me program. The Room Parent line item was reduced to zero because this money has historically not been needed. The Yearbook expense line was reduced to return the yearbook to break-even status.

** During the discussion of the Room Parent line item, Caroline Chase mentioned that it might be helpful for the PTA to establish a fund that could be used for class activities or teacher gifts if particular classrooms fall short. This idea will be discussed further at the Executive Board meeting on 1/20.

Following the discussion a vote was taken on the revised budget and the budget was passed. Minutes from the December general PTA meeting were also passed.

1. Remarks by Mr. Price

Regarding the budget, Mr. Price stated that he is looking into summer startup costs and he hopes to reduce this figure by $10,000, primarily by purchasing some materials including EOG Prep materials out of the school’s or principal’s budget. Mr. Price will meet with grade level chairs in February regarding their budget for summer startup costs and will report the results of those meetings to the PTA.

Mr. Price reported on some staff changes which are occurring this spring. Ms. Gaudy is leaving 5th grade and will be replaced by CherissaCraig, who is coming to MPTS from Elizabeth Traditional School. Beth Livingston is joining the staff as an end of year teacher assistant. Dana Morgan is joining the staff as an intervention specialist. He is in the process of interviewing extended day tutors and has recently hired two, one in 4th grade and one in 5th grade. They will start January 21 and remain through May 15. Ms. Johnson has been released to come back part time after going out with an illness last spring. She will be half time with Ms. Graham in the Media Center.

MPTS will have a presence at the School Options fair which will take place before the lottery deadline. Many teachers will be representing the school and there will be a display promoting the Leader in Me program, and the PTA’s Open House materials will be used.

Handouts: PTA Meeting Agenda January 7 2015, MPTS PTA Budget vs. Actual 2014-2015 Proposed Revision – 1/6/15, MPTS PTA General Meeting minutes, December 4 and 11, 2014

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