Music Boosters Association (MBA)
Monthly Meeting / Monday
14 August 2017
Meeting Attendees
MBA President – Kristin Ryan / Present / Chorus Director – Daniel Jackson / Present
MBA Treasurer – Connie Olivera / Present / VP Chorus Fundraising – Kate Brown / Absent
MBA Asst Treasurer – Duane Torbert / Present / VP Chorus – Alice Parkin / Present
MBA Secretary – Sue Fuller / Present / Guitar Director – Jeffrey Tanner / Absent
Band Director – Mr. David Keller / Present / VP Guitar – Michelle Lopresti / Present
VP Band Fundraising – Stacie Tomasello / Present / Orchestra Director – Leah Hawkins / Absent
VP Band – Greg Ogorek / Present / VP Orchestra – Alexis Adamson / Absent
Discussion Items
President’s Report
6:02 p.m. – Kristin called the meeting to order. Kristin introduced Michelle Lopresti as the new VP, Guitar. The rest of the attendees introduced themselves as well. Alice made a motion to approve the June minutes, Stacie seconded and the motion was passed.
Treasurer’s Report – Connie Olivera
Connie reviewed the new form that she’s asking everyone to complete when turning in money to her. This is the information she needs to make sure the money is credited to the appropriate account.
The amount in the checking account is $123,298.70, which was reconciled with bank accounts through the end of July. Thanks go to Diana Carter for her assistance.
Connie discussed the details of the budget. She explained that she adjusted the departmental budgets so that their fundraising forecast covers at least their forecasted budget/expenses.
Connie and Mr. Jackson discussed renting choral dresses versus buying them. It was noted that all rental attire is owned by the MBA. Each group has escrow account for attire. Connie explained the difference between operating costs, fundraising costs, and clearing account costs. Operating costs are just items you pay for from your budget, like decorations for a concert. Fundraising costs are the costs associated with fundraising activities, such as supplies for car washes. Clearing account costs are items you expect to be repaid, like purchasing bowties or ties that will later be reimbursed. Connie will add an “Operating” subheading to the budget.
A correction was made to the choral revenue from $6837.00 to $9346.05 for fundraising. With that change, the profit number ($7454.14) is now correct.
Connie and Duane discussed moving money from last year’s senior’s band accounts into the general MBA account so that student accounts accurately reflect our current students. There’s a discrepancy in the student account balances - the amount in Charms is $4430.27 and the amount in Quickbooks is $2991.83. The information is Charms is correct, but we need to locate the $1438.44 in Quickbooks and allocate it correctly. It is likely in a fundraising account, but the accounting mistake could have happened years ago. The money is NOT missing. It could be from parents depositing money in Charms accounts outside of paying for a specific item.
We can’t accurately express the discrepancy in Quickbooks due to lack of historical reporting available. Greg made a motion to adjust Quickbooks by $1438.44 by using MBA escrow to cover the accounting discrepancy with the goal of having a clean start to student account line item for this year. Stacie seconded and the motion passed. The new tracking forms for spirit wear vs. other expenses should eliminate future confusion, see below.
The budget conversation moved to unpaid choir expenses from the previous year. There were ten students who didn’t pay their rental fees last year. Kristin remarked that this year we need to enforce that before the winter concerts happen, all concert attire must be paid for.Daniel Jackson said he would check with the students who still owe fees from last year, but they can’t pressure them too much.
Marching Band and Concert Band expenses need to be reconciled correctly. Marching Band spirit wear should be a positive balance because we do upcharge for spirit wear. Page 3 of July 2016-July 2017, band/concert attire accessories. Change from $4601.05 to $1480.50. Creates a delta of $3120.55 in Marching Band clearing account accessories. Stacie said the new form for sending in money is a game changer.
Connie passed out reimbursement forms for everyone to use.
Guitar – Michelle Lopresti
Kristin gave the Guitar report – we have a new VP, Michelle Lopresti.
Marching Band – Mr. Keller
Mr. Keller said many thanks to a great start up to the Marching Band season. We are hoping that our new payment form will help us track payments more efficiently this year.
Mr. Keller remarked that there is an increase of absences at Marching Band practice.
There was some discussion of calendar issues, but that’s a topic we will discuss at another meeting. Sue will update MBA Boosters webpage to reflect all of the events we want to advertise.
Mr. Keller expressed his thanks for all of the volunteer support the band has been getting. He also mentioned the car was a great success, raising around $1200 for the band. Our first spirit night is August 28 at Chipotle from 5-9pm. September 18 is the spirit night at Manhattan Pizza in Ashburn.
For the Marching Band budget, Mr. Keller made the following changes:
- Music Line item: $1250 for show music. Needs to increase budget to $1400.
- Color Guard Supplies: Flags $1924.24 of $2500.
- Color Guard Uniforms: $769.20
- Supplies: $130.20 drum major whistles, flip book windows, etc.
- Festival registration fees: Loudoun Valley $100, Rock Ridge $00 for LCPS, CD Hylton $125, Oakton $125, VBODA $225 after they adjust for # of marchers.
- There are some refunds to issue.
Choir – Daniel Jackson
Mr. Jackson said that they’re having an easier time scheduling this year. Concerts and spirit nights have been scheduled, and they’ve tried to schedule spirit nights the same week as concerts to build excitement and momentum for the week.
Choir recruiting is going well too, especially for men. We received a sizable number of men, which replaced the students who graduated. There are fewer than normal female students joining, but they’re working on additional recruiting. Kristin asked that the MBA membership be included in all outreach efforts.
Mr. Jackson asked about using online syllabus versus print. Mr. Keller said he used online last year and just printed it if someone asked.
Concert Band – Mr. Keller
Mr. Keller – Social Fundraiser
Mr. Keller expressed an interest in doing a combined social fundraiser so we can support each other as musical groups. The members present discussed a few options – possibly in the winter or spring, similar to an Improv night or Talent Show. It would be something the MBA would organize, not the Music Directors. To be discussed more in September.
Scholarship Discussion
Kristin outlined some of the changes she suggested for the scholarship moving forward. She updated the instructions for clarity and created a rubric to add more objectivity to the scholarship process. Mr. Keller cautioned against including honors as part of the rubric since guitar and orchestra don’t have the same opportunities for honors.
Sue brought up two discussion items, that similar scholarships from local schools don’t require an interview or a transcript. These considerations will be discussed at a future meeting.
Kristin closed the meeting at 8:16pm.
Upcoming Dates
August 16-18- Full Band Camp- PM rehearsals only
August 21- Back to School Night
August 22-24- Marching Band rehearsals
New Business
Action Items
- Duane or Mr. Keller: Set up Michelle Lopresti with a VP account in Charms.
- Duane: Before closing out Charms next May, create reports of all the data you can so we have a record.
- Connie: Transfer $209.18 back to spirit wear. [Please verify this.]
- Kristin and Sue: Come up with a document repository for sharing documents. Look into Google Docs.
Close
Next meeting will be held September 11, 6 pm in the Choir Room.