PMS Parent Club Board Minutes – September 2012

APPROVED

September 7, 2012

Attendance:Shirley Rexrode, Hilary Cooper, Susan, Adams, Anita Cheung, Barbara Giuffre, Barbara Love, Claudia Harrison, Gautam Wadhwani, Helen Young, Jennifer Fox, Julie Whiteside, Kathleen Winters, Kim Hebert, Kimberly Moses, Kristen Dixon, Kristi Mitchell, Kurt Fleischer, Laura Katter, Lillis Stern, Lisa Wolfe, Margaret Ovenden, Mary Rickard, Sarah Clifford, Shannon Bloemker, Shannon Hansen, Susan Jang, Sydney Proctor, Terri Burge, Betsy Barnes, Diana Gleghorn, Ellen Fraser, Holly Hanke, Marie Retherford, Stacy Merickel, Kristen Malan, Julie Moll, Beth Eyre, Cory Smegal, Angela Lopez, Ruju Srivastava

Guests: Rick Raushenbush, John White

The meeting was called to order by Shirley Rexrode.

The June minutes were approved.

SCRIP – Diana Gleghorn: There are 12 new Standing Monthly Orders (SMO’s) from the PMS Parent Club. Over $100,000 was raised from SCRIP sales last year and Diana encouraged all parent club members to use SCRIP.

GIVING CAMPAIGN – Terri Burge: The Giving Campaign raised $1.6M last year. Terri reported that state and federal monies cover only 58% of per student costs, about $6700. Our parcel tax covers another $3500 per student. Campaign literature this year will reflect the per student costs. Volunteer opportunities abound so please contact Terri if you can help. Last year’s PMS participation rate was 63% and the Campaign is hoping to increase that.

PARENT EDUCATION – Lisa Wolfe: Lisa is looking for new topics for parent education that PMS parents may be interested in. Julie Moll has put together a wonderful Speaker Series, the first of which, “Academic Integrity” is September 20. PMS’s Joci Kelleher will be on that panel. All events are free but seating is limited. If you would like to reserve a seat for the entire series you can register through the Piedmont Adult School. See the Piedmont Portal for more information.

PRINCIPAL – Jeanne Donovan: Jeanne reports high student enrollment this year, 629, with 20 new students registered since June. There was a great turnout by parents at Back to School night. PMS has 6 new teachers and 1 new library tech support person. Jeanne thanked the Parent Club for staff development funds which have been used for smartboard training, block schedule training, storytelling workshop and iPad training. Jeanne explained that 6th grade counselor Ashley English is on campus Tu/Th, 7th-8th grade counselor Kech Carerra is available M,Tu,Th,F, and Wellness Center counselors are available every day. Jeanne announced that Measure E funds paid for new carpeting at PMS and an HVAC system upgrade.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL – Eric Mapes: Eric thanked the many parents who helped during walk-thru registration. There was a big backup for photos and next year photos will be moved to the Buzz Gym. The annual Magazine Sale has begun and volunteers are needed to help with prize giveaway. Contact Susan Jang if you can help. Last year PMS earned $38,400. The money is used for lunchtime activities and ASB. There have been no real discipline issues, but cell phone use during school continues to be an issue, as well as jaywalking in front of the school.

TECHNOLOGY – Stephanie Griffin: The iPad cart is here with 35 iPads! Librarians and teachers have been learning about them and they’ll soon be used in the classrooms. WiFi has been upgraded but it’s still to be determined whether it will support all 35 being used at once.

SCHOOL BOARD – Rick Raushenbush: The seismic bond work in the district is essentially done. Piedmont is still among the best school districts in the state. Despite all the parent/district efforts to cover the budget deficit however, it still continues to grow. California ranks 47th in the nation in student funding. There are two competing propositions on the ballot in November to help fund education in the state. Prop. 30 is Governor Brown’s plan, and will be financed by an increase in sales tax and an increase in income tax on earnings above $250,000. Prop. 38, the Munger plan, is an increased income tax only, based on a sliding scale, and delivers money directly to education but less goes to paying down state debt. The Brown plan adds money to the general fund up front and results in no immediate cuts to education. Prop. 38 would provide money more immediately, and Prop. 30 would provide more money later. When asked personally how he would vote Rick replied he would vote for both. If both propositions pass, the one with the most votes wins.

For more information you should attend the League of Women Voter’s presentation on September 19 or visit the Educate our State website.

FOOD SERVICE – Shannon Bloemker: With so many students this year Brunch has been very chaotic. If parents have 10 minutes to spare at 10:30 please stop in to help. PMS is really trying to improve the quality and taste of the lunch offerings. State law requires meat from outside vendors to be USDA approved and it is difficult to get that approval from vendors. Therefore, only cheese pizza and vegetable Holly’s offerings right now. Please send Shannon any feedback at all about food service.

PMSPC President Shirley Rexrode: Shirley thanked those board members who submitted matching funds for their Giving Campaign donations, and also thanked all the many volunteers who helped get this school year up and running. Shirley reminded parents to be sure and register with Infinite Campus. Bulletins and school communications will be sent only through IC in the near future. Contact Stephanie Griffin if you are having trouble getting logged on. Soon IC will have the capability to text parents if their kids are missing from a classroom. Bulletin submissions should be sent to Ruth Sowell and are due by noon Wednesday. Shirley also announced that the After-School study program in the library has lost its anonymous funding, but we are looking for other ways to fund it.

GREEN TEAM – John White: John explained about the 8th grade gleaning, which is an all-day fieldtrip. This year it is being called a service learning project. Sixty parents, 8 or 9 teachers and some community members are attending this year along with the students. They will be visiting and picking produce at East Bay backyard farms, which will then be donated to the Contra Costa Food Bank. Math, English and Science curriculum are incorporated into the event.

TREASURER – Gautam Wadhwani: Gautam explained the process for submitting receipts for reimbursement from the parent club. Send (by mail or scan and email) receipts to Gautam and include event, expense and total amount. Large numbers of checks totaling a large amount should be delivered personally. Try to submit receipts as soon as possible. Please refer to the PMSPC Teamsnap website for the document describing the reimbursement process.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • The Block Schedule trial is the week of September 17 and September 24.
  • The Welcome Back Dance for 7th and 8th graders is Friday, September 14, 6:30-8:30.
  • The PMS website is a work in progress to update the content.
  • The PMS after school study program has lost its funding. It costs approximately $12,000 per year.
  • The PMS website will soon have a tab for volunteering opportunities. Signup Genius will be used for big events.
  • Lillis Stern announced the California State Shakeout earthquake preparedness drill on October 18. Some parent volunteers are needed to simulate child pickup.
  • Stacy Merickel announced the FallFest 5K, benefitting the PUSD Wellness Center.

NEXT MEETING: Friday, October 12, 2012 at 8:30am in PMS Room 201 (Teacher’s Lounge).

Respectfully submitted,Susan Adams, Recording Secretary