PTSO Minutes 1/5/09
PTSO Meeting Minutes
State College Area High School
January 5, 2009
High School South Main Office Conference Room
7 p.m.
Present
Craig Butler, North Building Principal, and high school parents Terri Del Real, Tim Kamats, Chris Sandoval, Penny Sandoval, Wendy Schlom, and Sarah Stager.
Purpose of Meeting
We met to continue discussing reorganizing and restarting the High School PTSO.
Items Discussed
· Objectives/Purpose of PTSO: The importance of having a clear purpose and objectives for the new PTSO, and clear job descriptions, was discussed. Sarah Stager has researched other PTSO bylaws, and how their objectives were stated, e.g., to serve in the best interests of and to support the school community.
· Membership: Membership would be automatic for all members of the school community, and there would be no dues.
· Parent Involvement: Ways to get more parents involved were discussed, including visiting the middle school PTSOs, and inviting them to visit the high school PTSO, participating in the orientation for incoming 9th graders, and using the PTSO website to communicate.
· Fundraising:
o Kaplan practice SAT fundraiser. More information is needed from Kaplan, for example would they do two sessions if lot of students signed up, what about future years – would they do this for free then too? Would we charge more for non-SCASD students?
· Nonprofit (501(c)) Status: The district PTO Council is working on this issue.
· Student Participation: The role of students in the PTSO was discussed. Craig Butler suggested starting by contacting the Student Government. Sarah also expressed interest in including students who were not involved in Student Government or other activities, to give those students a voice as well.
· Teacher Participation: The desirability of more teacher participation was discussed. Teachers are very busy and it may be hard to get them involved. Funding mini-grants might increase teacher interest. Craig Butler will bring up the PTSO’s desire to include teachers at his next meeting with teachers.
· PTSO Website: Terri Del Real, who is also a teacher at Park Forest Elementary, volunteered to handle the website, since she is already trained. Wilda Stanfield () is the website contact for access to the PTSO page. Craig Butler will assist with getting Terri access if needed.
· All Night Party: Traditionally the PTO has contributed $750 to the All Night Party, and the planners of this year’s party need to know if the same contribution will be made this year. No one has been able to get access to the existing PTO bank account yet, so since it is not known how much money the PTSO has, no decision can be made on this contribution yet. Penny Sandoval is on the All Night Party committee, and will explain the situation to them.
· Bank Account: At the last meeting, it was decided that Penny Sandoval and Sarah Stager would be the new signers on the bank account. Penny tried to get the bank books from the South Building Office, but they did not know where they were. Penny will contact Deb Latta or Sharon Perry to follow up.
· Officers: What officers the PTSO should have (Co-presidents vs. President and Vice President, etc.), and what terms and term limits should exist, were discussed. The consensus was, for now, to have a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary, and a North Building Teacher Representative, South Building Teacher Representative, North Building Student Representative, and South Building Student Representative. The quorum for a meeting is tentatively 3. Terms of officers should encourage new parents to participate (to avoid the same people doing things the same way all the time), encourage board development, and also encourage parents to stay involved when their younger children reach high school. The specifics of term length and limits will be decided later.
o Election of Officers: A motion was made and seconded to elect the following people as officers of the new PTSO, and the vote was unanimous in favor:
§ President: Sarah Stager
§ Vice President: Open
§ Treasurer: Penny Sandoval
§ Secretary: Terri Del Real
o Teacher and Student Representatives:
§ Open
The vacancies for Vice President and Teacher and Student Reps will be filled as soon as possible.
· Bylaws: Sarah will continue to research and work on preparing bylaws for the new PTSO.
· Next Meeting: Meetings will be the first Monday of each month (making the next meeting Monday, February 2) at 7 pm. Meetings will be held in the South Building Conference Room.
Adjournment: The meeting ended at 8:10 pm.
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