Sol Feinstone Elementary School PTO Meeting Minutes

January 2017

Executive Board in attendance: Kristy Hruska,Amy Seeley and JoEll Wittmer

Call to order: Kristy Hruska

  • Meeting called to order at 9:18am

Secretary’s Report:JoEll Wittmer

  • Motion to approve Decemberminutes:
  • Motion: Angela Flannery
  • Second: Delfina Aita

Treasurer’s Report: Amy Seeley

  • Doing very well
  • Over budget in fundraising areas, thank you
  • May do another Chick Fla A night
  • Cash back will continue to go increase
  • Still getting final holiday shopping numbers

Principal’s Report: Mr. Harlan

  • Dr. Murphy was sick last year and is again sick and will be out for some time. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
  • We have other psychologists coming up in the district trying to help but we just want him back.
  • His workshop will not be happening next week. So we apologize for the late change.
  • CR education week is next week. Tuesday through Thursday 9:30am till 2pm. With workshops on Friday.
  • Monday is MLK day. At CR South they have a community service event. We have 16 - 6th graders volunteering to help.
  • One of our 6th graders will read their essay. Congratulations to Max Ondike who was chosen to read his essay at South on Monday. It is a great experience for all the kids.
  • Please keep fire lane open at all times. Please do not park there. Fire Marshal needs us to keep this lane open
  • Next coupled months we are jammed packed. We have the musical, Valentine’s Day, sweetheart dance, boy’s night out and science fair.
  • Science fair registration starts today
  • Spring fair is right around the corner
  • It’s a fun time with great things happening.

School Board Report: Andy Block

  • Busy year ahead
  • New leadership begins
  • High School had some “hate” incidents before the holidays. This brought about a lot of actions
  • Parent and student forums
  • Forced the district to take some structured action
  • We want to make sure the kids are ready for the real world
  • Working with the teachers to work with diversity
  • Mandatory diversity committee in every school
  • Very proud that SFE has had one in place for some time
  • Committee will be independent of the school
  • Looking at existing policies and hiring policies we have in place for diversity
  • Very proud of the work we are doing
  • Calendar for 2017-2018 is out – post labor day start
  • Master capital planning – we are about a year out
  • 2018 will be the start of all the new buildings and redistricting
  • Committee will look at all elementary schools and see what needs to be done
  • Process will begin within the next 60 days.
  • Redistricting will impact most schools
  • Still possible that no schools will be closed…will have to see what the committee thinks is best for all involved.
  • Passed resolution in January we will not ask for an exception to increase the taxes over the approved limit.
  • Substitutes – large problem here. Not an availability out there for substitutes.
  • We need to make sure we have a much better fill rate with qualified people.
  • Election cycle – get educated about who is running
  • A lot of talk about house bill 76 – property tax reform. Want to eliminate property taxes. It will be offset by an increase to sales tax. 80% of your tax dollars are coming from property taxes. Communities like ours will suffer. Tax dollars will be redistributed to other areas. We may not be able to accomplish things we normally would if things remained the same with property taxes.

Committee Reports:

  • Diversity: Kristy Hruska for Julie Proulx
  • Need other people to get involved as Julie will be moving on when her son leaves SFE next year.
  • Diversity week has to move up a week due to PSSA’s
  • There were a lot of new faces at the evening meeting on 12/15 and a lot of interest in what we are doing.
  • One of the attendees is working with Dr. Frasier to put a district wide diversity committee together.
  • They would like to use SFE “formula” as a starting point.
  • It was agreed that the events that have taken place post-election remind us of how important the work we do at the elementary level is a very important foundation for helping educate students about the value of respect, tolerance and appreciation of one another’s differences.
  • SFE is the only one of 10 elementary schools in the district who has a diversity committee (Newtown is getting close to forming one)
  • Committee discussed the Mix-It-Up Day we had in October.
  • It was agreed that this was a valuable experience
  • Committee is considering hosting another one and having the event twice a year. Possibly placing the 2nd one during diversity week.
  • Also discussed plans for diversity week. We agreed the groups brought in last year worked well and should be invited back.
  • These groups included: a Holocaust survivor’s family member, Native American dancers, NOVA anti-bullying speakers and an African King.
  • We will be booking them for the week of April 24th.
  • If anyone would like to get involved, please contact Julie Proulx. She is working full time now and could use the help.
  • Spring Fair: Delfina Aita and Mika Schindewolf
  • We have a lot of parents already volunteering to help
  • We are concerned with treasure jars. We are always wondering if we will have enough. Join with other families and buy in bulk and start putting them together
  • Please start to work on treasure jars
  • Clean up is also in need on volunteers. The more the merrier and we can get it done a lot faster with more volunteers.
  • We may host another Five Below fundraiser and we can buy our items for the treasure jars
  • Can also use oriental trading to purchase items. You can buy in bulk with friends and make the jars
  • A packet will go home and explain everything
  • Boys’ Night Out: Kathy Butler and Pattie Patchet
  • 2/10…6:30 till 9pm (snow date of 2/11)
  • SFE boys and their female guest
  • Tickets on sale on the PTO website
  • Tickets $25 per couple and $5 each additional child
  • Carnival theme again
  • Some new and improved activities
  • Need parental volunteers to set up and clean up
  • Parent volunteers to help hand out the sweets
  • LINKS kids welcome to help
  • We can also use current 8th graders to help as they can get LINKS hours before H.S. But it is a series gig!
  • Science Fair: Jen El-Habr and Jill Jablonsky
  • Thursday March 30th
  • Optional for 3rd and 6th graders
  • Format will be similar to prior years
  • Night open hours for parents
  • Judging during the day
  • Opportunity to learn that science is fun
  • Judging is a presentation and a display
  • Volunteers needed for judging
  • Everyone receives a medal.
  • CREF: Angela Flannery
  • CR Education Foundation has a speaker coming in 1/31
  • College Prep 101is topic presented by Francine Block
  • Flyer here and on the webpage
  • Annual signature event 3/10. At Fuge. Dueling piano’s and a performance by BoneHead $35 tickers and silent auction
  • If you want to submit a grant they are due at the end of march
  • Lollipop Sale: Jill Fithian and Lauren Schlindwein
  • Sales during lunch
  • Week before valentine’s Day 2/6 - 2/9
  • Sigh up genius going out to volunteer
  • Smencils on sale as well
  • Sweetheart Dance: Heather Barnes
  • Tickets are on sale now
  • 2/25 with snow date of 2/26
  • 6:30 till 9pm
  • Adult tickets $20, girls tickets are $8
  • Bouquet are $15
  • Boutonniere are $10
  • Theme is Around the World in a Night
  • Will need volunteers to help set up on both Friday and Saturday
  • Help during the dance and help cleaning up
  • Also donations of sweet treats will be needed
  • A sign up genius will go out soon.
  • If you would like to volunteer, please contact Heather Barnes or Shannon Wiseley at

Reminders:

  • Reservation of rooms for PTO events: Please fill out Request of Use form
  • Box Top Contest – Due February 23rd. Winners gets to design an ice cream flavor for goodnow. It will be the SFE flavor and we will get a portion of the sales.
  • Please keep using Amazon Smile and the Shutterfly Storefront throughout the year. We have made a lot of money from these sales

Gratitude: Kristy Hruska

  • Thank you to all the HR parents for organizing fun winter celebrations for the students!

Meeting Close:

  • Meeting adjourned at10:08am

Coming Up:

1/16 – No School (MLK Day)

1/17 – 1/20 – CR Education Week

2/10 – Boys’ Night Out @ 7:00pm

2/6 – 2/9 – Lollipop Sale during lunches

2/17 – 2/20 – No School (President’s Day)

2/25 - Sweetheart Dance @ 6:30pm

4/22 – Harlem Wizards @CR North @ 7:00pm

Respectfully submitted by JoEll Wittmer

Meeting agenda on following page.

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