Parkman PTO Minutes – November 3, 2010
The meeting was called to order by Corrina Raymond at 6:36
Executive Members in Attendance: Corrina Raymond, Carolyn Kita, Sarah Cooney, Lisa Benton, Jennifer Soroka and Kim Bryson
Principal’s Report – Maureen Sampl
Mrs. Sampl reminded us that the Re-organization meeting with Greg Stokes and Judy Appruzzese-Desroches will take place on November 22nd at 6:30 in the cafeteria. Babysitting will not be provided. She informed us that right now they are in the process of working on the bus software to realign the 7 remaining schools boundaries. Report card conferences are Nov 16-19 with early dismissal at 1:30 on the 18th and 19th.
Board of Education Report – Vinny Grady
Vinny Grady went into more detail about the re-organization plans. He emphasized that many things are still up in the air at this point and it is not known how much money we will save by doing this. Parents will be informed before Christmas break where their children will be going to school next year. Vinny mentioned the BOE has been in touch with other school systems that have recently undergone the same restructuring we are trying to do. Vinny also brought up the parents concern with daycare issues and the need for daycares to step up and provide transportation. He believes schools are getting “way out of whack” because of all the out of district kids and that a policy will be made to have all students go to their home schools in the fall.
Vinny also said that the Town Council will again ask for a 0% budget as well as take back the unused $1.6 money from last year. Discussion ensued regarding the BOE vs. Town Council.
Treasurer’s Report – Lisa Benton
Lisa Benton reported that deposits were made for the fall fundraisers and checks were written out for both Sally Foster and cookie dough but we are still waiting on the invoice for the pies. Lisa estimates we will make a profit of $2,000 to $3,000. The book fair went well, making $1,060. This was about $800 less than last year.
Robyn Radziewicz provided us with an update with how the Monster Mash went. The 6th Grade Committee made a profit of $2,015.50 and they will not need to have any additional fundraisers.
Chris Donohue was reimbursed $28 for expenses from the Jack Fest. Jen Soroka also informed us that we are up to $1,100 in buy-outs.
Lisa also made mention that we have misc income this month due to two factors. The first is that she closed out the old playground account because we were beginning to get charged a fee. The second is we were finally credited back the money ($30.70) from Walmart.com from last school year.
The Treasurers Report was approved with motions from Lisa Snow and Robyn Radziewicz.
Corresponding Secretary – Sarah Cooney
The PTO sent a wedding card and Entertainment book to Miss Sandy. We received a “Thank You” card from her.
We also received “Thank You” cards from the teachers who the PTO purchased books for at the Book Fair.
May Minutes – Sarah Cooney
The April Minutes were approved with motions from Allison Daly and Trudy Heck.
Event Recap /Committee Reports
Book Fair
During the Book Fair a collection was taken up for One School/One Book totaling a little over $22. Scholastic will match that amount for us and send us a check. The PTO purchased a book for every teacher who submitted a wish list. The book fair took place in the café this year and it seemed to work out much better. Also scanners were used to check the students out which made things run much smoother. We made enough money to qualify for the half price Book Fair in the spring.
Jack Fest
It went very well and a good time was had by all. Parkman won again for the most pumpkins.
Cultural
Carolyn Kita informed us that on Tuesday, November 9th, two gentlemen are coming in to talk to the children about the American flag. They will give two presentations, one geared towards K-2 and the second will be for the 3-6 grades. They are volunteering their time.
Thanksgiving Food Drive
It will begin Nov 8th and notices will be going home soon. We will be collecting food for one week with each grade bringing in a specific food item. The staff will be collecting money for the purchase of turkeys. Corrina reminded us that the need is great this year so to please give if you can.
New Business
BOE/PTO Special Meeting
November 22nd in the café, no babysitting will be provided.
Fundraiser
Pick-up for everyone who ordered pies and cookie dough will be Monday, November 8th. Corrina will be sending home a reminder to those families who have purchased items. She stressed that if you can’t make it during the designated times to give her a call and she can make other arrangements with you. Pick-up is 2-4.
Holiday Shoppe
The Holiday Shoppe will take place the week of December 7th-10th with only afternoon sessions. Discussion took place whether to have it in the café or the Visitors Room. Corrina needs someone to be available to work it one morning to accommodate the morning kindergarten.
End of Year celebration
We would like to have a big party to celebrate with both the current Parkman families as well as the new incoming families. Corrina had mentioned the firehouse might be a good place to have it. Sarah said that all the other PTOs in town are considering doing the same thing since no school will look the same in September.
Someone asked the status of the PTOs for next year since some families will have children at 3 different schools. Sarah informed everyone that based on the conversation at the PTO Presidents meeting, it was up to the individual school how they wanted to organize their PTO. Sarah suggested trying to combine our school with a K-2 school and have one PTO. We will look into this further as more information is available.
Trash to Cash
The Box Top contest is now complete. Carolyn Kita reported that we generated over $500 with Mrs. Gianinni’s class winning the pizza party. Mrs. Walsh and Mrs. Murphy’s classes came in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Carolyn mentioned she will try and do another contest after the holidays. She mentioned there are more trash to cash programs out there if we want to pursue them. We plan on sending out a flyer asking parents to register their Stop & Shop and Shop Rite cards for the rewards program.
Mrs. Sampl let us know we did receive all the playground equipment we had ordered for winning the boxboard contest. All the teachers received items for their class.
Other Business
We will be having a Barnes and Noble shopping day on Dec. 4th to benefit the One School One Book program.
Sarah also mentioned that 5 Below does a shopping day and suggested we do it the same day as the Barnes and Noble day. Trudy Heck said she knew the manager at the store and would look into booking the day for us.
Corrina had informed everyone that we have a large balance in our bank account and we would like to use most of that money to buy something for the school. She is considering buying a new swing set and bike racks for the playground. We would like to keep at least $2,000 of carryover for next year. Discussion took place as to whether or not to raise the field trip account. A decision was made to not increase the balance due to the fact that many teachers had already planned out their field trips with the new budget in mind.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40.