· Sign In, Establish Quorum, Call to order & Introduction, including PTSA Officers
Joint PTA and PTSA Mtg. Welcome. Please look at Minutes
Lorrie introduces all PTSA Board Members present as well as PTA board
Ruth is going to chair most of the meeting and introduce BoE candidates… So we’ll do that first.
· Option to recite the Pledge of Allegiance
· Introduction of Board of Education Candidates, Ruth Oxenberg
· Q & A for BOE Candidates
Ruth: Welcome to the candidates for BoE. Thank you for coming and talking with us. 4 candidates for 2 seats… 3 year terms. Alphabetical order… each of the candidates will speak for 10 minutes.
**Please see Candidates statements on PTA website**
Conclusion of BOE Candidates speeches and Q&A with Candidates...
On to PTA Business:
· Reading of last meeting minutes – motion to approve by Ruth second by Cindy
· Reading of Treasurer Report, Lorrie Kruger
Opening balance: 13,645.48
Closing balance: 14,949.07
· Update on the School Budget Vote Yes! Campaign, Ruth Oxenberg &
Jenny Odlum
Ruth:
Postcards PTA is producing… txt is written by Ruth, Jenny, John, etc… John Schmitz did art design and they should be arriving in mailboxes b/w sat. and tues. We ended up deciding on increasing # people on mailing list (with increased funds) . Jenny: took PTA directory and took out duplicates, ended with about 600 people from that list. We then did trouble-shooting on how to reach more voters. We looked at the Red Hook Coalition… we targeted the Democrats (as in more likely to vote FOR the budget)… used the information from Board of Elections (public information that anyone can access if they wish)… further broke the list down to WOMEN within a certain age range… This gave us another 661 … 1289 postcards is the end number of postcards being sent. Lots of Excel magic. Of the 800 dollar budget we spent 749 and change.
Going back to previous discussion of lawn signs… Needed a minimum of 25 reusable signs for 140 dollars… we decided instead (and taking into account what the coalition had come to find)… lawn signs primarily turn out ‘no’ voters… but we still had 60 dollars left over… so if we still want to make just a few signs the copy shop in Kingston could make a few… or alternatively we could make more handmade signs… but SOMEONE will also need to put them in the ground! We CAN put a ‘remember to vote today’ sign near the schools… but they can’t take a position.
Calls… we need volunteers! PLEASE let Ruth email you names / numbers and a script to follow IF we don’t get enough volunteers to make those calls we can do a robo-call. But it’s preferable to get a human being on the phone. Can we also get approval from Principals to put out a flyer looking for volunteers to make calls?(yes) Angela will also look to PTSA’s volunteer list.
LOTS of discussion as to whether or not we should mention that the PTA is supporting the vote or not. Some people express this is too much and just a reminder to vote is all that is necessary. Others say why not? We’ve already voted to get behind a yes vote. In the end it wasn’t resolved. Ruth mentions it is probably best to leave it to the discretion of the volunteer making the call. Discussion of other venues to reach out to… Reaching out to Nursery schools… PTA is not the only one sending the get out the vote message… There is also the PTSA’s flyer… and the Red Hook Coalition (started by Red Hook Faculty Members)… this spurs some discussion of people getting sick of hearing the message TOO much.
Ruth presents background on Red Hook Coalition… who is in it… how it got started, discussing phone banks and polling and the script they used… She explains how the school directory was used for those initial calls and the list was added to using the same targeting strategies Jenny O discussed earlier that we used for the postcard… More flyers are being handed out around town on Sunday before the vote… Looking for more volunteers to hand out flyers around town… at soccer games, etc… Also an idea to have kids involved giving out flyers… looking for volunteers… LOTS of discussion whether or not kids should be involved at all. Some people pipe up for it… others against it. Bottom line is it comes down to each individual parent to allow or disallow their kids disseminating the flyers.
· Big news about Hannaford Helps/Box Tops, Jenny Odlum
Hannaford ran the program… She was concerned b/c what came through the lobby was way way down this year.. but the amount of certificates at Mill road (875) was still in the top 10 of the state… We did earn 1K in Hannaford rewards for that… The two programs, Hannaford’s and Box Tops, together brought in 3400 in shopping programs alone… 1 quick deadline… some expire June 1st so please get them in by Monday May 24th.
· Volunteer Reach Out, Lorrie Kruger: We are looking for BLT Reps “Building Level Team”… It’s a 2 year term… Attend a meeting once a month (skipping June and December) to discuss topics that affect curriculum… topics concerning issues like homework, bus transportation, pickup, etc… It’s a nice meeting… snacks, etc… It is critical to have the parents input… The meetings are Mondays at 3:30 and we Need Volunteers! There is one spot on K-2 side and 2 spots on 3-5 side open. Jenny: It’s a very different experience than PTA… You can even sit in when interviewing for new positions for staff, etc.. Also DLT positions opening up (1 K-2).
More VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Audit Committee needs to be formed soon… 1 person from exec. Board (and that Board member can NOT be a signer on the account… Current signers are Lorrie Kruger, Dawn Rhea and Jennifer Munn)… and 2 parent PTA members are required to do the audit… The job is to go over everything from this year… make sure the numbers match. You need to be comfortable with numbers and it needs to be done after June 30 and presented at the very first mtg in Sept. There is a report you fill out and a letter to sign. Angela May presented for from last year and is happy to provide detailed instructions on what to do to the next Audit Committee.
Last thing… another impromptu fundraiser… Barnes Noble fundraiser June 10/11… pass out that id number to family members EVERYWHERE… This year Chrystal Smith-Mineault is chairing this event. And Kathy Lee Gifford is doing a book signing on Thursday… Take your families and go! Share info with your family. All they need to do is say they are supporting Mill Road PTA when purchasing in stores or online those two days and B&N can find the information in their system and we earn $ for the school …
Linda: End of year BBQ event June 4th… Get a BBQ truck (making it safe might be an issue if it’s AT the school on school grounds)… looking at 3 different venues… Pool possibly… (this would be another fundraiser)… Someone suggests it is the new Family Fun Night as a promotion, though, as Family Fun Night for THIS Friday is cancelled.
Brian: Thank you to everyone for Grandparents Day. And Thank you for Staff Lunch
Donna: Thursday morning Volunteer Tea… Veterans coming… Kids will be singing.
Special Thank you to Lorrie and Jen N who are stepping down.
Motion to Adjourn: Angela, seconded by Nora..
