2020-01-22 CHS PTA Meeting Minutes

Cleveland High School PTA Meeting Minutes

Location: CHS library

Date: January 22, 2020

Time: 7:15 pm

Board in Attendance

Board Members: Amy Lewin, Janet Morgan, Victoria Swanson, Cindi Carrell, Rachel Brown, Michelle Domenico, Rosemary Breger, JJ Heldmann

Guests: Catherine Greenblatt (Equity Council), Christina Marcoules (CHS Foundation)

Agenda Items

Call to Order: Meeting called to order by Amy at 7:14pm

Amy announced that Screenagers Next Chapter is being shown in Auditorium tonight and reported that there is great community turnout.

New Business:

Equity Committee - Catherine Greenblatt reported that the Equity Committee has spent the fall regrouping and building bridges across the school community to the Site Council, Climate Team, and assorted student affinity groups such as the JSU, BSU, and GSA. They are in the process of writing a mission statement and hope to partner with the PTA as an official committee in the future but are still trying to find their “center of gravity” and determine the needs and concerns of the school and community. The next meeting will be held on Monday, February 10 at 6:30pm (room at CHS TBA), and they plan to hold meetings on the second Monday of each month thereafter. The February meeting will include a presentation by students from CARE Leadership on the results of their Student Safety Data Survey, a research study they conducted on students' sense of safety at CHS. They will also discuss various subcommittees, get reports from information gathering and bridge building efforts, and offer ways to get involved in the group. Watch the eNews for updates. Amy proposed that the PTA attempt to find an at-large member who could become more involved in the Equity Committee and act as a liason.

Board Business:

Approval of Minutes - the minutes from the November meeting were distributed and approved as written.
Treasurer’s Report - Victoria provided a review of the FY 2019/20 budget. Despite the projected loss of income as a result of the cancellation of the Auction, we are still in pretty good shape, and the budget is on target, though we may have to re-evaluate whether we can provide a second round of teacher grants in the spring, and will likely have to run a smaller budget for the 2020-21 school year. It was noted that during the teacher grant cycle in the fall, the school bookkeeper, Jordan Cooper, brought it to our attention that a significant amount of PTA money (approximately $34,000) had been earmarked for technology upgrades several years ago but was never spent as PPS ended up paying for the project. The fall teacher grants amounted to $13,725 and were paid for using these found funds. Additional items previously budgeted for this year - math calculators ($1,000) and the principal's discretionary fund (up to $10,000) - will also be paid for using this balance, leaving approximately $10,000 to be returned to the PTA coffers. It also means that the $25,000 that was budgeted for these expenses at the beginning of the fiscal year remains in the PTA bank account. Amy requested that a balance sheet be emailed to board members. An amended budget will be presented at the March meeting. Michelle Domenico inquired about the amount budgeted for the Rose Festival Tea and was told that there is $250 budgeted for that event.
Auction update - Amy reported that due to the cancellation of the Auction, the Foundation is requesting assistance from the PTA for up to $15,000 in order to help meet their financial promises to CHS. After some discussion about the aforementioned unplanned-for carry over balance and clarification of concerns, a motion was made to grant the Foundation $15,000 so that they can meet their current fiscal year obligation towards FTE commitments. A second motion was made stating that if the Melody Ballroom is not used to host another event during the 2020-21 school year, the resulting loss of the $4,500 deposit credit will be split evenly with the Foundation. The Foundation plans to hold a smaller fundraising event later in the spring, and the profits will be shared 50/50 with the PTA. Any items that have been procured for the Auction thus far by the PTA will be used as incentives or prizes at the buy-in parties that are still being planned by Colette Livermore. Rachel reinforced the need to get the message out about what happened leading up to the cancellation of the Auction (ie. the lack of a sufficient number of volunteers), the impact of the decision, and what we need to do as a community moving forward. The need for PTA point person dedicated to fundraising was expressed.

Committee Reports

Building Improvement Committee - Trisha Suhr was unable to attend the meeting; see attached email at end of minutes for an update.
Teacher Grant updates - Rosemary reported that teachers and staff were so grateful and overwhelmingly appreciative of the support for their projects and their students. See attached email at end of minutes for a summary report.
Friends of Cleveland Theater - Amy reported that the parents who are currently serving as the volunteer leadership of the group need support in order to keep the group going after their students graduate this spring and are looking to spread the word, particularly to parents of incoming 9th graders who are likely to be involved in CHS Theater.

Motions

Motion to approve the November minutes was made by Cindi, and Victoria seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion to grant the CHS Foundation $15,000 to fulfill their current fiscal year obligation to the school made by Janet, and seconded by Rachel. Motion approved unanimously.
Motion made by Rachel stating that if there is no fundraising event held at the Melody Ballroom in the subsequent 2020-21 school year, the loss of the $4,500 credited deposit will be shared evenly with the CHS Foundation. Motion seconded by Victoria and approved unanimously.

Notes

Next Meeting will be Wednesday, February 19 in the CHS Library - State of the School with Principal Leo Lawyer

Adjourned at 8:37pm

Attachments: Building Improvement Committee update; Teacher Grants summary; Attendance sign-in sheets

Minutes Approved:

April 15, 2020

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