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Henry C. Hall Middle School PTA EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES
Meeting of Tuesday, March 18, 2003
1:15pm • Hall Middle School
Board Members Present: Ann Arabian, Kathie Cummins,
Marilyn Dineen, Claudia Gropper, Nicole Kowalski, Trish Mihalek, Ann Morrison,
Diana Putterman, Becky Reed, Barbara Solomon, Susy Vrouvas, Susan Wirta
Welcome:
The meeting was called to order at 1:20 pm.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of February 11, 2003 by Becky
Reed. Barbara Solomon seconded this. The minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s Report:
We have $16,720.85 in assets. See attached treasurer’s report.
Old Business:
- Nominating Committee —
Barbara Solomon has been slowly getting next years chair positions and
board positions filled. We still need a treasurer, historian, and 6th
grade vice presidents. We’re working on some 6th grade parents
to try and get some continuity. That way when a lot of us leave after
next year, there will already have been some people with experience
here. We need a nominating committee. Marilyn Dineen and Ann Arabian
were asked if they would take part in this along with Barbara. They
agreed. Here are some the jobs that have been filled for next
year: Parliamentarian – Jeannie Perry, Auditor – Cynthia
Peterson, Secretary – Ann Arabian, 8th grade Vice Presidents:
Liz Krakow, Susan Wirta, Susy Vrouvas; 7th grade Vice Presidents: Claudia
Gropper, Rebecca Sarokin; 6th grade Vice Presidents: Diana Putterman
and maybe Suman Vyas; President – Barbara Solomon. Some of the
committee chair positions have been filled as well. An important position
we’re looking to fill is 8th grade graduation chairperson for
next year. I’ll [Barbara Solomon] be working on filling these
positions in the next few weeks.
- Roundtable Plus Committee Update — Barbara
Solomon
There have been several of these meetings since the last PTA board meeting.
The district sent out preliminary layoff notices to 10 employees. There
will be budget workshop meetings both at Hall (Thursday 3/20 7:00pm)
and at Neil Cummins (3/25 8:30pm). They will be going over budget updates
and would love to have the community there.
The worst case scenario for next year would be $500,000 of budget cuts.
We are going ahead with a special election to pass a parcel tax in June.
If this passes, it will raise $325,000. The election itself could cost
up to $50,000. If the parcel tax passes, it will reduce cuts for next
year. For this year, we will cut nonessential spending for the rest
of the year. For example, unfilled aide positions will not be filled.
Also there was a one-time fund of $100,000 from the Neil Cummins Site
budget we can use, and we will reduce our reserve of funds from 5% to
4%. These monies were already budgeted for this year, just not spent.
If we have to make cuts next year, we will prioritize the need for educational
programs such as Library and Technology, that are not core academic
programs.
New Business:
- 6th Grade V.P. — no report
7th Grade V.P. — we are having a 7th grade Cultural
Day instead of the Merrie Olde England Faire. This is no date set yet
for this event, but it will probably be in May.
- 8th Grade V.P. — no report
Grease Update: was a wonderful event.
Income: $9,642.00
PTA-covered expenses: $5,980
Foundation-covered expenses: $1,190
Sound System: $5,507
If you consider the sound system, we didn’t make a profit, but
if you just look at income and PTA-covered expenses, then we made a nice
profit. Our profit including the sound system expense was between $1,200
and $1,700. The Foundation paid about $8,000 towards the two plays at
Hall and Neil Cummins. Becky suggested the PTA annually pay a certain
amount to the school to cover copies made; perhaps put that into next
year’s budget. She was told to count her copies this year and to
possibly pay for them. If we pay a set amount each year, then chairs of
committees and shows won’t have to keep count.
PTA Insurance Update: Barbara Solomon.
We have a new insurance policy. It states what we can and can’t
do. Some activities are allowed, some prohibited, and some are in a gray
area and need to be approved on a case by case situation. The “Safe
Routes to School” program cannot be under the PTA anymore, and will
fall under school insurance instead. We are covered for one million dollars
liability for any one event. There are some rules governing the officers
of the PTA as well. (See attached sheet).
Principal’s Report: Marilyn Dineen
• Ann Arabian was given a Medal of Honor (“PTA Opens Doors”).
Thank you for all you’ve done for our school.
• Thank you to Becky Reed for all the work she puts into her projects,
her most recent one being the production of “Grease”.
• Thank you to the PTA for contributing to the St. Patrick’s
Day luncheon last Monday. We may try to have a monthly luncheon for the
teachers to keep morale high. The food from Red Robin was very good.
• Bob Cone asked if we could do away with buses for at least the
6th graders at the end of school picnic to try and save some money. Those
buses are very expensive.
• The 7th graders took their state writing samples today.
Teachers’ Report: Trish Mihalek
The 6th grade teachers want to thank the parents who drove to the Exploratorium.
Thank you for yesterday’s luncheon as well. The “Grease”
assembly was wonderful.
Upcoming Parcel Tax Election June 3rd: Nicole Kowalski
– informational report
1-The Parcel Tax Campaign has been authorized to go for supporting the
parcel tax.
2-We had to send notices to 10 teachers in our district to prove our district
can be solvent for the next two years.
Hopefully, the teachers understand that the plan is to keep staff, and
not follow through on these notices.
We hired a polling company to see if the public would back a temporary
increase in the school parcel tax. Asked if they would back a tax if it
was necessary, modest, and temporary, 64% of those polled said yes. The
results from the polling made us think it was a good chance the measure
would pass. We are going for a $75 tax for two years.
It will end when the current school parcel tax ends. We filed yesterday,
and there were no arguments filed against us in the voter pamphlet that
will be mailed out to voters. Our school parcel tax is $225 now with a
5% escalator.
The $75, two-year tax would raise it to a total of $300 this year, and
about $311 next year. This measure will be the only measure on the ballot.
The measure will pass if 2/3 of the voters who turn out vote yes. There
are 8600 total voters, and we think about 40% of them will turnout for
the special election Seniors are exempt from this tax if they so choose.
When we go for our renewal in 2005, the rules may change by then. We may
only need 55% of the vote instead. In the future they may also go by Square
footage per property. This would put higher fees on commercial properties
(i.e. the Village Shopping Center) and less on individual taxpayers.
Meeting adjourned at 2:40pm.
Submitted by Susy Vrouvas, Secretary
[minutes approved at Executive Board meeting of May 20, 2003]
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