Henry C. Hall Middle School PTA EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Meeting of Tuesday, November 18, 2003
1:15pm • Hall Middle School
Board members present: Barbara Solomon, Jeannie Perry,
Susan Wirta, Scottie Spurzem, Susy Vrouvas, Kathie Cummins, Claudia Gropper,
Cynthia Peterson, Rebecca Sarokin, Ann Arabian & Daniel Norbutas.
Board members absent: Liz Krakow, Diana Putterman, Ann
Morrison & Anna Gravley.
Guests: Becky Reed, Lori Lerner & Karen Berg.
WELCOME:
Meeting was called to order at 1:17pm by President Barbara Solomon.
MINUTES:
A motion was made by Ann Arabian to approve the minutes from
the last Executive Board Meeting on October 21, 2003 & the General
Membership Meeting on November 3, 2003. Kathie Cummins seconded it. The
minutes were approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
See attached report.
8th GRADE GRADUATION:
Co-chair, Lori Lerner, proposed an alternative to the traditional Hall
8th grade graduation dance. Lori & her co-chair, Elssy Rifkind, feel
that it is hectic to run the graduation ceremony and graduation dance
on the same day, with only an hour & a half “turn-around”
to decorate & prepare for the dance. They are proposing that the graduation
dance be held on board a Blue & Gold fleet ferry boat, with departure
& arrival in Sausalito. The cost per student would be comparable to
previous years (approx. $50 to $60 per student). In addition, a 10% discount
is given to schools. Lori and Elssy also propose that the dance be held
on Thursday June 10, 2004, (the day following the graduation ceremony).
Marilyn Treacy has offered to provide some of the refreshments.
CAREER DAY:
Co-chair, Karen Berg, gave an update on Hall’s Career Day to be
held on February 13, 2004. The Marin Sunrise Rotary Club will be our sponsors.
Five “career sessions” will be held, with the first session
beginning at 9:30 am & the last session ending at 12:25 pm. Students
will select sessions, listing their 1st, 2nd & 3rd choices. The other
co-chairs are Nicole Kowalski & Anne Martini. Danelle Leong will possibly
be the 6th grade co-chair.
BYE BYE BIRDIE:
Director Becky Reed, gave an update on Halls’ musical production
of Bye-Bye Birdie. There will be a Thursday assembly, followed by 4 shows
on Thursday, Friday & Saturday evenings, plus a Sat. matinee. Forty-two
Hall actors will be featured.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
Beautification: Maija Norstad, Beautification Chair, is always
seen with shovel in hand. She has coordinated several “work parties”
with a great turn out of parent/student volunteers.
Hospitality: Kappy Reed, Hospitality Chair, is coordinating
PTA’s holiday cookie baskets for Hall’s teachers & staff.
Cookie bakers & parent volunteers to assemble the baskets are needed.
Lunchtime Fund-raisers: Jamba Juice has been extended
through the end of this semester. It may become a pre-pay program.
16th District PTA Meeting: Barbara Solomon reported
that she attended the November 17th meeting and that a major topic of
discussion was the importance of “Membership” & the need
to define “family membership” in local PTA by-laws. “Families
don’t vote, people vote.” The local PTA should define a family
as a two-parent household, and count both parents as members for purposes
of paying pro rata share of dues to the state. The more members in the
state and national PTAs, the more clout these organization have to lobby
for the rights of children and youth.
Teleconference on Drugs and Alcohol: Barbara Solomon
reported that she attended the November 17th teleconference. It was a
real “wake up call”. A panel of community experts, including
the San Rafael Police Dept., the Marin Major Crimes Task Force and Phoenix
Academy, spoke of the increasing rates of teens’ use of drugs and
alcohol in Marin. The age of initiation is getting younger too; now it
begins at age 8–11.
It was suggested that PTA sponsor a similar panel discussion at Hall
in the spring.
Signboard: The signboard is “moving forward”.
Barbara is meeting with a representative of the company that installed
the Neil Cummins signboard to discuss location and price.
District Technology Committee: This committee is looking
for continuity between Hall & Neil Cummins. They’re also looking
into District wide student data. A report will be presented to the Board
of Trustees on December 3rd. The curriculum subcommittee is looking at
the kindergarten through 8th grade technology program, and will develop
standards for each grade level. The administrative subcommittee is looking
into different software packages that can be purchased and used district-wide.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
VP Responsibilities: Barbara has proposed to restructure
the PTA Vice President jobs, by taking on more responsibility. 8th grade
VPs would oversee 8th grade Graduation. 7th grade VPs would oversee Beautification
& PTA fundraisers. 6th grade VPs would oversee photo day and lost
& found. The VPs would not be the chairs of these committees, but
rather they’d be the liaison between the committee chairs &
the PTA Exec Board.
Susy Vrouvas moved that we make these Vice President changes in our PTA
Standing Rules. Ann Arabian 2nd the motion. It was passed.
Technology Carts: There was a proposal from the Lead
Team that PTA help fund mobile technology carts equipped with a multi-media
station containing an iBook Laptop, an LCD projector & and LCD Cart
with security cabling at a cost of $3,325 per cart. Susan Wirta moved
that PTA fund the 1st mobile technology cart. Scottie Spurzem 2nd the
motion. It was passed.
NEW BUSINESS:
There was a request from the 6th grade Language Arts/Social Studies teachers
for PTA to fund an “Ancient Artifacts” program, at a cost
of $525.
There is also a request from the 7th grade Language Arts/Social Studies
teachers for PTA to fund an “African Drumming” assembly, at
a cost of $875.
Every grade level science class is in need of science supplies. The cost
of supplies continues to rise every year.
The PTA Board decided that the Hall staff (or lead team) should decide
what assemblies and grade-level programs should be funded out of the $13,000
that PTA already allocated to Hall as “Classroom Supplies.”
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT:
• Daniel Norbutas told us that students with QSP magazine
sales of over 30 magazines each, will get a minute in the QSP sponsored
“money booth” tomorrow. The homeroom that sold the most magazines
will be treated to a “South of the Border” lunch this Friday.
• Daniel thanked thanked everyone for participating in the “Warm
Clothing Drive” for San Rafael’s Ritter Center. Over 200 bags
of clothes were donated by Hall students.
• He reported that the student council run “Canned Food Drive”
was a success.
• Each grade level is sponsoring a family through the “Adopt-A-Family”
program. Students are being asked, if possible, to donate $6 each.
“Pennies for Peace”, sponsored by Student Council, raised
money for Afganistan. These monies will go toward building schools where
land mines used to be.
• Garbage containers, with lids, are being purchased for the school.
Hopefully this will help keep the bees & wasps away.
Submitted by Ann Arabian, Secretary
[minutes approved at Executive Board meeting of January 20, 2004]
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