11/28/00
Meeting held at Cedarmere Elementary at 6:15 p.m.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:20 p.m.
President's Remarks: I would like to cover one bit of outstanding business concerning the calendar. We need to offer input to the administrators on the events that we would like to hold for the rest of the year. The area PTA VP is with us this evening -- she will be speaking to us this evening. I would also like to get the process started for identifying the nominating committee for next year.
The events that we have done so far have gone well -- Donuts with Dad and Munchkins with Mom. The Fuddrucker's nights went well also. These were a nice social event.
Nancy Hoffman -- Area VP of PTA Council. Part of her job is to come to a PTA meeting at each of her schools. (410) 833-3099 is my phone number if you need to reach me. I am here to assist you in any way that I can.
School Sign Selection: none.
Directory: It is done and is at the printers.
Newsletter: Could the head of each event please send a small write up to Lisa to put into the newsletter. Once Lisa has enough she will put a newsletter together. Sandy suggests that we pick a date each month to put a newsletter out -- that way people would know when to submit materials. Lisa will send out an email requesting material.
Calendar: We have accomplished most of what we had planned on the calendar. We don't have anything on the calendar for January. We need to look for events to have in the quieter months.
Membership: There will be a table set up at Bingo night. People are confused over what the money is used for and what they get for it. We will describe this in the newsletter. A letter will be sent to the parents who have not joined to ask them to sign up.
Budget Committee Selection: none.
Fundraising Update: The Book Fair made $1,500 this year. We wanted to give people different options on how to support the school. We did the direct contribution letter -- we received $280 this way. We are going to send out another letter. We made $625 from the gift wrap sale. Fuddrucker's nights had over 500 people show up -- we made $470. Thanks to Barbara for coordinating the gift wrap sale and Ray was the Emcee for the night. The committee heads were there promoting the PTA committees. Erin and Barbara donated gifts as prizes and did all of the copying required to put the event together. Also a special thanks to the teachers and administrators who attended the events.
We are planning a Pizza Hut night in February. There are only a couple of nights available - -we have Monday, Feb 12. The day that schools are closed for President's Day is also available (also a Monday ). We could also do another night at Fuddrucker's.
We are also planning on getting the candy sale going in January or February. A suggestion is to break the boxes up and also see what the candy bars would cost at B.J.s. We are going to do the pizza sale for Arts Excel. Charlene will talk to Gil about it.
Simonds Nursery will have a fundraising weekend in the spring. 10% of the proceeds will go to Cedarmere.
Also going to look into bumper stickers and other school spirit items for sale.
A motion was made to accept the fundraising plan. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Fruit Update: The first sale went well. David has made some personal phone calls to old customers and gotten them back. One of them purchased 127 cases. David passed out the left over fruit from the sale - 1/2 of a case. The sales were down in quantity -- 555 cases compared to 700 the year before. However we made about $3,200 net profit -- more than last year by $900. Everyone showed up and picked up their fruit (0.6% no shows). We did have some grapefruit come in that was yellow instead of red. Can we get the teacher's money back by the Wednesday after the fruit comes in. For the next sale any sale over 10 cases will be delivered. This was a lot more work than Dave expected -- he is looking for things to be able to delegate. David will also be buying a box of supplies to keep at home so that the setup goes more smoothly next time.
We also have a problem with the PTA closet -- things are walking away. We need to put some controls on the master key for the closet. Only Mary, the PTA and the custodian have access to the closet.
Teacher Update: Thanks for the refreshment on American Education week. The Book Fair was also well done. The teachers were given books for their classrooms from the proceeds. Thank you for the shirts, also. The student government is doing a can collection right now -- thanks for all of the contributions. Also thank you for the donations for the nursing home.
Principal Update: MSPAP data will be released on Wednesday Nov. 29. They will be in the Sun paper on Thursday. Our team will analyze the data once it has been released. The school was pleased with the results, but we can not share any actual data with you at this time. We stll have areas that we need to improve in.
We have received a lot of computers -- Baltimore County is going to PCs . Cedarmere got 43 new PCs. We will also be receiving more from a TIMS grant. We are very positive about the PCs -- software is more available and children are using PCs at home.
I am getting ready to start publishing a newsletter with the children. A group came from Pikesville High School to help train the editorial staff - 5th graders. This is open to children from grades 2 - 5. We had a good response of children who were interested in working on the newspaper. We will meet with the contributors each month and work with them to let them know what they are expected to do. Teachers can also submit work that students have done. After the first newsletter comes out, we expect more children to want to participate. We will also be adding activities to the newsletter like word searches and crossword puzzles.
The Halloween parade was very positive. The children loved it and the teachers were very supportive. We did a lot of research to come up with a positive way to celebrate the day.
We are going to have 'Chat with the Administrators' on Thursday-- only have two responses so far. We will see how many parents show up.
Vice Principle Update: Reading milestone assessments are being given in grade 2 - 5. This is being done county-wide and will help to add consistency. We have given these tests and are analyzing the data. This information is being used to adjust the instruction in the classroom to address weaknesses that the students have. These assessments will be given three times a year. The last assessment will be given in March.
Nominating Committee: Helen McShane, Charlene Simonds, Barbara Roman, Erin Lutz, and Barney Wilson. A motion was made and seconded. The committee was accepted unanimously.
By-Laws: Pam Offutt was asked to head the committee to make amendments to the by-laws. Motion was made and seconded -- passed unanimously.
Additional funds requests: The working group came up with a form to be submitted for additional funds. Amounts over $50 or over $100 would need to be requested by completing this form or by making the request in person at a PTA meeting respectively. A form was created and is available from the Web site. A motion was made to accept this process and seconded. IAfter dicussion the motion was tabled. The matter will be taken up at the next meeting. In the meantime Ms. McShane will poll the teachers to get their opinion.
Year Book Update: None.
New Business: none
Meeting Adjourned: The meeting adjourned at 8:05 P.M.