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PHS PTSA w 2655 Hamlet Chapel Road w Pittsboro, NC 27312 w (919) 967-9925

Minutes

PHS PTSA Action Council
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
7:00 PM at the Carolina Brewery

I. Minutes from April 21, 2009 Action Council Meeting approved.
II. Welcome/Introductions
III. Budget Report—Karen reporting. Budget is pretty close to what we projected.
        Grocery Certificates will even out at the end of the month.
        Current Balance: $39,591.54. We possibly need to pay out $5000 in teacher
        grant money and $6000 in Thrift Shop funds if these requests come in. All requests must be made by May 15.
IV. Upcoming Events
A. EOG exams, May 18-22
B. Drama Production, May 29 at 7:00 pm
C. PBS Field Day for grades 6-8, Step Up Day and 8^th grade Social,
                       Awards Day 3-5 at 8:30 am, and Kindergarten graduation at 12:00 June 5     (Awards Day for 3-5 has since been rescheduled for June 8)
D. Last day for students, early release, June 10
E. Awards ceremony for grades 6-8, June 10 at 8:30 am
F. Red Cross Blood Drive 2:00-6:30 pm, Kindergarten Parents Orientation,
May 14 at 8:30 am
G. Field Day for grades 3-5 June 8
H. Field Day for grades K-2 June 9
I. Speaker at Central Office “Team-Building for Children with Disabilities”
May 14 at 6:00 pm
V. Current Business 08-09
A. Fundraising updates
1. Terracycle—Karen reporting. Christa Barnett is organizing the
    collection of drink pouches and Frito Lay bags. We have two blue bins in the cafeteria. We will put out more info about this in the fall. So far we have collected 130 drink pouches and 242 chip bags. We get .02 per item.
2. Grocery Certificates/HT VIC—Karen reporting. So far we are right on budget with these. People can order extras for the summer by May 15^th. Checks cannot be postdated past June 30^th.
3. Thrift Shop—No report
4. Scrips—Kristin Miskow reporting. One more order this year. The faculty have really participated with this fundraiser this year.
    Suggestion for next year: offer Wal-Mart gift cards with the grocery certificates. We are right on target with this fundraiser
    in regards to our budget.
5. Label Collection—Karen is organizing the contest winner parties. 2^ndgrade won the HT milk cap contest. 5th grade won the Campbell's.
6. Other:
    Olive Branch Caffe--$250
    Village Pizza--$481
    Navigator--$810
    If you use goodsearch.com, we earn .01 each time. Jennifer Hagens is going to check if we can put goodsearch.com on computers in Media Center
B. Harris Teeter grocery bag collection—Kristin Miskow reporting. We have collected around 14 bags (large bags filled with the smaller grocery bags) so far. Last day to turn them in is May 31^st. We seem to be the only school in the area collecting them so have a good chance to win the contest.
C. Evaluate this year’s programs/projects
1. Volunteer program/Three for Me—Volunteers need to sign in the volunteer book in the Main Office. Donna DeLano, volunteer coordinator, needs help getting volunteer program off the ground. In the fall, we will again require teachers to name a
    parent rep and we will have a meeting of these reps to organize  volunteer efforts. We will also try to complete the volunteer       handbook. Jennifer Buckmire made a suggestion that staff members wear a badge that says,“ask me about volunteering.”       Pete Rubinas suggested assigning mentor families to “new” families, especially EC families.
2. Parent Handbook—This is still a work in progress. Jen Buckmire suggested including the “why” as to “why” we do things the way we do. Draft handbook is available on our school website.
3. Outdoor water fountain—Karen reporting. It is working fine and has had one repair. It was our biggest expenditure this year.
4. Fall Picnic—Karen will contact Harris Teeter and see about getting the Rancher truck to come again. Laurie Walker suggested we have  all our programs in place ready to present to all the parents at this time.
5. 5K—Low attendance this spring. Possibly we should only run it once a year in the fall (November) Tentative date 11/14/09
6. Math and Science Night—Keep it! Be sure to have warnings about possible allergens (i.e. peanut butter)
7. Community Art Show—Debate on whether or not to keep the company that framed the students art. We need someone to control traffic as people were trying to set up and had people wanting to go through their stuff. Possible earlier start time.
8. Improvements in communication—Thank you Mr. Leonhardt for your weekly Honeywell announcements. Erica suggested possibly drafting a “welcome” letter to our new principal. She will help Karen with this.
9. Spiritwear—We gave all the leftovers to the PBS store except the magnets. We are going to have a contest for the students for a design for our t-shirts for next year. Shannon suggested selling re-usable canvas grocery bags with PHS on them.
10. Cultural Arts Program—Love them! Erica Perlow reported. A survey  will be sent to teachers to solicit feedback; otherwise it was thought that students enjoyed the programs. The committee is applying for a grant but chances are slim because we do not have enough disadvantaged students in our school. The committee will meet in June.

11.	Fuel-Up- Jen Buckmire reported. 1,600 items raised during the 2-month challenge. $2,000 cash raised during this time as well. 27 kids are being served. Program will be re-evaluated on a yearly basis. It was noted that every child who receives fuel-up donations also received a book from the recent book fair.
12.	Staff Appreciation- well received by teachers. It was suggested that family night be held before “give your teacher a book” day.
13.	Suggestion Box-Running smoothly. Still receiving suggestions. Suggestions are now posted on the school website with responses.
14.	Other

a. School Improvement Team- has a meeting scheduled before the end of the year
b. 9 Week Assessment-parents expressed concern as to why this was happening right after EOG’s. Ms. Mitchell reported that it was necessary to plan for next year and required by the county.
c. NC Report Card-some concerns were expressed that parents may not know how to read this report card. It was suggested that a coffee talk be presented or some other explanation be provided to explain what it means

Mrs. Mitchell’s Retirement-Karen thanked Mrs. Mitchell for her service to our school. All members wished her the best of luck.

VI. Next Year’s Business 09-10

A.	Lavenders Fundraiser-We have one more year left on our two-year contract. Fundraiser for the 09-10 school year is scheduled for 9/14-9/28.
B.	Spirit Wear- It was decided that we would order t-shirts and canvas bags. We need someone to head-up spriritwear. Melissa Merchant volunteered.

C. PTSA Meeting Schedule for 09-10:
8/11 PTSA Action Council 7:00 PM at the Olive Branch
9/15 School Picnic 5:30-7:30 General Meeting (includes budget approval)
10/13-PTSA Action Council Meeting 7 PM
11/17-PTSA General Meeting and Art Show 5:30
12/15-PTSA Action Council Meeting 7 PM
1/12-PTSA General Meeting and Math/Science Night 5:30
2/16-PTSA Action Council Meeting 7 PM
3/16-PTSA Action Council Meeting 7 PM
4/13-PTSA General Meeting and Officer Elections 7 PM
5/11-PTSA Action Council 7 PM

C.	Volunteer Program-A committee was formed this year and is in charge of coordinating and encouraging volunteers at the school. We need better communication about fulfilling needs of teachers and PTSA. The volunteer committee will be in touch with the classroom representatives next year as a way to encourage better communication and to minimize duplication of effort.
D.	Special Needs Committee-Sherry Mergner Hrynewych proposed that a committee be formed to support children with special needs. Sherry is in need of parent volunteers for this committee.

VII. Principals Report
Ms. Berg and Ms.Parks will be displaced next year. The county is trying to find positions for them in other schools. PHS has the potential to lose one more teacher for the 09-10 school year. Final report cards will be going home with the students this year rather than through the mail.

VIII.	Other Business
	Pete Rubinas reported that the county is in the process of revising its strategic plan. He reported a good turnout at the first meeting with a not so good turnout at the second meeting. Parent volunteers are needed to help with the revisions.

Jennifer Hagens will update the PTSA bulletin board in the main hallway. The board will be used to post PTSA news.

There was a discussion about doing a thrift shop fashion show. We are looking to do this sometime in the fall, either September or October. Date TBD.

* Minutes taken by Laurie Walker, Secretary and Shannon Wolfgang, Vice-President

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