Midland PTO Officer Meeting Minutes

Wednesday August 4, 2009 @ 7:00p.m. Pizza Peel, Lacon

Attendance: Lisa Stewart, Stacy Watkins, Tiona Kimble, Nicole Sivertsen, Lori Blackburn, Sonia Morrison and Staci Blew. Not Present: Terri Lambrecht

Meeting called to order at 7:03 by Lisa Stewart.

OLD BUSINESS

SCHOOL REGISTRATION-Lisa Stewart

• Feedback was good regarding location of our table at school registration. Nicole S. commented that the volunteer forms were located in more than one location and how well Mrs. Dubois explained the PTO forms that were set in her area.

TEACHER APPRECIATION GIFTS-Sonia Morrison

• Sonia M. elaborated on the description of the teacher gifts that will be proposed at general assembly. It will be recommended to purchase a digital camera for each grade level. Cannon Power Shot was on sale at Walmart, Sonia will look into it. With both camera and memory card purchase the PTO is looking at spending approximately $150-175 per grade level.  The memory card will be at least a 40 gigabite card.  
• Questions came up about what to do for the middle school teachers. The PTO will ask Peg Frey at the first meeting her opinion on this matter. One suggestion was to purchase the “Cricket” die cutting machine for the middle school. Bring to first general assembly meeting.
• Tiona K. updated the board members on the teacher’s lounge renovation. Susie Moreland (Midland parent) would like to help out, plan the layout, etc.

SCRIP – Nicole Sivertsen

• SCRIP is tentatively planned for order in November for December/holiday gifts and for order in April to accommodate May gifts.
• Nicole asked for volunteers to hand out flyers and cards when they come in. Sonia M. suggested that we do this at the winter and spring concerts. Board members agreed that this would be best for handing out the cards.
• Through the process of talking about collecting paperwork, orders etc from the school, it was concluded that Sonia M. would be responsible for collecting all PTO correspondence and contacting any board member who may have mail at the elementary school office where the PTO mailbox is located.

WEBSITE BUILDING PROCESS-Lisa Stewart

• Per Lisa, conversation with Mr. Moutray was not overly positive regarding him building the website off of the current school site.
• It was concluded that we need to put a “classified” type of article in the newsletter and on the website that we are in need of a parent volunteer with the skills to maintain a PTO website.

INVENTORY UPDATE-Lisa Stewart

• Lisa and Molly Lequia took inventory of the PTO items at the middle school.

(See attached.)

FUNDRAISING NEXT YEAR-Lisa Stewart

• List for possible fundraising needs to be narrowed before general assembly. Much discussion was held on how to decide on choices for fundraisers.  Some possible options were GFS, Letter Writing Campaign, Light Bulbs, That’s Not My Pan, Mixed Bag Design, just to name a few.
• Lisa suggested that a choice be given to the families to decide which fundraiser that they would like to participate in. It was decided that the Fundraising Committee would have to decide how to proceed.  We need to see how much Market Day sales, Non-Fundraiser Fundraiser and Carnival projected income will bring in for the PTO.

IRS AND 501 3C-Sonia Morrison

• After discussion with the IRS, Secretary of State and the Attorney General’s Office, there is no record of our organization. It seems that the appropriate paperwork has never been filed out.
• Our organization cannot apply for any grants. We can still use the EIN number, but cannot apply for grants.
• Midland PTO needs to file for 503C status as we have up to 27 months to file from start date of organization. It is a $300 application for over $10,000 in take a year.
• This will be brought to general assembly to see how to proceed.

BOOHOO/YAHOO BREAKFAST-Lisa Stewart

• Bags are half filled, still collecting baked goods, please try to attend.

COMMITTEE CHAIR POSITIONS-Lisa Stewart

• List update-keep recruiting.

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY-Kimble/Morrison

• Committee meeting was held prior to board member meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

CARNIVAL-Lisa Stewart/Nicole Sivertsen

• Agenda items will be a regular topic on the upcoming meetings agendas.
• Board needs to divide up what each member wants to do for the Carnival, responsibilities need to be delegated and discussed at the general assembly meeting.

MARKET DAY-Staci Blew

• Market Day forms were sent to Melissa Grandsart. Market Day will begin in August. Details to follow after Staci and Melissa meet.
• There was a request for volunteers for the first pick-up on August 31 @4:30.
• Tiona requests to let the Adventures Aftercare program know as soon as possible the exact time for pick up, etc so that they can plan accordingly.
• Much discussion was held on the topic of having babysitters at Market Day for the volunteers.
• Tiona to discuss with Home Economics teacher at the high school to create a points program that will benefit both the PTO and the high school student.

VOLUNTEER FORMS-Staci Blew

• Much discussion held on the volunteer forms pledge for 2 hour volunteer.
• Staci Blew will not keep track of each individual person’s hours. It was more of an incentive and to draw attention to the need for volunteer hours from our Midland parents.
• Revision of the directory form and pledge form needs to take place before the next time it is used due to the overlap of both Staci Blew and Stacy Watkins needs for the data involved.
• PTO needs to further look into obtaining this information from the school offices, are there privacy laws that prohibit us from using a school database?

FUN BLAST-Lisa Stewart

• Lisa reported that she has a committee which consists of Stacy Watkins, Janet Keturi, Margie Deffenbaugh and Jennifer Barrett set to meet on Thursday, August 5.

GRANDPARENTS DAY-Lisa Stewart

• Lisa reports there are still openings for people to work on the Grandparents Day.  Please keep recruiting.

COMMUNICATION-Lisa Stewart

• Lisa encourages board members to keep the lines of communication open, if there are any conflicts please direct to that person whom you have the conflict with. We want to maintain unity and show strength in our Midland community and need to avoid any unnecessary drama.  Please be conscious of the image that we project.

MEETING RESPONSIBILITIES-Lisa Stewart

• Lisa would like to have name tags at each meeting, as well as, greeters at the door.
• Lisa will be encouraging hand raising when you have something to say and she will make an effort to explain all agenda items.

Meeting adjourned by Lisa Stewart…late…