March 19, 2009
PTA Meeting
Attending:
John Wong, Jim Thirtyacre, Brad Kaplan, Meserve Platt, John Olden, David McIlhenny, Robyn Lipsky, , Brad Kaplan, Nancy Sur
Absent:
John Rothmann, Gary Goldsborough, MJ Call
William Hack: Administrative representative
Meeting called to order at 6:40pm
Minutes from February read by Cari Gennarelli, Brad Kaplan moved to change date for Carol Munch event to May 28, approved. Meserve Platt moved to approve minutes, Jim Thirtyacre seconded, approved unanimously.
TREASURER’S REPORT - Dave McIlhenny
$142K in the bank, Spirit merchandise and Auction now positive.
Catalina expenses will be $22K. Generally look to be on budget for Outdoor Ed. PTA pays 100% of transport, for teachers and volunteers, and for scholarships. Dave believes that last year was higher expense due to higher gas prices – will analyze expenses at end of year.
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT – William Hack
Auditorium rehab looking good, but not guaranteed yet. Bids out on new curtains, new floors, new paint – planning to re-do over Spring Break.
Discussed preparations for Carol Munch event on May 28.
Joyful Learning Ames Concert today from SF Symphony. CL pianos getting tuned and repaired. The one in the Auditorium is done. Upcoming musical theater events for 4th and 5th, plus Seussical performance on April 3.
Received $2.8 million budget, slightly above last year, but health care costs have increased for staff. Can maintain current level of staffing given budget. May have funds for half-time teacher to support Korean immersion program.
Prop H arts money cut in half, from $9K to $4.5K. Will request additional funds from PTA to supplement if possible. May be some additional discussion over the summer about whether cut will actually happen. Question raised as to funding source of Prop H funds – Meserve Platt will investigate and report back.
Enrollment requests up to 800 this year (up 300). Kindergarten size will likely be 21 or 22. Working with Educational Placement Center to keep cap on other class sizes.
May 12 is K Family Orientation night. Record high level of Korean families in Korean immersion next year (13).
Need a new flat screen TV for the Madison Auditorium because old one was damaged.
Friends of Urban Forest willing to replace trees at Madison that came down in storm. Amanda to find out if District will replace.
4th and 6th grades had good Outdoor Ed programs. Mr. Hack advocating re-considering cutting out 6th grade OE program. Need to make decision soon as to whether we contract for next year’s program.
Saturday, April 18 is Garden Greening Day at Scott Campus. Need 100 volunteers.
April 1 is Arts and Poetry Night. Will use the new sound system in the Auditorium (from the capitalized equipment budget).
AUCTION REPORT – John Wong for MJ Call
$87K in donations (631 items) about $8K less than last year
318 guests coming so far. Short about 100 people vs last year.
Note that Board should encourage members of the community to stay late and help break down Auction.
Teachers’ costs are covered through complimentary tickets.
SSC REPORT – Susan Burkhardt
New date to be set for next Community Meeting
Balanced Score Card (BSC)
4 issues still outstanding for sub-committee to address
– How offer equity to all students in dual grade program (KIP issue)?
- Outdoor Ed for all – not necessarily an equity issue
- Parent involvement, how to increase?
- English language learners equity
Issue raised of how far CL is from offering Korean immersion in middle school. Mr. Hack said that it is being worked on, but needs funding. Next step is to re-write the language of the grant to cover the additional teacher required. Mr. Hack has candidates for the position.
Topic for next community meeting is keeping promises to community and what that means.
Addressing topic of organizational skills in younger grades to help Joyful Learner development. Teachers very excited to contribute to the topic.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Greening Committee - Pam
Looking forward to April 18 Greening Day
Looking for support for food, beverages – available in greening budget
Will put out sign up sheet to be sure we have 100 volunteers
Will plan on rain out day
Will use room parents to solicit volunteers
Need to rent some equipment $300-$400 – available in greening budget, or thru grant
Permit should be in hand very soon (according to landscape architect), allowing Greening to happen this summer
Mr. Hack assured the PTA that teachers are excited about greening program and encourages project to be sure that when school starts in August that yard looks promising.
John Wong encouraged committee to schedule another August Greening Day well ahead of time
Planter bids coming in for play yard
Maurice in charge of outreach, and will reach out to the local community to participate
Jim Fong noted April 15 is Quarterly Meeting of SF Green Schoolyard Alliance at West Portal
NEW BUSINESS
Athletic Program
John Wong raised issue of how we can better support the success of CL Middle School Athletics, with field space, gymnasium, etc.
Possibility of using stimulus money to expand school. Mr. Hack said we will go after money that is available. Mr. Hack will find out status on those funds at Superintendent’s Roundtable next month.
John will put together a committee to discuss ideas.
MISCELLANEOUS
Pam noted July 11, Aug 8, new Kindergarten play dates at Julius Kahn
Dave M. suggested a CL School PTA Parent Survey to get parent input to PTA budget. Shared a draft to be sent out on Google group.
Nancy Sur will work with Dave and Jordan and Susan to create a fair and unbiased survey to achieve learning objectives.
Meserve Platt will assist.
Get feedback on how to get bigger PTA meeting attendance.
Brad Kaplan called to adjourn the meeting at 8:12pm
Nancy Sur seconded. Meeting adjourned at 8:12pm.