PTA Meeting Minutes 5.8.18

Campbell PTA Meeting

May 8, 2018

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Approximate
# of Attendees
: 27

I.     Welcome
and Introduction: Nathan Zee, President 

  • Nathan
    welcomed everyone to second-to-last PTA meeting
  • Wetlands
    Festival results:
    • Successful
      event by every measure
    • Raised
      around $16,000, with about $2,000 in expenses
    • Huge
      turn-out/attendance
    • Events
      and activities were very popular
    • Raised
      more money than we spent on food (donations vs. fee worked well)
    • We
      have a series of lessons-learned to turn over to next year’s planning
      team
    • Thank
      you to all volunteers!

  • Teacher
    Appreciation this week events/activities:
  • Reminders:
    • Final
      Restaurant Night is coming up on 5/22 at Chipotle at the Columbia Pike
      location, between 4-8 pm
      • Informal
        Picnic at the Campbell playground to follow, weather contingent

    • Looking
      for a Restaurant Night coordinator to take over for next year
    • This
      Friday is the last Community Meeting until 6/8 because of SOL testing
    • Rising
      Kindergarten Orientation will be held on Wednesday, 6/6, at 4 pm at
      Campbell

 

II.    Officer
Election, Beth Cavey, Nominating Committee Chair

  • Proposed
    slate was introduced at our last meeting
  • We
    are taking nominations from the floor, if anyone else would like to be
    considered for a position
    • No
      additional nominations were offered from the floor

  • The proposed PTA Officer Slate will be voted on as a whole.
    The nominees are:
    • President – Barbara Martinez
    • VP
      Programming – Paige Hamrick
    • VP
      Fundraising – split between Julia Ahumada
      (General Fundraising) and Christy Hiers (Wetlands Festival Chair)
    • VP
      Communications and Outreach – Kathy Evans
      Cordon
    • Treasurer– Amanda Lowenberger
    • Secretary – Shana Brown

  • Do we have a motion to adopt the proposed slate?
    • Motion
      to adopt; seconded; approved unanimously

  • Congratulations
    to our new Executive Board!
  • Everyone, please consider a more active role in the PTA. It
    will pay-off for you in a lot of ways. There are leadership positions
    beyond the Executive Board, such as Restaurant Night Coordinator, so
    please consider taking on such a role
  • Nathan:
    Official transition of Officers is June 12th, except for
    Treasurer, which happens after the PTA audit
    • We
      need at least one at-large PTA member to volunteer to be part of the
      Audit Committee; the audit will be held in early July, exact time and
      date TBD. Please consider if you are available.
    • New
      Treasurer will become official once the audit is completed, after which
      point we will visit the bank to change over signatories to the account

 

III.   Counseling
Advisory Committee, Kate Sullivan, School Counselor

·        
Another way that
you could become involved at Campbell would be to join the newly forming
Counseling Advisory Committee

·        
We are forming a
Counseling Advisory Committee to help align Campbell’s counselling program with
the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) model

·        
ASCA model for a
comprehensive school counselling program includes:

o  
Foundation:

§ 
Beliefs, vision, and
mission statement

§ 
Domains that are
covered by the counseling program are: academic, social-emotional, and career,
with a heavy focus on social-emotional, in alignment with the whole-child
philosophy

§ 
Ensure that
everything is aligned with the ASCA standards and competencies (like Standards
of Learning for counseling lesson plans)

o  
Management
System:

§ 
Use of data:
collected data early in the year through a survey to better inform counselling offerings

§ 
Use of time: track
activities throughout the year with reports and

§ 
Creation of an
Advisory Committee (for next year), to help make sure that all of these things
I’m doing align with best practices and community needs

o  
Delivery System:

§ 
Preventative Classroom
curriculum for K-5 (Second Step and Mind-Up lessons)

§ 
Individual
student planning (mostly Middle School transition)

§ 
Responsive
Services, as needed

§ 
Indirect Student
Services (referrals to outside community resources, consultation with parents
and teachers, collaboration with all staff)

o  
Accountability:

§ 
Action Plans and
Results Report

§ 
Counselor
Performance Evaluation

§ 
Program Audit

·        
The Counseling
Advisory Committee will:

o  
Be a
representative group of stakeholders that reviews and advises the
implementation of the school counseling program

o  
Be diverse in membership
to accurately reflect Campbell’s values, concerns, and interests

o  
Be 8-14 members and
will include counseling staff, parents, administrators, and teachers (lead,
assistant, and specialist teachers), and possibly (older) students

o  
Attend 3 meetings
held throughout the first year of committee formation

§ 
Introductory
meeting,

§ 
Early-year
meeting to set goals

§ 
End-of-year
meeting to review and evaluate program’s success and challenges

o  
 Subsequently, there will be only two committee
meetings each year

·        
If interested in
joining the Counseling Advisory Committee:

o  
Email: kate.sullivan@apsva.us

o  
Phone: (703)
228-8444

o  
Twitter:
@MsSullivan_APS

 

IV.  Treasurer’s
Report: Jenny Morris, Treasurer

·        
Highlights include:

    • Operating
      expenses so far this year were $37,000 and we took in $55,000 in income,
      not including the Wetlands Festival
    • We’ve hit
      our income goals and are looking pretty good
    • In April
      we:
      • Took in $7,400
        in Project Discovery Payments; Instructor payments will go out this week
      • Received $61 from Square 1 art
      • Received $83 from Amazon rewards
      • Received $7,671 from Wetlands
        Online Auction payments; more to come in May
      • Made the $785 deposit from the Penny
        Wars fundraiser
      • Spent $400 for Odyssey of the
        Mind registration reimbursement
      • Spent $216 for Musical
        Reimbursement
      • Spent $262 – Outdoor
        Coordinator hours
      • Spent $366 on purchases for
        Expedition Support
      • Spent $173 on Outdoor Classroom
        supplies
      • Spent $98 for Math Dice
        T-Shirts

    • In May look forward to:
      • Additional Project Discovery
        payments
      • Wetlands Festival income
      • Expense to subsidize 3rd
        and 5th grade Field Trip charter buses from grade level line
        items

  • Q: Have any of the grade levels
    not used their allocation of the grade-level funding? A: 1st
    and 2nd Grades have not used their line item funding;
    Expedition Support line item money also remains available

·        
Funding request
from Ms. Ammons for gifts for two retiring Staff members:

o  
$400 to cover
items for Ms. McMahon and Ms. Sananikone, which are TBD

o  
Ms. Ammons will
coordinate purchase

o  
If approved, the
money must be spent, and receipts sent to PTA, prior to 6/30 in order to be
reimbursed

o  
Motion to
approve; seconded; approved unanimously

·        
Q: I can’t figure
out from the budget exactly how much cash we have on hand. Can you clarify? A:
We have a few significant expenses pending, but current bank balance is about
$74,000. We’ll be around $60,000 once those expenses clear.

·        
Q: Any
big/expensive projects we’re taking on? A: We intentionally have not solicited
ideas for a large project this year given the uncertainty around the Elementary
Planning/Boundary Initiative.

 

V.    Elementary
Boundary Initiative Update: Nathan Zee, President

  • Campbell was first to realize the
    implications of this initiative back in December

o  
We lobbied School
Board members, spoke at School Board meetings, sent in 52 letters, had members
on walkability task force, FAC, etc., all providing their input

o  
We’ve had several
surveys that we’ve shared via Announcements including Campbell walk zone
survey, and a survey asking what criteria should be considered in school siting

  • Other PTAs began doing the same
    and there has been significant pushback as to how APS has handled this
    process, resulting in delayed timelines
  • Arguably,
    the message that resonated the most with the School Board and Staff
    appears to be related to diversity. Staff appears to have heard our very
    real concerns about what happens to diversity at the current Campbell site
    if the building becomes a neighborhood school filled to 101% capacity with
    kids in the walk zone; most students from this theoretical walk zone would
    be economically disadvantaged. In their latest document, Staff has
    acknowledged that student outcomes are negatively affected by the
    diminished resources available to an economically disadvantaged community.
    They have acknowledged that their stated focus on student success and achievement
    is placed at risk by creating situations in which economically
    disadvantaged students are concentrated in any given school.
  • Our
    formal PTA stance is that we are not advocating for or against any other
    schools or communities to be changed; we are strictly speaking about why maintaining
    Campbell in its current location is imperative to the program, and serves
    the overall APS goals
  • Late-breaking news is that the
    community feedback session has been moved back from 5/9 until 5/30 (7-9pm
    at Swanson Middle School)
  • Please
    send me any questions you think APS staff should answer at the 5/30
    meeting. I will compile the questions and submit them
  • We
    will look at what (if any) PTA letter to send in after the 5/30 meeting
  • Nathan
    opened the floor
    to questions and comments. A robust discussion ensued.

 

VI.  New
Business: Nathan Zee, President

·        
Any New Business?

o  
Jenny Morris, Project
Discovery Coordinator:

§ 
This is the last
week of Project Discovery for classes that meet on Thursdays and Fridays

§ 
Next week is the
last week of Project Discovery for classes that meet on Wednesdays

 

VII. Closing:
Nathan Zee, President

  • Final
    PTA meeting of the year will be on Tuesday, 6/12. We'll have a recap,
    celebration, and transition discussion (plus any updates on the Elementary
    Planning Initiative).
  • We’re
    looking to schedule our annual audit the weekend after the July 4th
    holiday. This will allow us to change signatories on our bank account and
    formally complete transition. Let Jenny Morris know if you would like to
    participate as part of the Audit Committee.
  • We've
    begun work on developing our 2018-19 PTA budget. If you have feedback or input,
    please send it to Barbara Martinez or Amanda Lowenberger.