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Newman School Website

Newman PTC Board Meeting

September 24, 2008

Minutes submitted by Jeannine Linehan

In Attendance:

Angela Cox, Denise Bruno, Christel Morley, Jeannine Linehan, Andra Dekkers, Patricia Rivers, Anna Smith, Margaret Gray, Kori Rogers, Claudia Mantilla, Leslie Ofer, Meredith Fried, Mary Hunt, Annemarie Seppenwolde, Bill Paulson, Jennifer Kagan, Nancy Berger, Sandra Batra, Cathy Wong, Meg Hildreth

Teacher/Faculty Representatives: Mark McAneny, Michelle Beermann

__________________________________________________________

House Cleaning:

• Mark McAneny gave an update on HVAC meeting. All air quality levels look normal Remediation and feasibility study ;plans were discussed and included ideas like putting some units on top of school and in various outside areas. When the feasibility study is released in mid October, decisions can be made on how to proceed. There will be a community meeting some time in mid October to convey the thinking that has gone into the analysis of the feasibility study and subsequent options. Suggestion was put forth that as many people as possible from Newman should attend town meeting on October 27th.
• Playground tube is on order to replace broken one. THis started a discussion about the safety of the parallel bars and the many accidents that have involved these bars. Bruce Polumbo is the person to contact regarding concerns over these bars and possible removal.

• Updates on Recent Efforts

• Teacher breakfast was well attended and executed
• Media center volunteers are going well
• Teachers helper volunteers to get classrooms back in order went extremely well

• Treasurer Report

• Starting cash balance: $44,000. Historically PTC dues (now called IIOC) were relatively small and the bulk of our money came in at the end due to large fund raisers happening in the spring. Therefore, we'd always start the year with a cash balance which we needed to get through the year. Since IIOC has become a bigger part of fund raising efforts and ore cash comes in at the beginning, we are starting with a bigger cash balance. We ned to talk about the possibility and/or necessity of spending the surplus which is estimated at around $15,000 because $25,000 gets ear marked for events and in anticipation of Springfest and Silent Auction. However if this money is going to be spent, it should be spent on one time purchases because this surplus won't recur due to our in/out budget. We need to agree on a number that is a genuine and comfortable amount to spend, collect ideas from different people and put together a committee to evaluate ideas to be voted on by the Board.
• Teachers also have left over money in their budgets. Shelly will work with new teachers on how this process works.
• Christel is going to work on creating a systematized record of job descriptions and financial process of each committee and the PTC in general so new people coming in can take over easily.
• Request for every committee chair to put together a budget meeting in early May so these are on record going forward.

• IIOC Update

• Going well and are on track to reach goal
• 114 families have contributed so far or approx. 20% of families

• Administrative

• For each activity where cash and checks are involved, there is a form to fill out to track it. Form will also be posted on web site.

• Community Service

• Sandra Batra, chair of last year's Cradles to Crayons is looking for new ideas for community service. She will also be continuing Cradles to Crayons. Cradles to Crayons is a non profit organization based in Quincy who help children in Massachusetts who live under the poverty level. C to C accepts gently used clothing and toys for kids. THis is scheduled to kick off in NOvember to tie into concept of Thanksgiving. This group will visit each classroom to talk to kids about the program. Parents will also be informed.

• SPED

• SPED liaison Kori Rogers attended. She is involved with SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Committee) which keeps parents informed with issues surrounding SPED. October 27th is the first meeting. These meetings are open and held at Broadmeadow. THis group is a resource for parents who have children with special education needs. Meetings will now be posted on the PTC website.

• Enrichment

• Enrichment includes three main areas: book fair, curriculum enhancement, and grade level grants. Whatever we raise for book fair, we spend on books for the school. Dates this year are November 17-21. Nancy is looking for a local author who might be interested in doing a book reading on family night.
• Reading and writing money of $100 is given to every teacher for reading and writing materials. Deadline is November 15. Nancy and Jennifer will present this to the teachers at their upcoming faculty meeting on October 6th. The other half of the budget goes to Grade Level projects.
• Grade Level Projects are innovative projects that the teachers develop such as Flat Stanley in second grade and Name that Book in third grade. They are given a budget of $5.00 per student, but must apply for this grant.
• Curriculum enhancement grants are designed to be given to teachers who apply for them. They also are to support innovation and cannot be funded indefinitely.
• Some items coming up for enrichment: kindergarten alphabet show, Unseen Borders, Elinor Rossilini, cartographer, and origami. There has also been an increase in math enrichment requests.