I.
Call
to Order - 8:35 am
II.
Welcome
& Introductions
III.
Finance
Update - Helen thanked Mignon for all of her work over the last few months with
everything she has done to get the finances in order. Helen discussed
collections of pledges this year, and informed the group that much effort was
put into getting 6th grade pledges collected before the trip to Catalina.
Efforts were rewarded with 90% of 6th grade families having given some
kind of payment, many in full, for their pledges. In truth, total expenses for
the year generally exceed the amount that we ask for in pledges from the
families. There are hidden costs that are easily forgotten, including
substitute teachers for combo classes, AR testing, etc.
It is very important to get a handle on the total costs, so we know how much we
need to raise every year. Helen and Mignon presented a proposed budget
for this FY, which had been generated toward the end of the last school year.
There have already been some "pickups" due to a closer
look at the budget figures, but Helen believes the budget can be refined more.
Helen asked if people could get together to review the proposed budget
and work out any questionable numbers, and come up with a solid budget to
propose for the current year. A date of Wednesday, Oct
9th, 6 pm, was agreed to.
In light of the effort expended thus far, Helen proposed to expand the current
bookkeeping services. She highlighted the effort that goes into
maintaining the accounts, tracking payments, and generating financial
statements. The proposal is to pay an additional $50/mo for Kristin
Paladin, our current bookkeeper, to take on all of the data entry for the
record keeping within Quickbooks. It was recommended that we should
confirm how long of a commitment Kristin expects if we enlist her additional
services.
Doris K recommended that the Chair persons of individual events bring complete,
organized, tallied, packages of monies after the event to be presented to the
Treasurer in order to make things easier on the Treasurer. A motion was
made to approve the expansion of the bookkeepers duties, at the additional
expense per month. MSC. One opposed.
Scrip - Lori asked everyone to consider participating in Scrip, to increase
donations to the Boosters. She also discussed the possibility of tying
more of the Scrip earnings to individual family pledges. Helen is against the
idea because she feels the need is for more families to be participating in
this as a straight donation, and she is concerned about adding any more record
keeping to the already overloaded duties of the treasurer and bookkeeper.
IV.
Principal's
Report - There was no report due to the unavailability of the Principal.
V.
Grade
Rep Updates - 4th grade - Vanessa reported that there is a Cuesta park
gathering for 4th grade families to meet and get to know each other on Sunday from 1- 2 pm. Vanessa will promote the
Boosters for parents to try to get them involved in events and activities.
5th grade - Kurt R had no report.
6th Grade - Vanessa reported for Morgan R – From the teachers - The sixth grade
went on their study trip to Catalina Island Marine Institute this month. The
kids had a fantastic time learning about marine ecology while snorkeling,
kayaking, hiking, and studying in marine laboratories.
6th Grade Rep activities this month –
a.
Wrote
a letter to the sixth grade parents introducing myself as grade rep and
inviting them to participate at upcoming Booster events & meetings. Also
attached a copy of the Booster 2013/14 calendar of events, so parents had a
reference for all key dates this year. The sixth grade teachers distributed it
as a take-home handout. Morgan would be happy to share with other grade reps.
b.
Learned
about Target Field Trip grants which can provide up to $700 for class field
trips. So I contacted the teachers and offered to help them apply, since a
grant would offset the cost of field trips. Applications were due October 1.
Mr. Crabb requested the application information so he could apply.
Mr. Crabb got a Target grant in 2011, but it was not on this radar this year.
Let's wish him luck!
VI.
Genevieve/Mrs
Fields - Helen reported that we had sales totaling $13,365. This is
$2k more over last year with 20% fewer students. The Rizzo family generously donated
the 1st place prize of lunch at Cafe Roma with the Principal for the top
winners from each grade. Helen asked if the Rizzo's would be willing to
add one more student to the lunch, as there was a very close tie for 3rd place.
1st place goes to Hannah Naccasha, 2nd place to Grace Nickerson and 3rd
place to Nina Rightmeyer and Mackenzie Fry.
VII.
Pancake
Breakfast – No update given due to time constraints.
VIII.
Chili
Cook-off – Lori asked for help with set-up and clean-up, and asked everyone to
attend. Flyers will be given to teachers
after the Booster meeting to be handed out to the kids before the weekend.
IX. Dinner
Auction Committee - Taffy announced that she is very close to confirming a date
for the auction; May 10th is the tentative date.
It will be at Cafe Roma, and the Rizzo's agreed to stay with same budget
costs from the event 2 years ago. Taffy intends to post a Google doc showing
past donations for people to see in the hopes that others will find and seek
out donations to help with the event.
X.
Task
Force Update – Helen informed the group that the Task Force has concluded their
meetings. The group came up with recommendations that will now go to Dr.
Prater. The recommendation is to support Teach now and into the future, and move
it permanently, with the top recommendation being to move it to the Old Pacheco
site on Grand Avenue. This is the favored location because of its proximity,
and connections, to Cal Poly. Unfortunately, in early Spring, the District signed
a 5 yr lease with the SLO Classical Academy for a large part of the space on
this campus, so it would be an expensive option to buy out the lease. It is possible that in the interim, the space
could be shared with SLOCA, if the other tenants can be moved out. Recently an
article in the Tribune reported that there were talks of selling the property
to Cal Poly so that it could be converted to student housing. The Lizzie
campus is the second choice for Teach to move to, due to the facilities
available on site. Further
recommendations of where the district offices could move to were made, and
other choices for a Teach campus include Sunnyside, Morro Elementary, and the
Pacific Beach Continuation school site.
XI. Open
Forum – Discussion was held regarding how we can get more people to attend the
Booster meetings. Suggestions include “Robo calls” from school through
School Messenger program, have signs posted at the school, send out reminders
through eBlasts.
Discussion was held regarding making sure that the Boosters work hard to get
Chairs of events to post their “best practice” notes and comments after events. This helps incoming parents in future years
once former parents move on out of Teach.
There used to be a binder that would get passed from Chairs/Board
members to future Chairs/members, but the binders seem to have lost
effectiveness.
Discussion
was held on whether or not it would help to promote events as fundraiser for
"xyz" activity, instead of just saying that our events are
fundraisers to help pay for all enrichment activities.
XII.
Adjournment
– 10:00am
