[PC News] October Meeting Minutes

[Tammy Dance-Skinner]

Parent Council minutes from our 10/3/06 meeting are below for your review.  If you have revisions, please let me know.  Please remember our meeting is next Tuesday, November 14th at 7:00pm, Room 320 County Office Building.  Dr. Moran and Board Chairman Friedman plan to share information with us, and we plan to have a panel discussion regarding safety in our schools.
Mary Huffard" Kegley Scott
Parent Council Executive Committee
293-8587
 <mailto:maryhuffard at yahoo.com> maryhuffard at yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

 

Parent Council<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Meeting Minutes

October 3, 2006

 

Meeting Chair: Jim Stern.

 

Members Present: K. Osvath and K. Sinclair, Albemarle High; T. Pajewski, Baker-Butler; D. Greco, Broadus Wood; J. Herrmann, Brownsville; L. Bradley, Crozet; T. Hashisaki, Henley and Murray Elementary; M. H. Kegley Scott and M. Spencer, Meriwether Lewis; R. Henderson, Hollymead; M. Noble, Jouett; S. Walker, Monticello High; B. Higgin, Stony Point; A. Heldreth, Sutherland; E. Hiple, Western Albemarle High; M. Pawinski, Woodbrook. 

 

Guests Present: A. Messina, Red Hill. 

 

Staff Present: B. Benson, assistant superintendent for student learning; D. Behrens, executive director for support services; B. Hairston, executive director for community engagement; J. Zimmermann, executive director for fiscal services; A. Stow, principal, Red Hill; C. Sinatra, communications coordinator. 

 

1.	Welcome - Parent Council Executive Committee Members

a.	Approval of September 5, 2006 Meeting Minutes:  Motion to approve by J. Herrmann. Motion seconded by K. Osvath. Motion passed unanimously.  

 

2. Follow-up from 9/5/06 Meeting

 

a. Parent Council Website Update: Jim Stern said a draft is being developed. There has been discussion about the website content. At this point, there will be links to agendas and past meeting Minutes. 

 

b. Parent Council Years of Service: Jim Stern said we investigated whether 2006 was the 10th anniversary of Parent Council. It is not. A parent advisory existed prior to 1996. The group was restructured into Parent Council in 1996 with the hiring of former superintendent Kevin Castner.  We continue to look for the year of establishment. 

 

c. Students Make a Difference Day (SMADD): Monica Pawinski said SMADD is October 28. All participating schools will be recognized at the November 9 School Board meeting.  The goal is for every school to participate, every year. She suggested Parent Council representatives gently contact principals and ask if there is a project in the works. If your school hasn't already, please report its project to Monica or June Jenkins (293-0288). Photos were requested from each site for the Division's SMADD application.  

 

 

3. Superintendent's Update and Discussion of Anticipated Budget Issues for Consideration -  Bruce Benson, assistant superintendent for student learning

 

a.       Bruce Benson said Dr. Moran regrets that she couldn't attend the meeting. She is in South Carolina due to a family illness.  

 

b.      Distribution of Materials policy change: Bruce asked Dr. Diane Behrens, executive director for support services, to review changes the School Board made last week to the policy. The Daily Progress newspaper article on the topic contained errors. 

 

Dr. Behrens said the newspaper article did not clarify what the Board approved. The Board approved a policy to continue to authorize schools to distribute or display communications from schools, local government or outside organizations that aim to improve the health and welfare of students. Currently, we send flyers home with K-5 students in backpacks and post at the middle and high schools. She distributed copies of the policy. The Board said only non-profit organizations can submit requests. 

 

What wasn't clear in the newspaper article was the decision made about the administrative procedures that supplement the policy. The administrative procedures tell staff how to implement the policy. The newspaper said the Board voted on the administrative procedures and they did not. 

 

Staff will develop the administrative procedures. Right now they are in draft form. They list everything from the approval process, to how to package the flyers, etc. the current draft indicates organizations can distribute two flyers per semester in schools. The new procedures begin with the second semester to give the Division time to notify organizations of the change.  

 

PTOs are considered school-related organizations and do not have to go through the Division approval process. PTOs need permission from their site principal only to distribute materials. 

 

The goal with the policy and administrative procedures changes were to provide a community service for our families without overburdening school personnel with having to send things home. 

 

Bruce said the Board sees our schools as community centers and didn't want to shut down communications coming through the schools for those families for which this method might be the only way they get information about opportunities. He said the Division is interested in parent feedback and asked those with comments to get them to Diane. 

 

c. 2007-08 Superintendent's Funding Request

 

The Division is beginning to put together its funding request to the School Board and Board of Supervisors. Bruce said when the budget development process starts, we visit our stakeholder groups and ask about their needs and ideas for budget initiatives. Parent Council has this opportunity. He asked that Parent Council representatives go back to their schools and have conversations with the administration and PTO about what they see as needs in the Division, bring the information back to Parent Council, and as Parent Council reach consensus about what the group would like to see in the budget proposal. We are in the early stage of the process. The Superintendent's Funding Request is presented to the School Board in mid-January. There will be opportunities for parents to speak to the School Board and Board of Supervisors.  

 

Bruce said that salaries are expected to be a top priority. We are right at the bottom of the quartile for our competitive market for teacher salaries. Around 82 percent of our overall budget is for personnel costs. Human Resources does a market analysis to learn what others are paying for positions across the Division to ensure we are competitive. The potential number of retirees is monitored. It is difficult to attract highly qualified personnel to fill vacant positions.  

 

Members discussed the procedure to use to develop the Parent Council's input for the budget development process. Parent Council representatives were asked to talk to their PTOs and principals to collect input. The input should be reported to Stacy Walker at  <mailto:Walkerx4 at earthlink.net> Walkerx4 at earthlink.net by November 1 to be consolidated for presentation at the November 14 Parent Council meeting. A message will be sent out on the Parent council listserv. 

 

Some schools have begun these discussions. Items for consideration include: 

·        Staffing, especially at smaller schools 

·        Substitute teacher pay

·        Establishment of a pool of substitute teachers employed by the Division

·        Purchasing an automated substitute teacher calling and tracking program 

·        Increase to school operating budgets

 

4. Financial Do's and Don'ts for PTOs - Jackson Zimmermann, executive director for fiscal services

 

Jackson reviewed a handout he provided titled PTO Discussion Points. The following points were discussed: 

 

*	Letters to donors: Do not assign a value to anything in letters to donors; just acknowledge the receiving of the goods. PTOs are required to send a letter to donors of $250 and higher. Donors can still claim their donation if it is less than $250 but at $250, legal documentation must be provided. The Division sends letters for every donation, regardless of value. 

 

*	PTOs can get tax exempt status without getting non-profit status. Jackson said there are some advantages to being unincorporated, particularly with insurance. If you're unincorporated, you're not as easily sued. If you are incorporated, you can be sued as a corporate entity separate from the Division. It's rare but the possibility exists. If you are incorporated, he recommends obtaining some type of liability insurance. If you're unincorporated, the Division insurance should cover you for things you should be doing. 

 

*	Bond insurance is not really necessary although PTOs that carry large balances in their accounts may want to consider it. If someone were to write a large check and take off, the bond insurance would cover that. 

 

*	PTOs are not encouraged to have significant holdings of property. If they do, they should consider transferring it to the school so it can become school property and be covered by the Division. We wouldn't take anything away that's donated directly to the schools; we want to make sure things given to schools stay there. 

 

*	If your PTO is having an event off school grounds, you need to have discussion with Jackson. School events on school grounds the liability is covered by the division. There are instances when the Division's liability may not cover an event held off school grounds and so a check with Jackson is recommended. 

 

*	For PTOs that are 501c3 but not incorporated, they must file a tax return 990EZ if they are at the $25,000 level or above. Jackson said he recommended that every PTO file tax returns whether it's mandated or not. Filing tax returns will require a PTO to have an EIN. Every PTO should have an EIN and it can be done on-line. The EIN should be used to open checking accounts. If PTOs have used someone's Social Security number to open a bank account, they should get an EIN and make a change. Jim Stern said that the IRS website has a statement that in 2008 PTOs will need to start filing with penny one and he would recommend getting into that practice now. There are other regulations on the site. 

 

*	Every PTO should have three signatories on their account and require two signatures on every check. Jackson asked that PTOs please take that extra bit of time it requires for two signatures on every check and three signatures at the bank. 

 

*	When PTOs are having carnivals, hayrides or other events, Jackson suggested they contact his office to review insurance issues. Our insurers are not looking to cover more than what is in a regular school day's liability. Sometimes they may review and event and say it's not the kind of risk the company normally sees at a school and so they will not cover it. If a PTO brings up an item Fiscal Services is not familiar with, they will contact the insurance company and check. 

 

*	Most PTOs have independent bank accounts. Jackson said in many ways he prefers PTO funds to be run through the school and when they are, it's typically the principal and bookkeeper who sign checks. Those funds would be at the discretion of a principal but rarely is there disagreement. When PTO funds are run through the school, they are covered and audited yearly by the Division. If you would like to run your PTO funds through the school, talk with your principal. The Fiscal Services Office will work with the principal to make arrangements. Jackson said this option works well but it's not a requirement. 

 

*	Jackson encouraged PTOs to have an open fund-raising practice and tell people the purpose of the fund-raising, especially if you are raising funds for something other than your school such as hurricane victims. 

 

*	School Divisions can't give money to charitable organizations. Jackson said if your school is raising funds for an organization, take the money and get a cashier's check. Don't be the middle man. 

 

*	When PTOs give money to teachers for supplies, they are encouraged to give one check to the school and let the school distribute the money and see the process through. The school won't distribute money without receipts. If teachers don't spend all the money, the school keeps it. 

 

*	When there are events at schools on the weekends, we must have a custodian there and when there is a custodian present, overtime has to be paid. These requirements and fees are part of the Division's building rental agreements. Whether or not an administrator is there is a choice at the building level. PTOs don't have to pay for the administrator to be there. Keep in mind that if you use the Gym for a four hour event, it's not four hours of custodian time. It also includes the set-up and cleaning time so please be cognizant that these kinds of things are costly. Our custodians appreciate the overtime but we have a tremendous amount of work after school and for evening events and they are worked like crazy. PTOs pay for custodial only for weekend events and for more than four hours. Outside groups pay a building rental fee and custodial fees. 

 

*	Jackson recommended that financial reports be provided to the PTO Board at the minimum every meeting. Insist that your board sees a copy of the bank statement when the financial report is given to make sure the statement reconciles back to the bank account. Without that bank statement, you don't know how much money you really have in that account. 

 

5. Good and Welfare

 

a. The next meeting is November 14. The regular meeting date was moved back a week due to the election. 

 

b. The November agenda will be on safety issues. The December agenda may be the forum with legislators. 

 

c. The Division is seeking a parent to serve on the Calendar Committee. Stacy Walker will volunteer. 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:59 p.m. 

 

 

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