FRIENDS EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING MINUTES
CASTLE HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
         

OPEN MEETING

MAY 17, 2006

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:   HANIA BROOKS, STACY BROOKS, NEAL FELDER, VALENCIA FOSTER, ESTELLA HERNANDEZ, BARBARA KAYE, ELLEN KLINENBERG, TOMASA LANDA, JOHN LAZAR, GINA POLIZZI, MICAH ROBERTS, DARCIE TILLIS, TOLLY VALENTE, AND MARIA VON HARTZ

MEMBERS PRESENT:  CARDIE LOY, TRACY GORING, ERIKA HINDLE, MARGIE STEVENS, KHE TAI, GINGER BOWER, YAEL GILAD APT,      PATRICK DOWNES, TINA TEODORESEA, DIANA TOOTHMAN, BARRY GREY, JUDY ROSENZWEIG, ANN WARREN, RODNEY FOSTER, AMY MARTIN    

CHE STAFF: PATRICIA TANN, AMY LEVITT-POLANCO, ANGELA YOON, LISA YAMAGUCHI, SHEILA MALLOY

1.             MEETING WELCOME – 7:05 PM

MICAH AND MARIA WELCOME ALL.  

2.         FRIENDS’ BY-LAWS

THE FRIENDS’ BY-LAWS HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE THE 80’S.  THE BY-LAWS ARE DUE SOME UPDATES.  JOHN LAZAR READS THROUGH THE BY-LAWS AND FOCUSES ON THE PROPOSED CHANGES FROM THE BOARD.  UNDER SPECIAL MEETINGS - JOHN ADDS THAT THE BOARD HAS THE RIGHT TO EXPEL A NON-MEMBER FROM MEETINGS IF THEY ARE DEEMED DISTRUPTIVE.  UNDER ELIGIBILITY AND TERM LIMITS, THE DIRECTORS ARE ELECTED TO SERVE A 2 YEAR TERM FOR NO MORE THAN 4 CONSECUTIVE YEARS.  RELATIVES ARE NOT PERMITTED TO SERVE ON THE BOARD DURING THE SAME PERIOD TO TIME.  ALSO, A DIRECT EMPLOYEE OF CHE IS NOT PERMITTED TO SERVE ON THE FRIENDS BOARD.  UNDER STAGGERED TERMS, IN ORDER TO ENSURE CONTINUITY ON THE BOARD, THE DIRECTORS’ TERMS SHALL BE STAGGERED.  UNDER EMPLOYMENT, DIRECTORS SHALL NOT PROFIT FROM ANY TRANSACTION WITH FRIENDS, SHALL NOT BE EMPLOYED BY FRIENDS, AND SHALL NOT BE EMPLOYED BY CHE STARTING 7/1/06. THE NUMBER OF DIRECTORS HAS BEEN INCREASED TO 13.

THERE IS A DISCUSSION ON EACH OF THE ABOVE AMENDMENTS.  OTHERS SUGGEST OTHER IDEAS AND RAMIFICATIONS.

JOHN MOVES TO APPROVE THE MINUTES WITH NEW CHANGES.

PATRICK DOWNES SECONDS

ALL IN FAVOR – 29 VOTE YES (ALL THE PRESENT MEMBERS)

THE NEW AMMENDED FRIENDS BY-LAWS PASS

JOHN ALSO PROPOSED TO CHANGE THE FRIENDS ARTICLES OF INCORPERATION TO DELETE THE FIRST SENTENCE OF SECTION VI WHICH STATES, “THE CORPORATION SHALL HAVE NINE (9) DIRECTORS.” AND REPLACE IT WITH THE FOLLOWING THAT STATES, “THE NUMBER OF DIRECTORS SHALL READ THE SAME NUMBER OF MEMBERS STATED IN THE BY-LAWS”.

JOHN MOTIONS TO ADD THIS IN THE ARTICLES OF INCORPERATION.

BARRY GREY SECONDS.

ALL IN FAVOR – ALL VOTE YES.  THIS PASSES.

THANK YOU MICAH, MARIA, JOHN AND PATRICK FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK IN PULLING THESE NEW BY-LAWS TOGETHER!

 

3.         GOALS, DREAMS, SUGGESTIONS FOR FRIENDS TO CONSIDER FOR THE 2006-07 SCHOOL YEAR

§          COMPUTER LAB TEACHER

§          TEACHERS ARE INTERESTED IN A CERTIFICATED TEACHER TO HELP WITH INTENSE INSTRUCTION FOR SUTDENTS WHO COULD BE, BUT ARE NOT PERFORMING WELL. A NON-NORMS WITH NO CLASSROOM TEACHER.  THEY ARE LOOKING TO TARGET K-1 CHILDREN WITH ISSUES WITH LITERACY, SOUND SPELLING SKILLS AND OPEN COURT.  THIS NEED IS CRUCIAL FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE CAPABLE IN BRINGING UP THEIR SCORES.

§          THIS TEACHER WOULD BE PART-TIME AND WORK 15-20 HOURS PER WEEK, FOR APPROX. 25 PER HOUR, FOR AT LEAST 20 CHILDREN.

§          MS. TANN WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE THE TEACHERS AIDES, PARTICULARLY FOR K-1.

§          GINGER WOULD LIKE TO CHALLENGE FRIENDS TO DOUBLE THEIR BUDGET.  SHE IS COMMITTED TO HELP WITH CORP. SPONSORS, AND THIS YEAR SINGLE HANDEDLY BROUGHT IN $10,000 IN CORP. SPONSORSHIPS.

3.         TEACHER SURVEY AND TEACHER TEA

FRIENDS WILL BE CONDUCTING A TEACHER SURVEY OF NEEDS AND A TEACHERS TEA TO SHARE COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS.  THE TEA WILL BE ON TUES. MAY 30, 2006.  MS. TANN SAYS THAT IT’S IMPORTANT TO BUILD A COHESIVE UNIT AMONGST THE STAFF.  THE TEACHERS SHOULD COME TOGETHER AT GRADE LEVEL AND NOT AS INDIVIDUALS, OR COME TOGETHER AS A SCHOOL. 

 

4.                  SPRING THING UPDATE

THE SPRING THING WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL BRINGING IN APPROX. $60,000!  Stacy, Diana and Ellen worked really hard to make the evening fun, seamless, and magical! 

THE TEACHERS THANK FRIENDS FOR THE SPRING THING!  THEY ARE BLESSED TO HAVE THIS GREAT GROUP OF INVOLVED PARENTS.  THE TEACHERS ARE VERY GRATEFUL.

5.                  ANNUAL VOLUNTEER PARTY

 

THIS EVENT WILL BE SPONSORED BY BOTH FRIENDS AND PTA TO CELEBRATE ALL PARENTS WHO HELPED THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR – WHETHER YOU DONATED MONEY OR SPENT TIME IN A CLASSROOM HELPING A TEACHER. 

 

THE EVENT IS JUNE 11TH AT ROXBURY PARK FROM 2PM – 5PM.  IT WILL BE POT-LUCK.  THE COACHES AND HILTON HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO BE THERE TO KEEP THE KIDS BUSY. 

 

6.                  FRIENDS ELECTIONS

 

FRIENDS WILL BE HAVING THEIR BOARD OF DIRECTOR ELECTIONS ON JUNE 7, 2006.  SPREAD THE WORD!  THE FRIENDS BOARD HAS 6 OPEN POSITIONS.  THE BOARD WILL NEED A NEW SECRETARY, A CO-TREASURER, AND 4 DIRECTORS.

 

STACY BROOKS WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE MICAH AND MARIA FOR ALL OF THEIR HARDWORK WORKING WITH FRIENDS.  THANK YOU!

 

7.                  PTA ELECTIONS

 

THIS IS JUDY R.’S LAST YEAR AND SHE IS INTERESTED IN FINDING NEW MEMBERS OF THE PTA.  THE PTA ELECTIONS WILL BE IN THE MORNING OF JUNE 8, 2006.  THEIR OPEN POSITIONS ARE CO-PRESIDENTS, SECRETARY AND TREASURER.  THIS YEARS’ PTA HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES IN WORKING IN CONJUCTION WITH FRIENDS.  THE PTA WORKS WITH COMMUNITY BUILDING, SCHOOL ASSOCIATED FUNCTIONS, AND HELP TO SUPPORT FRIENDS, AND VICE VERSA.

 

MS. TANN SAYS THAT IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE 2 GROUPS WORKING TOGETHER. THE NATIONAL PTA ORG AND ITS SCHOOL’S BOOSTER CLUB SHOULD ALWAYS WORK TOGETHER. 

 

END OF OPEN MEETING

 

JOHN MOTIONS TO ADJOURN MEETING.

 

GINA SECONDS.

 

MEETING IS ADJOURNED.

 

THE NEXT MEETING IS ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2006 – THE FRIENDS ELECTIONS.

CLOSED MEETING

 

 

1.            BY-LAWS

 

JOHN PROPOSES TO HAVE ANOTHER CLOSED MEETING VOTE ON THE AMENDED BY LAWS WITH JUST BOARD MEMBERS.

 

JOHN MOTIONS TO VOTE IN THE NEW AMENDED BY-LAWS.

 

NEAL SECONDS.

 

ALL IN FAVOR – ALL VOTE YES.

 

BY-LAWS PASS.

           

2.            BOARD ELECTIONS

 

MICAH OPENS THE FLOOR TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS WHO VOLUNTEER TO STEP DOWN AS DIRECTORS.

 

THE FOLLOWING VOLUNTEER TO STEP DOWN:

BARBARA KAYE

DARCIE TILLIS

STACY BROOKS

TOLLY VALENTE

TOMASA LANDA

NEAL FELDER

 

3.            VOLUNTEER PARTY

 

DISCUSSION ON GIFTS FOR RECIPIENTS AT PARTY.

 

END OF OPEN MEETING

 

VALENCIA MOTIONS TO ADJOURN MEETING.

 

DARCIE SECONDS.

 

MEETING IS ADJOURNED.

 

THE NEXT MEETING IS ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2006 – THE FRIENDS ELECTIONS.