FRIENDS EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING MINUTES
CASTLE HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

OPEN MEETING

SEPTEMBER 12, 2006

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:   HANIA BROOKS, GINGER BOWER, DAWN PLEW, JULIA SAK GEARHART, JOHN LAZAR, GINA POLIZZI, MICAH ROBERTS, VALENCIA FOSTER, MARIA ESTELA HERNANDEZ, STEVE ROOT, YAEL APT, ANN WARREN, AND MARIA VON HARTZ

MEMBERS PRESENT:  STEVEN COKER, CARDIE LOY, LARRY DEMERS, SALLY DEMERS, GINNEAN SHAW, ANNE PUCCINI, TINA TEODORESCU, NEAL FELDER, LESLIE SATENBERG, ELISSA THOMPSON, CHERI KISPESI, MELROSE BROW, DAKOTA SUNSERI, AND BARBARA KAYE

CHE STAFF: AMY LEVITT-POLANCO AND LISA YAMAGUCHI

1.             MEETING WELCOME – 7:00 PM

MICAH AND MARIA WELCOME ALL AND THANK EVERYONE FOR COMING. PEOPLE INTRODUCE THEMSELVES.  

 

2.         2006-07 FRIENDS CO-TREASURER ELECTION

MARIA ANNOUNCES THAT, AS ELLEN KLINENBERG HAS HAD TO STEP DOWN, A NEW CO-TREASURER NEEDS TO BE ELECTED TO SERVE IN HER PLACE. ASKS IF THERE IS ANYONE PRESENT WHO WOULD LIKE TO SELF NOMINATE FOR THE ELECTION. LARRY DEMERS NOMINATES SELF AND GIVES INTRODUCTION SPEECH. 

NO ONE ELSE VOLUNTEERS.

JOHN LAZAR MOVES WE ELECT LARRY DEMERS CO-TREASURER; YAEL APT SECONDS.

LARRY ELECTED. 

3. BUDGET/FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

LARRY REPORTS THAT HE’S GONE OVER THE FIGURES FOR THE LAST 2 YEARS. HE REPORTS:

 

    --THERE WAS A LARGE INCREASE IN INCOME DURING THE 2005-06 YEAR OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR (SEE ATTACHED CHART).

 

    --OUR ACCOUNTS ARE $18K OUT OF BALANCE; HE’LL WORK ON RECONCILING THAT.

 

    --WE CURRENTLY HAVE $196K IN TREASURY; LARRY WILL LOOK INTO INTEREST-BEARING ACCOUNTS FOR LONGER-TERM INVESTMENT.

 

    --JOHN LAZAR PROPOSED THAT WE BILL PEOPLE FOR OUTSTANDING BALANCES FROM LAST YEAR’S FAMILY DONATION DRIVE. DISCUSSION: DO WE WRITE IT OFF, SUGGEST THAT THEY COMBINE IT WITH THIS YEAR’S DONATION, OR BILL SEPARATELY? ISSUE IS ACCOUNTABILITY VS. GOOD WILL.

 

    --GINNEAN SHAW MOVES THAT WE MAIL ONE FINAL COLLECTION LETTER. ELISSA THOMPSON SECONDS. MOTION PASSED.

 

4. UPDATES

 

·          REMINDER ABOUT COFFEE TALK SEPTEMBER 20 AT 8:30AM

 

·          THE BACK TO SCHOOL PICNIC IS SEPTEMBER 17TH; THERE WILL BE POPSICLES, POPCORN, AND GAMES. GINA (AS PTA CO-PRESIDENT) REQUESTED THAT FRIENDS CONTRIBUTE $300; PTA HAS CONTRIBUTED $500. JOHN LAZAR MOVES THAT FRIENDS DONATE $300; BARBARA KAYE SECONDS; MOTION IS PASSED.  MRS. POLANCO ASKED THAT WE SPREAD THE WORD THAT THIS IS FOR FUN, NOT FOR TEACHER CONFERENCES, SO THAT TEACHERS CAN ENJOY THEMSELVES TOO.

 

 

·          DONATION DRIVE: MARIA ASKS THAT WE SPREAD THE WORD. OUR GOAL IS $70,000.

 

·          OFFICE DESKS: OFFICE DESKS WERE DONATED BY STEVE ROOT. THANKS, STEVE!

 

 

·          FALL FESTIVAL: GINNEAN SHAW REPORTS THAT WE NEED MORE SPONSORSHIPS. OUR EXPENSES ARE LOWER THIS YEAR BECAUSE SOME OF THE RIDES ARE BEING DONATED BY EMMA GOMEZ. FRIENDS THANKS GINNEAN FOR ALL HER HARD WORK. THERE WILL BE A FALL FESTIVAL MEETING ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14.

 

·          KINDER/PRE-K PARTY: THANKS TO CARDIE LOY FOR ALL HER HARD WORK. CARDIE SUGGESTS WE FIND SOMEONE FROM OUTGOING KINDERGARTEN CLASS TO PLAN NEXT YEAR’S PARTY AND DEVELOP AN ORIENTATION FOR THE INCOMING CLASS.

 

 

·          STAR HAS BEEN HIRED TO PROVIDE A PE PROGRAM; THEY WILL PROVIDE 5 INSTRUCTORS, GIVING US A 20/1 STUDENT RATIO. THIS WILL ALLOW TEACHERS SOME STUDENT-FREE TIME TO WORK. THE PROGRAM WILL RUN 3 DAYS A WEEK (WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, AND FRIDAY) AT A COST OF $25K. CARDIE SUGGESTS THAT THE PE CLASSES MIGHT COMBINE KIDS FROM DIFFERENT CLASSES IN THE SAME GRADE LEVEL.

 

·          COMPUTER LAB: FRIENDS HAS HIRED PLANET BRAVO TO PROVIDE A TEACHER FOR THE COMPUTER LAB. PLANET BRAVO WILL ALSO CREATE A TECH PLAN TO HELP TEACHERS IN THE 3RD, 4TH AND 5TH GRADES INTEGRATE THE COMPUTERS INTO THEIR CURRICULUM. THEY WILL START IN OCTOBER.

 

 

·          TUTORS: FRIENDS HAS HIRED MISS LESSMAN TO TEACH 4TH AND 5TH GRADE SCIENCE PART-TIME IN BUNGALOW C. SHE WILL BE WORKING WITH THE TEACHERS TO DEVELOP CURRICULUM AND WILL PROVIDE A LAB 2 DAYS A WEEK. GINNEAN SHAW SUGGESTED THAT WE PUBLICIZE THIS PROGRAM TO HELP PROMOTE THE SCHOOL TO PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

 

·          WEBSITE: ANN WARREN REPORTED THAT THE DISTRICT WILL NOT ALLOW FUNDRAISING ON THE  CASTLE HEIGHTS WEBSITE, AND THEY ALSO HAVE STRICT RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF PHOTOS. SO WE NOW HAVE A SEPARATE WEBSITE FOR FRIENDS OF CASTLE HEIGHTS, WHERE WE CAN PROVIDE FUNDRAISING INFORMATION. THIS IS LINKED TO THE SCHOOL WEBSITE. THE PHOTO GALLERY HAS ALSO BEEN MOVED TO THE FRIENDS SITE.

 

 

·          THE GIFT WRAP DRIVE STARTS FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15. MICAH ASKS THAT WE ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE. DAWN PLEW SUGGESTS THAT WE ALSO SEND OUT A FLYER BEFORE CHRISTMAS TO ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO BUY GIFT WRAP ONLINE, AS WELL.

 

·          ARTS PROTOTYPE: CARDIE LOY REPORTS THAT THE ARTS PROTOTYPE PROGRAM IS EXPANDING WITH NEW FULL-TIME TEACHERS AND A NEW PROGRAM FOR 3RD GRADE. ART CLASSES WILL NOW TRY TO MAINSTREAM SPECIAL ED. STUDENTS. TEACHERS WHO ARE ALREADY TRAINED WILL TRAIN OTHERS. MORE INFORMATION TO COME. DAWN PLEW SUGGESTS WE PUBLICIZE THE PROGRAM AT THE FALL FESTIVAL.

 

 

·          HANIA BROOKS REMINDED US THAT WE NEED TO HAVE FLYERS TRANSLATED FOR ALL EVENTS; THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION OF PROVIDING SPANISH TRANSLATION FOR WEBSITE PAGES.

 

 

5. NEW ITEMS: BRAINSTORMING

 

·          MRS. POLANCO ANNOUNCED THAT MS. RICHES, A PARAPROFESSIONAL, HAS LEFT AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED.

 

·          LARRY DEMERS SUGGESTED THAT WE CONTACT NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS TO ADVERTISE AND MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THEIR PUBLICATIONS AND E-MAILS. MARIA ASKED IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO BE A LIASON WITH NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS; STEVE ROOT AND TINA TEODORESCU VOLUNTEERED.

 

 

·          STEVE COKER WOULD LIKE TO INTEGRATE THE GARDEN INTO THE CURRICULUM AS PART OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAM. HE WOULD LIKE TO THEN EXPAND OUR PROGRAM TO BE A MODEL FOR OTHER SCHOOLS. HE IS WORKING ON A WEBSITE TO INTEGRATE GARDEN PROGRAMS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND PLANS TO APPLY FOR SEVERAL GRANTS.

 

·          MICAH ASKED IF ANYONE WILL HEAD A PAPER DRIVE. VALENCIA FOSTER VOLUNTEERED TO HEAD THAT. MICAH SUGGESTED THAT WE HAVE A BOX AT THE FRONT GATE OF THE SCHOOL TO COLLECT  THE PAPER.

 

 

·          DAWN PLEW IS WORKING ON A COMMUNICATION BOX FOR THE FRONT OFFICE.

 

·          GINGER BOWER SUGGESTED THAT WE SHOULD TAKE A POSITION ON DIABETES AND NUTRITION. BARBARA KAYE REPORTS THAT WE HAVE A SALAD BAR, BUT WE NEED A PARENT TO RUN IT. GINNEAN SHAW SUGGESTED WE WORK WITH THE PTA ON CHANGING THE LUNCHROOM MENU.

 

 

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:50 PM.

 

 

THE NEXT MEETING IS ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2006.