PTA General Meeting

January 15, 2008

Respectfully Submitted

Attendance: Sarah Achenbach, Tracie Bartlett, Alyson Bonavoglia, Francesca Brown, Landie Callanan, Laura Cole, Lindsay Conboy, Susan Deise, Susan Drake, Keli Emmons, Anne Ertel, Robin Evans, Cathi Forbes, Aimee Grable, Jennifer Helfrich, Lea Ann Howard, Susan Millard, Linda Miller, Shawn Osmeyer, Sue Parts, Lisa Pyle, Michele Rowland.

Jennifer Helfrich called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm. Introductions were made.

President’s Report: The minutes from the December meeting were approved. Jennifer stated that a parent asked if the PTA is a not-for-profit, which parents could make outright donations to (presumably in lieu of participating in fundraising). Lea Ann Howard confirmed that the PTA is a non-profit. The parent also asked if the PTA could solicit grant money from foundations. Cathy Berger has presented this question to the county, but has not heard back from them. Jennifer shared that the PTA Council of Baltimore County’s next meeting is Thurs. January 31st, Loch Raven High School, at 7:30 pm. At the PTA Night in Annapolis on Monday February 11th, 6 – 8:00 pm., both County and State officials will be present. Anyone interested in attending and/or carpooling should contact Jennifer. Jennifer said that the Nominations Committee (Lorraine Giangrandi, Linda Miller, Melissa Nice, Shawn Osmeyer and Justine Sheedy) has job descriptions for the positions that need to be filled for next year. Please contact them regarding your nominees. Voting will take place at the May meeting, and nominations may be made from the floor.

Treasurer’s Report: Lea Ann Howard distributed the Treasurer’s Report for the month of January. She said that the PTA’s current balance is $23,286.74. She said Sally Foster generated $28,340.10, and Year Book presale generated $4,147.60. Lea Ann said she wrote a Sales use tax check for $2,100.00. She also said that Ron Ansleigh at Sun Trust Bank has been very supportive of the PTA, removing extra fees for processing large numbers of checks during fundraisers. Alyson Bonavoglia pointed out an error in the Cultural Enrichment Disbursement figure. Lea Ann discovered that it was a typographical error. Alyson made a motion to correct the Cultural Enrichment Disbursements amount to $2,077.75 on the Treasurer’s Report, and the Total Disbursements will be $40,263.79. Because the motion came from the committee, no second is required, and the motion was passed. Alyson commented that the Cultural Enrichment budget for this year is $4,000.00 versus last year’s figure of $7,000.00 although we have more students than ever. Landie Callanan made a motion to reduce $500.00 from the Reflections budget, and add $500.00 to the Cultural Enrichment budget. The motion was seconded by Susan Drake and approved.

Joe Corbi’s Winter Fundraiser: Linda Miller said that sales are low for the Joe Corbi’s fundraiser. It was agreed that she would extend the sale by a few days in order to boost sales.

Vice President of Volunteer’s Report: Lindsay Conboy stated that she is preparing an e-mail call for volunteers for various projects and events. Please let her know immediately if you would like your request for volunteers included.

Principal’s Report: Mrs. Deise thanked the PTA and the Hospitality Committee for the Teachers Breakfast in December. Mrs. Deise reported that Ms. DiLisio retired quietly at the winter break. While it was her desire to leave without fanfare, she will be honored at a lunch with the teachers on January 28th. We welcome our new art teacher, Mr. Lyons. Mrs. Deise announced that Family Math Night would be held on two nights due to our large enrollment. The dates are Tues. Feb. 19th and Fri. Feb. 29th. Mrs. Deise stated she has been informed by the cafeteria staff that beginning this week students will no longer be using a card to pay for their lunches, but will begin using individual three digit PIN numbers.

Assistant Principal’s Report: Ms. Brown explained a new lunchroom reward system where students who are quiet and well behaved receive paper horseshoes, which are tallied at the end of the week. At the end of the month, the winning class will receive a special treat.

Committee Reports

Cultural Arts: Alyson Bonavoglia said that her committee would like to provide two more performances this year for second and third grade, one more for fourth and fifth grade, and one more for kindergarten and first grade. She pointed out the fact that, due to the length of time the cafeteria is in use in order to handle our large student numbers, and since instrumental music is held on the stage there, she is unable to schedule two back–to-back performances and thus costs have been higher. She is considering some Towson University musicians, and likes the way an Artist In Residence Program truly gets the students involved. Sarah Achenbach suggested contacting the Baltimore School For The Arts. The Cultural Arts Committee needs one additional assistant for next school year. Alyson said that she attended the Maryland State PTA’s Fall Convention. She said the Convention was not well attended, but she found the workshops to be very worthwhile. Jennifer said that the State PTA’s website, http://mdpta.org, and the National website, http://pta.org, are filled with helpful information as well.

Health and Safety: Sarah Achenbach said that the Kids For Health Club’s Silver Sneakers Walking Club had 37 students walking during recess. The club received many donations of walking paraphernalia. The Healthy Kids Expo will be Friday March 14th from 4:00 – 6:30 pm. The committee is looking for volunteers to help on that day. She is also interested in adding new vendors to the event. Sarah said that the new Fifth Grade Lunch Club, with a peer-to-peer awareness/relationship focus, would start in February. The club compliment Ms. Rowland’s “Character Counts” program, and will involve child psychiatrist and RFES parent, Dr. Karen Fragetta. Sarah requested that the Health and Safety speaker’s program be moved from Tuesday, March 11th to Tuesday, April 8th at 6:30 pm. (with the PTA meeting starting at 7:30 pm.) since the Health Expo is the same week. Everyone agreed to the change. Sarah said the speaker would be Dr. Beth Kotchick of Loyola College. Her presentation last year was very popular, and this year’s program would be more of a workshop. Landie Callanan suggested that the March 11th speaker could be a State Legislator, as we have had in previous years.

Capacity Study: Alyson Bonavoglia said that it is true that the plan to reclaim the Ridge Ruxton School as a regular elementary school has been dismissed. Cathi Forbes stated that there appears to be a lack of communication and/or agreement between the Board of Education and the County Executive (Jim Smith) along with the County Council (which controls how funds are spent). Mrs. Deise said that she was dismayed to hear at her Monday January 14th meeting with the Board of Education that they had no long term solution, nor a short term solution to the overcrowded conditions at our school. She was told that the Board needed two weeks to devise a short-term solution, which they will present to her. Our current enrollment is 625 students in a building intended to house 409 students. Stoneleigh, Hampton, and Riderwood Elementary Schools are also overcrowded. Cathi Forbes stated that a new coalition called Towson Families United is being formed to distribute information and organize public events to raise awareness of the overcrowding problem and to let our elected officials know how we feel about their inadequate response to this situation. Their website is http://towsonfamiliesunited.com, and they are holding an informational meeting Wednesday January 23rd at 7:30 pm. at the Sheppard Pratt Conference Center. Jennifer stated that the Capacity Study Committee’s work is complete, but asked that they continue to report on the activities of the independent Towson Families United. When speaking publicly or to the press, it is appropriate to say that you are involved the RFES PTA, but it is not appropriate to say that you are representing the RFES PTA.

New Business

Jennifer shared some thank notes which were written by teachers in appreciation of the December breakfast provided by the PTA’s Hospitality Committee. She stated that the PTA needs a Web Master with Java Script skills.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.

Announcements: Thurs. Jan. 31st PTA Council Gen. Mtg.- Loch Raven HS, 7:30 pm.

Mon. Feb. 11th PTA Night in Annapolis, 7:00 pm.

. Tues. Feb. 19th RFES Family Math Night (1 of 2)

Tues. Feb. 26th RFES Family Math Night (2 of 2