Harriet Bishop PTO May 2019 Meeting Minutes

May 21, 2019

Harriet Bishop PTO May 2019 Meeting Minutes harrietbishoppto@gmail.com

1. Meeting was called to order. 12 people were present; everyone introduced themselves

1. April 2019 meeting minutes were approved
2. Playground Expansion Update

1. Background: PTO (a nonprofit) had a surplus of funds and requested “wish lists” from teachers and staff earlier this year – playground updates were mentioned by each group (grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-5)
2. Playworld products are set to arrive by the end of the week.
3. Kids LOVE the gaga pit!
4. Book Fair

1. Background: many conversations concerning whether to continue the book fair have taken place throughout the past few years. The fall book fair generates more income than spring with ~50% participation and 1 online order. There was no spring book fair this school year. Revenue alternated between the PTO general fund and library.
2. PTO revenue is not dependent on this event and return doesn’t seem to be worth the effort
   • Revenue could be matched by 2-3 restaurant nights
3. Hard to find volunteers and leads – lots of hours spent on training plus learning about the books and finances
4. Book fair previews were poorly attended with concerns over affordability for our community
5. Decision: NO Scholastic book fairs over the 2019-2020 school year
6. Looking for someone to investigate book-related activities/programs, such as Barnes and Noble, Usborne, book buggy, swapping books, etc.
7. Treasurer’s Update

1. Profitable year and predicting balance of ~$18,000 going into next year
2. “Reserve” exists to cover unforeseen needs/expenses and events at the start of the school year
3. Schwans program was discontinued and BoxTops revenue is declining
4. Continue to encourage grant requests, preferably turned in by the October PTO meeting to be reviewed by the grant committee – some are one-time requests while others are requested yearly. PTO will still review requests turned in throughout the year but note that requests over $1,000 require a vote.
5. Volunteer Coordinator Update

1. NEW Hornet Hop Committee led by April Nolte, Jessica Dougherty, and James Palmer
2. NEW SMART Fair Committee led by Jessica McDonald, Adam McDonald and Janet Stanley
3. NEW Breakfast with a Book Committee led by Keralyn Powers
4. Revisiting ideas to get more people to sign up to volunteer
5. Dropping leads and encouraging members
6. Kindergarten playdates will be happening over the summer and hopefully we can recruit more volunteers
7. Academic volunteer coordinator position in the school has been eliminated.
8. PTO will focus on after-school events and support activities during the school day without interfering with the district’s policies
9. Other PTO Business
   1. The Edge summer care will be at Harriet Bishop, so waiting to install bathroom vinyls. Vinyls will be installed in time for the 2019-2020 school year.
   2. Solidified PTO events calendar to reserve the school before being open to the public
      • Book fairs and non-building events (i.e. restaurant nights to be determined) were removed from the calendar
   3. NEW PTO Board was approved

• President = Martell Dennis
• Vice President = Melissa Maggio
• Secretary = Janet Stanley
• Treasurer = Jim Kennedy
• Volunteer Coordinator = Linda Smith

1. Thanks for another great year!!!

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