HSA Executive Board Meeting Minutes - October 2, 2013

St. Mary - St. Michael Elementary School

Home School Association

October, 2, 2013 – Executive Board Meeting Minutes

Board:

President: Mark Adams	2nd VP - Charlene Shandrowski
1st Treasurer - Jen Shuart	2nd Treasurer - Denise Bottone
Corresponding Secretary - Suzanne Foley	Recording Secretary - Kelly Owens

Agenda:

1. Opening Prayer:

(a)  Opening prayer and special intentions were lead by Mrs. Coppola.

2. Principal’s Report:

(a)  The school currently has 143 students made up of 110 families. A mother was scheduled to sign up her child for Pre-K the next day (October 3, 2013).

(b)  All fundraiser and event committees are all set and working hard. 

(i)             Trunk or Treat and Festival of Trees committees are in full swing and busy.

(ii)            A one hour assessment credit will go toward attendance of the Walk-a-Thon on October 15, 2013.

(c)  School will be open for a regular school day on Election Day, November 5, 2013.  Mrs. Coppola has a call into the bus company to see if bus transportation will or will not be available for that day.

(d)  The next Family Dinner will take place October 19, 2013.

(e)  Mrs. Coppola will be away from October 20, 2013 through October 23, 2013.

3. Treasurer’s Report

(a)  Income Statement

(i)             Jen Shuart handed out the Treasurer’s Report of Income and Expenses spreadsheet. The beginning balance is $10,224.91.

(ii)            $35.00 in membership dues has been collected.

(iii)           The Bingo profit is $400.00.

(iv)          The Pumpkin Festival profit is $543.00

(v)           We have received $189.13 from Target rewards and still have another $75.00 coming in for Target votes.

(vi)          Former Treasurer still has not clarified where the miscellaneous $1,405.50 deposit over summer should be allocated.

(b)  Collections Assessments Update

(i)             An additional $782.75 has been received for 2012-2013 school year assessments.

(ii)            A final letter will be drafted by Charlene Shandrowski no later than November 1, 2013 and signed by Mrs. Coppola for last year’s past due assessments.  After this letter, there will be no further attempts for collections.  Mrs. Coppola has been pleased with the success the HSA has had collecting last year’s assessment and with the families that have stepped up by asking questions and participating this year.

(c)  Fundraising Protocol

(i)             All fundraisers Chairs must have folders available from previous years’ events.

(ii)            All documents should be emailed to Chairs.

(iii)           Jen Shuart will write up formal protocol document.

(iv)          Members have been directly reimbursing themselves through the money collected at events.  The proper protocol is:

1.     Send Jen Shuart a start-up request to have checks issued.

2.     Submit a reconciliation sheet

3.     If you do not, you must submit a reimbursement request.

(v)      All participants need to sign in at events in order to get credit.

(d)  Lock for file cabinet

(i)             The purchase of a new lock for the file cabinet was voted on and approved.

4. Event & Committee Updates

(a)  Galaxy Fundraiser (starts the week of September 30, 2013)

(i)             Fundraiser is all set with no new information to report.

(ii)            Fundraiser ends on October 16, 2013.

(b)  Trunk-or-Treat (October 26,2013)

(i)             Committee is meeting weekly. Flyers to be handed out.

(c)  Festival of Trees (November 23, 2013)

(i)             Committee is meeting weekly. Flyers to be handed out.

(d)  Scholastic Book Fair (November 4, 2013 through November 6, 2013)

(i)             Chairperson, Lori DiMartino, is all set to go.

(e)  Wine (and Specialty Beer) Tasting Committee

(i)             500^o on Main Street, Derby, CT are donating the use of their place, wine and food but cannot accommodate an event on Friday or Saturday.  Mrs. Coppola will ask about the availability of a Sunday (possibly the Sunday before a Monday holiday). She will also discuss possible time frames and how these events were handled by the restaurant previously.

(f)   Smoke & Bones would like to run their fundraiser during the colder weather.  Mrs. Coppola and the Committee would prefer it not be too late into the season when families will be spending less money on eating out due to upcoming holiday purchases.

(g)  Shopping Spree (December 11, 2013)

(i)             Brenda Lagoja is the Chairperson for this year’s event.  She has been in contact with last year’s Chair for guidance.

(h)  Bylaws Committee

(i)             The five members of the sub-committee met in September and read the bylaws. 

(ii)            At this time, they are still in the process of reviewing the bylaws, editing outdated verbiage but have not yet started getting into the actual policy changes.

(iii)           They will focus on the key issues, such as assessment. 

(iv)          Gina McKay will communicate the sub-committee’s progress to the Board.  The bylaws update is expected to be published to the Board at the December 2013 Executive meeting.  Communication to the membership is expected for January 2014.

(v)           The sub-committee’s next meeting is October 23, 2013.

5. New Business

(a)  Mrs. Coppola to take the lead on the State of the School meeting on November 6, 2013.

(i)             Gina McKay and Kelly Owens have volunteered to help out with coordinating and refreshments needed.

(b)  Water Fountain/Water Cooler

(i)             Per the plumber Mrs. Coppola asked to evaluate the situation, the construction of a new water fountain is not a viable due to the lack of drainage options. Where there is water, there is no where to drain out to. 

(ii)            Alternatives proposed are:

1.     A water cooler rental with jugs.  Due to the school being utilized for CCD students and Bingo and the mess of cups and water, this is not the best option.

2.     Cases of bottled water available in each classroom or kitchen. Some classes have had donations made but storage space is an overall issue. Both in the classrooms and kitchen.

3.     Mark Adams suggested a system similar to the water cooler but does not require jugs and can be connected anywhere through long tubes to a water supply.  This option will be looked into.

      (iii.)             Gina McKay suggested to research if the lack of a water fountain is considered a legal issue or code issue. How will it affect PR for the school?  Mrs. Coppola will ask Council.

6. Announcements from Members

(a)  Suzanne Foley shared the following social media statistics:

(i)             16 new families subscribed to the blog since the member meeting.

(ii)            There are now 108 Twitter followers.

(iii)           There are now 310 “Likes” on Facebook.

(b)  Kelly Owens shared the following:

(i)             Thank You cards from last year’s 2^nd Grade class for Field Day.

(ii)            Thank You cards from last years Graduation Class.

(iii)           Pictures from last year’s Festival of Trees.

7. Adjournment