Sept. 2019 Meeting Minutes

Sept 4, 2019
CMS PTO Board Meeting – Meeting Minutes
Communication’s Report/Community Programs Report
Third Friday of each month, Betsy will be sending out Bear Bulletin
Bear Bulletin Newsletter to be reviewed by principals before it goes out
September 17 th , First CMS Talk, “Executive Function”
October 5 th , E-waste recycling event
Sept 24 th Chipotle dine out night
Asked teachers to take flyers and distribute in classrooms
Oct.18 th Fall Family Night
November 13 th Second CMS Talk, “Emotional Intelligence”
By-Laws:
Question raised by Jackie: Number of votes for teachers, is it one vote per teacher?
Betsy: Article 3: Membership, decide on if general meeting for all votes? Or just for voting of
directors elections and budget
Population should be there to vote on elections and budget but not vote at other meetings. To
continue discussion at next board meeting.
Section 5.2: Change to “school” from “teacher” At least 2 teachers, school principal. All staff
are welcome.
Reword part for Principal instead principal is teacher rep.
Directors: Change the titles?
Changes to By-laws: To continue discussion at next board meeting.
President’s Report:
-Use the same art piece for Fall Family Night
-Need to find someone to lead the community events for next year
-Need everyone to help find volunteers for Fall Family Night
-Board members should recruit for next year’s board members
-Sponsorship for Fall Family Night ?
Fall Family Night: Band will be performing, Korean students will be back to perform, Chinese
parent community will fund the lion dance and martial arts performance
-Looking for a DJ for Fall Family Night
-Goal is to use as little funds as possible
Treasurer’s Report
Donations received as of 9/4/2019: $49,071 (a 20% increase, compared to last year for same
time period)
Number of families donated as of 9/4/2019: 206 (a 6% increase compared to last year)
Bank Balance as of 9/4/2019: $115,715

Projected Available Funds: $90,668

FundRaising Report
-Chipotle dine out night, Sept 24, 2019
-Advertise: Make a sign, morning announcement, leadership to announce in mornings
-E-Waste: (October 5 th ) advertise in newsletter, Next Door (do as a parent), invest in banner to
be used every year
-Savers update: Too risky to do? Fund raising. Set a date to do? Need to rent truck and
someone to drive truck. To be further discussed. See how E-Waste goes first.
-Amazon: Will put link on our PTO page, higher percentage of sales than Amazon Smiles, Betsy
will look into this.
-Coca Cola: Betsy looking into this
-Box Tops: download app, need receipts
Any other fundraising ideas?
Unfinished Business
By Laws to be discussed at next board meeting
Principal’s Report
-Teachers appreciated ( coffee at morning meeting (after BTSN))
-suggestion for next year, provide dinner
-good to hear families contributing
-Suggestion to principal: interviews with new principal (hear observations from new principal).
Have a “get to know you” section in news bulletin
Other
Suggestion for teacher’s appreciation: On-site massage for teachers
New Business
Discussed Proposal process. Reminder to send proposals to board prior to voting meeting.
Proposal Item #1 : Funding Request for instruments for CMS Band
Estimated total cost: $16,333
Motion made by Betsy, Seconded by May. Motion carries. Funds approved.
Proposal Item #2:
Science proposal is being revised and will be voted on at next board meeting.
Proposal Item #3:
4 A-Frame signs for Bike Cage Areas, estimated cost of $475
2 Kid Alert Safety Signs (Slow Turtle signs) for Helena bike cage area, estimated cost of $52.30
Total estimated cost: Not to exceed $550
Motion made by Helen, Seconded by Jackie. Motion carries. Funds approved.

Proposal Item #4: Bear Den, a quiet and safe place for students to go during brunch and lunch
Items to furnish Bear Den: Rugs, mats, floor lamps,chairs, bean Bags, stress balls, art supplies,
puzzles, buddha boards…
Total estimated cost: Not to exceed $1,755.
Motion made by Jackie, Seconded by Krista. Motion carries. Funds approved.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20pm
Next Board Meeting: October 2, 1019 at 6:30pm.

August 2019 Meeting Minutes

Board Meeting 

Wednesday, August 21, 2019 | 6:30 – 8:00pm

Venue: CMS Office Conference Room

CMS-PTO BOARD 2019-2020

 

  • President – May Bakken
  • Communications – Betsy Slattery
  • Fundraising – Bernie Urbina
  • Community Programs – OPEN (May Bakken (temporary))
  • Treasurer – Helen Mah/ Jackie Grapa
  • Secretary – Julie Crane
  • Parliamentarian – OPEN (May be merged with Secretary)
  • Principal – Jenn Lashier

 

    • Meeting called to order:  6:35 p.m.
    • Review and approve draft minutes from last meeting (Not applicable)
    • Officer & Committee Reports
    • President’s Report
      • May will be stepping in to help with Community Programs until we find someone to take the .  We need help from teachers to advertise these openings.
      • CUSD25: We discussed this effort to improve District-wide funding.
      • We discussed the timing for teachers’ adjunct hours and the difficulty of getting teachers to attend evening CMS-PTO meetings.  There was a suggestion to put the CMS-PTO meetings on the staff calendar.  
      • Brief Overview of Recent Events:
        • Mon, Aug 12 – Teacher back on Campus – The event went well with good feedback.
        • Tue, Aug 13 – Back to School Bash – Although we were concerned about the changes to the event it seemed to be well attended.  Jeanine proposed combining the event with Picture Day to encourage participation. More information to come on this proposal.
        • Thu, Aug 15 – First day back to school* Meet Principal – This event was also well attended with a larger than expected crowd and parents seemed engaged.
        • Wed, Aug 28- 6:30pm Back to School Night (Video) – May proposed using the same video as last year.  Betsy proposes to make an additional clip that would involve kids although there is a concern regarding the timing since it needs to be produced and ready to go on Tuesday evening.
    • Communications Report
      • We need parent email addresses from office to use for PTO Newsletter;
      • Instructions to CMS Teachers to help promote CMS-PTO: Administration sent out link to CMS-PTO information which is already on some teachers’ pages;
      • Grant Form Review:  The process will remain the same – all requests will route through the Principal but in order to improve transparency, we are asking everyone to complete the simplified the CMS Funds & Grants Request Form which will provide more details regarding requests.
    • Treasurer’s Report
      • 2019-2020 Bank Balance & Budget:  See attachment. Current Bank Balance is $107,421.
      • Family Donations to date compared to last year:  There is a 7% increase in total funds over the same date last year; Total direct asks equal $43,908;  Participant rate is 18% based on last year’s family totals; We should receive updated family totals.
      • Proposed Budget for 2019-20: Betsy Slattery moves to approve, Jeannie seconds.  Motion carries.
      • Staff Appreciation Budget: Proposal is to include lunches as well as breakfasts.
      • Funding request for instruments for CMS Band carried over from last year’s request:  Will be continued to the next meeting.
    • Community Programs Report 
      • CMS-PTO Talk Schedule 2019-2020 (Betsy)
        • CMS-PTO Talk 1:  Tuesday, September 10
          “Emotional Intelligence” Speaker: Junho Suh (Ivy Consulting) – Cost: Free
        • CMS-PTO Talk 2:  Wednesday, November 20 
        • CMS-PTO Talk 3:  Wednesday, February 12, 2020
        • CMS-PTO Talk 4: Wednesday, April 22, 2020
        • Review/ Brainstorm topics:
          • “Executive Function” – Speaker: Ali Meyers (Meyers Learning Center) – Cost: $500
      • Next Community Event:

 

  • E-Waste Recycling: Saturday, Oct 5 (Contact: Hema Lakhani): 
  • SAVE THE DATE – Fri, Oct 18 @ 4pm-6pm – Fall Family Night (May & Sari) (time updated)
  • Brainstorm on how to get school and community involvement
  • Friday, May 1, 2020 (4-6) – CMS Spring Fling: Jeannie proposes to have the dance on the same date.  The Spring Dance was not well attended so by blending the two concepts we can boost participation and justify the work spent on the two events.

 

    • Fundraising Report

 

  • Fundraising Plans for 2019-2020
  • Chipotle Fundraising
  • Thursday, September 26, 2019 – Chipotle (TBC)
  • Tuesday, October 29, 2019 – Chipotle (Confirmed)(updated date)
  • Thursday, January 23, 2020 – Chipotle (TBC)
  • Thursday, March 19, 2020 – Chipotle (TBC)
  • Thursday, May 14, 2020 – Chipotle (TBC)
  • Boxtops, AmazonSmile (Amazon Affiliates) 
  • Bernie is following up on shoe fundraiser from last year.  It was a lot of work to review, bag and coordinate the pickup of shoes; kids helped but they needed guidance.  The concern is that the money we made (~200-300) was not enough for the effort. May suggests we focus only on those fundraisers that raise more money.
  • Kimberly Pantoja suggests we look into Savers because they accept a variety of items and pay by the pound.  Bernie will follow up.
  • Bernie proposes movie night combined with a fundraising event. Later. May suggests we stick to two events and explore a third 
  • Unfinished Business
  • CMS-PTO By-Laws – To be continued to the next meeting.
  • Principal’s Report  
  • Today is her 5th day so not much to report.

 

  • New Business  – Including Proposals and Announcements
  • Eilis Cerda – Drama Production Collaboration with CMS-PTO Discussion:  We will gather additional information regarding a potential collaboration.  
  • Stocking supplies for Teacher Cabinets – We are encouraging new teachers to submit requests via our standard process to ensure that they have sufficient resources.
  • Staff appreciation plan throughout the year – Budget increased and we will consider additional dates.
  • Q&A
  • Adjournment at 8:25

Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 4 – 6:30pm – 8:00pm

CMS PTO Proposals
Item# Bucket Requested By Detailed Information/ Itemized Cost Total Cost
1   Jeff Yaeger Funding request for instruments for CMS Band carried over from last year’s request $16,332.69
Total Cost of Proposals   $16,332.69

 

 Appendix:

 

  Proposed Budget Last Year Budget Last Year Spent
CEEF Donation $250.00 $250.00 $250.00
CMS Talks and Guest Speakers $5,000.00 $5,000.00 $474.00
CMS-PTO Insurance $255.00 $255.00 $255.00
CMS-PTO Marketing $2,500.00 $2,500.00 $3,028.00
CMS-PTO Operations $3,500.00 $3,500.00 $2,145.00
Family Events $10,000.00 $10,000.00 $4,868.00
Safe Route to School (SRTS) Crossing Guard $4,500.00 $4,500.00 $2,160.00
Staff Appreciation $3,500.00 $2,500.00 $2,323.00
Welcome Back Bash $500.00 $500.00 $200.00

 

CMS-PTO March Meeting Minutes

  1. Meeting called to order at 6:31pm

2. Secretary: Motion to dispense with reading of last meeting’s minutes. Second. Vote. Motion carries. Motion to adopt the last meeting’s minutes as written in email distribution. Second. Vote. Motion carries.

3. CMS-PTO Election Update: Need new VP Programs, Secretary. Bernie moving from VP Programs to Co-VP, Fundraising. Combine Secretary/Parliamentarian role (Heather Marklein to reach out to Julie Crane .

4. Officer Committee Reports

President’s Report

Dr. Baker Meeting Wednesday, March 6

Review & Update on CMS-PTO Election & Timeline: election next meeting. Anyone who is interested in running (or rerunning  for a position needs to let May Bakken know ASAP.

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Update (AVP Jean Wang : changes proposed re: Bernardo with

SRTS team. Talked to Sunnyvale SRTS coordinator. Reviewed suggested routes. Discussed area by Starbuck’s, Trader Joe’s, Wells Fargo; going to adopt recommendations for CMS students to use same routes as publicized by Montclaire Elementary. Reevaluating traffic issues on Helena. Reevaluating path by the Union 76 gas station. Jean Wang working on

distributing maps and pamphlets to various schools for their distribution.

VP Communications Report: discussion of ways to improve Communications for next year to reach school community. Right now limited access to parent community. Want to add an “opt out” form in school materials. Better visibility of CMS-PTO on CMS web site. We should publicize the CMS-PTO donation to new band equipment – flyer, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

VPs Fundraising Report: biggest push needs to be at back to school events. More credit card swiping, giveaways. Lots of opportunities for parents to give. Need to find people to take over fundraising position. Also push Box Tops donations during back to school period. Fundraising table at Spring Fling, with iPad, chip scanners. One more Dine Out event. Give flyers to teachers to distribute/post in their classes. Need list of fundraising events completed this year, so we can start planning for next year. Same with events. Will soon have planning session for next year to flesh this out.

Co/Treasurer’s Report: Helen: $88,031 in total donations.  Corporate matching up 40% over last year. Total contribution increased by $20,000. See attached report.

VPs Community Programs Report:

CMS-PTO Talk: Summary of past speaker session.

• Discussion: How can we get more people to register for and attend CMS-PTO talks? Opt out email form.

Mike C: 4 speakers per year. List dates even if you don’t have speakers chosen. Publicize select CMS-PTO Talks on Nextdoor or Yahoo! Groups.

• Topic ideas: preparing for high school. Panel: entering middle school. Panel: entering high school. Angst moving screening with Dr. Leena.

• TBD  Gaming Addiction  Dr Ili

• Wed, May 8th: CMS-PTO Talk: Financial Advice

• Wed, April 10th: CMS-PTO Talk: Joyful Parenting N Elisabeth Stitt. Author and owns Joyful Parenting Coaching

• Spring Event update: Spring Fling event. Games and what teachers are going to do are set. Dance presentation. Will ask Maddie Lehman re: leading group warmup. Have Mexican food truck. May Bakken to ask Kona Ice. Flyer to put in teacher’s mailbox. Need PTO table for donations, etc. Raffle off Disney tickets.

Principal’s Report: Jeanine – Yosemite trip. New accommodations.

New Business: Teacher Appreciation Week. CMS-PTO appreciation breakfast. Need to determine date. Informal CMS-PTO board planning meeting 3/13 at May Bakken’s house.

Meeting adjourned: 8:00pm

CMS-PTO Meeting: Wednesday, Feb. 6

Please join us for this month’s board meeting. It starts at 6:30pm in the office conference room.

Here is the agenda:

Board Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, Feb 6, 2019

6:30 – 8:00pm

Venue: Office Conference Room

  1. Meeting call to order
  2. Review and approve draft minutes from last meeting.
  3. Officer & Committee Reports

    • President’s Report (5min.)
      Dr. Baker to present our March CMS-PTO meeting |*Note: Beginner Band and A Band performance

Review & Update on CMS-PTO Election & Timeline

Update: Safe Routes Update – Traffic Congestion and Safety at drop offs (Julie Crane)

    • Communications Report (5min.)
    • Treasurer’s Report (5min.)
    • Community Programs Report (10min.)
      1. CMS-PTO Talk – Survey Update from last event
      2. Spring Event update (Share in event agenda; solicit parent and student volunteer help)
    • Fundraising Report (5min.)
      1. Fundraising Update
      2. Announce winners from donation raffle drawing
  1. Unfinished Business (10min.)
  2. Principal’s Report (5min.)
  3. New Business (15min.) – Including Proposals and Announcements
  4. Q&A
  5. Adjournment

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 6 – 6:30pm – 8:00pm

Board Meeting Minutes: FINAL Wednesday, Feb 6, 2019 6:30 – 8:00pm Venue: Office Conference Room

Meeting called to order at 6:34pm. Quorum is present.
Presentation of Batik print from Lusie Apriliana, a parent who supervised the Indonesian booth at the CMS-PTO Fall Family Night in 2018. We will post a message and photo on Facebook re: print and Fall Family Night.

A. Officer & Committee Reports

Secretary’s Report Motion by Heather Marklein to dispense with the reading of last meeting minutes. Motion seconded by Jackie Grapa. Motion carries. Motion by Heather Marklein to approve the minutes from last meeting as distributed via email. Motion seconded by Jackie Grapa. Motion carries.

President’s Report Dr. Baker is meeting with 25 different parent groups to get feedback about all schools in our district. He started at Meyerholtz; going to all schools by the end of March. Dr. Baker to present at CMS on March 6. Will discuss funding and enrollment issues.

Discussion of CMS-PTO election and timeline. Heather Marklein (Secretary) to talk to Nanette Jackson re: ballots, etc., in preparation for upcoming CMS-PTO election.

Safe Routes Update: Traffic Congestion and Safety at drop offs (Julie Crane)

Treasurer’s Report
See attached.

Co-VP’s, Community Programs Report
CMS-PTO Talk R Survey update from last event. Spring Fling event update (solicit parent and student volunteer help).

Co-VP’s Fundraising Report CMS-PTO Dine Out pizza event: low turn out. Will publicize more through the teachers. Will give flyers to teachers to post in their classrooms. Continue to advertise on Facebook and Bear Bulletin, etc.
Box Tops: We collected 972 box tops. That generates $97.20 for CMS. We expected to collect more given the size of the school. Also, parents need to check the expiration date since some Box Tops were expired. Box Top totals by grade:

6th R 225
7th R 250
8th R 273
As a result of collecting the most box tops, the 8th grade will receive lollipops as a prize. We will tally Box Tops again on May 3rd. We will prepare a notice with the date to share with others. If we do this twice a tear we would generate an additional $200 in fundraising dollars.
Bernie Urbina suggested we explore the Benevity app as a potential fundraising source as well as others. CMS-PTO Disneyland Raffle: Betsy Slattery (VP, Communications) will publish the winning families’ names. Drum up excitement. We are considering publishing on the Facebook site, the school website, and the Bear Bulletin.

B. New Business Proposals

See table below. All proposals were voted upon and accepted.
Julie Crane suggested we publish the funding of these proposals specifically to the parents of the affected students (e.g., those in band) to show how CMS-PTO is positively impacting their students.

Proposals

Item#

Bucket

Requested By
DEPT

Detailed Information/ Itemized Cost

Total Cost

Drama Dept Anna Kirsch

1

Anna Kirsh is asking for an “on campus” experience from

the “Blush” group to come to her drama classes to provide stage make up training and to give the kids a “kit” for stage makeup.

Artist Day Rate (School Visit) $ 765.00

Customized Curriculum Development $ 375.00

Mini Artist’s Kit x 60 students $ 825.00 Additional Supplies $ 185.00 Transportation Cost (round trip) 1 $ 50.00 Total $ 2,200.00

Anna is requesting half ($1,100)

This event would be for 7th and 8th graders.

$1,100

2

Mike Cellini

CEEF Donation

Mike Cellini: Previously, different organizations provided

$250

money for the CEEF gala, which was operating in a

deficit. The gala no longer exists. Superintendent Baker

is working with CEEF as a District fundraising group.

Their current initiative is titled “25 for 25.” Since the PTO

is new, he wanted to propose that we fund CEEF. It

would become a yearly request.

3

Jeff Yaeger/ Asa Stern

Music dept. is asking for funds to purchase new instruments.

The band instruments are very old and used. For example, some bear the name of schools that are no longer in existence. One$half of the students at CMS are in band or choir. The Treasurers clarified that this final request should be amended to include taxes and shipping not to exceed 15%.

Item

Cost

Needed

Fox Renard 41 Bassoon

$4,841.50

2

Yamaha 321 Euphonium

$1,932.57

2

Yamaha Student Double Horn YHRR567

Yamaha student Alto Sax Yas 200AD

$2,511.36

3

Yamaha student oboe, with Left F key

$2,735.90

2

$1,090.00

1

Jupiter Bass Clarinet

$1,800

2

$14,911.33

$14,911.33

Total Cost of Proposals

$16,261.33

C. Misc.

Our two guests (husband and wife) were welcomed and invited to talk. They shared that they were previously at ChristaRMcAuliffe school and attended because they were interested in learning more about the PTO. They discussed how low the contribution ($$$) rate is among our parents even though the “ask” is significantly more at elementary schools. Mike Cellini said that Dr. Baker will encourage contributions for all kids across the District.

There was also a general discussion about why teachers may be reluctant to ask for additional funds from the PTO.