OPEN BUDGET MEETING JULY 2015
Attendance: Shelly Bradley, Marisa Gehris, Erika Haak, Kelly Hewson, Krista Marino,
Carolyn McGaughey, Becky McGeehan, Melissa O’Hara, Meredith Warner, Sharon
Zdankowski
7:08 pm Meeting called to order by Carolyn McGaughey
Goal for the meeting is to balance to 2015-16 budget.
Sharon Zdankowski went over each item one at a time for discussion
We began with projected income for events and activities:
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Coin competition—week of March 7th or 14th, just need to talk to Wallace
about preference. We lowered the amount to $1250 from $1500
Dances—last year we missed the spring dance due to scheduling conflicts, so
we didn’t make the expected amount of $1500. We typically have two dances.
We will speak to Tia about dances and her preferences. We discussed having
a fall dance and perhaps a spring fling or a spring picnic. If we got all the food
donated, we could make money on food. Some ideas were football, kickball,
50/50 raffles, dunk tank, sand art, limbo contest, cotton candy. We decided to
keep it at $1500
Holiday shop—run by Jeanine Strickland. We made much less than we had in
previous years. We had switched companies, should we switch back? We
lowered the projected amount to $750 from $1000
Candy grams and pretzels—will alternate months. We will not do pretzels
every month any more. We will project $750 for candy grams and $500 for
pretzels.
Dining for Dollars—Lauren and Dana. Successful fundraiser, would the chairs
be willing to include family fun days/nights as well as dining nights? We
haven’t done Chick Fil A the last two years, but we made over $300 for it. The
rock climbing event had made $150. Roller skating was a great fundraiser
too. Is it possible to alternate family fun and dining nights per month? We
kept the amount at $1000
Silent auction and school store have been removed as income, we will no
longer have them
Projected income for fundraisers:
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Dividends—keep at $40
Race for Education—We made $19,160.75, new projection $19,860
Shooparoo—stick with $250, we made slightly over last year
Recycling (Box Tops, Tyson labels—cut the UPC symbol, Campbell’s labels)—
we made more than projected and increased this amount to $1200. We had
given prizes for the class with the most—a dress down day. Hoping to change
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it for a prize for K-2 and 3-5, so the same primary level classes don’t always
win
Harlem Wizards—we can get a 30 minute assembly to show what to expect,
in the hope of getting more ticket sales. We need many more teachers to
volunteer and come to support our school. The elem schools are going to
rotate who hosts, the hosting school makes more profit. Carolyn will go to the
October meeting for more info, zero dollars for now
School pictures—using Barkesdale again. Need to be sure that we never have
gym classes on a picture day, or that the classes who have gym would have
their photos taken before their class. Profits remained at $1000
Spirit wear—We need a chair for this fundraiser. Marisa has it all organized
and ready to pass along to someone new. We will keep this one at $600
Target—We made almost double what we expected, so we raised it from
$150 to $250
Giant Rewards Program—We made more than projected last year. We raised
the amount from $500 to $600
Learning Express—no longer doing
Hersheypark ticket sales—we made more than projected, we bumped it up
from $400 to $500. Would like to look into parks—perhaps tickets to Dutch
Wonderland, Six Flags, and Dorney Park too
Clothing drive—Made almost exactly projected, keep it at $1000
Community Dollars in West Whiteland—no long doing
Goodsearch Search Engine—no longer doing
Kid Stuff Entertainment Books—We made only half the projected amount.
We did it in November, which all felt was too late. Trying to do it closer to the
beginning of the year. The window will be Sept 8-22. We lowered the amount
from $1250 to $1000
Projected expenses for operating costs:
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Beautification—was $200, raised to $400. Hoping to get some more
outside entertainment for blacktop recess days. Stencils (borrow from
another elem school?) for hopscotch and four square, paint, perhaps even
large checkers or chess (where would pieces be stored? Who would be
responsible to bring them in and out?)
Flowers and gifts—sympathy, baby, congrats, keep it at $300
Hospitality—back to school, kindergarten orientation, PTO welcome
table, keep at $200 for water and snacks
PTO office supplies/copy paper—we chose lilac paper for this year—
PURPLE FOR PTO, ordering two boxes, keep it at $300
Sunshine Fund—for families in need, a student’s parent dies, student has
extended illness, fire, etc, keep the same at $250
Bond renewal—keep at $300
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Added a new line item—EF concert/music fund—decorations, costumes,
and music for productions--$600
Bank fees—returned checks, keep at $100
Book fair—four book giveaways, two book fairs—supplies, prizes, snacks,
drinks—keep at $150, profit shown from getting deals on books, getting
incentives for paying early
Filing of tax returns –leave at $300
Projected expenses for events and activities:
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5th grade event—“fun day”—keep at $2000
5th grade graduation—reception—food and beverages—keep at $800
Assemblies—nixed the puppets for next year, keeping it at $3800,
Carolyn looking into the Ag Lab—it parks outside the school and has cool
science labs
Donuts with Dad—keep at $350
Field day—bouncy houses, Rita’s for all, reducing the amount from $1500
to $1000 and hope for one bouncy obstacle course and cancel the baby
bounce house
Field trip transportation—each grade gets two trips, we were over
budget this year because 5th grade took 3 trips. We are keeping this at
$7000, but speaking to the faculty about how the amount should be
divided evenly for each grade. Each field trip may have to charge more or
maybe they will need to reconsider a trip if they have spent all of their
money. It has been unfairly distributed in the past.
Field trip admissions—this is for kids that can’t afford to go on a trip—
keep it at $400
Holiday parade float—Kelly Hewson will be the new chair, Carolyn will
help, stay the same at $700. Looks like we spent less last year because we
won $500
Reading Olympics—for pizza and necessary books, keep at $500
Science Fair—for shirts, awards, and ribbons, hopefully we can get
teachers to volunteer to help out—keep at $450
Teacher appreciation luncheon—food, paper products, decorations,
prizes, two times a year—Nov conferences and in May, keep at $800
Tie dye day—supplies and shirts—keep at $2100
Projected expenses for awards and rewards
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Teachers can request PTO funds before November and before February
with a form
Teacher gifts—money given to them to spend of what they choose for
classroom supplies. Typically $100 given at the beginning of the year. We
decided to do $50 at the beginning of the year, $50 in January—keep at
$4000
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Yearbooks—1/2 price for 5th graders, keep at $500
Principal’s budget—spend on students, especially for PSSA, he seems to
spend more of this on 3, 4, 5th. We want him to try to equalize the amount
spent per grade, keep this at $1000
School projects—spelling bee, Scholastic News for all ($2700) and misc
others, raise from $2500 to $3000
Folders for all, agendas for 4th and 5th grade—stays the same, $500
Budget balanced at $31,800 for the income and the expenses.
Meeting adjourned at 9:45pm
Respectfully submitted,
Erika Haak