Minutes
PTO Board Meeting
February 4, 2013
In attendance: Elaine Larabee, Roxane Gilje, Holly Parker, Mary Otis, Christy
Schively, Nancy Lagermeier, Susan Vejar, Cindy Becker, Sue Malina, Shelley
Kaufman and Ginger Venable
1. President Report
Presented by Elaine Larabee, President
a. November PTO meeting – “Digital Engagement” was not well attended.
Very worthwhile to present this topic again, but better communication to
parents about content is advisable
b. January PTO meeting – Curriculum Advisor Committee (CAC) and
Principal coffee was not well attended. Perhaps CAC does not warrant a
full meeting. Good to stay in the loop with CAC and better communication
to parents about what will be covered prior to the meeting may help with
attendance
c. Feb 12th PTO meeting – “CU in the CRC” plans are well underway. This is
typically a very well attended presentation and plans are to use the
cafeteria to meet if needed.
d. March 11 meeting is Coffee with Conn and Superintendent. Plans are to
use the cafeteria if needed, depending on attendance.
2. Treasurer’s Report
Presented by Mary Otis, Treasurer
a. Balance in PTO account $9109.84
Encumbered Expenses $1789 (banners/photography) and $2250 for
skis/archery equipment
Available Funds: $5070.85
b. Planner and Directory profit for the school year to date: $7185.62
Planner Revenue from School Store for 1st Qtr: $3152 (394 planners sold)
c. Balance in Staff Appreciation Account: $1348.62, includes total monetary
donations of $1040.00 YTD
d. Mini-Grant Expenses Paid to date: $10,527.41 (includes skis and archery
where funds are coming from general PTO acct)
e. Box tops – In January CMS received $745.10 worth of box tops that were
collected at EPHS. Oak Point will receive the box tops next fall.
3. Planner Update
Presented by Cindy Becker, Planners
a. Cover Contest for 2013-14 planner is underway. Submissions must be in
by the end of February. Student voting will occur on 3/15/13 and the
winners will be announced on 3/20/13. Each student will vote for one
submission. The first place submission will be the front cover, and the
second place submission will be the back cover. Posters are being placed
around the school promoting the contest, and Cindy will also inform the
Art and Tech Ed. Teachers. Announcements have also been placed in the
Eagles’ Nest and in the Daily Bulletin.
b. A decision was made to order 2000 planners for the 2013-14 school year.
This is 100 less than this school year but there has been an overage of
between 100-150 planners the past two years.
c. There are approximately 170 current year planners remaining. A
decision was made to offer some of them to the Study Skills class, the
EPHS Counselors, and the CMS counselors.
4. Taste of Eden Prairie Basket
Presented by Christy Schively
a. Minnesota Wild Theme – Christy is purchasing 2 Wild tickets and a jersey
for the basket. Board members were asked to make financial donations if
they would like to add to the basket. Christy will use the donated funds to
purchase a St. Paul restaurant gift card, and other items.
b. Christy will keep track of the total amount spent on the basket. We may
want to increase the budgeted amount for next year.
5. Staff Events
Presented by Christy Schively, Staff Appreciation
a. Minnesota Health Department – some new information came to light at
the PTO Presidents’ Council meeting regarding the legality of serving
teachers potluck-style with homemade food. According the EPS Director
of Child Nutrition, PTOs must serve only food prepared at a licensed food
establishment. Homemade baked goods are acceptable. After a call to the
MN Dept of Health, it was discovered that in certain circumstances
homemade food may be served potluck-style to teachers in a school
setting as long as certain criteria are met. It was agreed that the
discussion should continue through the District Presidents’ Council and
that ideally, a decision should be made about how to proceed that would
be district-wide.
b. March Conference Café – due to the limitations mentioned in point 5a.,
pizzas will be served to the teachers for the March event. A signupgenius
was created asking parents to provide funds for ordering pizzas, along
with items such as individual bags of chips, fruit and drinks.
c. Parent Cash Donations – a suggestion was made that if the PTO switches
to catered staff events, it may be beneficial to ask parents to make a lump
sum donation at the beginning of the year – perhaps on picture days.
Then a realistic budget could be set for the year and parents would not be
asked to donate smaller amounts throughout the school year. More
discussion about the pros and cons of this idea is planned.
6. Mini Grant update – no report at this time
7. Directory Update – no report at this time
8. Resource Center Update
presented by Holly Parker, RC Coordinator
a. Teachers are giving RC volunteers more work in all Resource Centers this
year.
9. Planning for next year
a. Board positions for 2013-14 – Elaine asked each board member to let her
know if they will be keeping their position on the board next year,
whether or not 2013-14 will be their last year on the board, and if they
need a shadow in place. She is planning to reach out to parents and try to
fill vacancies and find new parents to be involved in the board beginning
in March.
b. Senior Party – due to a change in EPS district policy, this is the last year
that parent support groups (such as PTO and Senior Party) will be
allowed to have convenience accounts with the district. Beginning in
2013-14 these groups will have to handle their own finances and may not
run income and expenditures through the district. Since the PTOs have
hired professional help and are currently in the process of obtaining nonprofit status, a proposal was brought forward to include the Senior Party
as a committee under the EPHS PTO. After discussion, a preliminary
decision was made to add Senior Party as a committee under the PTO. The
Senior Party Chairperson would be on the PTO board to ensure good
communication. It was decided that if the PTO were to incur additional
expenses (such as having to file a more complicated tax return due to the
large Senior Party budget) the Senior Party would be asked to cover those
costs. Roxane is checking with the attorneys/accounts working on the
PTO non-profit process to seek advice about additional costs.