Toll Gate PTO Minutes
– October 12, 2005
Present:
Meeting was called to order at 9:12am at the home of Pam Taylor.
Memory Plaques
Need three memory plaques to go with three tress – one in front of the school and two in back. The trees were previously donated; $130 was raised for plaques, but never cashed; has since been donated again. Discussion followed as to the need for some permanent way to honor memories. One suggestion was to put bricks by the bench in front of Toll Gate, which could then be engraved. Decision made to proceed with the three plaques, and in the future consider installing bricks. The “families helping families” line item in the proposed budget was increased by $350 (for a total of $450) to cover the estimated cost of the three plaques.
Budget
Myra Bugbee ordered two bicycle racks at a cost of $665 each, plus shipping and handling. They will each hold 16 – 20 bikes; there are now over 40 bikes per day at school. The racks are very colorful and come with anchor kits. Payment will be made for the racks from the outdoor classroom funds raised by the last auction. Recommendation made to increase this line item (under “break even events”) from $1,500 to $1,700.
Recommendation was made to decrease the line item for staff birthdays to $300, from $400.
Estimates for redoing blacktop on playground:
Suggestions made for other companies from which to obtain quotes.
Will wait until spring to decide what to do, including painting blacktop.
Motion made by Christine D’Avirro to approve budget as presented with suggested revisions. Seconded by Cathy Green. Motion passed. Final budget will be posted on website.
Wish List
A revised Wish List, with input from the September PTO meeting incorporated, was distributed (will also be posted on the TG website). Group felt that it is important to publish the list so people know what PTO funds are being spent on, and also noted that the number of items going from the school budget to the PTO is increasing. Teachers are encouraged to publicize their needs so folks who want to donate may do so, and also to take advantage of the PTO mini grants.
Motion made by Lynne Quinto to approve the Wish List as revised per discussion at the September PTO meeting. Seconded by Pam Taylor. Motion passed.
Princeton Health Presentation Date
At a meeting last spring, the PTO selected the topic, “How to Help Your Children Deal with Stress” for presentation by Princeton Health. Question was raised if attendance would be high enough to merit having a speaker/workshop, and how to ensure that it would be. One suggestion was to ask people to rsvp, and to try to get three – four parents from each class to attend. Also to offer child care, maybe by high school students who have been trained. Christine said that based on the survey she recently conducted, there is an interest in this topic. The evening of Monday, February 27 was identified as the first choice for the presentation, with Monday, January 30 as a second choice.
Newsletter
Issues raised in a discussion of the newsletter included:
Can be difficult to publish a newsletter on a timely basis. The newsletter editors will contact Victoria about once per month as to items that should be included. They’ll also contact committee chairs, and set due dates for articles. Publication dates will be established for the rest of the school year, aiming for a newsletter about every six weeks.
Tax Exempt Status and Issues
Our fiscal year runs from July – June; need to file a tax return by November 1.
The accountant who has been working on our books suggested having a professional audit done every three years, with the PTO doing a self-audit each of the other two years. It will cost $400 to have the accountant file our taxes, and $625 to perform the audit.
ETS requires that we have insurance for the night of the auction. Chris Murphy will contact our insurance company to obtain a rider.
Meeting adjourned at 11:00am.
Minutes submitted by Lynne Quinto, PTO Secretary.