Draft Minutes of Monday, april 7, 2008
Meeting
was called to order
by President, Mary Jane Grauso at 7:35 at the Department of
Education Building. Quorum was met. Delegates read the Purpose
of PTA.
Board
of Education (BOE) -
Ellen Flynn Giles reported that the County Executive has
released his budget for 2009 and has funded most projects
requested by BOE/DOE. The exceptions include renovation of the
Cedar Lane School and construction of a maintenance facility.
Funding for Mt. Hebron HS has been placed in a contingency
account outside the education budget. The County Council can
restore any cuts to the budget if funding source(s) is found.
The County Council of Howard County will hold its annual public
hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2009 operating and capital
budgets for education on Tuesday, April 29, beginning at 4:00 pm
in the Banneker Room at the George Howard Building in Ellicott
City.
Program(s)-
Cultural
Proficiency-John Krownapple/DOE encouraged PTAs to send a
representative to this 2day workshop on May 7-8 from 8:00-4:00
at Loyola Campus 8890 McGraw Rd. Limited to 40 PTA
members or participants. This
workshop will assist us in better dealing with diversity and how
to better understand self and organization. RSVP by April 14
(410) 313.1560.
Earth
Day- John
Quinn/DOE Coordinator for Secondary Science invited the
community to 2 events-The Chesapeake Day: The Watershed
experience. Program is to help raise awareness- Ellicott Mills
MS April 23 7:30pm in the Cafetorium. Patapsco & Patuxent
Watershed Program- April 29 @ 6:30 pm at the James Rouse
Theater. Environmental organizations will also be speaking. Mr.
Quinn will send an electronic copy to Mary Jane so that Jane can
post on our website. (Action Item) Patti to send information out on Eschool News. (Action
Item)
Gypsy
Moth Spraying-
PTACHC provided a fact sheet on the 2008 Maryland Gypsy Moth
Suppression program. Spraying will occur the last week of April
and the 1st week of May. The insecticide will be applied by an
airplane or helicopter flying approximately 50 feet above tree
line. PTACHC will
post some of the spray block maps on its web site.
Parents that have walkers are encouraged to drive
students to school due to overhead spraying of chemicals.
PTACHC encourages delegates to get information on fact
sheet out to their community. Updates on spraying should be
available April 21st. MOTION
: that PTACHC write a letter to the MDA to request that the MDA only
use Bt based products for Gypsy Moth suppression in Howard
County, rather the Dimilin. ADOPTED
PTACHC encourages delegates to get information on flier
out to their community. PTACHC will send an electronic copy out
to each delegate. (Action
Item) MOTION
: The PTACHC request that Ms. Giles, BOE have the HoCo BOE
submit a letter to the MD Department of Agriculture requesting
that spraying for gypsy moths avoid start and departure and
recess times to protect children’s health. ADOPTED
Get
Active Howard County Schools is offering a 4 week program open to students,
families, and staff of elementary and middle schools. The goal
of the program is to get active 60 minutes a day (adults’ 30
minutes) and log their physical activity daily from April 13 to
May 10. Schools with the most participation will receive an
award. For additional programs and more information go to
jackie.cinquegrana@columbiaassociation.org.
Business
Minutes
from
March 3, 2008 meeting
were reviewed and will be filed for the record.
Treasurer
Report-
Bob Rosenberg reviewed monthly report. A computer for the office
has been purchased for $1252.02. Funds were moved from carryover
to office expense line item. March 31 is the deadline for all
MDPTA membership cards. Please remind your President/Treasurer
to send in all unused membership cards or PTA will be billed by
MDPTA for them. (Action
Item)
Scholarship
Report-Deadline
for PTACHC scholarships has been extended to April16. Delegate
requested that scholarship chair/committee take in to
consideration those applications that were turned in for
previous deadline.
Nominating
Committee- Nominating
committee members: Terri Chiu BMMS, Ginger Segala WoES, Vicki Imre HSES, Donna Sudbrook BBMS, Caryn Lasser AHS
continue to work towards filing slate of officers for 2008-09.
Slate will be presented at the May meeting with election at our
June meeting. (Action
Item)
Book
Drive-
Nehemiah Spence (nspence@gpsonline.com) continues to work with
PTAs for book deliveries to designated schools. (Action
Item)
Prepare
for Success Backpack Program- PTAs are asked to once again stuff one backpack with
school supplies for needy students or make monetary donations
made payable to Prepare for Success. Funding will help purchase
different styles of backpacks for different age groups in
addition to purchasing school supplies. Program leader at Christ
Church is looking for a sponsor to take over the coordination of
this adventure and divesting 501 3c. Backpacks will be collected
at our June general meeting.
(Action Item)
Council
Bylaws Renewal- Motion: that PTACHC approve the bylaws by each article then
approve the bylaws as a whole. Adopted
Motion: that all typographical and non-substantive
edits and changes necessary to the Howard County PTA bylaws be
made by the executive vice president or her designee and
approved by a majority vote of the executive board. Adopted
Mandatory
Insurance Change-MDPTA updated bylaws (Section VII Article VII) state
that all PTAs must be covered by MDPTA insurance provider(Union
Banc).Insurance provides liability, bonding and director &
officer coverage. Information went out to all Presidents. Mary
Ellen Creasy has contacted each after-prom chairs to remind them
to follow up with their President/Treasure to assure new
insurance through MDPTA has been purchased. Payment (checks made
out to MDPTA for $81.00 to purchase bridge from May 08-Oct08
then $166.00 for Oct 08-Oct09)) is due April15.
(Action Item) Email any questions that you have to PTACHC
Treasurer Bob Rosenberg and PTACHC will forward on to MDPTA.
(Action Item) Each PTA should send representative(s) to
MDPTA Summer conference where an insurance representative will
be available to answer questions. (Action Item) PTAs may want to consider purchasing more coverage
then $25,000 that policy currently covers
PTAs
Bylaws-Continue
to get your bylaws updated. If your PTA has submitted bylaws and
you have not heard back, please contact MDPTA. Each PTA is
encouraged to send a copy of bylaw updates to PTACHC office so a
copy is on file. (Action Item)
Spring
Workshop/Training-for all new and returning officers/chairs is scheduled
for May 20 at 7:00 at Faulkner Ridge Center. Workshops
include-Presidents (VP incl.), Treasurer/Insurance, After School
Programs, Improving Communication with Parents, Q & A and
BOE (TBD).
PTACHC
Awards-
Nominate dedicated volunteers for recognition. See PTACHC web
site for applications. Deadline is May 20th.
FOCUS-you
should be receiving an electronic copy of the weekly FOCUS. If
not, contact the PTACHC office.
New
Email Address-
ptachc@gmail.com.
Glenelg
HS Renovations- Delegate presented concerns about asbestos dust being
on the walls/tiles upon students and staff returning from spring
break. Also, staff
and volunteers were in the building moving into the new wing
while asbestos removal work was underway.
Ellen Giles, BOE was asked to find out more information
of why this type of work was again done over the break after
asbestos removal activities took place at Worthington Elementary
during a break, and we were assured this would not reoccur.
Next
General Meeting is May 5, 2008.
Adjourned
at 9:58 PM
Minutes submitted by Tara
Watts, Recording Secretary
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