Author: Communications

7:00 pm via ZOOM

Meeting called to order at 7:03pm 

ATTENDANCE

Board Members

• Tina Lilley
• Kristen Liang
• Amy Bryan
• Anna Hume
• Kate Scher
• Megan Wildenradt
• Renee Harnett
• Tricia Schalekamp
• Kathleen Donahoe
• Sara Lukas
• Kellie Pecoraro
• Brad Nelson
• Leah Lansberry-Austin
• Courtney Sievers
• Kate Mathews
• Todd Simonson

Non-Board Community Members

• Reid Mathews – student 
• Kendall Scales – student
• Lyn Visick – student
• Cindy Watters = Principal
• An-Lon Chen
• Sandy Hawley
• Will Kruse
• Susan Hernandez
• Ashley Schiavone
• Charlie Cartwright
• Jon Overman

7:00      Meeting Called to Order, Land Acknowledgement – read by Lyn Visick

7:10     Whittier Student Updates: Reid Mathews, Kendall Scales, Lyn Visick

Reid Mathews – Mr. Collin’s Class –  This year is better than the last couple we had. Stronger connection between teachers & students. He wants to make it more comfortable for the younger students at Whittier. 

Kendall Scales – Ms Childers Class – Wants to add unscented hand moisturizer. She likes that 4th/5th graders get to be helpful and she would also like to have more opportunities to help. 

Lyn Visick – Mr. Keener’s Class – Likes that there are more gender neutral bathrooms available. He would like to help people understand gender and individual bathroom choice. Lyn would like to see more gender neutral spaces.

Question from Tina – What do you consider gender neutral spaces? Lyn:  Bathrooms… Cindy suggested that we remove the gender binary component ie; boys & girls lining up, clothing

Kathleen Donahoe – asked for First Friday ideas: Reid – craft projects Lyn – Book exchange

7:25     Presidents Update/Housekeeping (Kristen/Tina)

Renee motioned to approve both November and December meeting minutes, Tricia seconded.

❖    Approval of November 2021 Meeting Minutes         –  APPROVED

❖    Approval of December 2021 Meeting Minutes          – APPROVED

❖    Opportunities:

➢    Virtual School Tours, 2/8 @ 9am, 2/10 @ 6:30pm

■      2/8  – Sara & Megan 

■      2/10 – Tricia & Megan

■      Suggestion from Susan – to provide special education information so people don’t have to solicit/ask questions about it

➢    Yearbook Club (Tracy)  

■      Looking for help with layout/formatting

➢    Family Directory (Amy/Todd)

■      Looking for a way to compile a school directory

■      Anna – suggested we send out a DID YOU KNOW that Konstella can be a way to connect? 

■      An-Lon mentioned that What’s App can be a super good tool, so maybe we pitch it that way

➢    March Food/Book Drive – Need some leadership for the food drive

■      Cindy – each week could be a different type of drive – ie; sock drive, food drive, book drive

■      She really wants the kids to help own the community aspect of it. Parents can help connect to the network. 

■      Sandy Hawley – suggested this shelter  https://lihi.org/about/

❖    Funding Proposals:

➢    Recess Supervisions

■      Want bright yellow jackets for recess supervisors. Could be used for field trip chaperones in the future. Same type of jacket that Safety Patrol uses. Cindy would like 10 in various sizes. 

■      ~ $400 (10 x $30 each)

➢    Wildcat Spirit Fence Art – https://www.putincups.com/

■      Fence art would be about $2000

■      It would liven up the fence, be a focal point and show of school spirit. 

■      Volunteer opportunity for parents

Amy Bryan motioned to approve safety vests, Anna & Kristen seconded the motion. – PASSED

Board to review the Fence Art funding proposal. Perhaps the community can be involved in deciding what the art looks like. 

7:30      Principal & Staff Updates (Cindy)

COVID – we have had cases at school. Nurse Marissa has been amazing and has done contact tracing, notifying people of exposures, and has been our resident “HEALTH EXPERT”

Exposures in 3 classrooms, but only 5 kids needed to be quarantined. IF KIDS ARE VACCINATED, they don’t have to be quarantined! We have a fantastic vaccination at Whittier which is helping with minimal quarantines. We will monitor for symptoms and provide tests when needed to exposed kids. 

Remote Learning – Whittier is ready to transition kids to remote learning within 2 hours. Laptops/ipads won’t be sent home unless it’s absolutely necessary. 

Q: She’s heard that schools are running out of rapid tests… what is our supply of tests like? 

A: We have enough antigen test for a few more weeks. We also have PCR tests. We’re being very strategic with timing of testing… waiting for 5 days 

Q: Are we following CDC guidance of positive test but only 5 day quarantine

A: We are strongly encouraging 7 day quarantine

Whittier is approaching 90% vaccination rate with our students, and we’re taking a very hard stance on quarantining non-vaccinated students. (Vax rate is figured out by Nurse Marissa checking the state database and counting.)

Re:  Teachers who are positive, they are also being handled on a case by case basis with close guidance from Nurse Marissa.

Q: HOW ARE TEACHERS DOING?

A:  They are feeling like a lot of us, a little anxious but they don’t want remote learning too. They are AMAZING. Little acknowledgements make a big difference! Coffee, notes… anything that says “We see you, we know how hard you’re working”

Every staff member felt seen after the holiday gifts

NEW STAFF MEMBER – new K teacher Lola O’Rourke 

Cindy is hopeful that clubs can start happening soon. – Yearbook club, Newspaper Club starting – 1st newspaper coming out in a few weeks

Mask Drive – she has enough to give 1 to each teacher/staff for now  50 total staff (18 teachers)  – if you can, please purchase masks for the community.

Q:  Do we need to fill out the covid test permission form that SPS sent out? A: NO

Q: I heard from a friend at a neighboring school that they are blanket testing. Are we blanket testing? A: No

7:50      Treasurer’s Report

• Budget Update (December reports): Balance Sheet, Budget vs Actuals, Profit & Loss
• Budget Survey (release Jan.?) & Town Hall (Community Meeting) Overview (Jan. 18)
  
  
• Everything looking good budget wise. Largest expense was the staffing expense
• Need volunteers for the Budget Committee – work to start up later this month
• Renee wants to do a budget survey 

8:10      Nominating Committee – Vote Needed to Approve Members

8:15      Chair Reports 

❖    Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

➢    Black Lives Matter at School Week, 2/7 – 2/11

❖    Legislative Update

MEGAN – Voting deadline is 2/8

➢    Vote to endorse levies/

➢    VOTE #1 – Motion – Kathleen Donahoe, Second – Sara Lukas
I (Name) motion that the (Your PTSA Name) endorse a yes vote on the Seattle Public School Proposition 1 to renew the Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) Levy vote in February 2022.

VOTE #2 Motion – Kathleen Donahoe, Second – Sara Lukas
I (Name) motion that the (Your PTSA Name) endorse a yes vote on the Seattle Public School Proposition 2 to renew the Buildings, Tech, Academics/Athletics (BTA) Levy vote in February 2022.

❖    Discussion: Does the Whittier PTA want to donate to Schools First? 

❖    Fundraising – Spring Fling update + Jog-A-Thon check-in

8:45      Meeting Adjourned / Social hour (if you are able to join) via Zoom

Adjourned at 8:55 pm

Reminder of Upcoming Dates:

1/17                 NO SCHOOL (MLK Day)

1/18                 PTA Budget Town Hall (Community Meeting)

2/7 – 2/11         Black Lives Matter at School Week

2/8                   PTA Board Meeting

2/8, 2/10          Virtual School Tours – 2/8 9am, 2/10 6:30pm

2/21 – 2/25       NO SCHOOL (Mid-Winter Break)

Notes, Reports & Resources

Thank you!

❖    Amy B. Nurse Marissa, Principal Watters – Mask Wishlist

❖    Kathleen, Courtney, Sandra, Martine – January First Friday, Winter Wishes 

Resources:

❖    Standing Rules

❖    PTA Mission Statement

❖    2021-22 Budget

❖    Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Toolkit (for Nominating Committee)

❖    PTA meeting schedule

Chair Updates: 

❖    Communications (Kate S.)

➢    We just sent out our 7th Wildchat for the year! I’d love to get content from more board and community members. Please submit ideas (even if it’s just a couple sentences! Or a great photo!) to communications@whittierptaseattle.org. 

➢    Our Konstella userbase has reached 660 with around 325 active members that read announcements. Committee creation on Konstella doesn’t seem to help with recruiting volunteers, though, so we may need a new approach.

➢    The PTA FB page has 169 follows + 116 likes. Our Instagram has 90 followers. Class FB groups really vary in reach and activity level. The K group, for example, has 32 members and almost no activity. The 5th grade group has 105 members and more discussion. I continue to support these pages, but note reach is low. I also can’t post across all Class FB groups in one session or the PTA FB account gets temporarily banned.

❖    EDI (Anna)

❖    Membership (Tricia)

➢    November 2021 we earned the PTA Bronze Membership Award – enrolled 1 more membership than the prior year

➢    January 2022 membership 

➢    

❖    FACE (Events/Hospitality/Outreach) (Kathleen/Courtney/Todd)

❖    Advocacy (Megan)

➢    Focus on Advocacy Week is coming up – January 17-21st. There will be a call to action each day that we will share via Konstella and social media. You can learn more here. The week kicks off with a virtual legislative day and I hope to join meetings with Reps Frame and Berry. 

➢    Levy ballots will be mailed on Jan 19th and they are due on February 8th.  There are many ways we can support this which I will be sharing info on over the next few weeks.

❖    Volunteers (Kristin)

Notes:

Missed the 2/8 PTA Board Meeting? You can view a recording of the meeting here, using this access passcode: 01$c&Rm^

Thanks for watching!

Whittier PTA Board Meeting

December 14, 2021

7:00 pm via ZOOM

Board Members Kristen Ramer Liang Megan Wildenradt Sara Lukas Kellie Pecoraro Leah Lansberry Austin Renee Hartnett Kate Scher Brad Nelson Stacy Rose

Guests/Community Members Damian Mayo Cindy Watters Sandra Klay Anjean Vanden Bosch JoLynn Berge, SPS Assistant Superintendent of Business & Finance Becky Asencio, SPS Capital Projects Carlos Del Valle, SPS Executive Director of Technology Jake Milstein, volunteer, Schools First

Meeting Called to Order, Land Acknowledgement without Quorum 7:02

Presidents Update/Housekeeping: 

Voting on the following issues  was delayed due to not having quorum:

• Approval of November 2021 Meeting Minutes
• Approval of Nominating Committee for Recommendation to Community

Guest Presentations:

Our first speaker was JoLynn Berge, SPS Assistant Superintendent of Business & Finance. She taught us about school funding and the operation levy. She gave us a rundown on how schools are funded in Seattle, and how the levies contribute. This is SPS’s 2nd largest revenue stream after the state. This year the EP&O is up for renewal, and this levy bridges the gap between what the state provides and the district needs. Some things it covers includes: children nutrition, special education services, mental health counselors, athletics, music, nurses, etc. The levy would generate $646.8 million over 3 years. State law dictates how much they can collect from tax payers, and it’s always lower than what tax payers are willing to pay. 

Next we heard from Becky Asencio, SPS capital projects, who covered the upcoming BTA levy, which will be a replacement for the previous version. This is for large projects like new buildings, technology funding, major maintenance, small renovations, improvement projects for the buildings, etc. She told us about how the project lists are created. Consultants come to every school building to assess where the greatest need is, in addition to guidance from the board. This levy includes the Memorial Stadium replacement where earthquake safety repairs are necessary for the grandstands, along with some basic planned maintenance. Some other examples of what is covered are: playground repairs and replacements, asphalt and stormwater repairs, replacing old windows and doors, seismic safety improvements, fire security, plumbing, electrical, HVAC lighting, clean energy, secure entries, ADA accessibility, gender neutral restrooms, etc.

Then we heard from Carlos Del Valle, Executive Director of the Department of Technology Services. He shared with us that 85% of technology funds come from the levies. The BTA levy aligns with board guidance in three major areas: student learning and support, district systems and data, infrastructure and security, and the staff to support all of this. There’s also a significant increase in tech costs in the last year due to becoming a 1:1 device district. These devices also need to be managed and supported, including cyber security, routers, etc etc. Lastly, the funds also go towards the digital equity program.

We came back to Becky Asencio to talk about academics and athletics funding. We have current needs for special education modifications, turf field replacements, arts and science equipment, and are looking to supplement $783 million over 6years, which is a similar process to other levies in terms of deciding how to prioritize projects. 

Lastly we heard from Jake Milstein, a volunteer for the nonprofit organization School’s First. He let us know that SPS employees can’t tell you how to vote, but School’s First can! They are asking that our PTA endorses the levy publicly, and encourage donations to Schools First to help raise awareness. They are hoping for $1 a student. 

Principal & Staff Updates

General Updates from Principal Watters: 85% of kids have received their first shot. The plan is for 80% of kids to come back in Jan. fully vaccinated. Looking to move more of lunch inside because the kids are really starting to get cold. 

Upcoming in Jan: We’re hoping to see more volunteers, but planning to still be very conservcative. Parents won’t be in classrooms regularly, but perhaps some one-offs.  Massive monkees, Salmon program, both are still able to come. We’ll lean into public health and SPS guidance. We’ve been able to hire an operations person to help with some of the roles we’ve been missing with no parent volunteers. Mr Mo, Kinder teacher will not be coming back, so looking for a replacement. Parents asked about security after the recent shelter in place orders at other schools. We are one of the only schools with a buzzer at the door. The campus will remain closed forever even after pandemic. Gates are locked during school hours and we do safety drills with kids. Whittier is lucky to be one of the few schools with a totally closed campus.

Special Education Presentation: Principal Watters gave us a presentation on the Special Education services at Whittier, so we can all be more familiar with what our school offers. All students have access to all types of support. We have a continuum of services, depending on students’ needs. We’re going to meet kids where they are at and support them as they need. We have a lot of diversity in our learners, and they all need some support at some point. 

Spring Fling Check-In:

Sandra Klay, our Spring Fling chair, led a discussion about the possibility of making this year’s Spring Fling a block party style event. The goal is to make it welcoming and accessible for all, and to just have the community feeling we’ve been missing.

Helping Hands Update: 

We raised $4200 for community and 220 pairs of socks!

Meeting Adjourned 8:47

Whittier PTA Board Meeting

November 9, 2021

7:00 pm via ZOOM

Board Members Tina Lilley Kellie Pecoraro Megan Wildenradt Sara Lukas Kathleen Donahoe Tricia Schalekamp Kristen Ramer Liang Amy Bryan Leah Lansberry-Austin Renee Hartnett Kate Scher Courtney Sievers Kate Mathews

Community Members Representative Noel Frame Representative Liz Berry Cindy Watters An-Lon Chen Katherine Abraham Susan Hernandez Will Kruse Kristin Wiggins

Meeting Called to Order / Land Acknowledgment at 7:03pm

Special guests: Representatives Liz Berry and Noel Frame

Megan Wildenradt introduced our two guest speakers, Representatives Liz Berry and Noel Frame, both mothers and live in our community. They did a Q&A for us:

Q: How can we best support the lack of funding that goes into the public school system? The lack of funding for staff and general funding, buildings, supplies, etc? How can we best advocate?

A: Rep Frame: this is why I got involved in politics. We have a deeply problematic tax structure, perhaps the worst in the nation. Some steps have been taken recently, but we have a long way to go. Property tax is the funding source, and it’s a tapped out source. We need to reform our tax  code. We’re a medium tax state, but most of it falls on middle and low income residents. A wealth tax is needed. Stocks and bonds pay 0% tax. 

Berry: Advocate for tax reform! Tell elected leaders that our schools are not fully funded. Tell your stories. 

Frame: “Fully” funded education is based on a 2009 definition. We need a new definition, and then to figure out a new price tag. 

Q: How is funding in other parts of the state?

A: Frame: There’s sometimes more funding for special education nurses, librarians, etc, it’s more specific outside of the Seattle area.

Berry: WSPTA asked the same question on Friday, and they suggested getting together with school boards, teachers guild, etc, to come up with a number to take to the reps. We need to have a united front. 

Q: What can you tell us about funding for dyslexia?

A: Berry: In 2018 a bill was passed that defined it as a specific learning disability, and right now the policy states that kids diagnosed with dyslexia needed to be supported. 

Q: But what funding is provided to train people to do that!? 

A: Principal Watters: It’s mostly an unfunded mandate. Most funding went to testing for diagnosis, basically none for support. 

Q: Not so much a question, but rather a plea for the equity issue. We need the literacy specialist, but we don’t want to be stuck in the inequitable position to fund it. 

A: Berry: I’m learning this too as a kinder parent! Librarian? Nurse? We need these things. We hear you, it’s a mess! Covid testing also should be funded! It’s a horrible cycle. Our schools have perpetuated the very inequities we advocate against through this private funding bind.

Presidents Update/Housekeeping

• Approval of October 2021 Meeting Minutes: Kristen Liang-Ramer motioned to approve, Amy Bryan seconded, and the motion passed.
• Reflections: We had 4 qualifying entries, hoping to put them in the halls and on the PTA website.
• Spring Fling: 5/21/2022 @ Leif Erikson Hall, Ballard
• Outreach update: We discussed the food & toiletry drive, ILS sock drive, Helping Hands. Principal Watters suggested doing the food drive in March, because there’s a surplus during the holidays anway. Sock drive now, food drive later. A lot of the discussion surrounded the need to really include the children in the drives. 
• Nominating committee is getting put together, we need 4-6 people. 

Principal & Staff Updates

(From Principal Watters:) Thanks for inviting the reps. We are working with a community partner to host a vaccine clinic at Whitttier, still waiting on info about how many doses we’ll have access to. Hoping to get volunteers back in the building in the new year. It will be joyful to have parents around! Nov 20 and Dec 11, are tentatively the dates for the clinic. Parents and students are invited to send their teachers gratitude letters, spread the word! Regarding the Friday absence… the  district didn’t have enough subs, and this was actually a problem in schools across the nation.  At least we decided before Friday morning.  Another reason we need more funding! Working in education is hard, and teachers are a bit burnt out. In good news, SPED is moving people around and we are getting another IA. Lastly, vaccination rates will determine more flexibility for parents/volunteers on campus.

Annual Give Update 

• We are at 67% participation!

Treasurer’s Report

• Review of Financial Reports (October: Budget vs Actual, Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss)
• 120,000 currently in our bank account

Monthly Staff Appreciation

• Staff lunch is hosted by the 4th grade families this month. In December it will be cookies/goodies from 3rd grade families.

Membership

• Total 114 members, that’s an increase of 8 from last month
• 106 Regular PTA, 8 Staff members

Communication

We discussed changing the date of the next wild chat.  If you have any content ideas, send them in!

9:01 Meeting Adjourned