Whittier PTA Board Meeting
March 8, 2022
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
ZOOM Meeting
Meeting ID: 864 5941 6022 Passcode: wildcats
ATTENDANCE
- Kristen Ramer Liang
- Tina Lilley
- Anna Hume
- Kathleen Donahoe
- Tricia Schalekamp
- Renee Hartnett
- Kate Scher
- Kate Mathews
- Kellie Pecoraro
- Courtney Sievers
- Megan Wildenradt
- Leah Lansberry-Austin
- Sara Lukas
- Sandra Klay
- Cindy Watters
- Emma Kocher
- Julia Liang
7:04 Meeting Called to Order, Approval of February Board Meeting Minutes
Kathleen motioned, Courtney seconded – Meeting minutes approved. (vote was at 8:46 pm)
Land Acknowledgement by Kristen Liang
7:05 Staff Update
7:15 Principal Update
- Student Guest Speakers – Emma Kocher & Julia Liang
- EMMA – 5th Grade Celebration
- 5th grade classes could take a day off to go to a park, have pizza & play games
- Stay at school – all 3 classes could have different activities ie; movies, arts & crafts, games
- Parks – salmon bay, carkeek, Kirke – going somewhere because then the other classes won’t be there
- Emma is happy to be on an organizing committee
- JULIA – Bathrooms, Library – non-fiction books, Food Quality at Lunch
- Bathrooms – toilets should have seat covers to be more sanitary (flushable covers)
- Library – Doesn’t have a lot of diversity, especially about people. For example, people who helped make our community the way it is now.
- (Cindy posed question: How we could get more diverse books?) A: School families could donate books about certain topics
- School Lunches – The food should be better quality.
- Half of the pasta wasn’t cooked in one of the lunches. Food is soggy and they don’t want to touch it.
- (Cindy Question: How could we make the food better?) A: Food is in a freezer and heated up in a microwave… they should check it to make sure it’s fully cooked
- Julia agreed to be on a Food Service Committee
- MASKING UPDATE
- No update tonight, but she has a meeting tomorrow about masking. Her hunch/best guess is that SPS will probably follow what other schools in the general area are doing with masks.
- Masks are included in the MOU (memorandum of understanding). Cindy doesn’t think it requires a vote, but she thinks that it is just agreement between leadership teams
- BUDGET – not great, not horrible
- Down 1 homeroom teacher
- She’s working on getting universal intervention support… She thinks it’s inequitable to not have the same support available to Whittier as other schools in this department.
- SCHOOL
- Prides of March – loosely organized but hoping it’ll be better next year
- Cindy wants to support “safe conversations” Kids are picking up on current events… Russia/Ukraine, LGTBQ issues
- Spirit Days – low barrier to participation, no purchases for these days, something you don’t really have to plan for – No heavy lifts!
- Door decorating at the end of the month! Parents will be able to help, but 80% of the door will be done by the kids. Doors will show who the classroom is as a community.
7:30 President’s Report – Kristen & Tina
- 3/15 Community Meeting (platform, presentation, member voting)
- Spring Fling Update – Sandra
- Great committee, about 15 volunteers who are rocking & rolling
- 5-9 pm, no kids – set-up/tear-down earlier/later than that window
- We can use the blacktop and the gym – will be using it for
- Food Truck – Dantes – hot dogs, Veraci – Pizza
- There will be drinking – out on the street. No alcohol on school premises
- Games – Corn Hole, other outdoor games
- Sandra has a permit – WA State liquor & cannabis board, will also get block party permit
- Planning to let neighbors know that the event will be happening
- Expenses – Minimal – trying to use things from school.. ie; tables, canopies from family
- Decor Team
- Standing meeting 7-9 pm
- Special Guest DJ might be a possibility…
- Procurement – Elliott has been doing an amazing job. He’s contacted 88 businesses. Mix of printed emails, online forms too. 6 donations so far, but many more coming. 20 more in-person drops planned for this week.
- Virtual School Tours Update – Megan, Sara, Tricia
- Good turnout for the virtual tours
- Room Rep Emails – Kate
- Wants us to consolidate requests via her so we don’t overwhelm room reps
7:50 Treasurer’s Report – Renee
- Budget Update (February reports): Balance Sheet, Budget vs Actuals, Profit & Loss
- Budget Survey Update
- 166 responses
- Interest in funding staffing 89%
- Funding equity initiatives 72%
- Funding various PTA initiatives priority in survey results
- enrichment activities
- academic enrichment
- equity
- field trips
- community events
- Budget Committee Update
- budget numbers from district are not good
- Staffing Grant Request for 2022/23
- 2.5 PCP funded next year (vs 3 for this year)
- staffing 90K – this keeps it so we retain staffing levels of reading specialists and PCP
- Reading Interventionist serves a larger group of students than any homeroom teachers
- Kathleen asked what happens if we don’t make fundraising numbers. Renee said fundraising forecasts are pretty conservative and that people want to know what they need to give.
- Another comment was made that we need to continue/increase advocacy efforts to change the way things are funded… “BOTH/AND” re: Fundraising and Advocacy
- VOTE – Courtney motioned to put a $90K staffing grant up for approval at the Community Meeting; Kathleen seconded
8:10 Nominating Committee Update – Leah
- Received responses from half of the board
- Still need more people to get involved
- Talked about bringing FACE (Family and Community Engagement) committee efforts back
8:20 Chair Reports
9:04 Meeting Adjourned
Social hour (if you are able to join) via Zoom
Reminder of Upcoming Dates:
3/15 Spring PTA Community Meeting
3/24 EDI Committee Meeting
4/11-4/15 Spring Break (NO SCHOOL)
4/19 Monthly PTA Board Meeting
