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Draft Minutes of September 3, 2008

Meeting was called to order by President, John Hannay at 7:38 PM at the Department of Education building. Quorum was met and 5 delegates read the purpose of PTA.

Guests/Visitors: Sam O’Neil from Howard County health department and Community Advisory Council (CAC) Chairman, Chris Workman was introduced. Sam O’Neil talked about Farm City Celebration Committee and the upcoming Healthy Howard Farm Walk on Sept 27, 2008 8:30 – 11:00 AM @Clark Elioak Farm and Chris talked about how CAC works. Chris passed out CAC handout to the general membership.

BOE Update – Pat Gordon talked about the BOE members visiting schools on the first day of school and it was off to a great start for the year. They will be working on the capital budget. There will be a “What Counts” meeting on Nov 11^th @7:00 PM. Patti Caplan is the Director of Public Relations and will be BOE representative that will be attending the PTA council meetings. She emphasized on the smooth opening of schools.  School system got great news about good SAT scores and 11 points higher in the writing section.

Officers and Chairs provided introductions. The role of PTA Council was presented. Terri Chiu, VP of Issues, will be helping to strengthen local PTA’s. Unify and advocate for and create opinion and policy favorable to the interests of children. Niles Morton will be promoting and serving as a communication link with MD PTA and at the National PTA. Cindy Haller will be working in the advice and advocacy role.

Tabletop Discussions: Several groups were formed to jot down ideas related to tabletop discussions lead by Terri Chiu. The questions were asked a) How did you become involved in the PTA? b) How is that you came to be a member of the PTA Council? C) What hopes do you have for the broader PTA movement in HC during 2008-09? Some of the discussions lead to following ideas: Emphasize on the leadership at the school. Any issues at the local level bring it to the council. Local to be more involved and provide grass roots. PTA Council to be more involved in the decision process at Annapolis. Community is diverse, attract new members. Immigrant family should be involved to overcome language and cultural barriers. Improve driver’s safety education. New leadership is good for the community. Need more feedback from the PTA council. Not much involvement from parents in certain schools.

General Discussions: Questions were raised regarding the process for policy and other communications with BOE and Superintendent. Focus letter to include the policies that are coming up for review and update. Help to get involved by filling in talent bank skills and informational form.

MD PTA Update: 4^th largest based on number of schools. HC is the number one in the state. Drive to increase membership by 5%. Bylaws are taking more time to approve. MD PTA is looking into streamline this process. MD PTA Insurance is very important as it protects your PTA and the board. Four schools are not up-to-date. There will be a training session on Sept 20^th 9AM – 4PM in Westminster. Fall Convention Nov 14/15. Visit www.mdpta.org for more information.

Veronika Carella is the MDPTA chair for Health and Environment. Send her an email for any questions or issues related school environment. health@mdpta.org

The June 2, 2008 Meeting minutes was filed as is. Reviewed treasurers report presented by treasurer Amy. Questions were raised about the surplus carryover year after year. John provided highlights of the executive board report; Develop strategies and address issues specific to local PTAs. Work plans for project safe and curriculum were approved. Discussed potential priorities for 2008-09 and ways to involve council in setting them. Handled requests for comments and input on advisory committees.

Motion 1:  Move to allocate $500 to each high school for their after prom activity and the money should come out of the “carry over” line item. Tabled Recommendation is to review by the executive board regarding the “carry over” fund.

HC PTA's were well represented for the MD PTA summer conference. Gathered lots of information regarding insurance, and bylaws by the attendees and this will be shared through focus newsletter.

Committee Chairs were introduced. Mary Ellen Creasy and Lin Guba – Project Safe After Prom, Sara Seifter and Stephanie Coakley – Curriculum, Nehemiah Spence – Family Involvement, Carolyn Folger – Scholarship, and Lynne Pagan – Reflections and this year theme will be Wow! Categories are: art, dance, photography, film, music, and literature.

John informed the delegates to complete the input for the priority worksheet from the locals and email to ptahc@gmail.com  (Action Item)

The Energy use building fee issue presented by RHHS president was brought to the attention of delegates. It was decided to be discussed at the Executive board meeting, as it needs some investigation and clarification.

Meeting Adjourned at 9:45 PM

Minutes submitted by Venu Iyengar, Recording Secretary