view cart

Kaneland John Shields PTO Board Minutes

November 3, 2009

Attendees:  Michael Richardson (President), Andrea Houdek (VP of Academic and Community Committees), Laura Sigrist (VP of Fundraising), Matt Striedl (VP of Social Committees),  Jenny Hager (Treasurer), Stephanie Ortegel (Secretary),  Rachel Muckerheide, Carrie Guerra, Amy Sullivan

  1. Meeting called to order at 7:02 p.m.

  2. Officer’s Report

    A. President’s Report

    1. Holiday Magic Program – The second graders make ornaments to decorate a tree for the Brookfield Zoo.  Three students are picked to travel to the zoo to do the decorating.  PTO supported this program and paid $250.00.

    2. A discussion was held regarding the development of new committees and how they should be structured (ex. Creating memberships within the committee and the chain of commands).  At the October meeting the Beautification committee was created.  Rachel Muckerheide is chairperson and in order to create money for this committee she developed a mitten tree project.  Since this project is rather involved Michael questioned whether this project should be another committee or if it should fall under the beautification committee.  The executive members decided that the mitten project should fall under the beautification committee.

      Further discussion was held regarding volunteers.  Creating committees require many volunteers. Carrie Guerra suggested compiling a list of people who would be willing to volunteer their talents such as crafts or data entry.  Andrea Houdek stated that this sort of list is posted on the PTO Manager website and that 303 people have registered on the database out of approx. 459 families.

    B.  Treasurer’s Report

    1. Budget Review–

      1. Fall Fundraiser has not been paid yet.
      2. Boo Bash made a profit of $600.00.
      3. Smencils have made a profit of $120.00
      4. Amy Sullivan reported on Market Day.  Last month there was a profit of approx. $321.00 and Amy feels that it has the potential to be even better.  There are perks every month like November Pie Month and December Cookie Dough Month in which the school can make even more than the usual 10% per order.  There is an average of 50 orders per month.  25 of those are the same people ordering and many of the people ordering do not have kids at KSS.  
    2. Expense Items- Some line items had been left open-ended to see if KSS-PTO could afford them.  A question was proposed about those line items such as the amount that should be given to the Kaneland Art Fair and when the time should be to readjust our budget.  Jenny is keeping a running total to track how close we are to the $3000 cushion in our account and a plan to reevaluate those expenses will take place in January.
    3. Outstanding Issues

      1. Liability insurance is $165.00.
      2. PTO Manager website is $200.00 annually
      3. $200.00 was given to Stephanie Ortegel to secure the Mother/ Daughter event to be held at the Steel Beam Theatre.

    C.  Secretary's Report -

    1. Laura motioned to approve the meeting minutes from October.  Matt seconded the motion.  After a vote the minutes were unanimously approved.  Meeting minutes will be forwarded to Carolynn for the website and to Michael for the FNU.
    2. KSS-PTO by-laws were partially updated and will be completed before next meeting.
    3. A short discussion was held about the protocol to get things copied.   Michael stressed the need to work on the speed, electronic approval, and the execution of fliers for optimal efficiency.

    D.  VP- Academic/Community Committees –

    1. Carrie Guerra reported on the upcoming Breakfast with Santa and Holiday in the Grove.  December 5 from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. will be an entire day filled with holiday activities.  A two-page, red flier went home via backpack mail last week that listed all of the events.  Many of the events will be free including a family photo, a magician @ 2:30, a clown, a live nativity scene and carolers, a fun fair, and sleigh rides just to name a few.  There are a few options available for a small fee including Breakfast with Santa which will offer 3 meal choices.  There will also be a professional photographer available, a kids’ creative memory workshop, and a Noah’s Ark stuffed animals workshop.  Lunch will be served from noon until 4:00. 

      Carrie stressed that in order for everything to run smoothly she needs many volunteers!  She needs crafter's, people to run the games, and donated baked goods for such events like the cake walk.  Carrie will be forwarding a sign-up chart for volunteers to sign up.
    2. Expense Items - Carrie stated that everything will cost a total of $1200, and that she has all of the costs covered except $84.00 for stamps. She asked the PTO to donate this money.  Matt motioned to provide the money and Andrea seconded the motion.  After a vote of all ayes the motion carried and Carrie will receive the $84.00.  Breakfast with Santa proceeds will be donated to a charity called Holiday Spirit.

    E .  VP- Academic/Community Committees –

    1. $741.00 was deposited from money collected for the Mother/Daughter event.
    2. Matt attempted to organize a dinner with Jen Bambalas to be held for the KSS staff during conference week.  Volunteers were going to bring food to the school around 5:00.  However, it was cancelled since it became too late to orchestrate anything productive.  Carrie Guerra spoke on behalf of Principal Shelley Hueber regarding the conference dinner which has been catered by the PTO in the past.  She stated that since staff members were unaware about any food and assumed PTO was not doing a dinner this year, many of them made their own arrangements.   Carrie also stressed that Shelley stated everything single thing that involves the school has to be brought to her attention first!!

F.  VP- Fundraising Committees –

    1. There was more discussion about Market Day and how to drive the program.  Amy felt that a lack of knowledge about the program was the main problem.  Michael suggested posting the monthly perks in the Friday night updates and informing people what PTO programs the market day money would benefit.  Another idea to make the program more successful was a classroom competition.  Carrie even suggested a market day display at Holiday in the Grove with food samples.    
    2. Smencils were sold at the Boo Bash.  In two hours 80 smencils were sold.  Shelley Hueber approved our idea to sell smencils and Kaneland decals at conferences and holiday concerts.
    3. We have sold 9 Kaneland Knights decals @ $4.00 each.  We make a $2.00 profit for each decal sold.  A proposal was made to create more detailed and attractive decals.  Laura stated that the original ones were made quickly to see what kind of response we would receive and she would look into a new design.
    4. Entertainment books were sent home with every student.  The books did not cost anything up front and we are selling them for $20.00 each.  Laura stated that volunteers are needed on Nov. 11 and Nov. 19 to deal with the books.
    5. Wendy’s night is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12.  Shelley Hueber and several KSS staff members will be there to eat with the families.  Mrs. Hueber will also be wearing a Wendy’s t-shirt all day to remind the students.
    6. A suggestion was made regarding the formation of a dinner fundraiser committee TBD in the future.
    7. Several aspects of Spirit Wear were discussed.  First of all, the Kaneland Knights decals will start being sold with the spirit wear.  Also, there was a mix-up with a flannel pants order and PTO may need to refund.  Lastly, the PTO may be switching spirit wear companies since a family in the district is in the spirit wear business.
    8. Expense items – There will be a face painter at Wendy’s so the expense for paints and the painter’s dinner needed approval.  Laura motioned for the expense approval of approx. $45.00 ($10.00 for paints and $35.00 for family dinner).  Amy seconded the motion and after a vote of all ayes the motion was approved.  

3.  New Business

1. Mitten Project – There was much debate and discussion about this project.  We talked about hanging the laminated, paper mittens inside the gym instead of on the trees outside the school. We also questioned whether this idea was a project or a fundraiser.  It was determined that it will be a fun project for he kids but that the goal is to create revenue for the beautification committee.  Laura suggested that this committee might need to solicit a donation to the families.  After the discussion it was determined that another revision and approval from Shelley needed to be made to the flier before it went home to the families. 

2. Fundraiser's – Many schools are moving toward the idea of at-will donations to the PTO instead of conducting fundraisers.   There will be a meeting scheduled for January to discuss more fundraising options.  Rachel noted that her children’s old school asked families to donate $50.00 to the PTO and that they had a good response.

Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.