August 1, 2023, Board Meeting Minutes

Attendees: Kim Jenkins, Tyler Newell, Christina Crawford, Tara Stahlback, Wendy Moyer, Sam Evans, Jenny Steffie, Kristina Caban, Barbara Hunter, Lilian Graham, Christine Lewis, Chip Minto, Jesse Hoagey, Gwen Pacan (via Zoom), and Kris Ramos (via Zoom)

Note: Secretaries are to record minutes and action items. Each will take one or the other. Whoever takes the action items will email everyone immediately after the meeting.

Bylaws

Following discussion at our last meeting, Tyler Newell made some revisions to the bylaws, which were circulated and commented on before the meeting. We discussed the changes, which essentially streamline the bylaws and clarify voting procedures.

The booster section will require updating after further discussion. Christina would like the roles and responsibilities of the school vs. PTO to be more defined. This section is separate and does not impact the voting on the updated bylaws.

Action item: Chair, Co-Chair, and the Booster Chairs will meet to firm up the booster section.

Chip made a motion to approve the 2023 bylaws. Jenny seconded the motion. There were no questions. All were in favor; none opposed.

Google Drive and Reports

We discussed re-organizing and updating the PTO Google Drive to make it easier for new PTO members to get up to speed quickly. This will help to ensure that full procedure and handover documents are written and available if someone needs to step out of their role and someone else takeover.

Christina has requested more visibility on the profits of events so that we can see where improvements can be made, and profits maximized.

Action item: All to ensure their section of the Google Drive is updated and maintained.

Action item: Treasurers to put event reports together.

Budget

The budget was discussed in extensive detail. The committee reviewed all the line items including teacher requests and additional requests from John Mark. The committee looked at the expenses and costs of last year as well as each request in detail. We were able to approve many of the requests. However, we had to reduce or turn down several small items to keep within budget. Please refer to the Google Drive 2023-2024 PTO funding requests sheet and 2022-2023 CCS PTO Budget as of 07-31-23.xlsx for full details.

Below is a summary of some of the main items:

We streamlined some of the items and created a new discretionary fund line for items such as field trip scholarships, tuition scholarships, science fair prizes, and thank-you gifts.

The teacher allowance budget was increased to account for the increase in full and part-time teaching staff. Each teacher will receive a check for their amount ($225 for full-time staff and $150 for part-time staff) in August. They do not need to keep receipts.

The extra art teacher allowance was moved and added into the art auction budget line. The budget increased to $1,000 (separate from the main auction budget of $15k) and will be for the 2023/2024 year to bring this back in line with the rest of the budget rather than for the 2024/2025 year.

John Mark requested the PTO to fund $10k towards the Life To The Full Challenge. Due to the number of additional requests the PTO received and how much we have already allocated to yearly items, we agreed to fund $5k. The Yearbook requested $12k. Due to the amount already earmarked for other items, we were able to agree to allocate $6k.

The PTO will fund the amount requested for the senior trip, but the stipulation is that the amount is distributed equally amongst all the students going on the trip.

The Sports and Performing Arts boosters still need to be discussed and voted on. The Sports boosters will need to borrow upfront from the PTO and replenish for spirit wear. Our sports teams will need to increase fundraising efforts this year as we have 23 teams and concessions won’t cover the cost.

Christina made a motion to approve the budget. Christine seconded the motion. There were no questions. All were in favor; none opposed.

Action item: Treasurers to put together a cover letter to each teacher with their teacher allowance check explaining it is the full amount for the school year and that receipts are not required.

Action item: Tara to inform Lewis house Josh and Gena that we did turn down the request for the Lewis House renovation because work is due to start in the next couple of weeks.

Action item: Kim to let Erin Wade (art teacher) know that the auction allowance is for this current school year

Action item: Kim to take the budget to John Mark, with notes for his final approval.

Action item: Chair, Co-Chair, and the Booster Chairs will meet to finalize the budget and vote.

Back to School and New Student Orientation Evening

Volunteers are needed for the event. Last year we had 2 people for each table, with each person volunteering for 1 hour time slots.

Action Item: Tara to send out sign up for volunteers once confirm final time with John Mark

AOB

PTO decided on polo shirts for the members to help identify us at events.

Action item: Kim to spearhead or choose someone to organize polo shirts for everyone.

Next Meeting

We have a tentative meeting scheduled for August 23, 2023; in case we need to meet again to discuss the budget after it has been discussed with John Mark. After this, the next official meeting is September 12, 2023.

The meeting was adjourned.