P.S. 85Q Parents Association

12/22/11 P.S. 85Q GENERAL MEETING MINUTES 8:30 a.m.

• Meeting was called to order at 8:37 a.m. by PA Co-President Randi Marshall

• Motion made to approve minutes from 11/30/11; seconded and approved.

• President’s report (Randi Marshall): 1. Movie Night will be in early January; waiting for approval from Ms. Chang. 2. Teacher wish lists—have been filling many of the requests. Decision was made not to make the lists public, in order to avoid overlap with more than one parent buying the same items.

• Old/New Business:
New Business (Randi Marshall): New amendments to help PA move toward 501c3 status were voted on, Article VIII, sections 5 & 6 from the bylaws.
-Section 5 amendment: Conflict of Interest provision, which is required by the IRS for 501c3 status. Requires transparency: must disclose connections to businesses, etc. by PA board members. Ex., if a board member wants us to use a certain vendor for Carnival, must reveal if she has a spouse, relative, friend, etc. who works for that vendor. Language is from IRS, tweaked by Rebecca Bratspies to be made appropriate for P.S. 85.
-Section 6: Indemnification provision, which allows PA to purchase insurance. Cost will be roughly $600 per year, though indemnification provision doesn’t commit PA to any money. Will still need to get purchase of insurance approved by general membership each year. Insurance is important regardless of 501c3 status, since DOE coverage, which non-501c3 PAs have, isn’t really good enough.
-Motion made for both amendments, seconded, approved. 24 yeas out of 27 meeting attendees, no nays.
-Third by-laws amendment proposed by Mary Downing. Request to add following language to Article IV, executive board section: The Chairperson of the Title I Committee or the Title I Parent Advisory Council, whichever is applicable, shall be a member of the executive board. MD says one of the responsibilities of both Title I & PA is to get parents involved, so it makes sense to work together.
Questions from membership:
* Is Title I already under PA? Title I chair Mary Downing said at Title I meeting last school year, Title I was voted not to be a subcommittee. Randi Marshal and Maryam Rahmani said it was voted on to be a subcommittee. Members asked that the answer be clarified. No one present had copies of minutes from the Title I meeting.
* Are there other committees that are part of the executive board? No. Was Title I voted in by membership? No.
* Is there a spot on the SLT for Title I? Yes, chairperson sits on SLT.
* Are other subcommittees voted in? No.
* How are Title I & PA connected? They aren’t really connected.
* Is Title 1 committee in charge of all Title I money? No, just $2500 set aside for parent involvement.
Two types of committees on the PA: Ad hoc and standing. Standing committees are required by the by-laws. Legally obligated to have Title I, but it’s not voted in by the PA. Motion made to table amendment request until relationship between PA & Title I is clarified. Seconded, 17/27 yays, no abstentions or nays.

• Treasurer’s Report (Jeff Tapper): Starting balance was 3,539.48; balance as of 12/19/11 is $12,316.39 from dues, chocolate sale and other fundraisers. Biggest expense was printer support, second biggest teacher wish list.

• Committee reports:
1. Fundraising Committee report (Evie Hantzopoulos): Brainstorming meeting was 12/7. Narrowed down fundraising choices to:
-P.S. 85 international cookbook for International Night, which will involve collecting & compiling recipies and other tasks.
-Major silent auction on International Night. Need to collect giftcards and service donations, etc., from local businesses. Will also have raffle at International Night.
-Parents’ social fundraiser—beer and burgers at Bare Burger in February.
-Grant writing. Allen & Evie may hold another grant writing workshop.
-School newsletter. Plan to get someone to donate printing, will sell ads. P. S. 122 made $4000 from this. Will create forms asking for donations.

2. 5th grade Committee report (Janet Gordillo). Paid deposit on yearbook and picked cover. Must be finished by April 9 for June delivery.

3. Membership committee report (Serena Reisner): Still need class parents for about 1/3 of the classes.

4. SLT report (Maryam Rahmani): CEP (Comprehensive Education Plan) was submitted. Attended district leadership meeting with UFT reps and Superintendent Compasto. Recess issues were brought up. Required to have 45 minutes of recess. Learning leaders have been well received and lunch aides will be receiving training. Makes a difference when parents come as a group to CEC meetings. Presidents Council meeting. Discussed by-laws—CEC leadership had good suggestions for adjustments to bylaws. Focus of meeting was on construction issues at P.S. 2 and P.S. 11, which did not get construction money they need.

Announcements for top seller of chocolate sale: The three top sellers were Savannah Finnerty from 1-110, Brianna Bezman from 5-304, and Annabelle Banas from K-105. The raffle winner was Adriana Cordero from K-105.

Meeting adjourned at 9:28 a.m.

11/30/11 P.S. 85Q GENERAL MEETING MINUTES 6:00 p.m.
• Meeting was called to order at 6:14 p.m. by PA Co-President Randi Marshall

• Motion by Maryam Rahmani to approve minutes from 10/27/11; seconded and approved.

• President’s report (Randi Marshall): 1. Special thanks to Erin Black for decorations in the auditorium for the fall concert, and special thanks to all volunteers and class parents. There are plenty of other opportunities to volunteer. Fall Festival was very successful with almost 150 kids. Thank you to parents who volunteered. There will be a movie event in January and another event to come.

2. SLT report (Maryam Rahmani). Maryam is the parent rep. for SLT. SLT must meet once a week with the principal on the third Wednesday of each month. The district leadership team also meets once a month. This is an opportunity to see how P. S. 85 is doing and how we rank versus other schools in district. Our grade and reading and math scores are also available. Maryam has hardcopy of these reports and they are also available on-line.

• Old/New Business.

New Business (Randi Marshall): 1. Proposal for PA to become incorporated, the first step toward moving from its existing status toward 501c3 status. By becoming incorporated, PA will become its own entity. Need approval per by-laws to file papers with New York State for incorporation. Question from general PA member: Are there other schools that have 501c3 status? Answer: Yes, several Manhattan schools have this; we’re following their process, have been in contact with the DOE every step of the way. This will allow PA to raise much more money through fundraising, since with 501c3 status, donations are tax deductible. Motion made, seconded, one opposed, motion approved.

2. Proposal for amendment to PA by-laws to add a conflict of interest provision, which is necessary to become a non-profit. Will be voted on at next month’s meeting. Hardcopies of proposed amendment available on back table and will be available on PA website. View proposed additions to PS85Q bylaws.

3. Proposal for amendment to PA by-laws to purchase insurance; will also be voted on at next meeting. Insurance would primarily be for liability in the event PA is sued. Hardcopies of proposed amendment available on back table and will be available on PA website. Clarification/question from PA general member: Does this protect PA for off-site events? Yes. Also protects PA regardless of 501c3 status. View ps85 PA proposed CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

• Treasurer’s Report (Jeff Tapper): 1. Started the year with about $3500 in PA account, now have over $10,000. Proposal for approval for PA expenditure for insurance. The maximum amount would be $1000. Motion made, seconded, and approved.

• Announcement regarding Food Drive—Kids can bring in cans; there will be a box for donations in cafeteria.

• Committee reports:

1. Title I Committee report (Mary Downing): Survey for what to do with parent portion of Title I money will be going out in folders. Second survey with top ideas will go out for parents to vote on their choices. Proposal for amendment to the PA by-laws to make the chairperson of the Title I Committee a member of the executive board, as both Title I Committee and PA are focused on parent involvement. Question from membership: How many people are on the Title I committee? Answer: 3.

2. Fundraising Committee report (Michal Melamed): Michal, co-chair with Evie Hantzopoulos. Fundraising plans include a P.S. 85 international cookbook for international night, a newsletter, and requesting as many donations as possible for the auction on international night. December 7 is the fundraising committee meeting.

3. Box Tops report (Michal): Received a $450 check for Box Tops. Collection materials available at back table or from Michal.

• (Randi) Serena Reisner has signup sheets for volunteering.

• (Randi) Raffle announcement

• (Randi) Next meeting was originally scheduled for December 20, which is also the first night of Hanukkah. Awards night can’t be changed, but PA meeting will probably be changed to a morning time one day that week as several exec board members have conflicts. Motion made to change time/date of meeting, seconded, none opposed, approved.

• (Randi) Nearly $300 raised during Uno Dough Raiser

Meeting adjourned at 6:38 p.m.