MINUTES OF THE MCCPTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Thursday, February 2, 2006 at the Carver Educational
ATTENDANCE:
Officers: Cindy Kerr, Victor Salazar, Juan Johnson, Shirley
Brandman, Liz Wheeler,
Area Vice Presidents and
Cluster Coordinators: Ellen Paul, Ted
Willard, Phil Kaufman, Jane deWinter, Lilo Mitz, Lori Merrill, Deborah DeMille-Wagman,
Carroll Lovelace, Rosanne Hurwitz, Janis Sartucci, Susie Scofield, Victoria
Campbell Carter, Patrick Herendeen, Linda Kuserk, Sally Taber, Allyson
Morrison, Kristin Trible, Susan J. Thomas, Geri Ginsberg, Steve Crowley
Committee Chairs: Kay Romero, Marney Jacobs, Diane McHale, Meredith
Walters, Patti Twigg, Tom Murphy, Anne Turner, Suzanne Weiss, Tracy Fox, Vicki
Rafel
Visitors: Donna Pfeiffer, Rocky Hill PTA President, Andrea
Bernardo, Fallsmead Elementary School and Thomas Hearn, Wood Acres Elementary,
Doug Meineke
OPENNING BUSINESS:
Call to Order: MCCPTA President Cindy Kerr called the meeting to
order at 7:41PM.
Agenda: The agenda should read MCCPTA Board of Directors
Meeting. Meetings are always open. Cindy Kerr acknowledged our guests this
evening. The curriculum committee report will include media advisory workgroup
information in addition to the resolution proposed to support science and
social studies in the elementary schools. The safety committee will present a
resolution by the Rocky Hill Middle School PTA. The bylaws committee has some
new business. Diane McHale requested a committee update if there is sufficient
time. Cindy stated that the 10 minute time limits used at the delegate assembly
worked well, so we’ll use time limits tonight to stay on schedule. She
acknowledged a Robert’s Rules faux pas regarding the two thirds count to pass
the time limits.
Meeting Minutes: The January 5, 2006 executive board meeting minutes were
distributed. No corrections were made. The minutes stand approved as written.
Treasurer’s Report:
Juan Johnson distributed the
MCCPTA’s, Inc. Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual report for July 1, 2005
through February 1, 2006, Balance Sheet as of February 1, 2006, and the MCCPTA
Proposed 2005-2006 Budget. In addition, he distributed Dues Receipts by Local
Unit (July 1, 2005 through June 2006) and
Insurance Premiums Due by
Local Unit as of February 1, 2006. The insurance is about two thirds complete.
The bill for insurance
payments went out the second week of December. If your school has not paid it
is on the insurance list. If your school has paid dues it is listed on the dues
receipt list. There is no bill for membership. Membership information is in the
president’s packet that is distributed at training. Monthly actions are
included, too. If your school is on the MD PTA list it means that it has not
paid MD PTA. This is not a good list to be on at all. This list has
ramifications for the Reflections program. (See President’s report.) The dues
list is on the website. Patti will send it out on the bulletin, too. The 2004
draft audit needs one more entry discussed. The 2005 draft should be done in
two weeks. The treasurer’s report will be filed for audit.
OFFICERS’ REPORTS:
President:
Cindy Kerr addressed the
issue recently raised on the list serv of whether or not she and Juan Johnson
would be allowed to participate in tonight’s meeting because one of the locals
that they belong to had not paid their insurance payment. It is acceptable for
them to participate because Juan said that both schools have paid their fees.
Juan and Cindy both belong to more than one local PTA. The new bylaws address
dues and assessments, but they don’t give specific time lines for compliance
and participation. Bylaws chair, Vicki Rafel commented that in the past we
waited until the following fiscal year. Because MCCPTA is responsible for our
locals and wants to be in compliance with one of the standards for being
considered in good standing by MD PTA we pre-pay our locals insurance and then
bill our locals. The list of good standing guidelines includes, dues paid to MD
PTA, up to date bylaws, audit, signatures on file among others on the long list.
MD PTA won’t forward Reflections entries to National PTA if the local
submitting it is not current with bylaws. MD PTA has not figured out how to
enforce their other regulations, including the pulling of charters for PTAs for
not having current bylaws or dues paid. Cindy gave background information on
how MD PTA’s new administration and new bylaws committee chair is handling the
auditing of bylaws county by county to get a new listing for schools. Cindy anticipates
that there will still be mistakes on this list.
Diane
McHale made a motion that until we have a list from the MD PTA to know who’s in
good standing that we assume that all local PTAs are in good standing, so that
their executive board members (should read Board of Directors) can vote. It was
seconded. Jinhee Wilde made a motion to table the discussion. The motion to
table was seconded and carried on a voice vote.
Discussion included comments
against the motion regarding a per capita representation, voting to keep your
school in compliance and actions taken against locals. Until we know a unit is
not in good standing we will go forward.
Cindy reminded us of MD PTA
night in
Vice President – Programs:
The March program will begin
at 6:30 PM followed by the business meeting at 7:30 PM. The discussion of
MCCPTA participation in the month of the young child will be tabled until the
next meeting.
AGENDA ITEMS:
Discuss and develop
guidelines for PTA leaders seeking elected office:
Two of our Board of Directors
members, Susie Scofield and Shirley Brandman, are seeking election to the Board
of Education. At the January Delegate Assembly the delegates voted to allow
Shirley Brandman to continue in her positions for that meeting and offer her
resignation as Vice President - Educational Issues at the February Board of
Directors meeting where a vote would be taken to determine permission for her continuing
as the chair of the Grading and Reporting Committee for the remainder of the
’05-’06 term. The delegates also voted to allow Susie Scofield to offer to
resign her positions if it is the will of the body, and asked that she be
allowed to discuss that position tonight. Shirley has offered her resignation
as Vice President – Educational Issues to Cindy. Cindy read Shirley’s
resignation statement. Cindy is responsible for appointing someone to fill the
vacancy for VP for Educational Issues until the nominating committee acts to fill
the position. Cindy asked that we hear
from Susie before considering the actions needed for committees and replacement
for Shirley.
Susie Scofield gave her
statement. She is currently the Magruder cluster coordinator and co-chair of
the Gifted and Talented committee. She had not planned on resigning her
positions since she could not find anything in bylaws and state election laws
requiring her to do so. She was unaware of MCCPTA precedents of candidates
resigning. She stated that these precedents are important to consider in our
discussion tonight. The Operating Budget testimony events that happened were unintended
by her, but triggered positive discussion, resolutions and the opportunity to
set guidelines for running for office. She is open to the idea of a candidate
not giving testimony. She will resign if she thinks there’s any conflict of
interest between her candidacy and being a PTA leader, or too much diversion.
She wants to continue as a cluster coordinator, but has offered her resignation
to Ted Willard. She will abide by the decision of this body out of respect for
the integrity of MCCPTA.
(Susie and Shirley left the room while discussion and
motions took place.)
Ted
Willard made a motion to regretfully accept Shirley Brandman’s resignation as
Vice President – Educational Issues, and thank her for all of her
contributions. It was seconded and passed on a voice vote.
A handout from National PTA
on items to consider when a PTA leader contemplates becoming a member of a
school board or holding other public office were distributed. Sharon St. Pierre
also contacted National PTA today. This document gave the most detail. She
tried to get more clarification during a phone call, but they are purposefully
vague.
The discussion included Magruder
cluster comments from Ted Willard stating that Susie had notified him within 24
hours of her filing her candidacy, that they’d had a cluster meeting to inform
all the PTA presidents, and to review the upcoming operating budget testimony
to be given by Susie. Cindy reminded us of Rosanne Hurwitz’s resolution from
the delegate assembly that we should not be focusing only on an individual, but
the future of the organization. Board of Directors members spoke for and
against resignation as a cluster coordinator by citing: conflict of interest;
campaigning; turning away volunteers; misbehavior by Board of Education
members; impact on the organization; the mandatory section of our bylaws
(Article III g. “The organization or members in their official capacities shall
not, directly or indirectly, participate or intervene (in any way, including the publishing or
distributing of statements) in any
political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for
public office; or devote more than an insubstantial part of its activities to
attempting to influence legislation by propaganda or otherwise.”); history of
MCCPTA officers, cluster coordinators, area vice president and committee chairs
resigning to run for public office; (executive board standing rules of 1999 [no
longer in effect] state if you file for public office you resign); number of
cluster coordinators and committee chairs; checks and balances for cluster
coordinators; executive board members must resign versus other officers not
resigning but not giving public testimony; other potential conflicts of
interest since we don’t investigate; and public testimony reactions by Board of
Education members being out of our
control.
Juan
Johnson made a motion that the Board of Directors members who file as a
certificate of candidacy for countywide office be removed from office as of the
date of filing. It was seconded. Lori Merrill called the question. A standing
vote for calling the question failed. Steve Crowley offered an amendment that
the motion should be changed from countywide to any elected public office in
the state of
The motion discussion
included: forced resignation and trust; controlling responses; the opportunity
to continue jobs; keeping our organization and its mission foremost; local
autonomy of the cluster; people with a good understanding of MCCPTA on the
Board serve us well; general public understanding of our organization endorsing
candidates; clarification of positions;
and city, county and state wide elections.
Ted
Willard made a motion that the Board of Directors decline Susie Scofield’s
offer of resignation as a Magruder cluster coordinator. It was seconded. A
standing vote resulted in a tie. A paper ballot was taken. The motion failed.
Discussion during the paper
balloting included: having respect for and trust of our members and getting
back to our mission of serving children; notification if you’re a campaign
manager or treasurer and bringing this a motion to the delegates on this in the
interest of time. Also discussed, guide
books for board members and previous standing rules that have not been codified
and distributed. The Board of Directors can still vote to suspend standing
rules, too.
Diane
McHale made a motion that executive officers of the Board of Directors shall
resign within a week of filing for candidacy for public office and that all
members of the Board of Directors shall refrain from public speaking on behalf
of MCCPTA within a week of filing for candidacy for public office. It was
seconded. Jane de Winter made an amendment to the motion that instead of a week
that they no longer speak on behalf of MCCPTA effective immediately upon filing
for office. It was seconded. It passed by a voice vote. The question was called
and passed on a standing vote. The motion passed on a standing vote. This will
be passed on to the bylaws committee.
Discussion included: clarification
on speaking for the organization and the cluster as part of the organization
and how broadly do we interpret public speaking (local meetings, testimony,
talking to the press, etc.); and our authority of removal from office. The vocal
consensus was to trust our members rather than make another amendment. This
motion passing means that we will have to send this to the bylaws committee and
to make a change to the bylaws. The
delegates had originally sent this issue to the Board of Directors.
Jane
de Winter moved to drop the topic and conduct business. It was seconded. The
question
was called by a show of hands. The motion passed by a voice vote.
Based on the motion by Dianne
McHale, Shirley Brandman continues as Committee Chair of Grading and Reporting
and Susie Scofield remains cluster coordinator and a committee co- chair for
Gifted Child Committee. Susie had given Ted had a resignation letter as cluster
coordinator if that was the will of the body. Our vote said that no resignation
is required. So, Susie is still the cluster coordinator, but she cannot speak
of behalf of the MCCPTA organization.
As a result of Shirley
Brandman’s resignation as Vice President – Educational Issues Cindy must
appoint someone to replace Shirley. Her recommendation is to appoint Sharon St.
Pierre to replace Shirley and Ted Willard to fulfill the rest of
Juan
Johnson made a motion to appointment Sharon St. Pierre Vice President -
Educational Issues, and Ted Willard Vice President – Programs. It was seconded
and passed on a voice vote.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
CIP: Marney Jacobs referred to the latest information
that she has been sharing on the list serv. She recommended that we encourage
the county council to increase the Spending Affordability Guidelines (SAG) on
February 7 as our best bet to getting more money put back into the CIP. A 10%
increase could yield $24 million. The county council will be discussing bond
limits at this meeting, too, so please attend if you can to listen. This vote
takes a simple majority to pass. The council should also be encouraged to use
current revenue surplus, or PAYGO, to provide funds for capital projects. This
year the operating budget funding looks good, so we may be able to use PAYGO. The
county executive’s proposed budget frontloads the county projects and backloads
MCPS projects meaning delays again. It was noted that at the delegate assembly
we got a unanimous vote to fully fund the CIP with no delay. Marney will
provide a project chart
of cluster delays. Usually we
get 44% of the county budget available funding. In FY 07 we get 36% and 38.5%
out of bonding. In the future CIP years MCPS gets more and the county projects
get less. Include a cluster history in your CIP testimony- talk about
overcrowded conditions and dilapidated buildings, etc. The council was committed
to this budget two years ago and there are very few new projects that they
didn’t already vote to approve. New additions were on feasibility studies. Note
that not all the previous projects were fully funded in the past budget. Please
encourage every cluster to get people there. Signs for “Keep the CIP on Track”
will be provided, or you can request a specific school sign. Remember don’t say
what you can’t back up. Send the county
council letters to fully fund the capital budget because they are looking for
political cover. George Leventhal will meet with Marney and others on Monday.
Victor has put out the tentative schedule for testimony (three minute limit;
bring 15 copies, plus courtesy copies for MCCPTA)). Testimony is in the third
floor hearing room. Please use 8 ½” x 11” signs, school shirts and carpool.
Cindy noted that Sara Lee Todd (
Community Outreach:
Michelle Yu reported on the
January 16 Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast. Thanks to Sharon St. Pierre for
designing the MCCPTA page for the program. MCCPTA affirmed our commitment to
diversity and inclusion by participating. The keynote speaker was inspirational.
Curriculum: Ted Willard distributed a resolution proposed by the
MCCPTA curriculum committee to support science and social studies in MCPS
elementary schools. Ted noted that the MD voluntary state curriculum for social
studies and science is a list of learning goals, not instructions to be handed
to teachers. On Tuesday, January 31 Ted attended a workgroup to evaluate the
policy for evaluation and selection of instructional materials and library
books. Some issues came up last fall about the use of R rated films in high
school classrooms, and PG films in middle schools. The charge of the workgroup is
to develop and recommend guidelines for implementing this policy as approved
regarding instructional use of film. The steps for the selection process may
include the following process: parental consent should be used for certain motion
media; approve and identify film clips of certain motion media; approve and
identify alternative motion media titles. Ted will be attending more meetings
until the end of February. This policy may not take effect this school year. Send
feedback to Ted. He’s one of three parents on a committee of twenty. There have
been problems with high school courses designed around films. Rosanne Hurwitz
said that this issue had come up in a level six language class at Richard
Montgomery. Parental permission had been given for students to watch the films
that they now can’t watch. This affects registration for classes for next year,
too. Ted said that the policy on curriculum calls for a review curricula every
5 years. MCPS will review the K – 12 mathematics curriculum. Shirley and Ted
met with Jody Leleck. Jody wants to get input into the process. At end of last
month’s executive board meeting, at the delegate assembly, and tonight, Ted
handed out the start of a motion by curriculum committee for science and social
studies in elementary schools. Basically this comes from the desire of the
delegates for MCPS to pay more attention to science and social studies. Does the board want to take any action or make
recommendations to the delegate assembly or remain silent on it? The question
of how members were selected for this media committee was raised. Ted got
notice for it perhaps through Betsy Brown. We need to find out who the media
workgroup chair is and how to get MCCPTA representation. The issue was raised
that MCPS may target their committee representation to get the results that
they want since a parent who had expressed interest last year was not
contacted. Cindy will follow through with this concern.
Health: Traci Fox distributed the MCPS wellness policy and
the memo she wrote about it. The wellness policy committee (of which Traci is a
member), MCPS and the department of health representatives, and other community
members are seeking to develop a wellness policy that will comply with the
federal legislation on nutrition and physical activity that was passed last
summer. The policy language is vague, general and broad. The wellness policy is
out for public comment to gather input from parents and other concerned
community members to respond back to MCPS. The challenge is in the regulations
and trying to insert specifics into this broad vision outlined in the policy.
Traci’s memo tries to outline general areas:
The Board of Education will
review this on March 3. Traci would like to weave input from parents into her
comments. She wants to draft a letter to send back to the Board of Directors
with these points. She is urging
parents and PTAs to write
letters to the Board of Education. Marney Jacobs reminded us that parents
should be included in the regulation writing as with FAA-RA. In response to a
comment, Traci said that all of this policy is technically on the books now
(vending machines, bake sales, etc. if conducted during school hours), but that
MCPS needs to address it and make the regulations more specific.
Traci
Fox made a motion that the Board of Directors ask the health committee to draft
a letter on our position on the wellness policy to be presented to the February
delegate assembly. It was passed on a voice vote.
Discussion included: standards
and healthy choices; better health statistics; random survey of Montgomery
County high school students like the state survey on high risk behaviors done last
year; Traci working with MCPS office of shared accountability on the letter to
parents re: this survey and need for it; PTA representative needed to sign on
to this letter to parents; Cindy needs to be given permission on behalf of our
organization to sign the letter to parents; and the question of implied
endorsement of the survey. The purpose of this anonymous survey is only to
collect data. A copy of survey is available on line. Traci Fox asked
Traci
Fox made a motion to ask Cindy Kerr to request a voice vote from the Board of
Directors to support allowing Cindy, on behalf of the MCCPTA, to ask parents to
sign permission for their students to participate in a random survey to collect
anonymous data on teen risk behaviors. It was passed by a voice vote.
Safety: Suzanne Weiss spoke for the committee in Pam
Moomau’s absence. Pam has been setting up meetings with key people at MCPS for
the subcommittees of the safety committee. There was a safety committee handout
at the delegate assembly. Safety committee concerns include pedestrian and bus
safety, and safe access planning. Pedestrian safety falls under transportation,
but none of their documents reference pedestrian safety at all. We’ve asked
them to firm up systems for bus drivers and route concerns, so that everything
is documented according to their driver code of conduct. Currently transportation
depots are too busy to write incidents up for bus drivers. There is a new
system of security cameras on buses. They are rotating them around so that all middle
schools are covered. We asked to find out who’s watching what’s filmed. The
answer is that they will review if there’s an incident. So far this year
there’s not been a review.
Our concern is that they have
tightened up bus driver to student incidents but, not student to student problems.
There are questions about whose realm of responsibility this is and is it an
all or none situation.
Questions about fighting at
the bus stop before school being were answered no. The only time it is a school
discipline issue is if it impacts something in the school. It’s a gray area.
The suggestion was made to talk to principals, and to clarify “door to door”
and parental responsibility. We’ll focus on safety and security issues with Ed
Clarke and Don Kress to try to find out a school policy list. Additional areas
of concern are code red and code blue parental notification and multiple
definitions for bullying causing enforcement problems. The focus on building
safety and security issues was discussed in regard to screening of employees
and not holding contractors to any standards. MCPS’s responsibility in
informing the community was raised by Andrea Bernardo representing the Rocky
Hill Middle School PTA resolution that was a result of a parent finding out
that a registered sex offender was working at more than one MCPS school site.
The discussion included authorization of principals to inform the community;
the practice of principals only informing the PTA president in confidence;
confidentiality versus public risk; parents need to know (e.g. knives, drugs,
etc.); students illegal activities, such as weapons, on Ride On Buses; lack of
background checks policy for contractors; and drafting legislation.
Diane
McHale made a motion to endorse the resolution brought by Rocky Hill Middle
School PTA (see below). It was seconded. The question was called after
discussion and passed. The resolution was endorsed by the Board of Directors by
a voice vote and will be presented to the Delegate Assembly this February.
Whereas,
MCPS is continually building, maintaining, modernizing, and expanding school
facilities,
Whereas,
such construction requires MCPS to use contractors and subcontractors not
affiliated with MCPS,
Whereas,
the above said contractors and subcontractors employ personnel at MCPS
facilities that come in direct or indirect contact with administrators, staff,
teachers, students, and community members,
Whereas,
MCPS requires criminal background checks to be performed for all individuals
employed by the school system so as to protect its personnel and children from
a variety of risks, including threat of physical harm,
Whereas,
MCPS is risking the safety of its students and employees y allowing potential
convicted
Felons,
including sex offenders, to work as employees of contractors performing
services at the schools,
Be it
Resolved that all contractors, and their subcontractors, who engage in
contracts with MCPS must provide proof of state and criminal background checks
for any and all employees who work for them at MCPS facilities;
Be it
Further Resolved, that individuals found to have been convicted of sex offenses
and other violent offenses be prohibited from working in any capacity at MCPS
facilities; and
Be it
Further Resolved, that MCPS impose sanctions on any contractors who fail to
abide by any policies prohibiting the employment of sex offenders and other
violent offenders at MCPS facilities.
Discussion included: MCPS
reluctance to deal with the issue; the push for legislation; MD PTA contact
with Nancy King re: legislation; and state and national implications.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was
adjourned at 10:06 PM.