MINUTES OF THE MCCPTA EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
Thursday, September 1, 2005 at the Carver Educational
ATTENDANCE:
Officers: Cindy Kerr, Shirley Brandman, Victor Salazar, Jinhee
Wilde, Sharon St. Pierre, Liz Wheeler, April Keyes, Juan Johnson (interim
treasurer)
Area Vice Presidents and
Cluster Coordinators: Ted Willard,
Jim Keenan, Marney Jacobs, Jane deWinter, Deborah Stevens-Panzer, Lilo Mitz,
Deborah DeMille-Wagman, Mark Rother, Phil Kaufman, Karen Smith, Roseanne Hurwitz, Ellen Paul, Suzanne
Weiss
Committee Chairs: Patti Twigg, Vicki Rafel, Neal Myerson, Anne Turner,
Tracy Fox, Tom Murphy, Diane McHale, Gloria Selas-Kos, Vicky Strella, Kay
Romero, Pam Moomau
OPENNING BUSINESS:
Call to Order: MCCPTA President Cindy Kerr called the meeting to
order at 7:36 PM. Cindy Kerr asked to entertain a motion for a moment of
silence on behalf of the children impacted by hurricane Katrina.
April
Keyes made a motion for us to observe a moment of silence on behalf of the
victims of hurricane Katrina. It was seconded and carried on a voice vote..
Meeting Minutes: The August 25, 2005 executive board meeting minutes were
not distributed. Liz Wheeler apologized
for not having written copies of the minutes, and gave an oral summation of the
last week’s meeting: including the approval of the July executive board meeting
minutes; motion to approve Kay Romero and Pam Moomau to serve as alternates for
Traci Fox to the Citizens Advisory Committee; motion to approve an additional
$1,000 for a two year audit; approval of executive board resolution on
directories as amended; appointment of Cindy Kerr’s recommendations for
committee chairs on a ballot vote; motion for recommendation from the executive
board for a May 2006 Delegate Assembly meeting; feedback and discussion on
policy ABA and Marilyn Ryan, Rules/Procedures Chair and Bernadette Forman VP
for Councils MD PTA spoke on how councils operate.
Treasurer’s Report:
Juan Johnson distributed the
MCCPTA’s, Inc. Profit and Loss Budget vs. Actual for July 2004 through June
2005and the unofficial proposed budget for 2005-2006. The report will be filed
for audit. He also reported that the audit is slower than expected. The budget
is not in balance. We must carry about $24,000 annually to pre-pay insurance
for the locals. It takes about a year to get that money back. Article XIV of our bylaws states that we must pass the budget at
the first delegate assembly of the fiscal year (September). The bylaws
are silent on the executive board having to approve the budget before it goes
to the delegate assembly. Options were discussed including dues, membership and
business partnerships. Juan will look at the budget further.
Suzanne Weiss
made a motion that Juan present this budget or something close to it with the
understanding that we
don’t want
a false bottom to it. The motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.
Juan reported on his
representation of MCCPTA at the press conference at the opening of the new
middle school magnet programs (Argyle, Parkland and Loiderman) at Loiderman MS.
He spoke with two of the new business partners. We’ve been invited to have an
executive board meeting at Strathmore to find out what Strathmore can do for
us. There will be a new middle school core curriculum developed.
OFFICERS’ REPORTS:
President:
Cindy Kerr thanked the board
and officers for helping her during her husband’s hospitalization and
recuperation. Cindy Kerr summarized the concept high school meeting. Changes
will be made for high schools in general, so there are broad implications for all
high school students. Cindy will meet with the superintendent next week to
discuss our concerns. Development and its impact on schools was
discussed. MCPS has a new communication tool called Quick Notes. It’s a monthly
electronic e-mail newsletter featuring news on MCPS sponsored events, Board of
Education highlights, emergency announcements, etc. It’s available in 6
different languages and you can personalize your area of interest (ESOL,
consortiums. etc.) MCCPTA will continue to participate with the TV channel with
Aggie Alvarez. MCCPTA will not participate in press conferences if we’ve not
been involved in the process and if it’s not focused on the success of
children. Banners will be purchased for the podium and back of the auditorium
to show the MCCPTA logo. Fedex Kinko’s and Office Depot have been contacted by
Vice President –
Educational Issues:
Shirley Brandman thanked
those committee chairs that attended training this evening before our executive
board meeting. The purpose was to clarify expectations for committee chairs.
We’re trying to use advocacy priorities for proactive work. Shirley cited Alies
Muskin’s parent run for parents conference for high
schools on Nov. 12. Alies is looking for parents to respond to new research,
college preparation, smaller learning communities, AP, IB, learning academies,
HSAs and graduation rates. And, what does this all mean for your child? Alies
would like to recruit high school PTSA presidents or others to help her with
this conference. CIP testimony is Nov. 9 and 10.
Vice President –
Administration:
Victor Salazar reported that
6 area meetings were held this summer. Thanks to all the AVPs and cluster
coordinators who helped with these meetings and shared their concerns. Council
officers met with the state PTA on July 9 and attended state training July 30.
A concept high school meeting was attended by MCCPTA, MCPS and representatives
of the 6 clusters involved. The CIP committee had a retreat with Bruce
Crispell, and Victor attended, too. There is a vacancy for the membership
committee chair. The state is now requiring that councils report monthly
membership numbers of each local PTA.
Vice President –
Legislation:
Jinhee Wilde noted possible
ways for MCCPTA to establish a relationship with the state delegation: a
November meet and greet with the state delegates or just the chair of the
Senate and House delegation for a briefing of upcoming legislation; an informal
meet and greet with the delegates and the Board of Education; a holiday
(December) or February meet and greet in the county council building. She
suggested this local site would have a better turn out than going to
Vice President - Programs:
Sharon St. Pierre made a motion to support “Project Quality Time”
by disseminating information about it by asking
PTA presidents, Area Vice Presidents and
Cluster Coordinators to promote it. The motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.
A motion was made by Ted Willard to include the addition of the procedure
for bringing a resolution (standing rule already in place) on the back of the
protocol sheet. It was seconded and carried on a voice vote.
Recording Secretary:
An oral summary of the six area
meetings for this summer was presented. During the meetings Cindy addressed her
solutions for bylaws issues, and Shirley reviewed grading and reporting. Topics
included: safety, middle school curriculum, academic ineligibility, diversity
of membership, reaching under represented populations, the
rigor of curriculum, boundaries, facilities, modernizations and renovations.
Corresponding Secretary:
April Keyes had three
meetings with the advisory committee for diversity training. There is an instructional video
to be used for training for administrators and teachers. It is a work in
progress. She’d like for us to see the video. The NAACP parent council will
meet at Kennedy HS on Wednesday, Sept. 14 from 7 to 9 PM.
AGENDA ITEMS:
Old Business:
Policy FAA was discussed. A
motion to make an amendment to the past resolution on Policy FAA was
distributed by Jim Keenan and Marney Jacobs.
Jim Keenan made
a motion to amend the past resolution so that it reads:
MCCPTA
further resolves that this work group will participate with the MCPS Division
of Long Range Planning in developing “long range educational facilities
planning regulations” to implement the FAA-RA policy. Through this process the
work group will publicly identify those portions of the policy they believe
should remain policy, and will develop specific regulatory language to address
provisions relating to public participation and other MCCPTA concerns. This
work group will keep the MCCPTA Executive Board informed throughout the
process, and will hold meetings throughout the county to further engage and
solicit input from parents, PTAs and the general public.
The
motion was seconded.
Ted
Willard made a motion to amend the resolution by deleting all but the last
paragraph as amended and read. (See
below.)
The MCCPTA Executive Board
resolves that a work group consisting of 6 AVP’s or representatives, the CIP
Co-Chairs and two Executive Board Officers will participate with the MCPS
Division of Long Range Planning in developing “long-range educational
facilities planning regulations” to implement the FAA-RA policy. Through this
process the work group will publicly identify those portions of the policy they
believe should remain policy. This work group will develop specific regulatory
language to address provisions relating to public participation and other
MCCPTA concerns. This work group will hold meetings throughout the County to
further engage and solicit input from parents, PTAs and the general public. The
MCCPTA members of this work group will keep the MCCPTA Executive Board informed
throughout the process, and make specific recommendations as to what changes
the Board of Education should make when they review Policy FAA.
The motion was seconded and carried on a voice
vote.
New Business:
The NEC Roscoe Nix school naming issue was discussed. Phil Kaufman gave
background information. The Board of Education’s actions and policy for naming
schools is questioned by the community, not the name itself. Phil will bring
back a letter at the October meeting.
The County Council budget
priorities hearing will be on Sept. 13. Cindy Kerr will testify. Written
comments are due Sept. 6. Our position goes along with the compact. Discussion
included the implications of the new high school, and class size reductions
that may have been changed from 2 to 1.
Cindy noted that the Oct. 6
executive board date conflicted with an operating budget forum.
Victor Salazar
made a motion to change the date of the next executive board meeting from Oct.
6 to Sept. 29.
The motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote.
Written notices of the change
of date will be mailed tomorrow.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Grading and Reporting:
Shirley Brandman gave a quick
update. Principals must identify a staff point person at each school by the
third or fourth week of this month. The PTSA president also needs to be a point
of referral to help parents or they can identify another parent to be the
contact. Homework can count for up to 10%.
Reflections:
Neal Myerson said that
Reflections brochures had been mailed from MD PTA, and that they are on the state website.
Cultural Arts:
The Cultural Arts Chair
position is still vacant.
Bylaws:
Vicki Rafel said that the
bylaws committee will meet on Sept. 7 at 7:30 PM in the CES cafeteria.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was
adjourned at 9:53 PM.