PTO Meeting Minutes

March 14, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm. There were 20 people in attendance.

● President’s Welcome

Nancy Martin welcomed everyone to the March PTO Meeting and thanked them for coming.

● Approval on Minutes

Nancy asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the January 10th meeting. A motion was made and seconded. There were no amendments brought forward. A vote was taken. Motion was approved to accept the minutes as published.

● President’s Statement

2007-2008 PTO Board

Nancy announced that it was time to start planning for next year’s PTO Board. She encouraged anyone interested in serving on the Board to contact her. She would like to announce the candidates at April’s meeting with the election scheduled for May.

● Principal’s Report

Principal McCarthy welcomed staff members, Shelley Wainrib, Special Education Teacher for Kindergarten and 1st Grade, and Cathy Mulcahy, Speech and Language Teacher. She thanked them both for attending.

Mrs. McCarthy also took the opportunity to thank the volunteers that helped in the library while Mrs. St. Germain recovered from surgery. She named the following individuals: Laura Brilliant-Giangrande, Tiffany Madden, Dorothy Relyea, Elaine Barbato, Beth Zimmer, Cheri Ritchey and Ruby Ng. Because of their combined efforts, all classes were able to visit the library as scheduled during Mrs. St. Germain’s absence.

New Spanish Teacher

Mrs. McCarthy announced that Senor Lewis has taken over for Senora Montione during her maternity leave. Mr. Lewis previously taught Spanish at the high school level and has recently returned to teaching. Mrs. McCarthy advised that he is already popular among the students.

Field Trip Policies and Procedures

Mrs. McCarthy stated that a number of questions have been raised about field trip policies and how chaperones are chosen. She stated that not all field trips require chaperones. If they are required, parents have the opportunity to be entered into a lottery. If the parent has already served as a chaperone during the school year, their name is removed from the pool unless there are not enough volunteers.

Mrs. McCarthy also assured parents that there are safety protocols in place in the event of an emergency. There are radios on all the buses and Mrs. Bearce always has the cell phone number of at least one person on each bus. In response to a question about using the restrooms during field trips, Mrs. McCarthy responded that most places are now equipped with family bathrooms which alleviates the problem of chaperones having bring all students in the ladies’ rooms, etc. She also pointed out that there are many fathers going on field trips and some chaperones schedule meeting times to have fully supervised restroom breaks.

● Treasurer’s Report

Karen Connolly briefly went over the updated budget. She noted that checks were received for both the BIT Auction and the community calendars. The final number for Cookie Dough/Joe Corbi came in less than the forecasted amount at $1,896.50. Karen said that the Board had increased this to $3,200 this year. In response to questions, Karen stated that Classic Cookie Dough, the previous vendor, netted $2,565 in 2006 with a profit margin of 40%. Joe Corbi’s had a different profit margin. Per Elaine, each pizza kit made $5.50 (25-30.5% profit margin, as stated by Karen) and each cookie dough made $5.00 (39% profit margin as stated by Karen). If more products were sold the profit margin would have gone up by $.25 or more per product depending on the total sold.

Karen pointed out that BEAP’s profit is overstated on the budget since the instructors and monitors have not been paid. Burrell Family Fun Day came in slightly under budget and the custodian fee has not yet been paid. However, Karen pointed out the money was invested in new items this year to revamp the event. These items will be used again in the future.

After reviewing the budget, a question was asked about the student activities account which appears under both income and expense. Karen responded that this is the principal’s account and the PTO holds the money for her. Mrs. McCarthy added that she is looking to purchase a sound system with some of these funds which would be used by the drama program as well as other events.

Non Profit Status

Karen reported that the 54 page application for non profit status was sent to the IRS in mid January. She has received a confirmation of receipt. Once the IRS has reviewed the application, there are three possible outcomes: 1) the application is correct and is approved within 60 days, 2) the application has minor errors or omissions (10 or less) and an agent will contact Karen and resolve the issues, or 3) the application has major issues (15 errors or more) and a special agent will assigned to work with Karen. In the event option 3 should occur, she has been advised that the IRS is six to eight months behind in applications. Karen will advise members when notified.

SchoolPop

Karen advised that she has filed a proof of claim with the bankruptcy court. She requested $170 for the checks from SchoolPop that were returned for insufficient funds as well as the subsequent bank charges of $20. A response should be received by the end of the school year.

Unclaimed Money

Karen has discovered that the Burrell School was listed on the state’s unclaimed money list. After further investigation, she found out that $31.59 was issued by the Coca Cola Company. She will do the necessary paperwork to claim these funds.

Membership Fees

Karen reported that the membership fees for PTO Today were $50 higher than anticipated. The first year was $99 and then the fee increases to $149. The membership enables the PTO to purchase discounted insurance as well as providing excellent resources for fundraising, financial tools and other ideas. Karen requested a motion to vote for an additional $50 in the budget to cover the membership fees. A motion was made and seconded. A vote was taken and the motion was approved.

Bank Accounts

Karen advised that all the accounts have been moved to Dedham Savings. The Banknorth account is still open and has four checks outstanding. She asked anyone that has a PTO check to please cash it so this account can be closed as soon as possible.

● Committee Reports

Art Show – Vice President Elaine Barbato stated that the art teachers are starting to prepare for the Annual Art Show which is scheduled for Wednesday, May 2nd. A number of volunteers are needed in four areas: mounting art work, hanging the mounted art work, decorations, and promotion. Signup sheets were available for all. Please contact Elaine if interested.

BEAP - Elaine reported for Chairpersons Joan Bradley and Nancy McNeil. BEAP is in progress and will run through March 22nd. The initial enrollment was approximately 200 children and an additional 40 signed up in the second round. Joan informed Elaine that the program has run smoothly to date. A question was asked whether the Wednesday classes will have a makeup due to the cancellation on February 14th. Elaine has since confirmed that there will be no makeup classes.

BIT Auction – Chairperson Terese Todd reported that the BIT Auction Committee has started to plan for the auction in November. Last year the Taylor added a raffle in the spring to kickoff the event. Over $9,000 was made on tickets sales and a Jimmy Buffet concert package was given away. Terese stated that due to the success of last year’s raffle the Burrell needs to decide if it should be repeated this year. She stated that she has received a donation of a pair of 3rd row tickets for the Jimmy Buffet concert at Gillette Stadium this September. She asked for someone to step forward to head the raffle ticket sales. Marilyn Weiss and Traci Lorenz volunteered to chair this sub-committee.

A discussion occurred about the price of the raffle tickets and it was agreed that $10 per ticket was a more reasonable price than the $20 that was charged last year. A number of other suggestions were made and will be brought back to the committee for consideration. Terese thanked Marilyn and Traci for committing to the event and appreciated everyone’s input.

Box Tops for Education – Elaine updated members on behalf of Committee Member Cindy Venuto. The second Box Tops contest has now begun and will continue through April 13th. Mrs. Guerino’s 2nd grade class won the first contest with 558 and has elected to have a game party accompanied by healthy snacks. The classroom will keep the games as part of the reward. Elaine encouraged members to continue to send in the Box Tops with their children. The winner of the second contest will be announced after April Vacation.

Burrell Family Fun Day - Committee Co-chairperson Traci Lorenz stated that last Saturday’s Fun Day was a success. She thanked all the many people that stepped forward to help out. She also thanked co-chair Nancy Martin for helping her revamp the event. Fun Day made less than in previous years due to the new equipment and supplies that were purchased. Traci reminded everyone that this event is not intended to be a fundraiser and that these items will be reused in the future.

Co-Chair Nancy Martin reported that the Board of Health required the committee to pull a permit. She learned that the PTO must obtain a permit for any event that serves food and is open to the public. Certain sanitary measures must be in place, such as aprons, hair nets, gloves, etc. Upon inspection on Saturday the committee received an excellent rating. The permit is good until next December. Nancy also thanked the volunteers for their tremendous support.

Campbell Soup Labels – On behalf of Chairperson Laura O’Neill, Elaine encouraged members to continue to send in Campbell soup labels with the UPC code to earn points for our school. Laura has submitted applications which will award 500 points for each community service program. She entered four of the PTO’s programs as there is a 2,000 point maximum per school. The programs selected were reading incentive program, the Thanksgiving baskets, the coat drive and the anti-bully program. Per Elaine, Laura will be submitting another batch of labels in May. Going forward only labels with the UPC code with logos are eligible.

Cookie Dough/Joe Corbi’s - Chairperson Elaine Barbato reported that the Joe Corbi’s products were delivered on February 27th. The original delivery date of February 15th was delayed by the vendor due to weather. She confirmed that fundraiser made $1896.50. Elaine stated the new fundraiser did “okay” in its first try at the Burrell with 63 orders, although it did not bring in the projected $3200. Elaine stated that there were 369 products ordered but the percentage earned from Joe Corbi’s was not as high as Classic Cookie which was last year’s vendor. In eliminating the Ward’s Berry Farm pies and replacing the cookie dough vendor with a company with more products, the Board anticipated that sales would be higher and made the decision to increase the budget to $3,200. As discussed previously, the profit margin was not as high as Elaine hoped.

Elaine thanked Nancy Brady, Colleen Chadwick, Pam Freitas, Lauren Schmall, Kathy Young, Ellen Feldman, and Kelly Cutillo for their help with both tallying and/or sorting the orders. .

A question was posed to the Board about a possibility of doing a survey to find out if the vendor should be used again. Discussion ensued about the validity of a survey and how to decide if the fundraiser should be repeated. The outcome was divided as to whether a survey should be sent out at this time. The Board will review this matter.

Fourth Grade Outing – Nancy advised that Chairperson Maura Sweeney has booked the date for the annual 4th Grade Outing. It is scheduled for June 6th with a rain date of June 11th. A deposit has been made to Dedham Racquet Time. Nancy reminded 4th Grade parents that they are invited to go to this outing for a fee. It has always been a great time for the students as well as the parents who are able to attend.

Funding Factory/Technology – In Chairperson Maria Kerrigan’s absence, Elaine reported that an automatic projection wall screen has been purchased in the amount of $1,289 with Technology money received from Funding Factory. The screen is in the process of being installed in the auditorium. Elaine thanked everyone for sending in their old cell phones and printer cartridges to earn money for Technology. Maria is also looking for photos from school events to add to the slide show. Please contact Maria if you have photos to share.

Got Books? – Nancy gave the update for Chairperson Laura O’Neill. The donation bin has arrived and is located next to the upper parking area. The company accepts all used books, videos, CD’s, DVD’s, audio books, and game boards/puzzles. They do not accept encyclopedias and magazines. The bin is at the school until June 22nd. A tub has been placed in the lobby for children to place their book donations so that they do not have to cross the driveway. Flyers went home in backpacks to all Burrell students. Upon approval of the superintendent’s office, it will also go home to the Taylor, Igo and Ahern students. Got Books? will pay $100 per ton. All proceeds will be given to the Children’s Department at the Boyden Library. For more information on Got Books?, please go to www.gotbooks.com.

Playground – Committee Member Karen Connolly gave an update on progress on playground development. The committee has created a strategy for developing a long term plan which includes four phases: Research, to be done in March/April, goal setting (April), developing a long term plan (May), and execution (June and beyond).