December General Meeting Draft Minutes

Written By Justin Stoller

Vestal General PTA Meeting

December 9th 6:30-7:30pm

1 In Attendance

Board members present

Jake Sepulveda, Justin Stoller, Steve Pagenstecher, Emma Koehler, Reece Nitschke

Community present

Sarah N*, Danny & Beth H*, David Jones*, Kristen H*, Kelly S*, Christina M*, Paige, Jessica

* Member

2 Welcome

Meeting convened at 6:35 by President Jake.

3 Minutes

Minutes from the last General Meeting, held November 11th, were accepted without amendment.

4 Principal Update

Sabrina was absent, no update.

5 Treasurer’s Report

  • Closed our US Bank account last month; reconciliation is in progress.

  • Movie night did well, we will probably break even this year on Movie Nights if the trend holds.

  • Wreath costs haven’t been deducted yet, but once they are we should be right on budget.

  • We are on budget in general if not a little ahead.

  • Book fair is also doing well - 8 classroom requests so far for a total of $300,

6 Upcoming Events

December

January

7 New Business

  • Jake moved to purchase a Bee themed bag for proposed calm bags for each classroom. Motion seconded; passed.

8 Guest Speaker - David Jones

David Jones, current Vestal PTA member, former Vestal PTA President, current OPTA President-Elect spoke about proposed school budget cuts locally and across the state.

  • PPS faced a $30M cut last year, $40M this year, possibly $50M next.

  • The State is facing a nearly billion short fall and is facing massive cuts over the next 3-5 years.

  • Lawmakers don’t seem to have the drive to change funding.

  • These cuts will potentially drive school consolidations, etc.

  • Writing and reaching out to lawmakers will definitely have an effect. Attending budget meetings and saying we’re from Vestal will help to make Vestal less of a target for consolidation. Make your voice heard.

  • Visit the OPTA website to receive emails regarding legislative updates and tools. The OPTA is often invited to these meetings as an emotional example of the real costs of these cuts.

  • Please feel free to reach out to David personally if you have more questions.

9 Announcements

  • We need volunteers for Pancake Breakfast. $5 per person or $10 per family suggested donation, 9-11am. January 10th.

  • We are actively recruiting for next year’s PTA Board members!

  • Bingo Boards for the Book Fair are going great. We still need a volunteer for Friday doors, and potentially cleanup.

  • Tree planting & community care day this Saturday. Will be planting trees in the outdoor classroom and cleaning around the school. 9-12, lunch and tools provided by Depave.

  • Green team is meeting with Grow Portland next wednesday.

  • PTA clothing volunteers needed January 5th 9:30-1:30. The shifts can be split between individuals.

  • The next movie night in January 16th; we will show “In your Dreams”. RSVP for Pizza coming again.

  • We received a $500 grant from the NPTA for additional food support for our community. Thanks to Kristen for helping with that. Looking to distribute it via Ms. Em or the Food Pantry.

  • We also received a grant for 40ish fire alarms to be distributed via Ms. Em as well.

  • Montavilla Farmer’s Market is thinking about moving to Vestal, may require some letter writing in the future.

10 Open Discussion

Should the PTA host a letter writing night? A phone your congressperson night? Despite the heaviness of some of the topics tonight, it's great how much we work together and can come together to do so much good stuff!

11 Closing

The meeting was adjourned by Jake at 7:30pm. We hope to see everyone at our next PTA meeting on January 12th!

Justin Stoller
Next

November General Meeting Draft Minutes