General Meeting Minutes

Kendall Parent Teacher Association

1/28/2023| 1:46 pm  

Meeting called to order by 

President Noah Beckman

In Attendance

Noah Beckman (President); Shari McMahon (Vice President); Franklin Torres (Treasurer);  Genie Gertz (Secretary); Anna Ramach (Ex Officio); Jennelle Thomas (Liaison); Brandi TenEyck Martell, Kitty Monhan-Sewell, (Parent Representatives), Adam Maynard (Teacher Representatives). 

18 in attendance.

Agenda

1. Reports 

2. Old Business

3. Proposals 

4. Announcements

Reports

President Beckman

• Happy to have a meeting in person once again. The last in person meeting was January of 2020.

• Asked to approve for blessing to fill two last remaining board positions with Adam Maynard and Paulo Martell. Approved and now we have a full board.

• Shared about MPTA. MSSD PTA wants to be established. Will have a meeting on February 9th. Opportunity for KPTA to partner with.

• The Third General Meeting is scheduled for May 2nd and will be virtual. Will also host elections for positions within KPTA Board.

Vice President McMahon

• Want to host events, fundraisers for KPTA. Need to have committees and volunteers for this effort.

• A parent inquired what the goal and purpose are of such events. Jess Stultz shared an example where Kendall is required to implement PBIAS program schoolwide and KPTA is instrumental in providing prizes for the ROARS rallies as incentive for students.

• Another suggested having clear expectations outlined for activities planned so that all can know whether or not to commit and how to best support.

• Anna Ramach shared that KPTA needs to work on fundraising so that the monies are raised and available to support a plethora of events and activities for students.

• One fundraising suggestion was to support students who are not able to afford to purchase books during the book fair.

• Chris Sewell suggested developing a list and budget for the year on what the goals and needs are so to strategically plan and prioritize.

 Treasurer Torres

• Stepped in to replace the former treasurer, Gregg McConville Jr (on November 29, 2022)

• Current balance in account is $10,999.31

• Made the necessary changes on the bank account in terms of names. Working on finalize to ensure that the account is current reflecting current positions

• AmazonSmile will cease their donations nationwide, including KPTA

• The list of members will need to be updated following the membership drive.

• Shared the list of past events and discussed how we should use the previous list to plan the budget for the rest of the year. A couple of events would need to have more advance planning, such as ASL Day, Touch-A-Truck, and was suggested to plan for 2024. The committees need to be established 6-months prior to the event.

• Update on theft situation is something Chad Taylor is working on

  • We won the case and have settled. Now they need to work on paperwork on collecting information on assets. Then COVID happened. So will need to follow up on this once again to have a payment plan established per agreement.

 Ex Officio Ramach Report

• Carrie Robarge is back to KDES in the role of librarian. Welcome!

  • Will host Scholastic Book Fair to take place the week of February 27th.

• Student Health Services now have a new Director, Dr. James Huang

• COVID 19 Protocol and Safety updates were shared with all via email.

• Library will be renovated and relocated. Will not have one designated space but spread out throughout the school. Will do surveys to gauge the interest for furniture selection. The goal is to have this project completed by August of 2023.

Teacher Liaison Thomas Report

• Winter Extravaganza was hosted for the first time ever and was very successful.

• Shared updates from Family Education Department

  • Will have “Meet the Author, Becky Gage” event on February 11th

  • Will have “Watch Party - The Last of Us” on February 12th

  • 8th graders will host Hot Breakfast event on February 14th

• Have a wishlist for KPTA to raise funds for events, school supplies, and materials.

• Always sends out Family Weekly Newsletter as a resource for parents and community outreach.

New Business:

• Motion: Mickie Bruton moved for KDES PTA to resume the yearly membership fee, starting in the school year of 2023-2024, seconded by Shari McMahon. (All in favor. Passed)

• Motion: Mickie Bruton moved to have a committee of at least three KPTA members to maintain KPTA’s website and links, seconded by Chris Sewell. It was agreed that the Vice-President who is responsible for committees will oversee that.

• Motion: Mickie Bruton moved to have all of the approved meeting minutes to be posted on KPTA’s website and be accessible to the public, seconded by Chris Sewell. All in general agreement.

• Motion: Mickie Bruton moved for KDES swimming pool to be accessible to KDES’ general audience, not be limited to ASP (After School Program). The motion was tabled.

• Motion: Carrie Robarge moved for KPTA to donate 200 dollars sponsoring students who are not able to buy books and for new teachers (who have been teaching for less than five years) for their wish list(s), seconded by Anna Ramarch. 

  • Amendment: Anna Ramach amended that this is specifically for Kendall 2023 Scholastic Book Fair, seconded by Kitty Monhan-Sewell. All in favor, passed.

  • Main motion passed with all in favor.

• Request: Carrie Robarge shared the need for families to volunteer for the Kendall 2023 Scholastic Book Fair from February 27th to March 3rd. Carrie will send a sign-up form through Google. Those who are also interested in volunteering can email Carrie at carrie.robarge@gallaudet.edu

• Motion: Shari McMahon made the motion for establishment of a little library where KPTA could provide materials and MSSD students could build the little library and KDES students could paint the library, seconded by Kitty Monhan-Sewell. Motion tabled.

Announcements

Next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 2nd, in the evening.

President Noah Beckman adjourned the meeting at 3:12pm.

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Genie Gertz