School Board Comments – October 2011

Oct 122011
 

Comments to the ISD board October 2011

I would like to share 3 topics with the Board tonight

1)    We are very happy that the Bond date has been pushed to April and now feel we are on track to succeed with a timeline to educate and inform on the issues related to schools and the bond. It will also allow the Bond Team of ISD, VIS and PTSA to formulate an effective strategy to pass the bond which was one of our Council goals.

2)    Earlier this week we had a great meeting of our local unit presidents and their principals to ensure we are all playing our position on the great field of education for our students, parents and teachers. At this meeting every year ~ new information always crops up from the wisdom in the room to make each unit and school a great place to be.

3)    PTA leg assembly is coming up this weekend and Issaquah has a fantastic showing of delegates from our grassroots memberships to discuss and vote on our platform for the coming year.

Issues include with their ranking in importance from 1-5 with 5 being the most important from the initial Issaquah survey results:

Opportunity Gap 4.25

Eliminate the states achievement gap and create equitable opportunities for all children.

Juvenile Justice 3.88

Keep children in school and out of prisons: protect them from being locked up with adults and give them appropriate intervention they need.

Highly capable 3.84

Ensure highly capable K-12 children receive an appropriate education by eliminating accessibility barriers to programs.

Early Learning 3.82

Get more 3&4 year olds into high-quality programs and help them transition into kindergarten.

Charter Schools 2.94

Drive innovation and accountability in public education by allowing the operation of public charter schools.

Compensation 1.54

A rewording of a research-based state compensation model that emphasizes rewarding teacher effectiveness in improved student learning to one that says policies that reward teachers for academic credit and degrees as well as years of service.

School Board Comments – September 2011

Sep 142011
 

Good evening, my name is Caroline Brown. I am the new co-president for the Issaquah PTSA Council for the 2011 2012 school year. I will be sharing the role with Janine Kotan who did such a fabulous job last year.

Our theme this year is: “Building for the future” this not only represents the structural improvements in our schools around the district but the curricular ones with the new science implementation in elementary and the adoptions of new materials and curriculum in High schools. Our logo is of building blocks in all shapes and sizes working together.

We have shortened our mission to the following:

The mission of the Issaquah PTSA Council is to advocate for students at the local and state level and to support our member units with particular focus on helping them adopt Best Practices and develop leadership. 

We hope to one day to reach where it can be bumper sticker phrase….

Also I would like to share with you the goals the Council Board of Directors and General Membership have approved to be our guiding thoughts for the year.

Goal # 1 Actively support and reinforce advocacy efforts at all levels.

We need to remember that advocacy goes beyond legislation. Our association is at heart, one of advocacy….

Goal #2 Provide ideas to our local units to engage and collaborate with teachers.

We need to support our units as they work with the T in PTSA to support and encourage their work with our students.

Goal #3 Encourage, record, and recognize training completed by our local units.

At a State level the association passed recommendations for board members of LU PTSA to attend training. Many local units have considerable budget and responsibilities and we want to ensure they are run in the best way possible.

Goal #4 Work with our community to pass the ISD bond in February 2012.

Do we really have to explain that one! We don’t want to think about what our school will be like unless this happens.

Goal #5 Determine areas of opportunity and improvement based on student and parent perceptions.

We still feel that parents and students would like an avenue to voice their thoughts on schools. There is an itch that still need to be scratched with feed back to a 3rd party not necessarily the school district.

Goal #6 Develop a plan to support our local units in the outreach to their community members.

As an association we want to strive to see our local units be a mirror image of the communities that they serve. So by having plans and support we hope to slowly move towards that goal.

With all those themes and goals in mind we would love to invite you to come to a General Membership meeting to see the work of the council as it is “Building for the future” in our community.

Presidents’ To-Do List – September

Sep 082011
 

Action Items:

  1. Drug Free Community Coalition-The Issaquah Community Network is looking for a parent to participate in this coalition.  The commitment is for 6 monthly meetings.  The meetings are the fourth Monday of each month, beginning September 26th from 6:30-8:00pm.  Please let Janine or Caroline know if you are interested.
  2. High School Common Schedule-You can give input to the district on this topic on the district website ISD.  (While there is not a link for feedback yet, it should be there as soon as the committee starts work on September 21st.)
  3. Voting Delegates- Please send you council voting delegate forms to Kimberly Montague if you have not done so already.  You should have received the blank form via email.
  4. Art Update – The September art update is online at Issaquah PTSA Council – Art Docent Program.  Please contact Vicki Hoffman if you have any questions.
  5. PTA & the Law- Register your unit for any of the 4 upcoming Region 2 PTA & the Law classes.  You can find the registration form in your Leadership packet or online:  http://www.wastatepta.org/regions/region_2/region_calendar.html
  6. Membership Training:  This roundtable style training will be held on Thursday September 22nd from 9:00-11:00 in ISD Board Rooms B-C.
  7. Membership- Make sure to remind your Membership Chair and Treasurer about the October 25th deadline for the first membership payment.   Also, the first deadline for membership awards is September 30th.  To receive your bronze award, you must have 50% of last year’s membership (#) into the state system.
  8. Membership Benefits- 20% discount on Hertz car rental by using code #1929580 and free enrollment in the Hertz #1 gold club program ($60 fee waived to members).  Office Max 10% certain items off by showing your membership card.  All details on benefits are available on the state and national website login~ Together password ~ WeCan (case sensitive)
  9. Local Unit chairs-If you have not done so already please email the names of the following chairs to the appropriate Council chair:
  1. ISF-Please send a check to ISF for the “3 Things” postcard in the amount of $75.20.
  2.  Legislative Assembly- We would like to see at least two people from every unit attend Leg Assembly on October 14th and 15th.  Please let:  Ken or Alison know who is attending from your unit so they can coordinate.
  3. Legislative Survey- The survey is now live.  Follow the link to take the survey- Legislative Issues Survey.  Although Washington State PTA has attempted to get the survey out to all members, they would have only sent it to members who have an email address in their system.  If you like, you can forward the survey to your members in any way you see fit in order to assure that they all receive it.
  4. PTA History- You can find out more about PTA’s history on the National PTA History page.  You can also view a slide show about Washington State PTA history on the WA State PTA website.  If you would like to show the PowerPoint that was shown at the GM meeting, you can borrow the disc from Janine or look for more information to follow regarding where you can access it online.

New Information

  1. Pay Pal Resource document will follow in a separate email as soon as I have it.
  2. Reserve Calculation information also to follow.
  3. I am working on creating a Roberts Rules “Cheat Sheet” and will send that out soon as well.

Best Practice Moment

SEPTEMBER

            What are Best Practices?

A checklist of items that a local unit should follow to be the best PTA unit they can be.

            Why Best Practices?

To guide our PTAs to be child focused, fiscally responsible, practice fiduciary responsibility, knowledgeable, involved, and well trained.  Following Best Practices makes earning the Standards of Excellence award easier to apply for and receive.

           Where is the Best Practices Checklist?

It is found on the back cover of the Leadership Handbook

Standards of Excellence awards form: read instructions very carefully and follow them exactly.  Only include what is asked for and in the way it is asked for.

Collection List for September (keep in a folder you won’t lose)

  • minutes of general meeting where goals were approved
  • minutes from general meeting where budget was approved
  • minutes from general meeting where standing rules were approve
  • minutes from general meeting where financial review results were presented
  • copy of registration for Region 2 conferences – Mid-Year from Feb. of previous school year AND Back to School of this school year
  • newsletter article showing award recognition for any or all of these 3 awards: Golden Acorn, Outstanding Advocate, Outstanding Educator from previous school year
  • minutes from general meeting where officers were elected from previous school year
  • copy of registration for State Convention from previous school year

Calendar of Events

Sep 042011
 

Planning Calendar

Sep 012011
 

Year-at-a-Glance

August

19 Fri-20 Sat All Day Adv. Leadership Conference Yakima
4 Thurs 10:00am Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office
18 Thurs 12:00-3:00 Council Board Retreat JK Home
25 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office
25 Thurs 5:30-9:30pm Reg 2 Back2School Conference Skyline HS
30 Tues First Day of School

 September

1 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting ISD Board Rm C
5 Mon Labor Day-No School
8 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting ISD Board Rm B&C
21 Wed 6:30-9:30 PTA & the Law Skyline Library
22 Thurs 9:00-11:00 Membership Training ISD Board Rm B&C
24 Sat 9:00-12:00 PTA & the Law Chief Kanim MS
27 Tues 9:00-12:00 PTA & the Law Bellevue WISC
29 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office

October

6 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting Eagle Room – Police
11 Tues 10:00-12:00 PTA & the Principal ISD Board Rm A-C
13 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting ISD Board Rm B&C
14 Fri-15 Sat All Day Legislative Assembly SeaTac Marriott
18 Tues 9:00-12:00 PTA & the Law Lk Wa Admin
27 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office

November

3 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting Eagle Room – Police
10 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting ISD Board Rm B&C
11 Fri Veterans Day-No School
17 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office
25-26 Thanksgiving Holiday-No School

December

1 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting Eagle Room – Police
8 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting ISD Board Rm B&C
15 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office
19-Jan 2 First Winter Break-No School

January

5 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting Eagle Room
10 Tues 6:30pm Council Reflections Reception Issaquah High
12 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting ISD Board Rm B&C
16 Monday Martin Luther King Jr. Day-No School
26 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office
17 Tues 9:30-11:30 Nominating Committee Training ISD Board Rm B&C

February

2 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting ISD Board Rm C
9 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting Our Savior Church
12 Sat 8:30-12:15 Region 2 Mid-Year Conference Overlake School
20 Mon All Day Focus Day Olympia
20-24 Second Winter Break-No School
29 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office

March

1 Thurs State PTA Awards Deadline
1 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting ISD Board Rm C
8 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting Our Savior Church
27 Tues 6:30-8:30pm Council Awards Reception PCMS Commons
29 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office

April

5 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting Our Savior Church
9-13 Spring Break-No School
19 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting ISD Board Rm B&C
26 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office 

May

3 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting Our Savior Church
4-6 All Day State PTA Convention SeaTac
10 Thurs 11:00 ISF NEM Luncheon Iss Community Ctr
17 Thurs 9:15-11:00 Council General Meeting Tibbetts Manor
17 Thurs 11:30-1:00 Council Transition Luncheon Tibbetts Manor
24 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office
25-28 Memorial Day Holiday-No School
31 Thurs 9:30-11:30 Council Board Meeting ISD Board Rm C 

June

7 Thurs 9:15-12:00 Council General Meeting ISD Board Rm B&C
7 Thurs 11:00 Council Training ISD Board Rm B&C
14 Thurs Last Day of School
21 Thurs 9:00 Superintendent Meeting Dr. R’s Office

 

School Board meetings are typically on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month.  They begin at 7pm at the District Admin Bldg with public input.  The Council makes remarks at the 1st board meeting of the month.

 

TBD dates and locations will be finalized as soon as possible.



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