Category Archives: Presidents’ To-Do

Nominating Committee Report

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May 5th, 2021

The 2020-2021 Issaquah PTSA Council Nominating Committee hereby places the following names into nomination for the 2021-2022 school year:

For the Officer of Treasurer: Pauline Tamblyn

For the Officer of Secretary: Tracie Jones

For the Officer of VP of Elementary South: Carla Geraci

For the Officer of VP of Elementary North: Erin Eaton

For the Officer of VP of Elementary Central: Nicole Morgan

For the Officer of VP of Secondary Schools: Wendy Cummins

For the Officer of President: Lauren Bartholomew

The nominating committee has confirmed that all nominees have been a member of a PTA for at least 30 days prior to the election, and meet other requirements as stated in the WSPTA Uniform Bylaws.

Respectfully submitted, 

Cortney Eldridge
Alicia Spinner
Lauren Bartholomew

Nominating Committee Report

Issaquah PTSA Council – Award Nominations Open

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Greetings Issaquah PTSA Council members,

It is Golden Acorn time, my favorite time of the year, where we take a moment to express intentional gratitude for people who have done exceptional work this year. What a year it has been. Wherever you are this moment reading this, please take a moment to thank yourself. In my eyes, every member of council is worthy of a Golden Acorn this year. Through an unprecedented time of closed buildings and scattered, divided community, you have continued to lead and hold the community together. These jobs have never been easy, but this year, your exceptional leadership has happened in a virtual world, all while holding your own family together. It is humbling in such a beautiful way.

Gratitude is important for our own mental health as well as the health of our community. After you have thanked yourself (I am imagining us all actually saying thank you to ourselves out loud here), please take a moment to think about council members (this can be anyone on council including all of our unit presidents) who are deserving of extra recognition this year and fill out our survey.

Please do not worry if you do not know enough about the person to fill out all of the boxes. As a committee, we can do some of that work and we can always contact you for more information if we need it.  

I know how busy we all are, but I also know that practicing gratitude for others, will bring us personal joy, as well as spread joy around. We live in an awesome community, and right now, we all need reminders of that.

Questions? Please reach out to us at awards@issaquahptsa.org
Nomination Survey

Sincerely,
Kristen, Laurelle and Cindy

Issaquah PTSA Council Awards

PTA & the Law Training for 2020-2021

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PTA and the Law is a vital training for your entire board. Learn about state and federal rules and regulations for running a nonprofit corporation. At least one member of your executive board must complete this training each year.

These are the sessions currently available:

September 19 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
September 22 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
October 17 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
October 27 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
November 14 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
November 17 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
December 5 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
December 8 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
January 26, 2021 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
February 23, 2021 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Watch the Washington State PTA calendar for additional training opportunities.

2020-2021 Slate Announced

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The Nominating Committee has announced their slate for the executive board of the Issaquah PTSA Council for 2020-2021.

The election will take place at our General Membership Meeting on 6/18/2020.

PresidentErin Eaton
Vice President Elementary Schools *SouthNicole Morgan
TreasurerPauline Tamblyn
SecretaryCindy Kelm
Vice President Elementary Schools *CentralLauren Bartholomew
Vice President Elementary Schools *NorthOPEN
Vice President Middle and High Schools**Carla Geraci

VIS Information & THANK YOU!

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Ballot results were posted by King County Elections Tuesday Feb. 11th at 8:15pm. We passed with a 61.52% approval rate!  There are still ballots to be counted in the next couple of days, so each day there will be an update on ballots and percentages.

Hurrah! Such good news to see it pass! A huge thank you to ALL OF YOU – Our PTAs who sent postcards to their school community, shared the messaging and Facebook posts, hosted VIS speakers at your PTA Meetings, sent out information via Enews to their membership. Another Thank you to everyone who came out to Honk and Wave in support of our students! Thank you also to our PTSA Council for sharing the information on their Facebook page and support!

All of this work together made a HUGE difference to “Get out the vote” to our community!

Note on Yard Signs:  For those of you who helped with Yard Signs – THANK YOU! They were everywhere during the campaign. We need to have them all down by next Sunday 2/16.  If you see one, please take it down and recycle the sign, but KEEP the metal stake – we are keeping the metal stakes for the next campaign. Please bring your metal stakes to the March Council meeting and we will pick up!

Thank you all for helping make this Levy Campaign a success!

We will be at the March Council meeting to give wrap up statistics on the campaign. See you then!

Thank you all again for your great work!
Dawn Peschek & Alicia Veevaert
dawn@visvote.org & alicia@visvote.org

October 2018 Best Practices

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  • Make sure all of your elected officers are trained, and at least one of your elected officers has attended PTA and the Law.
  • Print these documents from the WSPTA website and become familiar with them. They will help remind you of the items you need to gather and complete to keep your PTA in good standing, and will help you keep your timeline on track.
  • Standards of Affiliation – This sheet should be filled in and complete by the end of November, with the possible exception of your PTA’s corporate renewal, which will be filed during the month that your PTA was first incorporated.
  • Standards of Excellence – Show your membership that your PTA is following best practices by applying for the Standards of Excellence Award (due March 1st). Refer to the timeline checklist each month to see what your PTA should be doing during this time, and gather/create documents as you go. If you put your notebook together a bit at a time over the course of the year, it’s quick and EASY!
  • Make sure your voting delegates have been turned in to the Council secretary, and that you or one of your delegates is planning to attend each Council membership meeting.
  • Register for Legislative Assembly here: https://www.pt-avenue.com/conference/  (October 21-22, Green River College, Auburn). Encourage your board members to attend. Make sure you have submitted the names of your PTA’s voting delegates to WSPTA (due Oct. 12).
  • Send the Legislative Principles, Issues and Resolutions Survey to your membership. Share the data with your Legislative Assembly delegate(s), so their vote will properly represent your membership at Leg. Assembly.
  • Brand and Market your PTA! Educate EVERYONE in your school community (not only your membership) about each and every program and event that your PTA supports. Show them how your PTA benefits your students. If you sponsored it, put a sticker on it! If you have an event, hang a banner! This is how you attract members and encourage donations. 🙂

Region 2 Back to School Fall Conference Training – August 22

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PTSA leaders from across Region 2 are invited to join us for training and networking to start your PTSA year off on the best note!  Come meet other PTSA leaders from across the Eastside and fulfill your training requirement in one evening.

REGISTER HERE: http://bit.ly/2vJiIUN

August 22, 2017
Eastlake High School in Sammamish, WA.
Check-in – 5:00 pm
Evening Begins – 5:30 pm

PTA & The Law will be offered from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm — this is a class that is required for at least one elected member of every PTSA Board.

A variety of classes will be offered in two sessions if you are not attending PTA & the Law so select the training that is most useful to you and your Board. (Class availability subject to change due to teacher and facility availability)

Class Session 1 (6:00 pm – 7:15 pm):

  • Ready, Set, Go!
  • Treasurer Basics
  • Foundations of Outreach
  • Intro to Membership
  • Advocacy and Legsilative Basics

Class Session 2 (7:30 pm – 8:45 pm)

  • Branding & Marketing your PTA for Membership Success
  • Managing your Non-Profit PTA
  • Face, Advocacy, and Membership
  • Effective Meetings
  • Programs to Engage your Community

Have questions about Region 2 Back to School Fall Conference Training? Contact Region 2

Advocacy Updates – Advocacy and Public Policy Briefing

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Advocacy and Public Policy Briefing

Prepared by Susan D. Baird-Joshi, Region 2 Legislative Chair, Washington State PTA * July 29, 2017

1. Ballots Due August 1, 2017

Mail your Washington State ballots or drop them off by Tuesday, August 1, 2017, 8 p.m. Issues in this summer ballot

include taxes and preliminary votes for elected officials:

• King County Proposition 1 Sales Tax for Cultural Access Program

• Elected positions with more than two candidates (school district boards, city councils, port commissioners, and

county executive)

The ballot mailer includes a list of drop-off locations in King County. For more election information, visit the King

County Elections home page, http://kingcounty.gov/depts/elections.aspx. For news and reminders, visit the KC Elections

Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/kcelections/ .

WA State PTA has not taken a position on Prop. 1. PTAs cannot endorse candidates.

2. Washington State Legislative Session Includes Benefits for Children and Families

Extending into multiple special sessions during the summer, the Washington State Legislature and Governor approved a

budget that includes funding provisions to address the McCleary decision, requiring the state to “amply fund” K-12 basic

education. The bill included $7.3 billion in new funding for K-12 education to satisfy McCleary.

Other actions that could benefit children and families include the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Program,

increased funding for the State Need Grant and a new Department of Children, Youth and Families.

The House proposed a Capital Budget with construction projects throughout the state totaling $4.17 billion, including new

schools. However, the Legislature adjourned before passing the legislation. The Senate Republicans wanted a long-term

solution to the State Supreme Court’s decision affecting property owners’ water rights and abilities to drill wells, known

as the Hirst decision. For more information, see the Governor’s session round-up. https://medium.com/wagovernor/2017-legislative-session-produces-major-achievements-for-washington-74d6d557e3b4

3. Affordable Care Act Proposed Changes Would Have Impacted Washington’s Children

On June 28 Washington State’s Governor Jay Inslee and Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler sent a joint letter to

Washington State’s Congressional delegation—two senators and 10 representatives—urging them to vote no on the

Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). The act did not pass. More children would have lost coverage due to

their parents’ loss of coverage. The governor’s web site has the letter and facts about health insurance in Washington.

http://www.governor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/Inslee-Kreidler%20ltr%20to%20Delegation%20re%20BCRA.pdf

Region 2 covers eastern King County and consists of the Bellevue, Issaquah, Lake Washington, Mercer Island, Riverview, and Snoqualmie Valley school districts. https://www.wastatepta.org/pta-leaders/pta-regions/region-2/