PTSA Minutes

(For archived minutes from previous meetings, click here)

Tremper High School PTSA
October 19, 2009
Meeting Minutes

1. Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order at 6:38pm by President Patty Mahoney.  Members present:  Tami Rakow, Annie Fredriksson, Lisa Fasolo-Ricker, Carol Kok, Gene Mathius, Patti Ault, Paige Johnson, Michelle Valeri, Carrie Greskoviak, Dawn Gosse, Laura Gosse, Sandy Rende, Renee Blise, Mary Mock, Tracy Larson, April Solms, Rebecca Stoebe, Terri Harold, Patty Mahoney.  Guests:  Floyd Asonwha, KUSD Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Specialist; Margie Gentner, Hope Council
2. Treasurer’s Report:  Renee Blise 
1. The treasurer’s report was presented.  Beginning balance on Sept. 21, 2009 was $7825.51.  Total Receipts for the past month totaled $1155.75.  Total Disbursements were $900.97.  Balance on hand as of 10-19-09 is $8080.29.
2. The membership dues for the State and National PTA’s were sent to those respective organizations.
3. Thank you to Jodie Zarletti and the members who helped staff the PTSA cookout and bake sale tables! 
4. The September fund-raisers brought in the following profits:

1. Bake Sale:  $482.70   (Extra food from the cook-out was sold during the bake sale; some of these profits are from those items.)
2. Cookout:  $274.76
3. Membership dues:  $119.25

3. Secretary’s Report:  Terri Harold
1. The Minutes from the September 21, 2009 Tremper PTSA meeting were approved as presented.  (Rende / Rakow)
4. Vice President’s Report:  Patti Ault
1. Patti has been working with the membership chair to enter the members names into the State PTA data base.
5.  Legislative Report:  Patti Mahoney: 
1. We are still looking for a Legislative Chairperson. 
2. The District Boundary Committee is meeting tonight.  There are currently two proposals under consideration.  One proposal provides a better ethnic diversity among all the High Schools, but breaks up four of the six middle schools (including Lance) between the various high schools.  The other proposal allows all of the Lance students to attend Tremper HS, but still breaks up Mahone, Bullen, and McKinley.  This proposal creates a more equal distribution of Free and Reduced Lunch students at each of the high schools, but does lead to greater percentages of non-white students at Bradford than at Tremper or Indian Trail High Schools.  Both proposals allow 69% of the students to attend the high school that is geographically closest to their homes.  The school board will vote on this issue in November.
3. The KUSD is still in negotiations with the KEA (teacher’s union) to develop a contract for the teachers.  If no agreement is reached by 11-2-09, the teachers will begin to work to contract, which means they will be encouraged to not participate in any activities outside the designated school day.
6. Membership Report:  Carol Kok
1. We currently have 325 members. 
2. Students of the Month for November are:  Robert Salani:  Parking Pass and Gift certificate / Alex Valeri and Meaghan Ingram:  gift cards  
7.  Communications:  Sandy Rende
1. Sandy is still clarifying e-mail addresses.  If you are not receiving e-mails from the Tremper PTSA, please contact Sandy at srende@wi.rr.com. 
8.  Reflections Committee:  April Solms
1. The students were notified of the start of the Reflections program today.  The theme this year is “Beauty is…”  Posters have been developed and will be hung around the school.  Announcements about the program will be included each day this week.
2. Links for the submission forms are on the Tremper PTSA website.  There is also information available in the school office.
3. The teachers have received e-mail notices about the Reflections competition as well, and several have told April they will help the students in any way they can.
4. Deadline for submission is 12-11-09.  April is working on getting participation prizes from community businesses.   She is currently looking for judges for the local level.  Local unit winners will be notified by Christmas.  Those entries will be sent to state.  A suggestion was made to send as many entries as possible.  April will consider this once she sees how many students have participated at the local level, but she will try to keep her costs within budget.
9. Student Government Report:  Rebecca Stoebe
1. Homecoming Week events went off without a hitch.  The game went well, and Tremper won!  The wristbands used at the dance were effective, except the committee will look into a sturdier option for next year, since the paper bands got sweaty and broke easily. 
2. The Peer Mediation and Peer Tutoring programs are getting underway.  If any students in Renaissance would like to work as a tutor, they should submit their name and subject of interest to the Academic Affairs committee, and they will pair the students up with others needing a tutor.
3. Renaissance Premier passes (hall passes for students who have a 3.5-4.0 GPA cumulative as of 6/09) will be given out this month.  If any student has earned medals / awards from the 2008-2009 school year, they will be handed out in Advisory. 
10.   Principal’s Report:  Dick Aiello:  Mr. Aiello was unable to attend the meeting, since he felt he also needed to be at the Boundary Committee meeting. 
1. Finals are November 5th and 6th.  The students get out at noon.
2. WKCE testing will be done the week of November 10-12.  The 9th graders have the Explore test on November 10th.  The 10th graders will be taking the WKCE on the 10th, 11th and 12th.  If your child does not have testing on a specific day, school will begin at 10:00 am.  A schedule should arrive in the mail.
3. Saturday, Nov. 14th, the KUSD, in conjunction with the Kenosha PTA Council, is hosting a workshop called “Preparing Your Child for Education and Careers” at Bradford High School from 8:30 – noon.  They will have sessions on high school course selection, ACT testing, AP classes, scholarships, and financial aid.
4. Mr. Aiello is soliciting feedback from parents (raiello@kusd.edu) regarding the following: 
5. Traffic around the building before and after school:

1. There are still lines to turn onto 87th Place.
2. There are problems on 85th Street and 26th Ave. after school on early release days.  The traffic lights are not working, and this increases the potential for motor vehicle crashes.

6. Homecoming Week activities:  parade, game, dance, etc. 

1. Discussion on the coat check area:  we need the numbers to be placed on the racks in order, instead of the random fashion that was used this year.  Mr. Damon’s students were in charge of that this year, and he will make sure it is done correctly for the next event.

7. First Quarter Conferences:

1. The lines for the Freshmen Academy were too long.  Perhaps those teachers could be spread out more, so the lines would be more organized.  It was hard to tell which teacher’s line you were actually standing in because it was so crowded and the lines were intersecting.
2. Perhaps the teachers who team teach in the Freshmen Academy could do a joint conference, to save on parent wait times.
3. The progress reports are showing “0” when the teacher has not yet entered a grade.  That zero ends up averaging into the other accumulated grades and bringing down the total grade.  Can the teachers enter the words “not graded yet” instead, so that the zero is not counted?  Since playing time for sports teams is based on the Zangle reported grades, it leads to hassles for some students to clear up the grades before the next sporting event.

11.  District PTA Update:  Linda Coopland: 
1. The Kenosha PTA Council is looking for a Vice President.  If anyone in interested in this role, please contact Linda.  She can be reached at Ac5coopland@aol.com.
2. The meetings are held on the 4th Monday of each month, 6:00 pm, at the ESC.
12.  Review of Projects:  Thanks to everyone who helped out with the distribution of treat bags and progress reports at conferences.  We are still waiting to hear more from the school regarding the Tremper Beautification Project.
13. Guest Speaker:  Mr. Floyd Asonwha
1. Floyd did a lecture and interactive presentation on helping teens make the right choices.
2. Steve Fredriksson from the Hope Council will be presenting a program on Underage Drinking at our November meeting, called:   Stand Tall Against Alcohol. 

14.  Adjournment:  The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm (Valeri / Rakow).  Next meeting, Monday, November 16th at 7:00 pm in the Tremper library.