Minutes from the 8/14/18 meeting

Please note: We share these minutes publicly in order to do our best to communicate with the parents, teachers, administration and community of Bristol Elementary School about what Friends of BES VT is up to.  Please remember that these are simply notes from a meeting, and are not intended to be anything other than a record of what was discussed during that meeting.  Thanks!

Meeting Minutes

August 14, 2018

Members Present:
Alison DaBica, President
Ali Gibson, Vice President
Elizabeth Lewis, Treasurer
Meg Greenleaf, Secretary
Kevin Robinson, Pricipal
Jenni Utter, Administrative Assistant
Melanie and Mary from Safe Routes

• Introductions
  

• Melanie and Mary discussed their Safe Routes campaign and gave an overview of the goals
  

(Affect travel behaviors to/from school; Increase safety for walkers, rollers, riders; Increase visibility of the program)
    Invited a PTO member to join task force, which meets every other month to work towards goals
    Focus on making this a part of the school and village culture
    Asked if there could be funds made available from PTO to get signs put up around town
    Discussed a “Walking Bus” to school

• Group unanimously supports the Safe Routes campaign. Everyone present agreed that we (as a PTO and as a school) would encourage monthly walk/roll/carpool to school days. We discussed (though did not come to a conclusion) the potential of a PTO member joining the task force. We also agreed to help fund the Safe Route signs that need to be purchased.
  

• September Fundraiser is being planned. Dan from Great American will come to the school for an assembly to talk about the wrapping paper fundraiser. The tentative date is set for 9/14/18. Alison DaBica is in touch with Dan to confirm.
  

• Everyone present agreed to offer babysitting to families that want to attend future meetings. Elizabeth and Alison will be in touch with a couple people to see if they are interested. We agreed hiring 2 babysitters for each meeting for 1 hour for $15 each sounds reasonable.
  

• We will reach out to local businesses to ask for gift certificates to offer as raffles for each meeting. Anyone attending a meeting will be entered into that night’s raffle.
  

• Kevin suggested the idea of scheduling meetings just before or after already scheduled school events (such as performances, Open house, games). He also offered the idea of attending any school event and taking a minute during half time or intermission to announce PTO highlights and upcoming meetings.
  

• The scheduled meetings for the coming months is as follows:
  

Tuesday, September 11; 6-7pm
Thursday, October 4; 6-6:30pm (Open House will begin at 6:30)
Tuesday, November 13; 6-7
Tuesday, December 11; 6-7 (we’d like to plan offering a dinner this night)

• At the September meeting, we will do a brief overview of Great American fundraiser, as well as discuss the wreath fundraiser.
  

• November 30 is the wreath pick-up day, and we will need 2 trucks. That evening the BASK kids and staff have historically helped unload the trucks. The following day we need to find volunteers to help out with distributing the wreaths to families when they come to the school to pick them up.
  

• Elizabeth reviewed our mission statement and all agreed that it reflects our feelings.
  

• Ali Gibson is working on the website, and asked about using photos of kids. Jenni will be able to help figure out which families have or have not given permission for their kids’ photos to be used.
  

• The following information should be available on website, Instagram, and Facebook: contact information, who’s who, our mission statement, and important dates.
  

• Kathleen Forand is the parent who has, in past years, collected Box Tops and sent them in. Alison will email her to see if she is interested in continuing to do so this year.
  

• We discussed creating a survey to give the staff.  We would like to hear from them to know what they really want from the PTO. Alison and Meg will join part of their staff meeting on 8/23 to introduce ourselves.