Bryant PTSA Board Meeting Minutes – November 2018

Welcome and Introductions

EP&O Levy Presentation JoLynn Berge, Chief Financial Officer

  • Four year budget outlook reviewed:
  • Deficit happening already
  • Expenditures are outpacing revenue
  • McCleary was supposed to be for enrichment, it is actually not working that way. McCleary resulted in winners and losers, Seattle not a winner. More funding for some schools, very little for others, including Seattle that is a high levy school. High levy schools did not receive as much funding
  • Levy funding was at 4100 per student, but it is going down due to statewide cap, so that in 2019-20, we can collect 2500 per student ONLY. Statewide cap varies from district to district. SPS wants taxpayers to decide what local levies will be.
  • SPS levy decreased by 38.5%- the more a school district has the more it loses. (ex Bellevue only went down 11%)
  • Local levy is $2500, not state level levy. Some news reports state that SPS was dishonest in asking for more, but SPS has been straightforward about intentions.
  • Asking for another levy with additional (capacity) .52 per 1k, only can happen if legislative change is made. If we got both capacity and local, we would have the same amount as we started out with in 2014. (1.05 per 1k)
  • Most districts are at 1.50 per 1k. Our net tax bill for education is about half of what it is in Yakima.
  • Net difference from before and after McCleary: Seattle had an 11% increases, Shoreline 24%, Bellevue 19%, etc.
  • Is McCleary fully funded?-Full Day K, lower class sizes, transportation funded, compensation lift,
  • Is k-12 fully funded? NO. Supreme court has ruled that amount of funding is adequate; legislature is released from any other requirements/oversight for the year.
  • Seattle needs 70 million to provide special ed. Only being provided 2 million for 2019.
  • Gaps in funding with principal salaries, classified staff gap in funding. SPS hires more staff than state allocates, and pay more than state allocates.
  • If we were to fully fund the Initiative 1531,  (which has been delayed) we would get 780 more FTEs.
  • Despite this, Seattle gets great results. Graduation gap closing, college readiness is increasing.
  • QUESTIONS: SPS schools are funded based somewhat on poverty levels in the area.Does rate of Special Ed funding go up when population of Special ED kids goes up? In short, NO. Feds will not meet this demand, up to state to backfill. We have made great strides in identifying special needs but no great strides in funding.
  • Prop 1 is 1% or less of SPS revenue. Levy in Feb is to continue functioning and will provide 15% of funding can’t really function or balance budget without it.
  • Overall enrollment is down in SPS. Most likely due to housing costs rising. Current enrollment is 53k. Budgeting for a lower enrollment year for 2019-20.
  • Levy in February- hopeful about outcome because Prop 1 passed by a big margin.

 

Approve September General Meeting Minutes

Minutes approved tentatively approved

 

Officer/Standing Committee Reports

  • Brita Willis & Lorraine Sawicki: Treasurer’s Report
    • October brought amazing Annual Campaign! 179k! Last year was 155k.
    • Collected 133K in cash thus far, employer matching is 30k of total campaign.
    • Credit card charges totaled 3k
    • School supplies paid for, 4k sent to local elementary school. Remaining balance of 6500 is to be used later in school year
    • Will continue to use Giving Fuel platform
    • Tax form completed and filed
    • Current buffer is 42k
  • Tammy Shorr & Janie Booth: Volunteer Coordinators Report
    No report
  • Leeann Huntington, Sara Fenz and Allison Broadgate: Fundraising Chair Report
    • Pizza party: 13 classrooms had 100% participation and had pizza party this past Friday
    • Otter pop party will happen as well for all school on the 15th.
  • Jean Charette, Yvonne Roberts & Diane Frye:  Legislative Chairs
    • Bryant participation was very high for legislative action
    • Voted on top 5 issues and a link for more info for people will be provided
    • Levy Update will also go out
    • WA State PTSA calling upon DSHS to change definition of gender, call out to request volunteers to help make phone calls, telephone scripts have been written by Sam Fogg.

Special Committee Reports

  • Bryant Leadership Team report:
    • Continuous school improvement plan (CSIP) is being worked on. Right now focus in on equity issues.
    • Two big goal areas are a sense of belonging for students as well as reading
    • Discussed Social Emotional surveys and whether or not Bryant will deploy a survey on our own besides the spring one that is required. Goal to get this survey out before Winter Break.
  • Principal Report: Charmaine Marshall
    • Getting Brycentennial Celebration ready to go. School wide assembly at 1:15 on December 13th, and 5:30pm on the 13th for an Open House.  Contacting local politicians as well as media.  Honoring staff that have been here the longest as part of the anniversary date.
    • Reaching out to reunion committees to find people that were in the earliest classes
    • Reaching out to staff alumni
    • Budget of $1500 requested- current ask from PTSA is 1k. (For Brycentennial). Motion passed for $1500.
    • IDEA Project fund request- (Interactive Disability Education Awareness). One week of disability awareness.  Fee $2k, ask for funding.  Motion approved and seconded.
    • PTSA approved $50 for assembly through email to invite Native American Speaker.
    • Max Guerrer-Tomoda Counselor is asking for $500 for a library and $200 for sensory books, $700 total. Motion approved and seconded.
    • Also conducting a Multicultural Event on January 31st, a night event.

Kim Love: New Business

  • Bryant Library Read-A-Thon
    • No Book Fair this December for various reasons. Proposal to have a Read-A-Thon instead. We need $20 per kid per year for library supplies, but right now funding is a lot through grants and afterschool programs. Books also need to be replaced as they wear out over time.
    • Read-A-Thon- parents can sponsor their kids or just give a flat donation per kid, using Pledge Star. Read-A-Thon will happen over Winter Break.
  • School Supplies Update:
    • Will conduct re-ordering for mid-year shipment during first week of December
    • Supply orders will be reconsidered in terms of flow and amount needed for next year
    • Will discuss other ways to keep charitable aspect in place, as school supplies will be a line item on PTSA budget
  • Resolution on Civil Discourse/Community Safety
    • Resolution tabled for more discussion offline