November 20, 2015 PTA Meeting at Administration Building
Attendees:
Jacki Geoghegan
Angel Rafter
Paul Pirozzi
Jennifer Bayliss
Mitch Sylves-Berry
David Neilsen
Jennifer Povman
Donna Gates
Katie Scully
Maribel Palacios-Perez
Senia Sakarya
Tara Schatzel
Elia Londono
Karina Arreola
Andrea Gottschall
Welcome, Fundraising Update:
Our meeting was started at 8:36 A.M. by Jacki and Angel. Donna Gates updated the board on fundraising events. Our wrapping paper campaign is completed. PTA made over $11,200 in profits; Middle School numbers are included in these results. Donna also noted that The Charleston Company was very easy to work with. Thanksgiving pie sale totals have exceeded 134 and are very comparable to our sales total last year. Pick up will be Tuesday at J.P. between 5 and 7 P.M. Donna is accepting orders until Monday November 23rd and our profits should exceed $500. This year, 630 coupon books went out to the community. 91 books were sold for a net profit of $1,200. Unfortunately over 400 of the books were not returned. Although this poses no risk to the PTA, in the future, a different venue may be more appropriate for this type of event. The board suggested a Yankee Candle fundraiser in place of wrapping paper next year, however there was some dissent, and the board agreed to compare their respective profit margins.
Vote
A motion was passed to have the middle school PTA merge with the Pre-K to 6th grade PTA 210 unit. The following is a list of PTA voters and the final results:
Jacki Geoghegan
Angel Rafter
Paul Pirozzi
Donna Gates
Jen Povman
David Neilsen
Maribel Palacios-Perez
Elia Londono
Karina Arreola
Jenn Bayliss
Andrea Gottschall
Tara Schatzel
Mitch Sylves-Berry
Senia Sakarya
Katie Scully
Voting in Absentia (via email
Dancy Balestrieri
Kelley Anniccherico
Melissa Eisele-Kaplan
Nitasha Kumar
Jhoana Segarra
Virginia Collins-Williams
Leah McVey
Fiona Galloway
Pamela Louis
Result Totals:
24 Yes votes
0 No votes
Another vote was held to officially name our PTA organization The Horsemen PTA; this vote passed unanimously.
SRO vs. Youth Officer
The board discussed the use of a special resource officer (SRO) vs. a youth officer, or no police presence in our Sleepy Hollow schools, Angel spoke about a district meeting attended by our mayor where these issues were discussed. Angel advised the board that out of the 28 districts, 11 have SRO’s and 11 have youth officers. December 10th this topic will be discussed further at the Board of Ed. Meeting with an expert in the field. The board went around the table and voiced their opinions individually regarding this topic. The majority of the 15 members were in favor of an SRO with 4 people choosing to abstain.
School Updates
JP-
Jen Bayliss advised the board that photo day was a success and that unfortunately there was a recent lockdown at JP. Although chaotic, everyone was O.K. and dismissal was uneventful.
Morse-
The book fair event was a big success. Although there were some tough parking challenges with street closings, the event brought in over $11,000.00 in sales. Photo retake day is being held December 3rd.
WI –
Book fair supplies were delivered yesterday and the event kicks off November 30th
MS-
Jacki informed the board that career day went well this week. Although there were some cancellations of candidates, there were a wide variety of careers represented with pledges from speakers to return next year. Katie spoke about the recess redesign project. Phase I of the project has been completed. Phase II has started and the committee are considering which surface option to use. Dr. McCann is helping to price out different options. Katie also said the percentage of children that now play outside has almost doubled.
Other Updates
A few members of the board met last week regarding the Board of Ed’s superintendent search. The members helped to draft an email to the board requesting permission to pose questions to potential superintendent candidates, and also requesting to see each candidates answer verbatim. The board replied that they would consider our questions but that they would not submit each candidates reply back to the PTA. The board noted that executive sessions are to be kept confidential. Angel followed up with a sample question to the board with no reply as of yet.
Jacki noted that the Main Street Laundromat in Tarrytown has volunteered to launder all coats for the upcoming coat drive.
A flyer was distributed to the board regarding a “Relay for Life of the Tarrytowns” interest meeting that is being held Tuesday, December 1st at 7PM in the Administration building boardroom. Jacki asked each board member to please distribute this flyer to 3 people. Maribel noted that she will be recruiting volunteers to be on a district committee for this event. The committee will help raise money, educate the public and create awareness. This event is the American Cancer Society’s signature event and will be held in June, it is an overnight event.
Andrea advised the board that Spirit Wear fundraising is finished for the year. All merchandise has been distributed except for the middle school.
Jen Povman spoke about the Rivertown Parents seminar on October 15th given by Jessica Leahy. More than 100 people attended. The next seminar will discuss managing your money; this will be in February or March.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:18; our next meeting will be Friday, December 18th.
Horsemen PTA 