MT. ERIE PTA
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009
CALL TO ORDER: The Mt. Erie General membership meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President Suzy Gilbert. Sign in sheet is attached. A quorum was present. Introductions were made.
MINUTES: The minutes of the May 19, 2009 General PTA meeting were approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT: The proposed 2009-2010 PTA budget was presented. Suzy went over the budget line-by-line and gave a quick explanation of each item. A motion was made by Kristen Murphy that we approve the 2009-2010 budget as presented. The motion was seconded and approved.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT: Bob Knorr reported that the teacher’s rep will be Melinda Moore. Mr. Knorr thanked the PTA for all the help they provide to the teachers and the school.
Mr. Knorr discussed the school district goals of being school ready, transition ready and college ready . Regarding the transition ready goal, the 5th and 6th grades now have block schedules. The feedback has been very positive from the teachers, parents, and students. Because of this success, grades down through 3rd will now have some degree of this where the teachers will focus on a specific subject and will teach that subject to all children in that particular grade.
The district is cutting back on paper notices/mail that has been sent home in previous years. Much of this information will now be relayed electronically. School information can be found at asd103.org for the Mt. Erie website and mteriepta.org for the PTA website.
During the next few weeks, the students will be having fire drills, lockdown drills, and bus drills to help keep kids safe.
Mr. Knorr also discussed ways the district deals with information regarding sex offenders. Sex offender information is available on the Skagit County website and the school does work with the Anacortes Police Department and any relevant individuals to alert the school/families.
Teachers do talk to the students about “stranger danger”. Familywatchdog.com is a website that you can register with that will notify you each time a sex offender moves in/moves out of your specific area.
BOARD/COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Legislative – Rhonda McLaughlin spoke about Initiative 1033 which will decrease taxes but this in turn will have a negative impact on the schools. Colorado passed a similar initiative but called a special meeting to reverse because the school districts were going bankrupt. The Washington Education Association has already stated that they will be voting NO on this initiative. She stated that it is very important that we get the word out about the negative effects of this initiative.
Volunteer Coordinator – Silja Shjarback spoke about Mustang points. Parents earn points for volunteering and attending events at school while children can earn points by turning in the “WOW” cards they receive from staff. The cards can be turned in at the PTA office. Classrooms with the most points will be rewarded in November, February, and May. Kids need to put their name and class on the back to get points. If they would like to have these back they just need to write on the back “Please return.”
There is still a need for volunteers to help with Family Nights. If you would like to volunteer for this or any other committee, please contact Silja Shjarback at shjaresa@fidalgo.net.
Escrip/Membership – Kristen Murphy reported that you can sign up for escrip at www.escrip.com or give your Safeway number to Kristen and she will sign you up. Safeway donates a percentage back to the schools each month. Mt. Erie has averaged between $3,500 to $5,000 each year from Escrip.
97 people have signed up for PTA as of today. Membership forms went home in backpacks today. Goal is to get 100% of Mt. Erie staff signed up and would like to see 250 PTA members overall.
OLD BUSINESS:
Walking Path – Suzy spoke about getting a formal walking path put in behind Mt. Erie that the students can use daily. Some people have committed to helping with parts of the walking path but we are still working on getting commitments on all parts of the path construction. If anyone has any contacts in the construction field, please contact the PTA. It was suggested it would be helpful to see a plan of the proposed walking path so Mr. Knorr will make the plan available.
NEW BUSINESS:
Band Program – There is a new band director at the high school. One of his priorities is to reestablish the band program starting with the younger grades (beginning in 5th grade). The band program had an informational meeting in which 83 kids from the 5th, 6th,7th grades attended. Beginning band is every morning at the Anacortes Middle School from 7:30-8:20 and the bus will bring them to Mt. Erie each morning after practice. Practice will begin on Monday, September 21.
PARENT DISCUSSION:
• Encourage the teachers to use the money available to them through the PTA.
• Silja presented some information about getting dad’s more involved in the PTA. Information will be put on the website.
• Science Detectives – Parents are interested in volunteering for this but are concerned about volunteering for an entire week. Suzy said any commitment an individual can do is great whether it be one week, two weeks, or one month. The kids loved this program!
Suzy adjourned the meeting at 8:11.
Posted by mteriepta 
Posted by mteriepta 
Posted by mteriepta 
