May 2020 PTA Meeting Minutes

6/3/2020 5:07 pm

Patrick Lyndon K-8 Pilot School PTA

Meeting Minutes

May 6, 2020

Zoom Conference

1. Welcome, Introductions, Meeting Overview:

• Samantha introduced the PTA Board and Management Team
• Reviewed the meeting agenda.

1. Elections:

• Board elections will be held at the June meeting and nominations are open.
• Open positions include vice president, treasurer and secretary.
• Reach out to the current board if you have any questions or interest.

• Teacher Appreciation Week:
• Samantha asked the participants to use the chat function to share one note of thanks for the teachers and staff. The PTA will share the notes on Facebook and through emails to the teachers.

1. Meeting Minutes

• The vote on the March meeting minutes is on hold as they are still unavailable.
• Motion made to approve April meeting minutes.  Motion approved.

1. Accomplishments:

• The PTA “idea-a-day” blog to help parents find ideas for your kids during remote learning. Consider checking out the ideas including the Traffic Light Exercise which provides a way to speak to kids about how they are feeling.
• Teacher appreciation gift cards were distributed and the PTA sponsored a weekend of free coffee for teachers at Recreo.
• Massachusetts PTA Carol Woodbury Leadership Award for 2019/20 was awarded to the Lyndon’s very own Debbie Brendemuehl. Congratulations, Debbie.  Well deserved.

1. Updates:

• SSC: Katie provided an update:
  • Hiring personnel subcommittee was created. School is hiring a K2 para professional, ESL support para, instrumental music teacher, and foreign language teacher.
• CPC: Steve provided an update:
  • First meeting was held, but not much was done. It was an opportunity to vent.
  • Parents are encouraged to use the Parents Hotline if your children are experiencing any issues at all including food service, online learning issues, etc.
  • The Department of Education received a federal grant to provide an EBT card to every child that qualifies for free/reduced lunch.
  • No information has been released regarding extended summer learning.

• FOTL: Joy provided an update:
  • Most everything is put on hold.
  • Dreambox: last year FOTL negotiated a three-year contract at a reduced price, which includes summers.
  • FOTL is unsure whether the fall fundraiser will go forward and is taking it day-by-day.
• Room Parents Update: Stef provided an update
  • Encouraged room parents to encourage families to reach out individually to teachers.
  • Reported that some classes made joint cards, videos, and slide shows.
  • Thank you to the room parents for coming up with great ideas to show appreciation to the teachers.

• Wellness Committee: No update
• Caring Committee: No update

• Treasurer’s Report:
• Fran provided the latest financials, the full year forecast and an early look at the 20/21 Budget.
• The Board is anticipating challenges next year and encouraged members to participate in the budget meeting in two weeks.
• 1^st half of the year was great
  • Income = $58,497
  • Expenses = $40,569
  • Ending Cash = $40,033

• Red Sox Ticket update:
  • 3 options: take a refund, exchange for a later date (better game) or leave credit for next year.

• Management Team Update
• Ward thanked the PTA for continuing to move forward.
• From the District level – a lot of decisions are on hold. Phase 2 is being implemented and includes:
  • Schedule
  • Attendance
  • Accountability, but with considerations for what is going on in each household.
• Katie reminded the group that each class has at least 22 students all of whom are dealing with different issues and challenges and encouraged everyone to be understanding of everyone’s circumstances.
• Last day of school has not been announced.
• The management team has not heard anything about school starting early in the fall. The only planning beyond this school year is for summer school.
• Katie responded to a question about the Lyndon being identified as a low performing school. Katie explained that the evaluation reviewed attendance and standardized testing.  The evaluation showed a low performing subgroup in the 3^rd through 8^th grade Black/African American subgroup.  The Lyndon needs better growth in this population.  There is a team of teachers working with the Central Office to develop a plan to improve academic and social emotional growth.
• An equity roundtable was created to consider how the Lyndon can better serve Tier II and Tier III students right now (during closure).

1. Upcoming Events

• Lyndon Red Sox Game on 4/5 was cancelled. We are waiting for information from the Red Sox.
• April bowling event: this will likely be moved to the summer.
• Spring Book Fair was cancelled.
• PNO Trivia was cancelled.
• One Boston Day is April 15^th – stay tuned for information/ideas.
• Teacher Appreciation Week is the week of May 4^th (first week back to school)
• May 6^th is Walk to School Day: if school is not back in session or social distancing is still in place, we will try to come up with a way to engage students.
• Next PTA meeting is on May 6^th (may be virtual again)

1. Updates

• June 3^rd is the next virtual PTA meeting and Board elections.
• The PTA is considering a Lyndon community event when the present restrictions are lifted.

Motion to adjourn. Motion passed.