Executive Summary
Home & School Association January 15th, 2008 Meeting
All documents discussed in this summary are available online. To view online,
1) go to http://www.stpatrickofhudson.org/
2) Select School/ Committees/ Home and School
3) Click on link to desired information
President’s Summary: Fewer people in attendance than the last meeting but some new faces. The issue generating most discussion was Volunteerism and the need for suggested minimum hours. Two suggested substantive changes to the H&S funding decision process were positively endorsed by those in attendance. See below for more specific information.
· H&S Policy Changes re Funding Requests: Two substantive changes to H&S funding decision process/policies were positively endorsed:
o New Policy #1: allowing all H&S members to provide guidance on funding requests or other policy decisions through online survey means (see online voting section below). The views/guidance provided by parents will then be presented during the next H&S meeting prior to discussion and formal vote on the issue at hand. Unchanged policy: Only those in attendance are eligible to formally vote. Rationale: Allow for greater H&S constituency feedback on H&S related decisions while maintaining the provision for in-person discussion on the request/topic prior to the binding formal vote.
o New policy #2: an additional H&S meeting (referred to as Budget Meeting) will be held in April of each academic year. During this meeting, all chairpersons of H&S funded activities will be asked to present their funding request(s) for the next academic year. Unchanged policy: Fund requests that arise during the academic year can still be presented to the H&S throughout the academic year, as can changes to the original preceding April request. Rationale: 1) to establish projected budget needs for the next academic year, providing guidance for the H&S officers and members, 2) to be more efficient during bi-monthly H&S meetings, allowing more time to be spent on parent/school related issues and education, and 3) ease the burden on chairpersons, by removing from them the need to coordinate the dates of when funds are needed and the appropriate H&S meeting during which the request must be made.
· Online Voting: Reviewed draft copy of online form. Suggested changes made. Name to be changed to Online Directive, to better represent the non-binding nature of the ‘vote’ (see New Policy #1 above). Process to be implemented in March 2008, allowing for all H&S members to provide guidance on funding requests prior to the April 2008 H&S budget meeting.
· Constitution & Bylaws: A formal vote on each of the proposed changes occurred. All changes in the Nov 2007 draft are now active. The new version (Jan 2008 approval) is posted on the school website.
· Parent Education: Dr. Marjorie Law answered parents’ and teachers’ questions re children’s mental health and provided guidance on how to best develop social and emotional resilience in children.
· Minimum Volunteer Hours: An assessment of H&S related volunteer tasks & hours needed per major H&S initiative (e.g. GALA, Halloween party) to be done. The total # of hours, once determined, will be used as guide when determining minimum suggested hours. Kelly Ripplinger graciously volunteered to coordinate this assessment process. She will contact each chairperson. No mandatory volunteer hours or monitoring of hours re to be required of parents. The hope is that this will not be needed – once members are better informed of the volunteer needs and what is requested of them, they will have a better ability to monitor their amount of participation.
· Q& A Discussion: No issues brought forth by parents, teachers, or staff.
· January Financial Statement
o Ending balance: $12K
o $5K stipend payment to be made
o $ 1.6K reserved for upcoming projects
