PTA Executive Board Meeting Minutes: November 2019

Clinton PTA Executive Board
Meeting Notes 7:30 p.m.,
November 20, 2019 | Clinton Library

Present: Jennifer Connors, Candice Davenport, Emilia Hallquist, Brooke Horowitz,
Jennifer Kemp, Kerith Lewis, Kelly Mortimer, Jess Murphy, Margy Nolan, Alison
Kessler-Slavin, Katy Walmsley, Kali Williams

Absent: Bebe Greenberg, Liz Gordon, Joy Friedman, Brian Gunther, Kathleen Hong,
Polly Kelekis, Jean Leonard, Kristy Lynch, Delta Sepulveda, Sandy Smith, Mark
Truscinski, Ambra Teague
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Candice moved and Kelly seconded the motion to open the meeting at 7:36pm
Candice moved and Margy seconded to approve the October 2019 meeting minutes.

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Treasurer’s Report:
Margy distributed an updated Income & Expense report. She reported things are on
track similarly to last year. $1,050 has been received already for the Thanksgiving drive.
Box Tops is expected to send one, of the two, checks issued per year for $182.10. Last
year we had earned about $350 at this time; Kelly to include Box Tops promotion in a
future communication.

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Principal’s Report:
Principal Connors gave an update from AP Sandy Smith regarding the Green Team,
and requested a PTA liaison. The Green Team can send a liaison to the PTA quarterly,
or more, if desired.
The Superintendent is sponsoring a Leukemia fundraiser “Pennies for Patients” and
Principal Connors will bring the “Every Hero Needs a Squad” program up to the
Lighthouse Team when she meets with them on Friday. Principal Connors will include
Kelly on any project planning so she can include it as part of her Communications.

Principal Connors is planning a staff wellness challenge between Thanksgiving and
Winter Break; staff members can volunteer to track health and wellness, and might win
prizes donated from the community. ALL were given merchant letters to solicit further
donations for this challenge. Principal Connors has written an ACHIEVE grant for a
mindfulness program and already has 26 volunteer staff members signed up for the
program; the community can also receive a discount on the program if the grant is
fulfilled. ALL received a handout from Principal Connors regarding mindfulness and
how changing the language of the adults in the environment has an effect on the
children. Mindfulness will also be incorporated in Mindful Monday for the school.
Candice suggests these mindful efforts be incorporated into the Sustainable New
Jersey green program, and it is also in line with the Leader in Me “sharpen the saw”
philosophy.
The district is purchasing a large format printer.
The Danielson method is still being trained at and used in the school. Its philosophy is to
evaluate four domains with numeric scores in an effort to maintain balance in the
classroom, and identify and maintain tenure for teachers.
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Teacher’s Report:
Alison reports that the teacher’s are grateful for the $200 reimbursement. Candice
asked what is the final number of teachers to order for the teacher lunch on 12/18.
Reminder, Clinton will receive 10% back from everyone who orders from Panera on
12/18 with a code. Kerith will send Kelly the flyer to include in communications.
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President’s Report:
Candice reports that holiday cookies will be delivered to teachers on 12/18. All
allergy and dietary restrictions are given to the PTA. Kristy Lynch will be leading the
Sign Up Genius.
Miss Liz has requested some supplies for the lunch aides including jump ropes;
there are some in the PTA closet, but if they are not sufficient in quality Candice will
order more from Amazon. Margy reports we have a recess budget of $1,400. Alison
would love to have indoor recess supplies housed on a rolling cart, and she will ask
teachers for ideas of supplies.
Lunch aids will be receiving breakfast on 12/12 as a thank you. The school auction is
finalizing the last role of the team, solicitations. Rebecca Lock and Meghan
Gossalink have been identified as potential candidates. Candice will let the PTA
know about the holiday party.

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Vice President’s Report:
Kali reports from the President’s Council that 12 ELL families were registered,
accounting for 30 students, but it was difficult because some parents didn’t have email
addresses set up yet and the “change language” button on the website didn’t work.
Principal Connors will follow up with Superintendent about these issues, and also
address if these emails can be given to Mark for the directory.
GPS bus tracking is in place but since not all buses come from the same provider, it is
difficult to track all together and there is no protocol for reporting. Principal Connors
says administrators have been trained on GPS bus tracking.
There are new lockdown revisions, instigated by SOMA Justice; Principal Connors
says she has the “Remind” app on her phone that teachers can sign up for to obtain
real time information about a drill.

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President Emeritus Report:
Ambra was absent.

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Honorary Emeritus Report:
Liz was absent but Candice shared that Trivia Night went well and made $4,000.
The next Leader in Me program continues to meet, and applications are due
November 27th

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Membership Report:
Joy was absent but reported via email that 123 have signed up for the PTA via the
website, 48 have signed up via paper forms, and 4 signed up via Venmo.
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Communications Report:

Kelly reports upcoming events for communication include; Meet Your Directors in
December and Beyond the Bell in January. She would like to include Vanessa
Pollock’s Holiday fundraiser but doesn’t have very much information besides the
Facebook promotion.
The allergy policy does not have a direct link to be put on our website but is instead
embedded in a large PDF document.
30 new members have been added to the PTA distribution list.

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Fundraising Report:
School pictures are complete. Retakes will be December 3rd. Feedback from this
group is that the staff picture was not great, and that dark skinned students are not
lit enough in class photos to see defining facial features.
Kerith will send Kelly the digital flyer for Panera advertising 10% back to the
school for purchases made on 12/18.
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Cultural Arts Report:
Polly reports the next assembly will be January 17th; it will be a Lion Dance, an
introduction into Chinese culture.

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Community Events Report:
Kerstin did a great job on the Pumpkin Patch. Next year, charging more for the mums
and pumpkins would increase the profit. The Winter Craft Fair, on December 7th, will
have its sign up go live after Thanksgiving. Kerstin is collecting materials for crafts in a
box in the school lobby and will post on Facebook more specifics regarding materials.
Snacks will be available but not full meals.

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Special Ed PTA Report:

Brooke reports there will be parent training on the new IEP system on 1/7/2020, and
teachers are being trained on it this week. The title has been changed from Director to
Assistant Superintendent to attract new candidates for the position. There was
discussion of discipline protocol and the expectation is that school administrators will
speak with case managers. Brooke has introduced herself and SEPAC to the Clinton
community and offered her support and help, if need be.
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ELL Report:
Delta reports that she met with Ms. Gelin who will reach out to ELL parents ahead of
conferences next week to let them know someone will be at the school if they need help.
Delta will follow up on timing of the table. Ms. Gelin was going to reach out to Karen
Weiland at The Parenting Center also. Kelly shared that any emails from MailChimp
can be translated, separate from our PTA website. They could be translated, printed,
and sent home in backpacks. Delta helped Jamie Ramsburg translate materials for the
show to be sent home with ELL students. There is a question if Ms. Gelin meets with all
ELL students on a regular basis during the week. There is an ELL community event in
January or February, and on the first Sunday in July, the Rent Party takes ELL students
to buy new backpacks, school supplies, and a new outfit.

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Webmaster Report:
Mark was absent.
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Members-At-Large Report:
Heather, Kristy, and Brian were all absent. However, Heather has requested to
follow a school tour before giving one alone. Polly has given her the
clintonschooltours@gmail.com login information.
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New Business:
The Clinton Show Program ads generate $7,000 of the $12,000 budget needed to
produce the show. The PTA is responsible for collecting family and business ads for
the program. Kelly helped last year and is able to help again this year.
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Candice moved and Jennifer Kemp seconded the motion to close the meeting at
9:35pm.

Respectfully
submitted,

Emilia Hallquist