Garden City PTO Meeting

Monday September 13, 2004; 6:30 p.m.  

M I N U T E S

Present: More than eighteen parents/guardians; Nancy Wavrin, Principal; Nan Brown, “Problem Solver”; Karen Wifler, Fifth/Sixth Grade Teacher, Team Leader and Patrol Advisor; Student Patrol captains Katie Hughes, Olivia Myskowski and Maria Wold

The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Tracy Corwin, Vice President.

Welcome

• Tracy thanked everyone who helped install the playground equipment on August 21. Thanks to the great job done by these volunteers, the equipment was completely installed in time for the first day of school. It is wonderful and the children love it.

• Introductions were made

Minutes Approval

This was the first meeting of the 2004-05 school year, so there were no minutes to approve.

Nominations

Nominations were made: Tracy Corwin for Vice President; Mary Hughes for Treasurer; and Kim Graske for Secretary. There were no nominations for President. The nominations were accepted. Ballots were distributed.

Patrol Captains

Maria, Katie and Olivia presented the PTO with a large beautiful hand colored thank you card for paying for them to attend patrol camp in August. They had a great time and learned a lot. Sara Schuefftan, fourth captain, attended camp also but was not present at PTO. Both Osseo American Legion and PTO sponsor two captains to attend camp each year.

Topics of Concern

• Patrols - Concerns were voiced by several parents that no school patrols are posted on Xerxes Avenue. Last year Principal Wavrin began working with the district Transportation Department in an effort to get all students who live either beyond Xerxes Avenue or beyond 63 rd Avenue bussed because these streets are incredibly busy. These students are not bussed currently because they live within one mile of Garden City. Principal Wavrin reported that the Transportation Department “dropped the ball” last year. In prior years school patrols crossed students all along Beard Avenue, including at 63 rd Avenue, and at 65 th and 64 th Avenues at Xerxes. That policy was changed last year due to liability concerns. Audrey Wold, parent volunteer, regularly patrolled the 65 th and Xerxes intersection last year and Tracy Corwin regularly patrolled the 63 rd and Beard intersection. We had a few other occasional parent patrols, as well. Tracy is again patrolling the 63 rd and Beard corner this year. Audrey volunteered to temporarily patrol again at 65 th and Xerxes. We are grateful for and desperately need more parent patrols, especially if the students from those areas never do get bussed. Currently, students within the one-mile walking radius can ride the bus for $250 per year per child or for free if they receive free or reduced lunch. This bus is only for students electing not to walk but live within walking distance. The issue remains that a free bus is necessary for all students living beyond Xerxes or 63 rd Avenues because it is so dangerous, not because of the distance. For anyone who cares to voice concerns with the district, call Kerry Kennerson, 763-391-7000, in Transportation. City Council and Mayor Kragness could also be contacted.

• Communications and Volunteerism – Discussion was had about how non-English speaking parents/guardians could be better attracted and acclimated to the PTO, Site Council and volunteerism at Garden City. It is difficult to build community and regenerate committees when so many languages are spoken. Our printed and oral communications are usually only available in English, Hmong and Spanish, and many Hmong speaking people cannot read Hmong. There is a possibility we can have some translators at next month’s meeting; everyone was encouraged to bring friends.

• Kindergarten Class Size and Building Space – Last year we had three kindergartens, and for the majority of students in them English was not their first language. This year we have two Kindergartens, most of which students in them do speak English. Class size of each is around 27. Most other classrooms have 18-23 students. Presently we only have space for two Kindergarten classrooms anyway. The expansion included only the current security and classroom needs, so there are still space issues. We are not at full capacity (410) but we are close (393). We still have music lessons in the Teachers’ Lounge. Contact the district and/or school board members if you are concerned. Phone numbers for the board and district can be found at www.district279.org.

Election Results

Tracy, Mary and Kim were elected as nominated. There were some write-in nominations for President but the nominees declined. Therefore, we are without a President this year. Tracy said she would be willing to co-chair as President if someone was willing to step up to join her, but no one did. A parent questioned if there were written requirements for the PTO officer positions. Kari Lindholm-Johnson, former PTO President, said she would check into the bylaws about it. A multi-cultural PTO would better represent our student body, but again there is difficulty in obtaining such because of communication barriers.

Treasurer Report

Mary Hughes reviewed the budget. Our net worth as of 8/11/05 is $18,807.58. A motion was made, seconded and passed to accept the budget as presented.

Fundraisers

• Target credit card incentive money comes from the district to the school, not to the PTO funds.

• The first fundraisers will be Club Choice beginning 9/22, Turkey Bingo on 11/29 and Barnes & Noble gift-wrapping at the Maple Grove store on 12/11. Orders for Club Choice need to be in by 10/14 and product pickup will be 11/3. Volunteers are needed for pickup day.

• The PTO needs to raise three times the amount it raised last year or programs will be cut next year. Any ideas how we might manage that are welcome.

• Possibilities of new fundraisers include a car wash and an Election Day bake sale.

• Because of the large percentage of free and reduced lunch families, Garden City doesn’t make much from fundraising. Finding some alternative funds, somehow, was discussed. One idea was city-wide public school fundraising (not just Garden City or the Osseo District) being done during the City’s Earle Brown Days that are held each June.

• It was decided to form a fundraising committee, so PTO does not spend so much time talking about it, as that is not its intended purpose.

Site Council Report

Jon Myskowski, Site Council Chair, said the Site Council needs ideas about how Site Council can address school concerns, such as achievement levels. PTO was reminded to fill out the issue forms located in the office if they have a concern they would like addressed at Site Council. The next meeting for Site Council is 10/7. There remains an opening on this committee if anyone is interested.

 Principal’s Report

• Garden City made its AYP goals last year so no further sanctions will be imposed this year. Garden City is at “ Safe Harbor” now and will be off the list next year if the goals are met again this year. ELL students, which had not met their reading and math goals the prior year, greatly exceeded those goals last year. Garden City ELL students had about double the average percentage increases on the test scores. Garden City had an increase of about 200 ELL students last year, so meeting and exceeding those goals was even more of a challenge.

• As discussed earlier, the PTO should be a place for learning how to support our kids’ education, not to talk only about fundraising.

• Mrs. Wifler’s fifth and sixth grade class last year had some of the highest MCA and NW test scores in the district.

• The more free and reduced lunch families Garden City has, the more funds it gets from the government, so if you think your family is eligible, please request and fill out a form. Forms are available from and should be turned back into the office when completed.

• Any parent interested in joining D-Pak, a district committee that addresses curriculum issues, should let Principal Wavrin know.

New Business

• It was discussed whether separate PTO meetings or meetings of the whole with translators would be more beneficial. It was agreed that one meeting was preferable. Perhaps a parent representative from each language group could translate at meetings. We would need to identify which ELL families have English-speaking parents who could translate. We must be aware of and not violate privacy laws when attempting to find out which parents speak English.

• A new phone system has been installed at Garden City that has the capability of delivering messages in foreign languages.

The next meeting of the PTO is Monday, October 11. Meetings throughout the year will be regularly scheduled on the second Monday of each month.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kim Graske

PTO Secretary