Wreath and Poinsettia Fundraiser

Sherwood Charter School Parent Advisory Committee

PAC Board Meeting – 9/23/21

MINUTES

Location: Tamara Potruch’s House/Outdoors

Board Members in attendance: Tamara Potruch, Jen Crosby, Ashley Weston, Daniel Standke, Tara Garcia

Call to Order 

Tamara called the meeting to order at 6:36 pm. 

Tamara made a motion to approve the minutes of the General PAC Meeting from 5/20/21, seconded by Jen.  All those present voted to approve and motion passed.

New Business

The PAC had previously been using Roxie’s husband’s Zoom account to conduct online PAC meetings, and we are no longer able to do so. Tamara made a motion to approve the purchase of a monthly Zoom subscription at the cost of $14.99/monthly, adding a new operating cost to the budget.  Jen seconded the motion.  All those present voted to approve and motion passed. 

Tamara shared her feedback regarding the recent SCS School Board Meeting that she attended, including concerns about the stress and exhaustion that our teachers have felt and are feeling during this complicated time of learning.  She shared the desire to encourage them and to work towards decreasing teacher burnout by showing our appreciation monthly.  This had previously been done by purchasing a basket of school themed Sprinkles of Joy cookies to be shared among the teachers and staff, and it was discussed that we continue with similar small appreciation gifts monthly, not just during Teacher Appreciation Week at the end of the school year.  It was discussed that this can likely be accomplished by spending $20-25 each month (by adding a new budget line or possibly using extra from what was previously budgeted), as well as possibly seeking out donations of items from local businesses.  Tamara made a motion to allocate a new budget line for monthly teacher gifts of $20-25/month.  Jen seconded the motion.  All those present voted to approve and motion passed.  

 

SCS is asking for help cleaning the outside areas of the school on Thursday afternoons, due to trash that is accumulating because of outside lunch.  Jen will set up a SignUp Genius so that one family at a time can sign up for a Thursday afternoon slot from approximately 4pm-5pm to help pick up trash around the campus.

The PAC table at the Meet and Greet was a great way to connect with returning and new SCS parents.  All Event Coordinator positions are now filled, except for School Lunches and Spiritwear, although there were support people that signed up in these positions.  The possibility of looking into Subway or a pizza option for 2 days a week were discussed, but further discussion about the logistics of delivering these lunches to students during COVID, as well as the lack of a coordinator, led the lunch program to be put on hold for now.  For Spirit Wear, it was recommended that we work to sell the current stock of items that we have before ordering new items, as well as to look into the possibility of new vendor options if ordering in the future.  

The end of the 2020/2021 school year, the PAC gifted $300 to the school (Mrs. Stuckey) and that order is complete.

Jen said that we will have a virtual Scholastic Book Fair again this year, lasting 2 weeks (10/10-10/23).  Based on last year’s virtual fair, it looks like we earn about half of the percentage that we usually earn with an in-person fair, as well as having a decrease in the amount of traffic from shoppers online.  Scholastic is encouraging more publicity and is offering incentives with increased publicity, such as 50 Scholastic dollars.  Possible publicity options include signage on campus, a letter from the principal, a mid-week video, and a backpack flyer.  A pumpkin carving contest is planned for October as well and can be promoted alongside the book fair.  Pumpkin carving contest winners per grade can win a book prize.  It was discussed that it’s important for the school library to have a strong presence during this time, even though the school library isn’t currently open.  Though the school library isn’t currently open, funds still need to be coming in to pay for the library software that was previously purchased.  Jen also discussed the possibility of using Scholastic dollars to purchase books that can be used for rewards and be rolled around to classrooms on a cart.

The Wreath Fundraiser will return again this year, using Farmington Gardens again like last year.  We will plan to coordinate sending order forms home in backpacks with the book fair and newsletter, likely on 10/7.  Tentative dates for wreath sales are 10/18-11/4.  Wreath delivery and pickup day is TBD, likely between 11/19-11/12.  Tara will update us with final dates when they are known.  

Bottle Drop has been a successful fundraiser thus far, and it was discussed that it’s important to publicize drop off events on campus and educate families on dropping off cans and bottles themselves at Bottle Drop locations.

Our current reader board needs to be repaired or replaced.  In researching our options, Tamara shared that a new one will cost approximately $150-200 and that repairing the old one will cost approximately $90.  Tamara will look into some more examples and pricing, as well as revisiting the idea of electronic, portable, and remote options and plan to share this at the General PAC Meeting.

Treasurer Report

The current balance in the PAC account is $13,655.32.  The Bottle Drop has currently made $563.80 for the year.  Approximately $4,000 is earmarked for the library--it’s not sure if the software cost has come out of that total or not. 

With all business being completed, Tamara made the motions to adjourn the meeting at 7:47pm.

Next PAC General Meeting on October 7, 2021 at 6:30pm via Zoom.