Prairie Grove PTO Meeting Minutes
December 3, 2013
Jr. High Library Library
PTO Board in Attendance: President Cynthia Jones, Vice-President Christine Schmidt, Treasurer
Lynn Wehner, Secretary Lori Ciezak
PTO Members in Attendance: Dave Kuhn, Tiffany Luri, Judy Butler, Sarah Bittner, Dawn Hines
Administrators in Attendance: Principal Vic Wight
The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm.
1. Welcome and Introductions –President Jones welcomed the membership to the
December meeting and introductions were made by all present.
2. Approval of Agenda - The December meeting agenda was presented. Motion to
approve the meeting agenda was made by Tiffany Luri; President Jones seconded the
motion. The motion was passed with a sign of aye.
3. Previous Meeting Minutes - November meeting minutes were presented. Motion to
approve the meeting minutes was made by Tiffany Luri; Sarah Bittner seconded the
motion. The motion was passed with a sign of aye.
4. Treasurer's Report – Treasurer Wehner presented the November Treasurer’s Reports
for the month. She went over the 2013-2014 Commitments, the Cash Flow, Bank
Reconciliation, Year-to-Date Against Budget and Total Fundraising Activities/Fundraising
Activities for Next Year. A motion was made to approve the November Treasurer's
Report by Sarah Bittner; Tiffany Luri seconded the motion. The motion was passed with
a sign of aye. Principal Wight asked Treasurer Wehner when the teacher allocation
spending deadline was due. She replied that May 1st was the agreed upon deadline.
5. Review of Correspondance
Treasurer Wehner announced that correspondence was sent by Carolyn Oakes and
Tracy Orr, thanking the PTO for the Teacher/Staff dinner.
6. Budget Allocation for Fitness Stations: President Jones brought up the justification
for the proposal of the 9 fitness stations, using the extra funds in the bank. She believes
that putting only 4 pieces of the proposed fitness equipment would result in an
incomplete project, and was hoping to use the additional funds of 2 years of PTO
fundraising as was indicated in all correspondence that went out to the parents last
year. President Jones stated that a decision made against the purchase of the proposed
fitness equipment would be very misleading to all parents who donated and committed
fundraising efforts to the advertised fitness equipment; essentially, she believes it would
be like a ‘bait and switch’. Principal Wight presented a letter signed by the 4 P.E.
teachers indicating their reasons against the purchase of these fitness stations, despite
their initial ideas, interest and direction when first approached. A discussion took place
regarding the arguments against this purchase, those being: lack of seasonality for full
use, too much money, liability and age appropriateness. Principal Wight stated that he
would block any vote that brought forth a favorable outcome for the purchase of any
fitness stations, whether 4 pieces or 9. President Jones questioned Principal Wight
about the change of direction on this major fundraising and purchasing decision and he
stated that it was simply a change of minds. Suggestions were made in regards to other
ideas to spend the fundraising money on, and ideas consisted of: smart boards for
classrooms, a new sound system for the elementary multi-purpose room, inside fitness
equipment or a security system that does back ground checks on parent ID’s.
Subsequently, a motion was made to vote for additional funds to be allocated to the 10
fitness stations. The results was 8 nays and 1 yea. President Jones announced that the
vote to allocate fundraiser funds would be done at the January 2014 meeting.
6. Principal's Report - Principal Wight thanked the PTO for the teacher/staff dinners
supplied during conference days. The PTO thanked Treasurer Wehner for volunteering
her time and effort to the outcome of this successful event.
Principal Wight updated the membership that the outcome of the School Board meeting
did not support parents being allowed to attend lunch with their children.
The Jr. High Geography Bee will be held on December 6th.
December 19th will be the 4th grade holiday concert.
December 20th will be the elementary holiday sing and parties.
7. Old Business / Committee Updates
a. Market Day – Treasurer Wehner gave an update on the Market Day pie sales
of which the PTO profited $1,072.20, which will be split with the Band.
b. Holiday Shoppe – the preview day for this is on December 10th, with
December 11th and 12th being the shop days.
c. Book Fair – dates for this are this week, on December 5-8th.
d. Fun Fair – Date for the Fun Fair is Friday, February 21, 2013. Brea Barnes will
provide an update for the membership at the January 7th meeting.
e. Phone Directory – Chairwoman Simone Kinsella is finished with the directory
and has emailed Principal Wight the master list for assistance from the office
staff for compilation and completion.
f. Spirit Wear – Jr. High items are due out this week. Elementary ites are coming
out the 4th or 5th of December.
8. New Business
a. Variety Show – Dates for the show this year will be January 24th and 25th.
The theme will be the “Greatest Show on Earth”. Wendy Pratola and Michelle
Yantis are the chairpeople. Auditions are December 16th, with dress rehearsal on
January 16th.
b. Odyssey of the Mind – Chairwoman Tiffany Luri announced that $1,137.50
was the profit of the coffee fundraiser, and the PTO will receive 10% of the
profits. A pizza party will be awarded to Mrs. Dieschbourg’s class.
9. Raffle Winner – Sarah Bittner was the winner of the raffle prize this evening.
10. Adjounment – A motion was made by President Jones for the meeting to be
adjourned at 8:20. The motion was seconded by Secretary Ciezak.