Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership Academy
PTO Community Meeting Minutes
Date: Wednesday, October 14th
Call to Order: An Executive Board Meeting of the Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership Academy
was held in the Synergy Room on Wednesday, October 14th, 2015. The meeting convened at
8:32 am with President Jane Miller presiding and Leslie Swanson, as Secretary.
Members in Attendance: The following board members were present and a quorum was
present: Jane Miller (President), Allie Schenach (Vice President), Leslie Swanson (Secretary),
Deb True (Treasurer), Amy Huffman (Development Coordinator), Abby Green (Volunteer
Coordinator), Genevieve Kennedy (Historian), and Jen Metzger (Hospitality). The Cerritos
Administration was represented by Darcy DiCosmo (Principal) and Courtney Bauer (Student
Advisor). The general PTO members in attendance included Jeff Lutes, Christina Carter and
Renee Doty.
Minutes: Allie Schenach motioned to approve the minutes from the September 9th meeting.
Jeff Lutes 2nd the motion. The minutes of the September 9th meeting were approved.
Addendum: On Thursday, September 17th Jane Miller made the board aware that the
inspector from DHS was at the school performing a routine inspection. He advised that 8 of the
benches outside the MPR where the picnic tables are need to be replaced due to rubber torn off
and metal that has rusted. A company quoted 8 replacement benches for $469.60. This
money would likely come from our Gifts & Donations - Capital line item in our budget which
encompasses "furniture". RacheI Schurz made a motion to replace the 8 benches that no
longer pass inspection. Nicole Bonderant 2nd the motion. The motion passed via electronic vote
on September 23rd.
Officer’s Reports
President: Jane Miller reviewed and reported a list of accomplishments that the PTO has
succeeded with throughout the first quarter. Acknowledgements and thank you’s were shared
to celebrate all that was accomplished in the first nine weeks of school starting. Everyone was
in agreement of the amount that had been done for the good of the school and it is hopeful
that this information would be shared with Rachel so that the PTO can promote it to the school
to help motivate volunteers and involvement.
Second quarter upcoming activities include Trunk ‘N Pumpkin, Hospitality, Garage Sale, Turkey
Trot, and Gift of Time. Not nearly as many activities to do, but will still need the help of all
involved to get the events done.
Budget Reallocations/ Surplus Assesment: Jane Miller announced that we are on solid financial
footing. It was suggested from the district that parents will want to see the money raised spent
this year, rather than watch the PTO sit on it for years. Jane discussed that need to figure out
the best way to allocate the extra money for the good of the school. Allie Schenach and Jane
Miller are looking to meet with the teachers to see what they would like to use the funds on to
be more successful as teachers. Ideas of how to spend the money are based on how we can
benefit the school/teachers, what is usually being expensed on the end of the teachers, and
what the teachers may need. Once these ideas are collected, Jane and Allie will bring the ideas
to the board to vote. Another idea is that we may need to add more money to subscriptions, as
most of the funds in the subscriptions line item is almost expensed. Ideas on the allocation can
be emailed to Jane. The idea of adding a shade structure to the school playground, but there
was concern that this would be denied by the district. Courtney Bauer asked if the 5th graders
gave a gift back to the school at their promotion. Jane confirmed that it was a PTO gift. Jane
also suggested that we do keep in mind future budget cuts to leave a bit more funds than we
would normally to be prepared for any shortage. Amy Huffman inquired about bringing back
Art Masterpiece. Darcy Dicosmo confirmed that the art master piece program was eliminated
due to lack of funds and parent involvement. Darcy said the program was getting dry because
it was the same thing every time. Darcy is looking to make a Cerritos based Art Masterpiece
program, developed by Su Rogers. Su would be in charge of lesson plans on a school wide
basis. The supplies can be very expensive, but Su would base the program off of parent
volunteers and could make one big project that the entire school was involved in (mural??).
There was discussion that Lisa Ramirez would spearhead the new art masterpiece. Darcy asked
if the PTO could financially support this new program. Amy Huffman said the Art Masterpiece
program can be intimidating, but if Su was in charge that would be helpful.
Vice President: Allie Schenach only reported that Janie does it all!
Secretary: Leslie Swanson had nothing to report.
Treasurer: Deb True gage a monthly Treasurers report. There is $61000 in the bank a
combination of $34000 in checking and the remaining in savings. The latest changes in the
budget include the $20000 from Be A Beacon (not including matching gifts). Other changes
include: Corporate Sponsors (6150), Book Fair (5711), Labels and Receiving (3049 – Safeway),
and some funds from the Taste Of Kyrene Tickets.
Target is going to stop donating to the school. The annual payout will be paid in February.
The purchases from January to May will continue with donations and then it will stop.
There was a rundown of the expenses. This included Spiritwear, M & O Expenses (per the last
meetings request from Darcy), Gifts and Capital (8 benches purchased for the school), added
club expenses. Deb also shared that the subscriptions funds have almost run out. If there is
more request for subscriptions, we will have to vote to reallocate.
Financial Secretary: Sandy Morrison was not present to report anything.
Communication: Rachel Schurz was not present to report anything. Complimentary photo
booth will be tabled to the next meeting.
Volunteer Coordinator: Abby Green reported that there are two open chair positions still for
spring: Book Fair and Family Fun Night. Renee Doty is willing to do the Spring Book Fair.
They believe that Stephanie Crum will be a good co-chair. Lori Giessen is on the event planning
team and is interested in doing family fun night. She likes the outdoor movie night with Food
Trucks. She was going to research costs, but no information has been shared as of yet. The
potential date of the Family Fun Night is the last Friday of the Spring Book Fair.
The August and September Volunteer Raffle winners are Lisa Ramirez and Angie Parnell.
Neither one has collected their prized. Jeff Lutes and Andrea Cowley are the October Winners.
Janie Miller reminded everyone that we have the event planning committee that can be reached
out to.
Garden club is going to have a meeting and the volunteer team is going to reach out to help
with that.
In response to lack of response to the Beep Been communications, Darcy suggested that we
put in what the PTO are wanting them to read right in the notes so that they know what they
are reading for. Amy reiterated the idea about counting the roadrunner feet and having a prize.
Darcy suggested that just having a correct answer that the kids could try to solve would be
enough.
Historian: Genevieve Kennedy had nothing to report.
Entrance of Dr. Shauer, Superintendent of Schools and Jeff Peters, Director of Governance and
Operations
Hospitality: Jen Metzger thanked Amy Huffman for her help with Odelay Bages. The October
staff appreciation was enjoyed, and the bus drivers and crossing guards got popcorn since they
could not attend the breakfast.
For Parent Teacher conferences there will be Panda Express on Wednesday Night and a
homemade Italian meal for Thursday night. On November 4th, Hospitality is providing a snack.
For the November 13th Staff Appreciation, there will not be a feast. There will be small gifts of
appreciation for each staff member. Amy Huffman suggested that Woolaver contribute as a
corporate sponsor for a staff appreciation. Dr. Shauer inquired if Woolaver contributes regularly
for us. Amy reported that Woolaver did a $2000 contribution to the school and will probably do
a gift basket for braces at our Spring Carnival. Everyone agreed that Woolaver is a great
sponsor.
Development Coordinator: Amy Huffman reported that the status of the Corporate Partners
is good. Due to vacation and fall break, the invoices have slowed down a bit. There are three
sponsors on a monthly invoice. Amy is currently working with Freeway Chevrolet to donate
water for the Trunk ‘N Pumpkin.
Amy needs banners hung for the major sponsorships. She is still waiting on banners to be
given for Betty Teille, Freeway Chevrolet, and Woolaver Orthodontist. Darcy said that Gilbert
will hang banners.
Amy wants to make sure that the Sponsors are being recognized on the listserv. Amy wants to
figure out who to go through to occasionally recognize the sponsors on listserv. Amy thinks
that the sponsor ships are wrapping up for this year. This is good to keep the bar at a
reasonable level for next year. Jane Miller suggested going through Rachel Schurz, and Darcy
said to use Jessica Harris. Amy said facebook will also be highlighting sponsor on occasion.
Amy says this is great for helping out the local businesses. Jane explained the new corporate
sponsor ship position to Dr. Shauer. Amy explained that some donate in funds, while others
donate in product (Odelay) or gift cards (Florencia). Jane told Amy to give information to
Rachel for her to communicate. Jen suggested that the sponsor go on the Marquee on the
breaks, and Amy shared that it depended on what level sponsorship they had.
Principal’s Report –
Parent Leadership Nights/ 7 Habits Training - Darcy DiCosmo reported that the school
has 90 people signed up for the Family 7 Habits Dinner Night. The team coordinating the event
talked about if it would be worthwhile to teach the parents the 7 Habits that the students learn
in either the daytime or evening hours. It would be their goal to teach either one habit a
month or do a long stretch and teach all 7 habits at once. Jen Metzger suggested evenings
over day time, and shorter increments over longer. Amy Huffman suggested doing something
where the kids are occupied with kids club and the parents can come learn the 7 habits without
them. Darcy asked if the PTO thought that parents wanted to learn the 7 habits. Abby Green
thought it was something that was worth putting out. Genevieve Kennedy suggested doing a
daytime presentation but having something to entertain those with pre-school aged kids. Jane
Miller suggested doing videos that can be published online, using Ian McFadden (fourth grade
father) who has offered to do video work for the school. Amy Huffman suggest to give cares
slips to families, so the kids can bring them back and enter them into the weekly drawing.
There was discussion on the inconsistency of some faculty in distributing the cares slips and
Darcy confirmed they are trying to get all staff on the same page with that. Amy confirmed
that CARES slips are important in their house. Darcy was not opposed to doing a video, but the
idea behind the 7 Habits is about the interaction not the training. She is concerned that a video
will take away the purpose. Darcy would like to look at setting it up monthly in hopes that a
bridge will be built between the 7 Habits at home and at school. Genevieve Kennedy suggested
doing a raffle to promote attendance. It was shared that math books were raffled on math
night. Jane asked if it would be worthwhile to buy the books to keep in the office for a check
out. Allie Schenach suggested that it would be good to check the books out. Darcy asked if
the PTO would be willing to sponsor the purchase of these books so that they were available for
parents to check out of the office after attending the classes. Janie stated that she would check
out prices on books and then email the executive board for a vote. Darcy also acknowledged
that she would be starting a 7 Habits of Teens club for the fifth grade.
PLAYWORKS – Darcy mentioned that there was momentum on the teachers end in regards to
supporting Playworks. The faculty is looking for something that would be more structured as
behavior on the playground is becoming aggressive. The playground only has 3 duty teachers
which makes it hard to enforce positive behavior. Darcy thinks that the behavior from the
playground can carry over into the classroom, so negative playground behavior is causing
challenges for the classroom. Jane Miller asked if there was further information regarding the
grant. Courtney believed that more information would be available in November. Jane gave
feedback with concern for the behavior on the play ground, however she was not convinced
that Playworks is the answer. She would like to establish a small committee to address the
situation. Darcy stated that at a meeting the staff was discussing different options and will
have more information after conferences. They are trying to find ways for students to be
leaders on the playground and turn recess experiences more positive. There is concern over
who is going to teach this structure, and will there be training to pass it on to the school. It
was reminded that not all kids need to participate; it is just a means to show how to be fair and
get along. There was discussion of kids who play organized sports vs. not playing them, kids
changing the rules half way through the game and disgruntled kids because they don’t even get
a turn. Playworks would come in and decide how rules are set and how the game is played.
Concerns for this would be funds and taking away the concept of free play. The staff is seeing
that kids are choosing not to play the organized sports at recess because they do not get a
chance to play. Allie asked if we have to have Playworks every year. Darcy believes we are
savvy enough to continue the program on our own, where teachers and lunch guides can learn
and pass it on. Allie mentioned the teachers would be trained, but then typically are not out
there to enforce it at lunch. Jane mentioned that the lunch people have quick turnover. Darcy
believes that they duty turnover will decrease if their job is easier due to Playworks. Jeff Peters
suggested using one of two different grants to fund the project, one being the Diablos grant.
These grants could fund the program for multiple years based on the results that the program
brought. Jane wants to put together a subcommittee to proceed further with this subject.
Old Business
Trunk N Pumpkin – Jen Metzger mentioned that the committee got a late start in planning.
Thank you to Abby for working hard with the Sign up Genius. The Pumpkin walk will be
changed up slightly with adding food vendors (Chic-a-fillet and the Hot Diggity Dog Cart) and
trunk or treating. Families will sponsor a trunk and have games, candy and prizes at each
trunk. There was concern that people did not know what trunk or treating is. There will be
flyers going out to the classes. The teachers were concerned with the busy week of
conferences, but they were interested in doing two trunks. There might be a trunk with free
water. The event will be in front of the school with lighting. There is another committee
meeting the next Friday to iron out details. The committee is accepting candy donations and
costume donations for Kyrene Foundation. Jen emphasized that safety was concern and will be
properly addressed. There was also a suggestion of calling it a Trunk or Treat next year so it
would be clearer as to what it was.
Garage Sale – There is a save the date to save your stuff going out to familes. Jane Miller
wants it sent to Rachel for final review. The event timing will be 7 or 7:30 am to 2:00 pm.
Amy Huffman is looking to reach out to Alta Dena students and Desert Vista students to
volunteer. There will be a blanket pricing system based off of type of item being sold. There
will be PTO board members in charge of the cash boxes. There will be coffee, and food trucks
available for purchases. A concern was voiced that Friday was not enough time to drop off
donations. There was discussion of drop off on Wednesday and Thursday prior, just the
question of if the items could be stored at school. Darcy said that school storage would not be
a problem. Amy is looking for helpers to collect items at drop off, trying to offer both morning
and evening drop off. Jane suggested doing a scheduled time for the drop off and then all day
drop-off on Friday. Amy asked that people pre-sort their items and don’t donate it if you would
not pay money for it. There was discussion about a neighborhood app that could advertise the
garage sale and need for donations. Amy also talked about using Ahwatukee 411. Amy wants
to put posters up for the Garage Sale and Darcy suggested that the students in Lunch Leaders
do it. Courtney Bauer asked if other schools would advertise for us. Renee Doty asked if there
was a need for more tables and Amy said it would be okay. Renee asked where the garage sale
would be held. Amy confirmed it would be on the playground. Amy has a company that will
collect all the items not sold. There is a company that wants shoes and will pay per pound for
them. Jane knows of an individual that will do that with clothes, and will forward that
information to Amy.
New Business
Running Club Volunteers – Ms. Byrne – Quinn is starting the running club on Tuesdays and
Thursdays of next week. Jen Metzger has a list of times that there is a need for volunteers.
Volunteers need to roll out the wagon, and keep track of the laps the students run. Every four
laps is a mile and the student gets a foot. Jen asked that the word be spread that they need
help on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour or more during lunch recess. After the laps are
ran, there needs to be loggers as well. Smaller grades are harder to keep organized than older.
Sara Evans is going to help and Watch dogs can help on Thursdays. Allie asked if there would
be a sign up genius for this, but Jen said it will be more of a word of mouth thing. Jen and
Sara Evans are going to head it and Abby suggested it go in the newsletter. Renee asked about
what grades it was for and where it was at. Jen confirmed it was for all grades and at recess.
Jen talked about having misters to spray the students and confirmed it was about the number
of laps ran, not the time. Darcy confirmed the event was very routine, so the kids are aware it
is going, as there were many PTO members that didn’t know about it.
Family Dinner Nights – Unwined Family Dinner night went well. Unwined would like to
incorporate kids and games for another event. The end result was mostly PTO members.
Darcy encourages the PTO to do it again as there may be a better response. Amy is working on
putting together other nights, and wants to use Florencia due to their generous gift cards and
kids pizza voucher donations. Jane Miller suggested that the kids pizzas go to the students via
the teachers. Along the lines of if a class hits a certain class goal, the teacher passes out the
kids pizza vouchers to the entire class. The idea was thrown out that the pizza vouchers could
be a holiday gift from the PTO. Perfect Pear is another option for the October Family Dinner
night. Janie suggested to skip October. Amy would like to do a Movie theater rent out in
November. She also would like to do a Saturday or Sunday day in the park with watchdogs
hosting volleyball and kick ball etc. Jane suggested that those ideas are close to the February
Family Fun Night. Genevieve suggested not doing December because of Holidays. Jen
suggested snow and Abby said it was very expensive. Amy wants to do a hayride and hot
cocoa night. Jane confirmed that there is too much going on in December. Amy will now look
at doing hayride and cocoa at the end of January.
Funds for Trunk ‘N Pumpkin – Jen asked for money for the Trunk N Pumpkin event. Jane
said we can vote on that, but she does not want to set the idea that every social event is free.
Allie thought that having this Trunk N Pumpkin be a free event would be okay to reward the
families for the Beacon success. Renee made a motion to take the pumpkin walk income down
to zero and to increase the corporate sponsor income to $700. Leslie 2nd the motion. The vote
approved.
Announcements
Meeting Adjourned At: 10:13 am
Minutes Compiled By: Leslie Swanson
The foregoing minutes were approved by the Executive Board on.
_________________________, Secretary